My youngest daughter is in 1st grade this year. We went over the basics for reading already and she has a good foundation, but she has a few phonic letter combinations that give her trouble. ‘OW’ is one of those letter combinations. I like to practice these problematic sounds as a game so I came up with this matching game.

The ‘OW’ sounds game practices the two sounds for ‘ow’. Students match the words containing the letters ‘ow’ to picture cards with the same sound (flower and bow.) There is also a ‘challenge’ to match words containing these letters to the picture cards. This game can be used individually, in a learning center, as a small group or as a file folder game. Everything is included to make the game self-correcting so it can be used in your literacy center too. A word book is included with this set to review concepts and to practice writing ‘ow’ words. All pages are full color with an easy to read font.

My daughter used the booklet as extra practice. I asked her to say the words as she wrote them and then we talked about which picture the word would match with (the bow or the flower—depending on the sound in the word.) I hope that you will find this game useful for your young reader too.

This game covers the common core standard for Second Grade: CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RF.2.3b which states: Know spelling-sound correspondences for additional common vowel teams.

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Reading comprehension is one of the most difficult things to teach a child. Eventually, most children understand how to read and learn to read allowed fluently through decoding the words and mimicking tone and inflection that they have heard others use. But how do you teach a child to understand what they have read? That is more difficult.

Breaking the text down into chunks and discussing or asking questions about each section can help some children to analyze as they read. When a child can’t answer a comprehension question a teacher will ask the student to look back into the text to find the answer to teach the child how to skim and re-read text for specific content.

I plan to teach these concepts on a first grade level to my 6 (soon to be 7) year old by using matching, file folder, and pocket chart games. One game that I recently created is called ‘Three Little Monsters‘. This set includes 24 colorful printable game pieces and a printable 9 page activity booklet to help children practice reading comprehension in a fun way.

The Three Little Monsters game asks beginning readers (Kinder., 1st, Second Grade) to decode a sentence then to find the key elements in the sentence to create a match. The booklet asks the student to read a sentence, find the picture of the character in the sentence, and create an illustration that demonstrates understanding of that sentence.

Starting comprehension questions at a ‘one-sentence-at-a-time’ level and making it fun through game play is just what beginning readers need to gain a fundamental understanding of the techniques used for reading comprehension. Check out the game on my Teachers Pay Teachers Store or by following this link: http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Three-Little-Monsters-Reading-Comprehension-Game-and-Activity-Book-849003

Last year I made a Boggle Wall Game for my children to play. The kids LOVED it and their friends did too. I found children visiting on playdates in our classroom playing Boggle! I felt great knowing that they found the game fun and it was educational too!!! So this year I decided to change the wall game board into a Sudoku board! I am hoping that the kiddos find this one just as fun!

I created a small 1/2 sheet of paper with several sudoku grids on it so my children could problem solve several times to find the correct answer. You can either create your own or print empty 4×4 grids here. I printed them off and hung them in a baggy near the game so my kids can simply grab one and start solving. I also hung an empty baggy on the wall under the game so they could place their completed grids in it for me to see!

I can see how this game would be great in a classroom for kids of all ages. Here’s where to get some FREE sudoku puzzles and answers to make this game easy to set up.

Get the directions to make the game board here! Need more sudoku puzzles? Here’s a book that has number and picture puzzles with directions on how to play sudoku! Don’t worry the answers ARE at the back of the book! Finally you can print large numbers and cut them out to place into the pockets of the game board or you can just write large numbers onto note cards! Have fun—and yes, adults can play too! 🙂

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This game is all about learning about key landmarks around the world. I found these great flashcards in the Target dollar bins. But if you can’t find them you can buy them here or print US Landmarks for free here.

I simply wrote the names of the landmark on a note card cut in 1/2 lengthwise. The back of each picture flashcard has the landmark’s name and some facts about the landmark so this game is easily created and self-correcting! Yay! I am starting a new social studies series with my kiddos this year called The Story of the World and I thought this game would be a natural activity to gain some perspective on places of importance around the world.

There are enough cards that I can rotate these out on a bi-weekly basis and have almost enough cards to make this game last all year!

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My first grader learned to read basic time last year. But I want her to review what she learned in a fun way. I found these great flash cards that have digital and analog time printed on them in the Target dollar bins. If you can’t find them you can print off FREE cards here and laminate them with clear contact paper to make this game.

I used a pocket chart from the Target dollar bins but you can buy one here. Just write the correct answers on the back of one of the cards (either digital or analog) and you have a self correcting game! This time matching pocket chart game is perfect for learning to tell time in a fun way. Start off with hour and half hour cards. Then move onto quarter hour cards. For even older children you can move up to telling time to the 5 minute mark!

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Learning through game play makes learning more fun. I love to make pocket chart games to hang around our home-school classroom to help with ‘dead time’. Dead time is when one child has a question but I am working one on one with another child. (I home-school 3 children in 3 different grades.) I simply ask her to do a ‘sponge’ activity (an activity like a wall game or folder game that ‘sucks’ up dead time) until I can get to a good stopping point with the first child.

This consonant blends game makes the perfect activity as a pocket chart game. The game play is easy. The child simply matches the penguin with the letters of the consonant blend to the penguin with the picture that shows an object with the same consonant blend beginning sound. Write the correct answers on the back of the picture penguins and you have a self correcting game! Don’t have a pocket chart? That’s okay play this game as a memory match game instead. Either way consonant blend sounds have never been more fun to learn!

Here’s the link to the FREE printable on Teacher’s Pay Teachers: Penguin Consonant Blend Cards

Here’s a link to a pocket chart on Amazon: http://amzn.to/19C0DUF

Here’s a link to clear contact paper to laminate your pieces (no machine necessary) on Amazon: http://amzn.to/16DfSLH

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This game is so easy to make. I found the mini-pocket charts at Target in the dollar bins! But you can buy them here from Amazon==> Mini-Pocket Chart Link. I bought the sentence strip paper at my local school supply store but you can buy it here from Amazon==>Sentence Strip Paper.

Next you just make up a story that is eight sentences long. Here’s an example:

I am an Artist

Painting is fun.
I like using color.
The brush is soft.
The paint is squishy.
I mix the colors.
I make shapes.
I use an easel.
I hang my painting.

Just print the words for the sentences on the sentence strips and cut them out. The pocket chart on the left is for the mixed up sentence. The pocket chart on the right is for the correctly arranged sentence. One of the great things about this game is that it is self correcting. If the sentence makes sense and the story sounds correct the player has achieved the correct answer!

A new scrambled sentence game can be used for each theme or change of season. One game but it can be used all year with a new story each time! I use this as a center activity when I need to get some one on one time with my kiddos. Older kids can even make up a story for this game. The possibilities are endless!

Here’s a learning center that comes together in the same time it takes you to print out a picture. Find any picture with multiple things on it. (The picture above has several bats, pumpkins and houses.) Write “What’s the question?” on tagboard. Then sit back and wait for your kids to come up with all kinds of creative answers.

This learning center uses open ended questioning to inspire critical thinking skills. It is perfect as a ‘between lesson’ activity when you are working with another child. Post the students ‘answers’ below the question. The best part of this activity is one child can answer as many times as he/she likes…the possibilities for answers are endless and not limited to any age group. This ‘Think Math’ center can be used with all of your children from Kindergarten through 12th grade!

Remember to credit www.handsonlearning4all.com when you pass this idea for a “Think Math” center on to your friends!!!!