Literacy

Spring Themed Word Sort

When Andrew was younger, it became obvious that sitting at the kitchen counter to practice school work or therapy words was not going to be easy or fun, for either of us! That is one of the main reasons for coming up with My Obstacle Course. We needed something different and one of the things that I realized right away was how easy it was to turn basic skills he was working on into easy games or sorts. These sorts also allowed him to show what he knew without needing to be intelligible. I was able to reinforce his teachers and also challenge him where he was academically. Turning something like working on long vowel patterns into a game or a sort like this makes it so much more fun.

My Obstacle Course Station Activity: Sort the words according to their vowel pattern.

The picture shows this station activity during a March/Spring themed Obstacle Course. Doesn’t it look so much more appealing than the usual ways to practice spelling patterns? I think so, and more importantly, so does Andrew! The task is clear and he knows that once he is done, we get to move on. He’s not going to be stuck there for an unknown amount of time practicing something he may or may not care about. There is a purpose to this, sort the words into the correct pail, which makes motivating him so much easier.

P1000804 — My Obstacle Course Station Activity: Long Vowel Sorting (-ay, -ai-, -a-e)

Putting The Station Activity Together:

I wrote out words that had the long /a/ patterns he was working on (words like pail, rain, lane, gave, day, ray, etc.) on calendar cutouts and also provided cutouts with the vowel patterns on them as labels to show where they go. This could be done with uppercase or lowercase letters for letter recognition, or any vowel/spelling pattern that your child is working on (here is a link to a page of vowel patterns).
If you don’t have cutouts or don’t want to use them, any paper, index cards or post-it notes work well.
I used some spring colored pails from Target so he would have a place to sort the words into.Â This also helps me because after he sorts them and before we move on, we go through each pail’s words, read them out loud together and I can double-check to make sure they were all correctly sorted.

What To Do At The Station:

When they get to the station, point out the vowel pattern labels and say the sound the pattern makes. Flip over the first card in the pile, say the word and find the pattern the word uses. Place the card into the pail that is labeled with the pattern. Continue until all of the words have been sorted. If you’d like to add a challenge, hold the cards, say the word and have them spell it out loud or place it in the correct pail without looking at the word. If they don’t get it correct, put it back in the pile or show it to them, point out the vowel pattern and place it in the correct pail.

P1000805 — The word "pail" sorted into the "-ai-" bucket.

This activity doesn’t take much time to make or set up at all, just a little planning and prep work. It really is such a simple thing however it is helping your child build academic skills while also allowing you to engage and encourage them in a fun way.

Engage, Encourage and Empower!

March Themed Memory Match

P1000789 — My Obstacle Course Station Activity: March Themed Memory Match

This is a super easy March Themed Memory Match game to make. I used some shamrock shaped calendar cutouts and some St. Patrick’s Day themed stickers (I usually use colored index cards cut in half but grabbed these because I needed something quick and easy and these fit the bill perfectly!).

I know that I have said this before, but this game is great because it provides you with an easy way to work on basic game playing skills, such as turn taking, while also building vocabulary, strategy and concentration/memory skills!

You could use any kind of thematic stickers you want (They don’t have to be St. Patrick’s themed. Our teacher supply store has lots of different stickers ranging from letters, ladybugs, transportation or sports.) Spelling or vocabulary words could also be incorporated by writing them on the cutouts. The only thing you have to do is make a matching pair. Super easy!

You can find the link to my original “How To” post on how to make a Thematic Memory Match here.

Engage, Encourage and Empower!

Sentence Strips

Sentence strips are strips of lined paper, usually colored, that are used in classrooms to build literacy skills. They can be found in teacher supply stores or online (You can google sentence strips or click here for a link to Teacher Heaven where I got mine.)

P1030472 — Front and back of sentence strips.

As a classroom teacher I would use them to write out sentences provided by the students for our “daily news.” Afterwards we would go back and read what we had written, find words that had certain beginning sounds, words that rhymed, locate proper nouns and verbs. This was such an easy and natural way to incorporate literacy skills with sentences that the children could relate to. Once I began doing My Obstacle Courses with Andrew, I realized that I could do something similar with Andrew by incorporating the same idea into station activities.

