Word-Making Activities for the Primary Grades
It’s true—when students routinely engage in word making and word analysis, the result is measurable growth in essential language skills.
Here are activities of various difficulties to enrich your word work. Begin by writing each letter of Thanksgiving on large autumn-colored letter cards and place them in a pocket chart or chalk tray to spell Thanksgiving.
Mix the letters. Students take turns respelling Thanksgiving. If necessary, provide a model word for students in order to reposition the letters.Randomly distribute the letters of
Thanksgiving among students. Ask them to work as a team to respell Thanksgiving.Ask students to find small words inside Thanksgiving (thank, thanks, than, in, an, giving).
Then they write sentences using the little words. Repeat the activity with current words from across the curriculum (mathematics: mat, math, at, the, he, them, I).
Use the letters in Thanksgiving to spell small words (e.g., sting, thin, hats, kings, skin, giant, asking, knight, visit, saving, having, ninth, sink, taking, thing). List students’ words on a chart. Later, conceal the words for students to recall and write. Next, reveal the words for self-checking.Discuss
Thanksgiving as a compound word. Post a chart, Compound Words We Know. Beside it, place colorful sticky notes. Then students begin a compound Word Find. They write each compound they discover on a sticky note and stick it to the chart. Later, you write the words on the chart with a marker. Small groups can take turns reading the compounds. Play a deletion activity with the compound words—for example, say Thanksgiving without giving. Later, cut the chart to form two words from each compound. Place the words in a basket in your literacy center for students to pair to make compound words.
Underline Thanks in Thanksgiving. Have students write a thank-you note to a friend. After pairing for proofreading, students deliver their note.
Source: Spelling Words and Spelling Practice for Thanksgiving (Newsletter for Rebecca Sitton’s SOURCEBOOK Series for Teaching Spelling and Word Skills for Grades 1–8)
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