Word Hunt - Give students a list of words that can be found in the classroom. Children walk around the room and cross the words off as they find them.
Read the Room - You will need an empty pair of glass frames and a pointer for this activity. Children wear the glasses and walk around the room pointing at words they can read.
Hint! Let children do this with a partner. One child wears the glasses and reads the words that the second child points to.
Wheel of Fortune/Hangman - Play games similar to “Wheel of Fortune” or hangman. Put blanks for the number of letters. Children call out letters and fill them in on the blanks. Have a “bone pile” where you write letters that are not in the word.
Write the Room - Using a clipboard, children walk around the room and write words that they can read. *Can they find a word for each letter in the month? *Can they find a word for each letter in their first name and/or last name? *Can they find a word for each letter of the alphabet?
Sparkle - Children stand or sit in a circle. The teacher calls out a high frequency word or spelling word. The first child says the first letter in the word. The second child says the second letter and so on around the circle until the word is spelled. The next child says, “Sparkle!” and then the next child has to sit down. Continue until there is only one child standing.
Heads Up Words Up - Children place their heads down on the table. The teacher distributes word cards quietly around the room to various students. When the teacher says, “Heads up, words up,” the friends with the word cards stand up. They go to the front of the room and read the words. The teacher exchanges those word cards for new words. The class puts down their heads and the friends with the word cards pass them to other quiet friends.
Red Rover - Divide the class into two teams and have them stand on opposite sides of the room facing each other. Give each child a word to hold. One at a time teams take turns saying, “Red rover, red rover, word hop (or other movement) right over.” The child wearing that word hops to the other side. Movements could include jump, tiptoe, gallop, skip, etc.
Word Bag - The students sit in a circle. Have a “word bag” with lifetime words. As you pass the bag around, each student pulls out a word. They can keep the card if they can read the word. Keep passing the bag until it is empty. Rules! If you talk, give answers, or blurt out, the teacher takes away all your cards and you don’t get to have any more fun!
Word Worm - Draw the face of a worm on a 9” circle. Pass out a word card to each child. One at a time children come up and place their word next to the worm’s head. Each child reads all of the previous words before placing her word down. How long can the worm grow!
Hint! Children can “ask the audience” to read with them if they are unsure of the words.
Musical Words - Write words on paper plates and scatter around the room on the floor. Play some catchy music for the children to dance to. When the music stops, each child stands on a word. As the teacher points to random students, they must identify their word.
*You can play a game similar to musical chairs where you remove one word at a time so children have to scramble to find a word.
Swat It - Cut bug shapes out of construction paper and write high frequency words on the bugs. Staple to the bulletin board. Children can take turns swatting the bugs and reading the words. Or, divide the class into two teams. One person from each team takes a fly swatter and tries to swat the word the teacher calls out. The first person to swat the word gets a point for their team.
Pick Up - Scatter words randomly on the floor. Divide the class into two teams. One child from each team steps forward. The teacher calls out a word and the first child to pick it up gets a point for her team.
I Have. Who Has? - Make copies of the downloadable pattern. Write words you are focusing on so that the game will flow from one word to the next. Pass out cards to the students. The first child stands and says, “I have word one. Who has word two?” The second child says, “I have word two. Who has word three?” The game continues as children read their words.
Snowballs - Write words on scrap paper and distribute to the children. (Older children could write their own words.) Each child wads up their paper to make a snowball. Divide the class into two teams and have them stand on opposite sides of the room. When the teacher says, “Let it snow!” the children begin throwing snowballs at each other. Before they can throw a snowball back at the other team, they must open the paper and read the word. The game continues until the teacher says, “Freeze.” The children gather the snowballs on their side and count. The side with the least amount wins.
BINGO - Make BINGO cards with high frequency words. Give children cereal or other small objects to cover up words as they are called out. Hint! Baseball card holders are great for this activity because they can be changed throughout the year as you focus on different skills.
Boom! - Cover a Pringle’s can or similar container to look like a firecracker. Write high frequency words on jumbo craft sticks. On several sticks write, “BOOM!” Place all the sticks in the can. Children sit in a circle and one at a time pull out a stick and read their word. If they select “BOOM!” then they must return all their sticks to the can. Hint! You can vary the game by making additional sticks that say, “Reverse,” “Skip a turn,” “Lose a turn,” etc.
Johnny Jump Up - You will need a photo album and index cards to make this game. Write words on the index cards and insert them in the plastic sleeves. On several cards draw a stick figure jumping and write, “Johnny jump up!” Randomly insert the Johnny cards in the album. As you shuffle through the book children read the words. When Johnny appears they all jump up!
Kids vs. the Teacher - Draw a score board (T Chart) on the board with “Kids” on one side and “Teacher” on the other side. Show a word. If a child raises her hand and correctly reads the word, she gets a point for her team. If any child shouts out the answer, then the teacher gets a point. (If children keep talking out of turn, just continue to give points to the teacher. They’ll figure it out!)
Word Detectives - Let children be “detectives” as they listen to clues about different words. Hints might include: “This word rhymes with ______.” “This word starts with letter and ends with letter.” “This word is the opposite of _______,” *You can also ask the children to close their eyes. Cover up one word on the word wall with a sheet of paper. Can they identify the missing word?
UNO - Cut poster board into 3” x 4 ½” cards. Take high frequency words you are working on and write each word 4 times in red, black, green, and blue. Deal out seven cards to each child. The first child lays down a card. The next player may lay down that same word or another word in the same color. The game continues just like UNO until all cards are gone.
Secret Word - Arrange flash cards in a pocket chart or on the floor. Tell the children to close their eyes as you hide a sticker behind one word. “Who knows the secret word where the sticker is hidden?” One at a time children say a word and then come look behind it. The first child to find the sticker gets to be “teacher” and hides the sticker again.
Tisket a Tasket – Words in My Basket - Children sit or stand in a circle. Place flash cards in a basket and choose one child to be “it.” “It” skips around the room as everyone sings:
A tisket a tasket, there are words in the basket.
I’ll place a word behind a friend
And see if they can read it.
“It”drops a word behind a friend. The friend reads the word and then trades places and becomes the new “it.”