I Spy

Everyone knows the game “I Spy” where one player says “I Spy something….” and names something specific in the area and the other player has to find it.

Well, I am going to put a Phonemic Awareness spin on it which just means that I am going to make it a listening activity where your little one is listening to the “play on words” to identify the object.

If you read the post “What is Phonemic Awareness?” then you know that there are three phases to this game because there are three different skills to be mastered.

PHASE ONE:
First you are going to play the game by focusing on the parts in the words. So you will say “I Spy a pic -(pause) ture”
This is to get your little one to focus on putting syllables together to hear a word.
If you are confident that your little one can hear and combine syllables then move on to phase Two. If not, practice this game a little each day in different locations.

Phase Two:
This time you are going to focus on the initial sound and the rest of the word so you are isolating a sound but you are still including the bigger chunk of the word.
So you are going to say “I spy a /p/ – /en/”

Phase Three:
Finally, you are going to focus on segmenting all the sounds so that your child has to listen carefully to figure out the word.
If your child cannot figure out the first two simple words PLEASE don’t force it, spend some time working on the earlier skills first.
So you will say, “I spy a /p/ – /e/ – /n/”

This entire activity is meant to build your child’s familiarity with sounds in spoken language, but make sure you have fun with it. Give a pep talk “Let’s play I Spy, it is a fun guessing game, but I’m going to be tricky and hide the word I Spy. I wonder if I will stump you.”

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Letter Order

I over-heard some moms talking about teaching their child to write his/her name before a screening test and I couldn’t help but give an idea for this. If your child is capable of writing their first name, you can also do this same activity with their middle/last name, OR with simple words like sight words your child’s grade level may require that they learn.

In earlier posts I have tracing activities for children to practice writing their names, but this activity is a simple way to jog their memory recall and order their thinking.

1. I want you to search your house for some magnetic letters, foam bath letters, puzzle piece letters, or any loose alphabet pieces you can find.

*If you don’t have any letters or enough to make up their name, you can type their name in large font, print it onto cardstock (so it will be sturdy), and cut it apart.

2. Invite your child to play a game with their name!

3. Write the child’s name on a sheet of paper and go with the letters in front of you ask your child to name and find each letter and put it aside. (This step can be skipped if you had to print your child’s name from your computer).

3. Place these letters (the letters that make up your child’s name) into a brown bag or a small container. Shake it up to mix all the letters (lor shuffle them by throwing them in the air and flipping them over wherever they land).

4. Show your child how to put their name (or whatever word you choose) in order.

5. Put the letters back in the bag, shake again and this time put the letters in order WITH your child.

6. Finally, repeat but allow your child to attempt this on their own.

****Another activity extension is to place ALL the letters in a bag to shuffle and place the letters in ABC order.

Below is an example of the name and sight word letter order activity. I used post it notes and a black marker.

       

And don’t forget to make learning fun!

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Counting Practice

I often stress the imporance of teaching counting first when working on math skills, before moving on to other number sense activities.  So, this morning I wanted to provide a counting activity for all of those parents in need of more ideas. 

I LOVE children’s books because it is such a great way to introduce a concept.  Books are so great for children because they have such great illustrations to provide visual cues. 

SO the first aspect of this activity is to read a counting book (order one or go to the library and pick up a few).  Modify this activity depending on the book you choose, but this is the way I recommend: 1) Read 2) Practice in a hands-on way 3)Practice by drawing/recording.

My example for today’s activity is “Mouse Count” by Ellen Stoll Walsh.

Read the book with emphasis, counting the mice with your child, “1,2,3…”, at each opportunity.

After reading the book, find a jar, cup, tupperware, or anything that you could pretend is the jar in the book.  Then find mice cat toys, rubber mice, or use ANY kind of counter (cubes, marbles, etc.) that you could pretend are the mice in the book.  Practice counting out “mice” one at a time as you place them in the “jar.”

Now that you have read and shared in a hands-on reinactment of the story, if your child is ready, you are going to draw “mice” (or circles) for each numbered jar on the handouts attached. When they finish, cut along the table lines, put them in order (with your child) and staple them together to make a book 🙂

Counting Jars 1-4

Counting Jars 5-8

Counting Jars 0,9,10

If your child is not ready for the structure of the handout, give him/her a blank sheet of paper and show them a page of the book and see if they can represent one part of the story (one number).  Sometimes you have to start off SLOW, one number at a time.

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Creative Writing Beginnings

 

One of my favorite Kindergarten teachers to observe incorporates writing activities into her daily routine.  Anything that sparks her students interest in group time is usually followed by “Ooo, let’s go write about it!”  She has her students sit down and with crayons and pencils express their thoughts.  This can really produce a wide array of results, but it is a great way to get them engaged with the writing process.

So much of creative writing is mapping out our ideas and passions and spending time revising it to make a completed work.  So, at these early stages, one of the most important creative writing activities you can do with your child is to allow them to swell up with excitement about something and express it on paper.

It may initially look like scribbles and chaos, but over time, your little one will pay attention to details and will heed instruction about shapes and formations that you are teaching through various activities.

So, for today’s activity….I want you to inspire your creative writer by taking him/her to a special place: a park with fun structures, a pond to feed the ducks, the campus mascot’s cage, the zoo, a museum, a creek in your neighborhood, or anywhere you can think of (even your backyard will do) to observe and record.

You will need a clipboard of sorts (or a hard book), but children feel so official with a clipboard.  You will need not one, but two clipboards because you will be recording too.  You will need paper, a ziploc bag of pencils, colored pencils, or crayons, and you will need an imagination (because your kid already has one).

Give your child 10-15 minutes (more, depending on their attention span) to observe all the things of interest in the area.  And then (with excitement in your voice) ask them to join you to write/draw all about this place so you can SHOW your family back home where you went.  Tell them you want to “take a picture” of the moment and without a camera you need to draw it.

This can be a daily activity.  You can just go on a stroll and when your child gets excited about it, pull out the clipboards, plop right down on the grass, and draw away!

Writing

As always, Have fun!

***Look in my “must haves” on the sidebar for some fun learning clipboard ideas.

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More On Compound Words

Now remember, just because my title says “compound words,” doesn’t mean that your little one will know what a compound word is.  We are just teaching our children the content at this point….not the vocabulary.  We are teaching them age-appropriate oral language skills.

So, that being said, today we are going to give our children more practice playing with words because if you have read some of my other reading posts you know that “playing with words” and other listening activities will help your little one become more and more skilled in hearing and distinguishing that words are made up of sounds.

Today I want you to print the document I have made, cut out the pictures, and first READ all the names of the pictures to your child a few times.  Then see if they can tell you the names of the pictures.  This is an oral language warm-up.

Now, I want you to show your little one that if you put two pictures together it might make a new word, but that word can be a real word or a silly word.  Give them examples and tell them why because you have to model the activity before you ask them to try.

Let your child determine if the new word is real or silly, but be there to support their thinking for the answer -right or wrong.  Meaning, praise them if they are right, but if they are wrong always preface your correction with “No, but that was good thinking or a good try.”

You will write their answers on the real/silly recording sheet to model writing the new words 🙂

Picture Combo

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