As I have said before, summertime learning is very important. Are you looking for a fun summertime activity to help reinforce spelling, reading, and vocabulary skills? I have one that can be done pretty much any time and any place. Get a piece of paper and put a word or phrase on the top. Then, have your children see how many words they can create using only the letters in that word or phrase.
There are many ways you can vary this activity. You can make it a game. If you have more than one child, you can see who gets the most words. Or, you can do it with your child and based upon age, you have to get double or triple, etc. the amount of words your child creates. Make sure to go over the words with your child and correct (or have your child correct) any spelling errors. That is part of the learning process.
I have used this activity in the classroom as an activity for students to work on if they finish their other work before others. I have also created an entire lesson around it. I have discussed strategies of getting the most words. For example, once you make a word, see if you can add different endings to it like "s," "er," or "ing." Or, another strategy might be to find all the rhyming words to the word you create.
There are many ways you can vary this activity. You can make it a game. If you have more than one child, you can see who gets the most words. Or, you can do it with your child and based upon age, you have to get double or triple, etc. the amount of words your child creates. Make sure to go over the words with your child and correct (or have your child correct) any spelling errors. That is part of the learning process.
I have used this activity in the classroom as an activity for students to work on if they finish their other work before others. I have also created an entire lesson around it. I have discussed strategies of getting the most words. For example, once you make a word, see if you can add different endings to it like "s," "er," or "ing." Or, another strategy might be to find all the rhyming words to the word you create.
Okay. Here is your challenge. I have a paper, shown to the left, that has the word "transportation" on the top. Using the letters in the word "transportation," how many words can you create? To make this even more exciting, I have another challenge. If you find the most words, you comment, and you have a friend (someone new) comment on the blog, I will send the book of your choice (one of mine) to the school or library of your choice. (Right now, I can only open this to United States' addresses.) Please make sure the person who comments is someone you think would enjoy the site. Thank you.
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