Search results matching tags 'literacy', 'teacher', 'activities', and 'uncategorized'

Student Picture Games

Anonymous — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 11:00:41 GMT

If you are looking for an activity that will engage your students and keep them on task then look no further. The secret is to use pictures of the students; they love to look at pictures of themselves and their friends. This activity can be done several different ways to allow for differentiation.

In the picture above you can see the sight word version of this activity. To prepare the activity take pictures of your students holding letters to spell sight words. Print the pictures on cardstock, laminate, cut, and then place on binder rings. I use the Rainbow Words program; this particular activity focused on the six words we were learning at the time. The students turn the cards and spell the words on their cookie trays using magnetic letters. I added a thematic picture to the cookie tray to make it fit with our theme. This activity is one of the all-time favorites in my classroom!

Using student pictures you can create activities to meet your students’ needs all year long:

Student Names: Take pictures of the students spelling their names. Students can then make their names and their friend’s names on cookie sheets using magnetic letters.
Upper to Lowercase Match: Take pictures of the students holding upper and lowercase letters and turn the pictures into cards. Have students match the upper to lowercase letters.
Alphabet in Order: Take a picture of each student holding one letter. If you have fewer than 26 students (and I hope you do!) then give some students an extra turn. Turn each letter into a card and have students practice putting the cards in order from A-Z. You can do this for both upper and lowercase letters. You can also use an alphabet strip and have students match the pictures to the strip.
Numbers in Order: Same idea as above only take pictures of the students holding numbers. Place Velcro on the back of each number card, laminate sentence strips, place Velcro on the strips and have students attach the numbers to the strip in order.
Power Points: You can use any of the ideas above and create Power Point presentations to show your students- fun!

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Spring Race to the Top Game

Anonymous — Sat, 26 Mar 2011 19:59:41 GMT

Race to the Top is a fun game that can be adapted for many different skills and levels. You can use these types of games to practice letter recognition, sight words, or even numbers. In the picture above you can see the Spring Alphabet Race to the Top game, in the picture below you can see the sight word version of the game.

To prepare this game use a pocket die as shown in the picture, or you can create your own for free using a small box. Select which letters, words, or numbers you want to use on your die and then write your selections on the flowers before you make copies. To record their answers students can use Do-A-Dot markers or crayons.

Race to the Top can be played in a small group or by an individual child. To play the game the students take turns rolling the die and recording their rolls on their sheet by placing a dot in the square or coloring it in with crayons. When a particular word, letter, or number has been rolled five times it reaches the top first and is declared the “winner”. I like this game because the students don’t compete against each other, the skills do. When a word wins I encourage the children to keep playing to see which one comes in second place, third place and so on.

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Spring Break Giveaway Winner

Anonymous — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 12:11:25 GMT

The winner of Karen’s Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus packet is Karen B! The winner was selected using an on-line random number generator. Thank you to everybody who entered, we had 228 entries. Stay tuned for another contest that is going to knock your socks off!

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Magnetic Valentine Sight Words

Anonymous — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 11:00:31 GMT

This Valentine themed activity for practicing sight words is super simple yet still tons of fun for little ones. You will need one magnetic cookie tray or other magnetic surface per child, paper Valentine hearts, tape, sight word cards, and magnetic letters. You could also have the students match upper to lowercase letters on the trays. The cookie trays in the picture above are from the Dollar Tree and the hearts are pages from a notepad. First, tape the hearts to the cookie trays, I laminated mine first for durability. Next, make one individual sight word ring per child with the words they are learning, details can be found on the sight word page. Finally, place the letters that correspond to the words in a small Ziploc bag, one bag per child. Each child at the table gets one magnetic cookie tray, a ring of sight words, and a bag of magnetic letters. Students will spell the sight words from the rings on their cookie tray.

In case you are wondering how I can find so many magnetic letters without going crazy I’ve included a picture of my magnetic letter storage container for you above; it’s a nuts and bolts container from Wal-Mart. Each drawer is assigned a different letter; using this storage container I can find the letters I need quickly.

