Games and Activities

Homeschoolers and teachers will love this one, plus any of you word fiends will enjoy it as well. It is Synonyms from Lindergaff Publishing. How To Play The basic idea of the game is to name synonyms for words. Your points are earning each of the letters in the word SYNONYMS, the first one to spell it wins. It is a very simple idea, but more challenging than what you would think. Roll the … [Read more...]

Brrrr....winter is here and it’s cold outside!  What better way to bring winter fun into a warm classroom than reading a good story and then letting creative spirits take charge? This wintertime reading and writing activity, plus a little art thrown in, does exactly that. Materials needed: Frosty the Snowman plus one other book about snowmen - one students aren’t likely to be familiar … [Read more...]

Though grammar lessons are sometimes perceived as dry and boring, there is an abundance of fun activities to reinforce the lessons learned. For example, to reinforce and review adjectives and synonyms, teachers can incorporate poetry, specifically acrostic poems. When it comes to poetry, acrostic poems are perhaps the easiest to write. They don’t have to rhyme but it’s fine if they do and … [Read more...]

Once students have learned parts of speech such as nouns, verb forms, and adjectives, a fun and cumulative review can incorporate poetry – specifically diamante poems. A diamante poem is a poem consisting of seven lines that take the shape of a diamond.  It’s a poem about opposites where the first and last lines are nouns that convey different meanings. Here is an example of a … [Read more...]

If you’re a teacher working with students who are struggling to read, you know it can be a very frustrating experience for both you and the student.  And if you’re the parent of a struggling reader, you’re frustrated as well. You realize how important it is to develop a strong foundation in reading early on, but you may not know what to do to help. Though there isn’t a definitive … [Read more...]

Proficient readers understand that writers often tell more than they actually say with words. They give you hints or clues that allow you to draw conclusions from information that is implied. Using these clues to “read between the lines” and reach a deeper understanding of the message is called inferring. Students need to learn how to infer so that they can go below the surface details to … [Read more...]

As every teacher and parent knows, one of the most important milestones in a child’s life is learning to read. However, once they covered the crucial basics such as learning to decode words, it’s easy to forget they still have a ways to go before they become fluent readers. Reading comprehension is the next crucial step. This requires understanding and it comes only after students have … [Read more...]

Guided reading is a popular and highly effective strategy for helping students become proficient and masterful readers.  It’s one component of an overarching shared reading block and it’s power lies in providing strong support for small groups of beginning or struggling readers. During guided reading the teacher introduces reading strategies such as making predictions , using contextual … [Read more...]

Homophones, or homonyms, are words that sound alike but are spelled differently and have different meanings. For example, "toad" and "towed" are homophones. When it comes to student writing, they need to be able to distinguish the difference in meaning and choose the correct spelling of the word.  If they don’t,  their writing won’t make sense! No worries, though. Most students think … [Read more...]

When students learn to read and explore the written word, they quickly learn sentences do a lot of things.  They can ask a question, state a fact, deliver strong emotion, or make a command.  Every sentence type has its time and place, and learning the function and how to use it is essential for becoming a skilled reader and writer.  Unfortunately, students often become bored with grammar and … [Read more...]

Since declarative sentences are the most common sentence type found in literature, usually students quickly grasp their purpose and function.  Declarative sentences make a statement or provide a fact.  They always end in period.  Seems pretty simple, right? When teaching students about declarative sentences, teachers may want to share few examples similar to these: The Grand Canyon is … [Read more...]

If you could watch a student's writing progression from first grade through middle school, it might look something like this: "See Jane run." "See Jane run fast after the ball." "See Jane run as fast as lightening across the field after the ball." The last sentence contains a literary device known as a simile and it takes literal meaning to abstract expression.  Around the time … [Read more...]

For some students, independent reading is a time of joy and discovery.  For others...not so much.  Try as you might to get students to choose books that interest them, sometimes they simply have a hard time maintaining focus or relating to the characters.  It may be a matter of forgetting what they've read or connecting all the details in the plot. In any event, empathizing or connecting with … [Read more...]

When students are immersed in phonics and learn that each letter of the alphabet makes a sound (sometimes more than one!), it's time to move on to digraphs. Digraphs are two letters put together that make one sound. The most common digraphs are “sh,” “th,” and “ch.” Digraphs take learning phonics to the next level because students suddenly discover that two letters can blend together … [Read more...]

No matter how enthusiastic teachers are when it’s time for grammar lessons, it’s a sure bet he or she will be met with weary sighs from all corners of the classroom.  That’s why, as all smart teachers know, the best way to engage students in learning a “boring” topic is to spice things up with fun games or activities. Here is a fun activity for teaching or reinforcing the concept of … [Read more...]