Reading

Mystery Letter Game

When I am working with beginners on reading simple books, I like to do letter-sound warm ups like today’s activity. But this activity can also be done without a book in hand, just by using your surroundings.

I would simply use an alphabet spinner like the one below, a scattergories dice, or a grab bag of letters (or ABC flash cards) and just have the little ones stick their hand in the bag and pull out a letter….so any of these 3 materials will do.

Then depending on what letter is chosen, ask the little one to name the letter, the sound and to find something in their book that starts with that sound….it can be a word or a picture, but for beginner readers it is better for them to find a picture because then your little one will learn the strategy to use the picture clues to help them figure out the words in a book.

This game can also be played by having your little one look around the room for something that starts with the letter-sound chosen.

June 15, 2011 by Jessica | 0 comments

A Puppet for Every Letter of the Alphabet

When I teach little ones the alphabet or awareness of the sounds for each letter of the alphabet, I like to incorporate visuals that can represent the letter – like stuffed animals, puppets, or dolls. Each week that I focused on a different letter I had a stuffed animal or puppet as a mascot for the letter all week. I would use the puppet to speak for me: “______ do you see anything that starts with the /_/ sound?” or the puppet would “help me” introduce the letter by telling the little ones how to make the letter, how to make the letter sound, how to match the uppercase letter to the lower, and how to find things that started with the letter-sound by using the puppet as a clue.

When using a puppet/stuffed animal as a tool, it is easy to grab the attention of a child….even if you feel silly at first. It also pays off in the long run because it really helps your little one to recall information about the letter and letter-sound based on the memory of the puppet you used to teach about it. You can write a letter on a small blank card and attach it to the stuffed animal or not. It can be simple or a little more detail-oriented, but just use your resources and take it one letter at a time.

Initiate the stuffed animal letter awareness by stating something simple like: did you know that your doll’s name starts with the letter “s” and it stands for the sound /s/ like silly, spots, stripes, and soda? What other things in our house start with the same sound as Samantha? Maybe Samantha can help us find some other things that start with “s.”

I used a sock puppet snake with some stripes and spots glued to the top as my “s” puppet, because I was given a set of puppets based off of the awesome oldschool books:

They have stories full of alliteration made up about each puppet and DIY puppet making tutorials as well. “Alphabet Stories” is printables. “Alphabet puppets” is for all you crafty people who like to sew.

But, you know you….just do what you can do 🙂

June 8, 2011 by Jessica | 0 comments

Rhyming Riddles

Today’s skill is a continuation of all your little one has learned about rhyming from past posts, but the skill also works with manipulating the beginning sound in the rhyming words. So this is a great rhyming activity for your little ones who are ready for a challenge.

You are going to explain to your little one that you are going to give them rhyming riddles to solve. Tell him/her that you are going to ask them that rhymes with a word that starts with a certain sound. For example:

Mommy Teacher: Is there a word that rhymes with punch but starts with /b/? *Dont forget that when you see letters with // you make the letter SOUND.

Make sure to give your little one 3-5 seconds of wait time. Repeat one more time. Then prompt them with the answer (bunch)

1. Think of a word that rhymes with silly but starts with /ch/. (chilly)

2. Think of a word that rhymes with ton but starts with /r/. (run)

3. Think of a word that rhymes with bunny but starts with /f/. (funny)

4. Think of a word that rhymes with way but starts with /d/. (day)

5. Think of a word that rhymes with ball but starts with /t/. (tall)

6. Think of a word that rhymes with fake but starts with /l/. (lake)

Come up with more riddles on your own specific to the skills you are currently working on with your little one!

After rhyming with the words funny and bunny I couldn’t help but use this picture of my sister from 1987/88. I mean, she’s eating a carrot! And it was NOT Halloween or Easter either.

May 26, 2011 by Jessica | 0 comments

Make a Little Book

If your little one knows ALL of their letters, upper and lower, and has demonstrated a lot of the reading skills that shows you that he/she is ready for books, then you can actually start making books and teaching him/her “sight words.” Sight words are common words in books that you want your little ones to know at first sight. I called them “heart” words because I told the kids I wanted them to know the words by heart. Whatever you call them, you can start teaching your little ones words to memorize and then give your little one practice by reading the new word in a SIMPLE book.

Here is what I mean by a SIMPLE book:
The book will only have about two words per page. The first word will be the same on EVERY page, and the second will be the word for the picture on the page.
So your first page might say “The cat” with a picture of a cat, and then “The dog” on the next page with a picture of a dog.

This is so that you can teach your little one the word “the” before you read the book and then ask them to figure out what the next word on the page is using some clues:
What sound does the word start with? What word tells about the picture? Does the word make sense with the theme of the book? (animals, pets, etc)

Casey with Kidspired Creations shared the book that she made with her son called “The Pets.”
Her son is reading the word “the” and sounding out the second word, but not all children will be able to sound out the second word just yet. That skill is a product of practicing other reading skills.
Here is the book that Casey made:

And here is her description of the book:

“The Pets.
the dogs.
the cat.
the frog.
the pig.
the bug.
the duck.
the pets.

CVC words, sight word “the”, 2 plural words and one “ck”, /k/ sound.”

For More on Mini Book Reading Readiness, Read:
When Can I Start With Little Books

And Little Books For Your Little Ones to Read

May 10, 2011 by Jessica | 1 Comment

Easter Egg Match

Today I have a cost-efficient activity for all of you frugal moms who are gearing up for Easter and have one too many plastic eggs lying around.

The only materials you will need are the plastic eggs that break apart and a sharpie or other permanent marker. You can also use a dry-erase marker if you want to be able to change what you write on the eggs, but this wipes off easily when handling. If you don’t have any plastic eggs you can find them for super-cheap at The Dollar Tree, Walmart, and almost anywhere around Easter-time. But if I had to guess, some of you saved some eggs in an Easter box from last year because you didn’t want to throw them away.

Take those eggs and write a capital letter on the top half of the egg and a matching lower case letter on the bottom half of the egg. There are two games you can play with your little ones:

The first is to separate all the halves and mix them up and ask them to find the matching letters and connect the eggs.

The second is to fill the eggs with candy or objects around the house that start with that letter. For example, I put a candy egg in the letter “E” egg.

You can vary this activity in many ways to make it age-appropriate for your child: Casey shared the idea to place a letter on the top half of the egg, turn it and write another letter, turn it and write another letter. Then, write a word ending at the bottom half to see how many words they can make by turning the top half of the egg (c-at, b-at). Or, you can even write names on the egg and have your child write someone a tiny note and stick it inside of the egg to deliver it to them as an Easter surprise. Be creative and have fun!

April 15, 2011 by Jessica | 1 Comment

The Mommy Teacher