I'm thankful for all the teachers who share their ideas with me. This month you'll find a FEAST of new ideas I've collected at my workshops. Enjoy! Enjoy!

LANGUAGE ACTIVITIES

CHEER WORDS - Make pompoms with paper lunch sacks. With the bag flat, cut down strips from the top to the middle of the bag. The strips should be approximately 1/2" apart. Roll up the bottom flap of the bag to make a handle and wrap a rubber band around it.

Cheer high frequency words, names, spelling words, etc.

For example: "Give me an 'A'. A I've got an A, you've got an A. Give me a 'T.' T. I've got a T, you've got a T.

What's it spell? At. Say it again. At. One more time. At!"

Hint! You can also cheer math facts.

WHO LET THE LETTERS OUT? Adapt the chant:
"Who let the dogs out? Woof- woof-woof-woof-woof!"
to reinforce letters and sounds. For example:
"Who let the A out? /a/a/a/a/a/
Who let the B out? /b/b/b/b/b/, and so forth.

Buy a plastic dog dish. Place magnetic letters in the
dog bowl and pass them around the room. Each child
selects a letter, and then uses the letter in the above
chant.

Cut dog bones out of paper and write high frequency
words on them. Place face down in the bowl. Pass the
bowl around and let children take turns choosing a bone
and using the word in a sentence.

Make a paper doghouse about 6" x 8" out of poster board.
Cut out a hole where the door in the doghouse would be.
Put magnetic tape on the back so the doghouse will stick
to a magnetic board. Children can take magnetic letters and
place them in the door of the doghouse. They can use the
letter and sound in the above chant and then "let the letter out!"

SPORTS SPELL-Pretend to bounce a ball as you say letters and shoot in the hoop as you say the word. For example: "t" (bounce), "h" (bounce), "e" (bounce), "the" (throw ball). You can also swing a bat as you spell, then hit a home run as you say the word; or pretend to hike a football on letters and throw a pass on the word.

LOOK UP! LOOK DOWN! Pin letters of the alphabet to ceiling tiles. (If this is against fire code, you can make letters on tiles with cloth tape ~ or paint letters on the ceiling ~ with permission from your administrator, of course!) Purchase flashlights from a dollar store. Have children lay on their backs and look at the ceiling. Turn off the lights and have them point to letters on the ceiling with their flashlights as you sing alphabet songs.

Place letters on the floor and cover with clear contact or clear packaging tape. Place the letters in order from A to Z beginning with A by the classroom door. When it's time to "line up," have children stand on the letter their first name begins with; stand on the letter their last name begins with; say a word and have them stand on the letter that the word begins with; etc.

LETTER DETECTIVES - Buy pasta in the shape of letters and dye with rubbing alcohol and food coloring. (To dye, separate pasta into 4 plastic bags. Add l TB. rubbing alcohol and a different color of food coloring to each bag. Shake. Dry on wax paper. Mix colors in a covered container.) Let children search through the pasta with a magnifying glass to find the letters in their name, spelling words, etc. Children can glue the letters to a sheet of paper or use them to make crafts.

 

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