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Working with Words

Techniques for early readers to develop accurate and automatic word recognition skills.

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Jennifer Green
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21 views

Working with Words

Techniques for early readers to develop accurate and automatic word recognition skills.

Uploaded by

Jennifer Green
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Working with Words:

Ways to integrate decoding and encoding into the phonics scope and sequence

● Read “dot” words and blend. (photo below)


● Segment and write words in Elkonin boxes. (photo below)
● Use letter tiles to make words; change beginning, middle, and ending sounds to create new words.
● Read word families in lists or with tachistoscopes. (photo below)
● Write word family lists. (photo below)
● Sort words by pattern or family on flashcards. (photo below)
● Do a written sort by pattern or family. (photo below)
● Dictate words of the day; write on slips of paper or whiteboards.
● Read words in sentences. Use tachistoscopes for fluency.
● Dictate sentences.
● Write sentences on sentence strips. Cut apart words. Read scrambled sentences and reassemble.
(photo below)
● Build fluency by doing “cheetah-turtle” with target words.
● Play BAM! with target words.
● Do Back-to-Back writing with target words.
● Play “Mata la Mosca” / Swat the Fly with word cards.
● Play Concentration or Go Fish with target words.

dot words Elkonin Boxes tachistoscope

word family list word sort written word sort


Scrambled sentences sentences with environmental print

Other Activities to do with Sight Words

● Back-to-back spelling: Students partner up and take turns writing


words on one another’s back – one big letter at a time. The partner
looks at word cards on the table and tries to guess which word it
is. Switch roles.

● Airwriting: Spell target words in the air, first with the index
finger. Then, for fun, try other body parts, e.g., pinky, hand, elbow,
nose, toe (on ground), etc.

● Mata la Mosca/ Sight Word Swat: Scatter 4-6 word cards on table
(repetitions are fine). Give two kids a flyswatter (alternate turns
as needed). Say, “Mata la mosca en…” or “Swat the fly on…” and
then call out a word. Each child gets one swat and one swat only.
Whoever gets the right word first takes the card. Replace it with
a new word card, pass the flyswatter to next player and continue.

● Concentration/Memory: Use 10-12 words and line them up in rows


and columns. Students can play alone or team up with a partner.
Flip two cards, read them and see if they’re a match. If they are,
keep them for a point. If they aren’t, turn back over and next
player goes.
● Go Fish: Give each player 3 cards and put the remaining cards in
center of table face down. Take turns asking one another for a
matching word to one held in hand. For example, “Bob, do you have
see?” If Bob has see, he must give it up and the player who
requested it puts the pair down on the table for a point. If Bob
doesn’t have see, he says, “Go Fish” and the requester draws a
card. Then the next player goes. Whoever has the most pairs at
the end wins.

● BAM! See directions below.

● Bingo: A classic. Kids love it even though it’s boring for most
adults☺. There are many templates online. For kindergarten, keep
in mind that you should only have 9-12 on the grid so it isn’t
overwhelming and that the font needs to be BIG (20 or greater).
Comic Sans is a good match for print style they are learning.

● Connect 4 or Tic Tac Toe: Use this game to practice words in a fun
way. In order to take a turn, player must read a word card from
stack first.

● Rebus sentences: Use the sight word cards and picture cards to
make sentences. For ELLs, focus on one category (food, colors,
etc.) Work alone or with a partner. Sometimes the sentences will
be SILLY – they won’t make sense. That’s okay – they just need to
recognize that and try something else. How many sentences can
students make? To encourage them, let them stamp a card or
collect a pile of counters in front of them for the number of
sentences read.
Materials: sight word flash cards (20+) with 3-6 Bam! cards mixed in
Players: 2-4

Spread out cards face down in the middle of the circle.


Take turns picking a card and quickly reading the word.
If correct, the player keeps the card. If incorrect, return card to pile.
If a player selects a BAM! card, she must return all her cards to pile.
Keep the BAM! card out in a discard pile. This is important or the game will never
end! ☹
Play continues until all the cards are gone.
Player with the most cards at the end is the winner.
For more reading practice, kids can be required to read the words again at the end
to keep the points.

Alternatively, you can write sight words on wide craft sticks with a few BAM! Sticks
missed in. Place sticks in a lemonade canister and pass canister around the table.
Also, have spare BAM cards to insert with stack of words after completing a Word
Sort for extra practice.

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