Building sentences

When I began working with Andrew on putting words together to form complete sentences, I thought it would be best to write about things that he was doing or had done that day. I felt that keeping it extremely relevant to his world would help him figure out if it made sense. I wrote a sentence, cut apart the words and set them out. At first, I placed the first few words out so all he’d have to do was finish it. Eventually he would look at the words, think about what it could say and then placed them together to form a sentence.

P1030529 — My Obstacle Course Station Activity: Put the words back in order to make a sentence.

Once the sentence is complete, I can ask him to find words, find words that begin with a certain letter or sound and point out punctuation at the end of the sentence. If your child is working on nouns, pronouns or verbs, you could also incorporate those skills!

Does The Meaning Change?

I also used a version of this to work on pronouns. I would write a sentence and then we would place different pronouns over his name to see how the sentence changed, sometimes the meaning stayed the same, sometimes it changed.

P1030477 — My Obstacle Course Station Activity: Read the sentence. Add the word cards to see if the meaning of the sentence changes.

P1030480 — Replacing "I" with "You" in the sentence.

P1030479 — "Andrew" replacing "I" in the sentence.

(*My apologies for the photos – couldn’t seem to get the lighting figured out with the yellow sentence strips!)

It doesn’t take long to create a sentence that can help your child build and reinforce literacy skills they are ready for. In my experiences while teaching and with Andrew, children like to read about things that are either about them, something they have done or something they are going to do. Because you are doing this with your child, in your home, all of the sentences can be about them! It makes it relevant and purposeful as well as easier to figure out once they hear the words and start thinking, “Oh wait! I know what this could be!!” Those are great moments to witness, with the little smirk on their mouth and an intense look on their face as they work to figure out the correct order of the words.

I have some other ways I have used sentence strips in My Obstacle Courses with Andrew and will share those in future posts!Â Thank you for allowing me to share with you!!

Engage, Encourage and Empower!

Enchanted Learning

Enchanted Learning is one of my favorite websites to find thematic materials and ideas to use in My Obstacle Courses. I began using the site years ago while teaching because they have thematic materials for multiple grade/age levels and all academic areas. The information and activities areÂ well organized and have great information for children to are ready to do research (click here for an example of their resource material).

While there is some free material for those who would like to check it out first, I have a membership because it gives me access to a greater amount of printable materials, including some basic books I used with Andrew to work on counting, reading and coloring.

A lot of times, I will print out a page and cut it apart to fit the activity I am doing. It doesn’t take long to glue pictures to a calendar cutout, thematic notepad sheet or index card in order to make it colorful, sturdy, and kid-friendly!

Here are some ways I have used material from this site:

My Obstacle Course Station Activity: Clothesline Clipping the Picture with the Word Name

Picture/Vocabulary matchup on thematic note paper.

My Obstacle Course Station Activity: Connect the Dots to Match Up the Picture with the Word Name

Working on connecting the dots to match up pictures with their names. (School readiness skill)

My Obstacle Course Station Activity: Sort the Pictures by Beginning Sounds

I printed out the pages of the beginning sound we were working on (click here to see page), cut out the pictures that began with those sounds and then mixed them up. I got some cute little file folders at the teacher store, wrote one letter on each folder and placed out the folders for the letters we were doing. We would say the name of the picture and decide which beginning sound it had and place it into the correct folder. This really allowed me to see which sounds he was hearing and because all of the pictures were stored in the folders, it was so easy to mix and match letters/sounds in other Obstacle Courses. This also helped build his vocabulary and picture recognition because some of the things were new or looked different on paper.

My Obstacle Course Station Activity: Look at the Pictures and Count “How Many”

If you are looking for thematic ideas or materials to incorporate academic skills into your station activities, I encourage you to check out this site!

Note: I have no affiliations with Enchanted Learning, I just really like what they offer!

Engage, Encourage and Empower!

Dr. Seuss’ Birthday

Dr. Seussâ€™ Birthday is coming up on March 2nd and every year I am reminded of a story one of my kindergartener’s parents told me. She had been living in California at one point in time and had the opportunity to go to Dr. Seuss’ house and he would sit in a rocking chair with his “Cat in the Hat” hat on and read his books to whomever came to listen. How great would that have been!! I was just trying to see if there was any information online about this and while there wasn’t, I did learn that he did not have any children of his own. When asked about this he would respond, “You have ’em; I’ll entertain ’em.” Love that!