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Valentine Card Sight Words

Anonymous — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 11:00:48 GMT

This is a highly engaging and fun activity to help your students practice their sight words during your Valentine’s Day unit. To create this game you will need several different types of student Valentine cards, a marker, envelopes, laminating film, and mini mailboxes or other containers. First, write one sight word on the back of each student Valentine card with your marker. I used white labels on the back of the cards because there were already words like “to” and “from” and I didn’t want the kids to get confused about which words they were looking for. Next, seal, laminate, and cut regular sized envelopes in half and write the same words on the front of each envelope half. Give each student in your small group a mini mailbox or container to hold their cards. Students will match their Valentine cards to the correct envelopes and place the matched pairs in their container.

I use the Rainbow Words program so the six words pictured above are our first six purple words. I also used five different types of Valentine cards and grouped them by set, the reason I did this was so that each child in the small group would have a different set of cards and they wouldn’t get them mixed up. For example, I placed six Spiderman cards in a Ziploc, six Strawberry Shortcake cards in another Ziploc etc. Each set of cards has the same six words on the back. Also, if they finish with their set they can trade with a friend for another set- they loved this idea; they wanted to keep playing until they had a turn to match all five of the sets.

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Valentine Syllables

Anonymous — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 11:00:54 GMT

This fun syllable game is always big hit with preschoolers and kindergarteners alike around Valentine’s Day. To create this activity you will need three Valentine mailboxes, a marker, construction paper hearts, a glue stick, and the 1, 2, and 3 syllable cards. I found the Valentine mailboxes pictured above at the Target Dollar Spot. First, write one number on each mailbox with your marker. Next, cut out one construction paper heart for each syllable picture. Cut and glue the syllable pictures to the hearts, then laminate for durability. Students will take turns selecting a card, identifying the picture and number of syllables in the word, then placing the card in the corresponding mailbox.

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Valentine Beginning Sounds

Anonymous — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 15:55:28 GMT

This is a fun activity to practice beginning sounds during your Valentine’s Day unit. To create this activity you will need Valentine containers, objects that begin with sounds your students are learning to identify, a marker, index cards, tape, and a paper bag. I found the Valentine buckets at the Target Dollar Spot. The objects pictured above are from the Lakeshore Letter Sound tubs. Select objects that begin with three different sounds and place them in a brown paper bag. Write the corresponding letters on index cards and tape to the front of the containers as pictured above. Students will take turns selecting objects from the paper bag, identifying the beginning sound, and placing the object in the correct container.

You could also use white paper bags with die-cut hearts attached to the front for containers.

If you have students who are second language learners make sure to introduce and name all the objects before playing the game.

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One More Story Giveaway

Anonymous — Sun, 28 Nov 2010 11:00:54 GMT

Clipped from: www.onemorestory.com (share this clip)

I was recently introduced to an on-line subscription service called One More Story. One More Story is an online library featuring the best of children’s classic and contemporary literature, including Caledcott Medal winners. Children can view the illustrations and listen to the books being read to them on the computer, you can read a sample book here. At One More Story pre-readers can hear and see a book read aloud to them while emerging readers can read it themselves, clicking on unknown words to hear them spoken. They offer a wide selection of popular children’s book titles such as Where’s My Teddy by Jez Alborough and Mouse Paint by Ellen Stoll Walsh, you can view the entire book list here.

One More Story has graciously offered to host a giveaway here at Pre-K Pages. One lucky reader will win a free, one year subscription for home or school use (one classroom only). To enter the giveaway follow the instructions below.

You have two chances to win, one entry for leaving a comment on the blog and one for tweeting about the giveaway.

Entry #1: Leave a comment on this blog describing which books from One More Story you would most like to use in your classroom or homeschool.
Entry #2: Tweet about the giveaway using this copy and paste phrase below:

Enter to win a free subscription to One More Story from @PreKPages http://bit.ly/hWkAda #ece #preschool #kindergarten

Details:

The contest ends at midnight on Sunday, December 5, 2010
One lucky winner will be chosen via Random.org and announced on the blog the following day.
The winner will have 7 days to claim their prize or another winner will be selected.
The giveaway is open to all classroom teachers, childcare providers, or homeschools.
The subscription is for use in one single classroom or one single homeschool. Sharing of individual subscriptions is strictly prohibited

Read our Disclosure Policy here. Pre-K Pages received no monetary compensation for this post.

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