Don't let the pigeon drive the bus! Printable vocabulary memory set.

Here are the additional materials that you can use after or while reading the book Don't Let The Pigeon Drive The Bus!

 These are some of the ways in which you can use the cards:

1. Hand the cards to your child ask them to spot the word in the book. 
2. Give them the Greek word and ask them to find the English one in the book. 
3. Play memory
4. Play Bang
5. Ask them to sort the words into three categories: verb, nouns or adjectives.
6. Rainbow write the words.
7. Write silly sentences.
8. Make word ladders.
9. Make a Word Wall

Sight Words Games : Memory Game and Loop Cards Printables

Dolch words are very important to a child learning to read. They are also very hard to teach, because they have to be identified by sight, hence their other names: sight words or high frequency words. Since they make up for the 70-80% of all english printed materials, they are a determining factor for success in reading, especially for beginner learners. 

The following printables are part of the Dolch Word set I have been posting for the past month. 

So go ahead, print, colour and laminate the cards and play with your child or use in class. It is simple, fast and effective. 

Dolch Words Memory Game

Digraphs Oral Practice

Here are some more fun ways to practice reading digraphs. I found hundreds of videos, so you can use these or find your own online. 

This one is from TurtleDiary.

Digraphs: th Printable Activity Trace and Play Cards

This is the tracing version of the set of words I posted earlier. Print and enjoy. You might want to print the rest of the activity pages.  For the rest of the pages and instructions on how to use them click here.

Teaching Digraphs: th voiced and voiceless Printable Activity

When it comes to phonics, digraphs are one of the most difficult things to teach. It takes alot of practice for a child to learn to identify them, then actually be able to understand the word meaning and finally read them. As teachers we sometimes forget the natural process that is required for our students to produce oral speech. We believe that since we taught something, it must immediately show in our students' output. As most of us know, this is not the case. It takes time and effort for new skills to be internalised to that point, that they can be used by our students.

More specifically, we tend to forget that practice does make perfect and that practice shouldn't necessarily mean controlled writing and reading activities. After discussing this with one of my students' parent, I decided to make a th digraph game to help my students grasp these difficult sounds. It also makes a great Sunday morning game that one can quickly make to play with one's child.  

Dolch Words Printable Memory Game Group 1b

This is the second group of the first 100 dolch words. Just print two sets of each page and colour them in with your child. Practice reading the words with them.

Play memory.

Play Bang!

Ask them to line them up in alphabetical order.

Give them a newspaper or book and ask them to find the dolch words in the text.

Make a word wall.

Ask them to use them in a sentence. (more advanced)

Dolch Words, Printable Memory Game Group 1a

Sight words, Fry words, high frequency words, dolch words. Call them what you might, sight words are very important for young learners when learning to read. According to linguists they enhance reading skills and fluency and give learners the confidence they need in the target language. The fact that they constitute up to 75% of any written text for children is indicative of their importance. For instance you will be surprised to hear that the ten most frequent words in English are the following:

1. the 

2. be 

3. to

4. of

5. and

6. a

7. in

8. that

9. have

10. I 

Alphabet Printable Board Games: Bang!

Another simple craft, easy to make and easy to play. I use it to teach the alphabet, vocabulary and irregular verbs to more advanced students. Come to think about it, the ways that one can use this game are endless.

Materials
1 box
paint 
markers
cutter
blank cards

Instructions

1. Paint the box whatever colour you like. 

2. Use your cutter to open a whole in the box. Decorate it whichever way you like. I made mine into another robot!

3. Prepare your cards. Print, colour and laminate the cards bellow.  You may also want to make your own cards just like I did for the first set I made.

Click on the pictures and save them to your computer in order to print. 

I made two sets, one for 2nd graders and one for 3rd. The first set includes words that the children have to recognise and read out loud. The second one includes more difficult tasks, like solving riddles, saying the alphabet by heart, remembering the days of the week or the months, etc. You can also use trivia questions or questions about a book you read with your child. 

Η Δραστηριότητα της Κυριακής

• Ο κάθε παίχτης τραβάει ένα φύλλο. Αν μπορεί να διαβάσει την κάρτα την κρατάει, αλλιώς την ξαναρίχνει στο κουτί. Αν τραβήξει κάρτα Bang! χάνει και όλες του οι κάρτες επιστρέφουν στο κουτί. 

• Για να κάνετε αυτό το παιχνίδι πιο δύσκολο, απλά προσθέστε κάρτες Bang! . 

• Για περισσότερες κάρτες που μπορείτε να χρησιμοποιήσετε με την κατασκευή αυτή ρίξτε μια ματιά στην κατηγορία Printables. 