Last year at this time, I decided that incorporating some Dr. Seuss activities in My Obstacle Courses would not only allow me to reinforce something he was doing in school, it also gave me a great opportunity to work on other skills.

My Obstacle Course Station Activity: Peel and Stick to Make the Same

I found some Dr. Seuss stickers at the teacher store and used them in a “Make the Same” station activity to work on visual discrimination and also the fine motor skill of peeling and sticking the stickers in the right order.

My Obstacle Course Station Activity: Read Aloud and Listen For Rhyming Words

P1000798 — Dr. Seuss Book - Green Eggs and Ham

P1000884 — Dr. Seuss Book - The Foot Book

Reading a Dr. Seuss book outÂ loud or having your child read is a great station activity to incorporate reading skills like listening, comprehension (understanding what is read), and fluency (oneâ€™s reading rate, use of punctuation for pauses and also using expression). If your child is reading, I suggest taking turns with books like this, which can be long. The goal of this is to practice reading skills in a fun way, not to tire them out.

Children who struggle with reading tend to use up a great deal of “energy” decoding the words they are reading, leaving them less able to answer questions about what is happening in the story (comprehension issue). This is why it is important to stop and point out what is happening in the story. Talking through stories helps to keep them engaged in what is going on and to see the purpose of reading as an enjoyable activity and/or a way to get information, not just to get through a bunch of words so they can move on.

My Obstacle Course Station Activity: Rhyming Word Read and Sort (using rhyming words from Dr. Seuss book)

Choose a Dr. Seuss book and go through to see what rhyming words are used. Write down the word endings and rhyming words on calendar cutouts or index cards for the child to read and sort. (Click here for my post on word family/rhyming word sorts.)

Dr. Seuss’ “Seussville” Website Link:

Here is a link to the Dr. SeussÂ Suessville website (I turned down my volume because the music while loading is a bit much 🙂 ) where there are games and activities that you may want to use with your child.

These are really easy and basic ways to reinforce something your child may be learning about in school into My Obstacle Courses. I love doing this because Andrew always gives me a look like, “I’m doing that in school and YOU know about it too?” This doesn’t just apply to Dr. Seuss but can be done with any theme, skill or concept you may find on the teacher to parent home letter.

Engage, Encourage and Empower!

See and Spell Puzzles

Thanks To My Obstacle Course, Another Toy Saved From The Island (Or Closet) Of Unused Toys!

I got this great set of Melissa and Doug See and Spell puzzles to help with letter recognition and introduce word building with Andrew when he was around four. He wasn’t really interested in it until I began using it as a My Obstacle Course station activity with him and then he was hooked! We would talk what the picture showed, the letters that made up the word and the sounds the letters make. It was also great for me to see him needing a certain letter, like a “b” and watch as he would pull out a “d” and try to get it to fit. I could then point out that even though they kind of look the same, they were different letters. I would help him find the “b” so we could compare and contrast them and see which one fit. It may seem really basic becauseÂ the puzzles have the letters cut out and labeled, but he still needed to find the correct ones to make the word.

P1030515 — Melissa and Doug Wooden Word Puzzle

My Obstacle Course Station Activity: Find The Letters To Make The Word

This is super easy to set up and allows your child to be part of creating a word without the worry of having to spelling it on their own. I would choose one or two puzzles for a station activity and depending on your child’s letter recognition skills, set out only the letters needed for the word or set out a bunch of letters for them to locate the correct ones.

P1030524 — The station set up with letters provided in the correct order.

P1030523 — The station set up with letters provided but not in order.

P1030525 — Match up the letters so they fit in the space provided.

P1030527 — Letters in and the word spelled!

Even though this may seem like such a simple thing, it is a quick and easy station activity to see where your child is with letter recognition and also how they apply those skills. Even though Andrew is a good speller and hasn’t used this toy in a long time, I held onto it so I could share it here and with parents who are working on these skills. I had forgotten about it until Andrew found it in my office the other day (he loves getting in there with all of the My Obstacle Course supplies and goodies 🙂 ) and put them all together. He was so proud of himself and was clearly having a great time! It reminded me that sometimes he does enjoy doing things that don’t have power buttons and it was so nice to see!!

Engage, Encourage and Empower!

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