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G r a d e 1

Vocabulary-building

card gamesb y L i a n e b . O n i s h

N e w Y o r k • T o r o N T o • L o N d o N • A u c k L A N d • S Y d N e Y

M e x i c o c i T Y • N e w d e L h i • h o N g k o N g • B u e N o S A i r e S

Vocabulary-Building Card Games: Grade1 © Liame B. Onish, Published by Scholastic Teaching Resources

ContentsAbout This Book ....................................................................................................... 4

Master Word List ....................................................................................................... 8

Extra Game Cards .....................................................................................................71

Wordy Concentration Words and Definitions 11

Mixed-Up Color-by-Number Color Words 12

ABC Order Races Alphabetical Order 16

Choo-Choo! Transportation Words 17

All Sorts of Hats Parts of Speech 21

Three Little Words Bingo Sight Words 25

The Big Number Battle Number Words 29

The More the Merrier Irregular Singular and Plural Nouns 32

Bits and Pieces Syllabication 35

Category Slap-Down Categorizing Words 37

Compound Partners Compound Words 41

Opposites Go Fish Opposites 43

You Must Remember This and That Easily Confused Words 47

Calendar Hopscotch Days of the Week and Month 50

Now and Then Present and Past Tense 55

Puzzling Words Recognizing Word Parts 59

Picture This Word Meaning 63

Face It Words for Emotions 65

Same Letters, Different Words Anagrams 68

Voca-Bees Words in Context 70

Game Skill Focus Page


About This Book

Vocabulary games make words fun to learn and easier to remember and strengthen reading and literacy skills. The more words children can recognize easily, the more they will read; and the more children

read, the more words they will know, which will make them better and more willing readers, and stronger speakers, spellers, writers, and test takers. This book features 20 engaging, easy-to-make, easy-to-play card games and dozens of variations to help students learn more than 300 words and develop and reinforce valuable vocabulary skills.

Research shows that vocabulary development is highly correlated with overall student success. “Having a strong vocabulary is of particular importance to students in that it contributes significantly to achievement both in the subjects of their school curriculum and also on standardized tests” (Shostak, 2002). Direct instruction and reading widely are both important factors in increasing students’ vocabulary. Repeated exposure to words and independent practice with them are also essential, and word games are an effective way to provide these opportunities.

The 300+ words featured in this book, all key additions to children’s growing vocabularies, were selected from a variety of sources:

❉ Dolch Sight Vocabulary Words

❉ 150 most frequent words in printed school English (American Heritage Word Frequency Book, as cited in Blevins, 2006)

❉ Instant Words from The Reading Teacher’s Book of Lists (Fry & Kress, 2006)

❉ Environmental print and grade-level literature

Designed to provide both the playful approach and repeated practice that support effective learning, the games in this book and their many variations can be played again and again to build and deepen word knowledge, strengthen related skills, and make the learning stick.

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What the Research Says

“Intuition tells us that more practice leads to better memory. Research tells us something more precise: Memory in either the short- or long-term requires ongoing practice.”

(Willingham, 2004)

How Much Practice?

“How much practice is the right amount? . . . It is difficult to overstate the value of practice. For a new skill to become automatic or for new knowledge to become long-lasting, sustained practice, beyond the point of mastery, is necessary” (Willingham, 2004). Research shows that we need about 12 encounters with, or exposures to, a new word before we know it well enough to comprehend it in text (Beck, McKeown, & Kucan, 2002). Enough encounters with a word and it will find its way into our oral and written vocabularies. Vocabulary games, as a regular part of classroom life, can give children the multiple encounters they need to “own” more words.


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What’s Inside?

In addition to 20 word games, you’ll find extra game cards and blank game card templates for customizing games, and a master list of target words for easy reference and for fluency practice. Here’s a closer look at each section of the book.

Pages 8–10: Master Word List

An alphabetical list of all the words is included for reference. You can use this list to create speed drill practice for reading fluency and automaticity.

Pages 11–70: Vocabulary Games

Directions for 20 vocabulary-building games follow a simple format to make it easy for students to set up and play.

❉ Skill: All games are designed to build vocabulary. Some games may have additional areas of instructional focus, such as recognizing parts of speech.

❉ Number of Players: Games provide opportunities for varied groupings, from one or two students to the entire class.

❉ Object of the Game: How to win varies from game to game.

❉ Materials: In addition to game cards, this section lists any other materials students need to play, such as a timer, crayons, or index cards.

❉ How to Play: Step-by-step directions make it easy to set up and get started.

❉ More Ways to Play: Suggestions in this section help teachers to create simpler or more challenging games to meet the learning needs of different groups of students.

Each game focuses on a set of words. For some games, such as Wordy Concentration (page 11), you will select the game cards from other games or from the extra cards (pages 72–80), or use the blank game card templates (page 71) to create your own. For other games, such as Now and Then (page 55), target words are specified and game cards are provided accordingly. However, for any of the games, you can use the extra game cards and blank game card templates to customize vocabulary.

