Fly Swatter Dolch Sight Words

Fly Swatter Dolch Sight Words 220 Dolch sight words 95 Dolch nouns

by Learning is the Game™

Dolch Sight Words

According to dolchsitewords.org Edward Dolch PhD complied a list of commonly used English words from childern's books.  This list contained 220 words (found here) children should be able to recognize on sight in order to read fluently.  Some of these words can be sounded out phonetically, but many cannot, hence the need to recognize them on sight. Those words are broken down into the following five levels/grade:

Pre-primer

Primer

First

Second

Third  

Dolch's original list did not include nouns, but he create a separate 95 word list of nouns (found here).  The activity below uses all 220 Dolch Sight Words as well as the 95 Dolch nouns.

Fly Swatter Dolch Sight Words Activity

My students love playing this game and I’m sure your students will too.   The purpose of this activity is to get students to learn their sights words, and to get excited about doing it.  You could just have your students memorize flash cards but, learning should be fun!

You will need the following:

-Fly Swatter Dolch Sight Words 

-Soft Velcro dots

-Rough Velcro strip

-Flyswatter

How to Assemble:

-Print out the flies on cardstock and laminate

-Cutout the flies on the dotted line

-Attach soft Velcro dots where the wings connect

-Attach rough Velcro strip to a clean flyswatter

How to Play:

Choose the words you want your students to use.  The level is written at the bottom of the wings; Pp, P, 1, 2, 3, or N for nouns.  Scatter the flies on the table or floor where students are playing.  Players take turns swatting at a fly.  When they catch a fly they take it off of the flyswatter and say the sight word.  If the player says the word correctly they get to put the fly in their pile. Players continue until all of the flies are gone. 

  

This activity is great for small groups, literacy centers, or when a few students have finished their work early and you need to keep them working for a few minutes!

If you are interested in this activity you can check out the free example here!

If you have any questions, or have used something similar leave a comment, I'd love you hear from you! 

Best Month to date! 10% Off entire store!

So far January 2014 has been the best selling month for Learning is the Game of all time!  In honor of that, I am throwing a sale.  Everything in my store will be 10% off for the rest of the month!   Thank you to everyone who has supported me and this adventure.  It has been a wonderful and humbling experience to read your emails and know that people truly enjoy and value the items I have been making.  Again, thank you and I hope you all enjoy my future products and continue to make learning fun!

Above are just a few of the items you will find at Learning is the Game.  Everything is 10% off till the end of January!

20% Off Veteran's Day Sale Sunday-Tuesday!

In honor of Veteran's Day I am throwing a SALE at my Teachers Pay Teachers store.  Next Sunday-Tuesday, everything in my store will be 20% off, so take a look.  There are great items all at discounted prices, many featured on this site, as well as some cool free items too.  Who doesn't like free stuff right?  

I hope you find something you like!

Here is a picture preview of the newest Peek-a-Boo!  Peek-a-Boo! Place Value: whole numbers.

Add a little more education to board games with counters!

You don’t have to use dice when playing board games!

Using dice when playing games is fine, if your school allows it, but next time consider using counters instead.  Whether you are playing an educational game, or a game just for fun, using counters is an easy way to sneak in a little extra learning. 

I started using counters one day when I realized none of my 5^th grade ESL students knew how to read roman numerals.  I decided to take that opportunity to teach a quick lesson on the basics.  I already planned on playing a game that day so, instead of using dice, I wrote out I-VI on pieces of paper and had my students draw them out of a hat.  As we played the game some of the students had trouble remembering how much IV and VI were.  This gave the students an opportunity to discuss the two numbers, how roman numerals work, and the opportunity to teacher each other.  After that day I never went back to using dice.

Roman numerals are just one way you can use counters to practice content.  With younger students you might simply use the numbers themselves, hash marks, or dots they have to count.  You can also use equations that equal numbers 1-6 to practice addition, subtraction, multiplication, division... etc.    The possibilities really are endless. 

