Making Words

Making words is one of my favorite activities to do in the classroom.  It's perfect for a variety of levels and you can use it with literally anything.  If you don't know what it is then you might want to check out one of these books below... awesome buy.  I promise you'll use it.  I have the second grade one.


I use this activity every other week in my EFL classes because it gets them thinking about what words they already know in English.  Here's how we used it last week:

1.  I adapted this sheet below to say 'happy valentines day' on the bottom.  You can't see my lines very well because I copied it too lightly... :(

  

Tip:  Draw a straight line in the bottom of your boxes if you have kiddos who will mix up P's with D's and U's with N's.  They'll know which way the letters are supposed to face.  

2.  I made enough copies for my kiddos.

3.  When I introduced it, I modeled how to do the activity... cut apart the letters, made blends we've learned, added vowels, etc. until I had made a few short words.  I also wrote my words down.

4.  When I handed it out they got right to work and it took them about 25 minutes to get 20 words.

5.  I made a grid on the whiteboard and invited each student to come up and write 3 words they made... not duplicating words that were already written.  They're o.b.s.e.s.s.e.d. with writing on the board.  I mean obsessed.  So, the ending was their favorite.

There are tons of ways to adapt this activity.  It can be done as whole group, small group, partner work, centers (after they've done it once before), etc.  You can make paper letter tiles each time or use some you already have.  I used little plastic letter tiles when I had this as a cernter.  You can choose any word (6 or more letters works best) and it's easy to make it relate to your current unit of study.  Studying animals?  Use the word animal!  You can even use a phrase... "we love animals."  More words that way!

I even use it with my high school EFL students.  It's great for any English language learner... gets them thinking about all the English words they already know.  I put a minimum letter count so they avoid writing down a ton of short easy words.

Sites to generate lists of words that can be made from a specific word:

ScrabbleFinder.com (up to 12 letters)

WordSolver.net (up to 15 letters)

Wordplays (up to 16 letters)

Wordles (up to 30 letters)

I posted all of the adaptable sheets I use on TPT fo $2.  You'll get a zip file with...

14 recording sheets (similar to the one above, but different styles for various needs

5 different word/letter strips to adapt before copying

1 workmat for the kids (I laminated a few to use when I do this as a center)

Here's a FREE download so you can check one of the sheets out.  This one has adaptable boxes at the bottom.  Just write your letters, copy for students, and they will just cut the strip off the bottom.  :)

Happy weekend everyone!

{ashley}lllllllllllllll