Word Sort with Beads

We do a lot of word sorts, which are great for ESL students and help with discriminating between words and reading visually similar patterns.  This week we were working on sn and sw words.  We did two different activities using our beads, a listening activity and then a visual identification activity.

For the listening activity, each student had two beads, a blue for words beginning with sw and a green bead for words beginning with sn.  I read down their list of words, and for each word, they would put the corresponding bead on the desk.

For example, the word snail, they would put a green bead down, for swim, a blue bead, and so on.

The second part of the lesson, they had the word list and seven green beads and seven blue beads.  They would place a bead over each beginning blend.  It is easy, quick, minimal preparation and minimal clean up!

Sight Word Path

When teaching and/or reviewing sight words, sometimes we use a sight word path (this also works well in the hallway).  I write the sight words on index cards and place them on the floor, the kids walk the path reading the sight words aloud (it's great to laminate them first for reuse).  If you have a group of kids, you can have one child go until they misread a word and then stop and the next child starts and so on.  
The can also walk the path with a clipboard and record certain words (like all the words beginning with 'c,' etc).  There are many variations, including integrating laying them out and collecting them into the reading of them, hopping, pointing with a yard stick, or taping them down for extended use.

Clouds

We read a few cloud books and followed up with painting clouds.  This activity can be used for younger children with creating clouds and developing fine motor skills, or with older children studying weather and cloud types.  It's also a great way to paint snow or snowmen!


 

The cloud book we started with was Little Cloud by Eric Carle.  We read the book out loud a few times and then created our own clouds on blue construction paper.  To create our cloud mixture, I mixed equal parts liquid glue (such as Elmer's) and shaving cream.  It forms a sticky, fluffy substance (great for developing oral language and discussion) that can be painted/sponged/finger painting/foam brushed onto paper.  It will dry almost as puffy paint, in a textured, raised bubble, depending on how much is applied.  The children then wrote a story about a cloud.

Various clouds by kindergarteners.

This activity is also perfect for the Cloud Book, by Tomie De Paola and creating each type of cloud.

Eric Carle's Rooster's Off to See the World

After reading Rooster's Off to See the World, we made mini books with the animals who traveled with Rooster.  The children had pre-drawn animals to cut and glue in their books and then they labeled each one to practice their numbers and words.  Some children choose to write sentences on each page. 

The children then painted watercolor roosters for the covers of their mini books.

Materials:  pre-made mini books, stapler, staples, pencils, glue sticks, images of animals for students to cut, watercolors, brushes, cups of water