DIY Literacy and Numeracy Games Tutorial

Alphabet Games: Easy DIY Games to Make and Play with your child!

Another school year has started and once again I found myself in need for some new literacy and numeracy manipulatives. I prefer making them myself instead of buying them for a number of reasons. To begin with, if I make them myself they are exactly what I want and what my students need. The next factor is affordability. Simple and cheap materials that can be replaced easily are the best and can be found in almost every household. Finally, I love crafting and the children like the fact that someone spent hours and hours making something for them. 

Above all children love to make things and use them to learn. They also love spending creative time with us. So find some time to play and create something with your child while helping them to learn and grow. 

Today I made two very simple game sets, one for teaching the alphabet (lower and upper case) and one for numbers 1-10. I used my Sizzix machine but if you don't have one, just use a circle punch or scissors. 

1. Alphabet Match

Materials:

• cardboard
• watercolours 
• permanent marker
• small box

Process:

1. Cut circles out of the cardboard. I cut 26 for the lower case letters and 26 for the upper case.

2. Using your permanent marker write down the letters of the alphabet on the circles.

3. Turn the circles the other way round and colour some of them red, some blue, some green and some yellow. 

4. Decorate your box to make it more appealing. I made mine  using a template I found online and decorated it with washi tape. 

Playing Instructions:

1. Ask your children to sort the circles into two piles, one for lower and one for upper case letters.

2. Ask them to order the letters from a to z or backwards. 

3. Ask them to match the upper case to the lower case letters. 

4. Ask them to pick a letter at random then find an object in the room that begins with it, or draw an item that begins with it. 

5. Ask the children to turn them colour face up and play memory. 

6. Ask the children to turn them colour face up and count the blue ones. Repeat for the rest of the colours. 

7. Use the circles for sequencing. 

2. Number Tower

Materials

• ten toilet roll tubes
• glue
• watercolours or decorative paper
• scissors
• permanent marker
• adhesive labels (optional)
• cardboard tags (many)
• nine cardboard circles (larger than the tube)

Process:

1. Paint or cover the toilet roll tubes with decorative paper.

2. Write the numbers 1-10 onto the adhesive labels and stick them on the tubes. 

3. Write the numbers on the tags, or just use dots to represent them. I also pierced holes onto some of them for a Montessori touch! 

Playing instructions:

1. The children line up the tubes from one to ten.

2. They tower up the tubes using the cardboard disks in between each tube for stability. 

3. Sorting Game: The children pick a cardboard tag, count the dots or read the number and place it into the correct tube. 

Printable Alphabet Games: Memory Letter Tiles

Summer time may be here, but many people will not be able to go on holiday this year. Our children need simple things to make them happy. Sometimes even a printer and a handful of markers will do. What is more a game that you will make and play with your children is even better. Take the time to make the following printable alphabet game with your child and play with them. It is easy, cheap to make, it is portable and above all educational. 

It is a classic Memory game. The ways that one can use the following printable are many. Here are a few ideas:

1. Memory

Print, colour and laminate the following photos.  Cut each of the letter tiles and place them in a box or bag, so as not to loose them. To play, place all the letter tiles face down. Ask your child to pick one tile at the time and try to match the letters by remembering where they saw the matching letter. Since the tiles include both lower and upper case letters, you can also play around with that: ask the children to match only the lower case or the upper case letters. There are many variations to this one. For more ways to use the letter tiles read the first page of the printable. 

2. Learning Centre

This printable can also be used as a learning centre. It is ideal for homeschooling and classroom purposes. Print, colour and laminate as instructed above, place the letter tiles in a box. Use plastic cups or bowls and use the tiles as alphabet manipulatives. Ask the children to short them, by placing all the A's together, all the B's together and so on.

Variations:

a. Ask them to find the letters to spell their name as many times as possible.

b. Write down a few words, like man, can, fan, and pan. Ask the children to find the letters and form the words you wrote.

c. Ask the children to find all the vowels or all the consonants. 

d. Ask the children to make complete alphabet chains.

e. Randomly pick a handful of tiles. Ask the children to organise the tiles alphabetically.

As you can see the possibilities are endless, so will be the joy of making a simple game and playing with your child. Give it a go!
If you have any ideas that you would like to see as a printable here, please let me know and I will do what I can. 

You might also like:

Printable Memory Game 

Alphabet Games: Printable Alphabet Loop Cards

Printable Memory Game

I have been asked to make a printable memory game a few times. Today I finally came around to it. 

Remember that I use these materials for my lessons and not for commercial purposes. Feel free to save and print the photographs to use at home. 

You might also like:

Printable Alphabet 
Memory Game