Reasons not to use dice

·         Some schools discourage or even ban the use of dice because of their association with gambling.

·         $ As a teacher I am always trying to save $ and stretch my classroom budget as far as I can.  

·        Dice are like socks.  Half of them always seem to magically disappear when you need them.  At school and at home.

Reasons to use counters

·         $ Counters can be virtually free!  Just put whatever you want on a piece of paper and cut it out.

·         Easy to replace.  If you make them on the computer you can just print them out again and again.  This comes in handy if they start to resemble socks and dice.

·         Adaptability.  You can make counters that cover a variety of topics and objectives.

·         Easy to make and use

Using counters is easy

Just cut out the set you want your students to use and put them in a hat, bowl, or other container.  I’ve found a plastic margarine container with a lid works well.  That way I can also use it to store the counters and game pieces when I’m not using them.   Instead of rolling a die, one player shakes up the container and holds it so the current player cannot see inside.   Then the current player picks a counter from the container and moves that many spaces.

To get a FREE copy of the counters above just go to my Teachers Pay Teachers Store or my Teacher Lingo Store.  Why not get rid of the dice and squeeze in a little more education with counters?  When I play games with my students I always use counters and my students love them.  

Learning should be fun: Why games need to be a part of your classroom -Part 1

               We all know common core places a large emphasis on student practice, and educational games can be a great way to achieve just that.  Whether your students are working as a class, in small groups, or on their own, games are a great way to help them practice and learn anything you are covering in class.  Incorporating games in your class/lesson is important not only because they help students learn information, games also get students excited about learning, keep them engaged longer, and help lower the affective filter.

                Educators understand that students must have their most basic needs met before they are able to learn.  Creating a safe and comfortable environment for all students is the first job of any successful teacher.  According to Krashen (1982) a low affective filter, which includes high motivation, high self-confidence, and low anxiety, is highly beneficial to language acquisition.  While Krashen focused primarily on language acquisition, I truly believe the same principles hold true for all learning.  Tomlinson et al, (2003) would agree with me.  They found when multiple materials and strategies coincide with an individual’s learning styles and interests, the affective filter will be lowered and thus students will be more willing to participate. 

                Sometimes it can be a struggle trying to differentiate our lessons to address the different learning styles and interests of our students.  Well-designed educational games can help us do just that partially because most students enjoy playing games, even if they are learning something at the same time.  When students play games they more comfortable, more confident, and more likely to discuss with their peers because of the relaxed and less stressful environment created by the game (Lin, 2008).  Due to the lowering of the affective filter provided by a game environment, students are also more willing to make mistakes, and learn from their peers (Smith, 2006).

                In my class, whether I am teaching a whole group of students, or a small group, I always try to incorporate some kind of game.  It never fails, when I pull out a deck of I have… Who has…, a board game I created, a Jeopardy style game, or some other kind of game, the faces of my students always light up.  I find they are more attentive, more involved, more motivated, and learn better when they are having fun playing a game.  

References

Krashen, S. (1982). Principles and practice in second language acquisition. New York: Prentice Hall       International

Lin, G.H.C. (2008) Pedagogies proving Krashen’s theory of affective filter. Hwa Kang Journal of English Lsnguage & Literature, (14), 113-131.

Smith, H. (2006). Playing to learn: A qualitative analysis of bilingual pupil-pupil talk during board game play. Language & Education: An International Journal, 20(5), 415-437.

Tomlinson, C.A.., Brighton, C., Hertberg, H., Callahan, C.M., Moon, T.R., Brimijiom, K.,… Reynolds, T. (2003). Differentiating instruction in response to student readiness, interest, and learning profile in academically diverse classrooms: A review of literature. Journal for the Education of the gifted, 27 (Win 2003), 119-145.

               Please let me know what you think of this post.  If you have a story about playing games with your student(s) please let me know and I would be happy to post it on my blog (pictures are always a plus, but not a must).