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Teaching Tip

You’ll find that many of the games work with cards from other games, as well as with the extra cards. You can also adapt the games for use with specific content area vocabulary. Simply copy the blank card templates and fill in desired words. Review the game with those words in mind and make any adjustments that might be necessary.

Vocabulary-Building C

ard Gam

es: Grade 1 ©

2008 by Liane B. O

nish, Scholastic Teaching Resources

Give each player a set of face cards and word cards. Players draw features on each face, and fill in the speech bubbles as desired to match a “feelings” word. Players illustrate a different word on each face.

Players place the matching word card facedown next to each face.

Children rotate to each player’s cards, looking at the faces, guessing the words, and turning over the word cards to check their answers. Players then turn the word cards facedown and move on to a new set of cards (if more than two players).

Pocket Chart Game: Turn this into a center game by preparing materials as explained (see Getting Ready) and drawing features on each face to represent a feelings word. Place face cards along the left side of a pocket chart and word cards in random order along the right. Have children visit the center and rearrange the word cards to match the pictures.

Body Language: Find magazine photographs of people displaying strong emotions. Display them on the bulletin board. Tack up word cards (page 67) along the bottom. (Use the blank game card templates on page 71 to add additional “feelings” words as needed.) Let children match word cards to pictures. Encourage them to talk about the details in the person’s face, posture, arms, and so on that helped them choose the word that might describe how the person feels.

Think Tank: Give children speech and thought callouts (see illustrations at right). Have them use one of their face pictures or a magazine picture of an expressive person to write both a thought and something the person might say out loud.

Skill: Understanding words for emotions

Number of Players: 2 or more

Object of the Game: To draw faces that match feeling words


Pages 71–80: Extra Game Cards

These pages feature extra game cards for use with specific games as well as for customizing any game. The Wild Cards (page 71) are for use with Wordy Concentration (page 11), but you may also find these useful to create variations on other games. The bee cards (page 71), used with Voca-Bees (page 70), can also serve as playful game card templates for any game in which you are creating word cards; blank game card templates (page 71) are also provided for this purpose. In addition, there are 72 extra word cards (pages 72–80), useful for games that specify “any word cards,” and to customize any game.

Teaching With the Games

You can use the games in any order that best supports your teaching needs. The contents page summarizes specific skills to assist with game selection. More information on setting up, introducing, and playing the games follows.

Set Up and Storage

Once you choose a game, it’s worth the effort to take a few minutes to set up a storage system. With the setup that follows, students can easily use the games at school as well as transport them home to play with families, reinforcing the connections between home and school that lead to successful learning.

1. For durability, photocopy the game cards on cardstock, or glue to index cards and laminate.

2. Clip the cards for each game together (or place in an envelope) and store in a resealable plastic bag. Consider making a second set of cards for each game as backup. (Place these in an envelope and label “Extra Set of Cards.”)

3. Label each bag with the name of the game, the skill it reinforces, and the number of players. Photocopy the directions and tape them to the inside of the bag.

Introducing the Games

Introduce the games one at a time in any order that best meets your needs. Model how to play, including for individual players, pairs, small groups, and the whole class. (See Number of Players for each game.) Keep in mind that the games provide support for differentiated learning. Each game includes suggestions for variations, such as using fewer or more word cards and simplifying or increasing the level of difficulty. You may also choose games to use with students based on an identified need. Students who need additional practice with writing and reading sight words, for example, will benefit from playing Three Little Words Bingo (page 25). Bits and Pieces (page 35) is just right for students who need practice with identifying word parts as a reading strategy.

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Vocabulary-Building C

ard Gam

es: Grade 1 ©

2008 by Liane B. O

nish, Scholastic Teaching Resources

Vocabulary-Building Card Games: Grade 1 © 2008 by Liane B. Onish, Scholastic Teaching Resources


Who Goes First?

There are many ways to decide who goes first in a game. Here are a few ideas from which students can choose:

❉ Use a set of alphabet cards. Have each player pick a card. The player whose card is closest to A (or Z ) goes first. The player with the next closest letter goes second, and so on.

❉ Use children’s first, last, or middle initials to determine order of play.

❉ Have players roll a die. The player who rolls the highest number goes first. The next player is the one sitting to the left of the first player. For variety, have the player who rolls the lowest number go first.

❉ Mix up the word cards for the game. Deal one card to each player. The player whose word is closest to A (or Z ) goes first.

More Ways to Use the Word Cards

In addition to using the word cards as specified to play the games in this book, there are many other ways you can use them to provide the practice children need to achieve long-lasting learning. Following are some suggestions.

❉ Word Basket: Make a set of word cards and keep them in a large basket or box. Grab handfuls to use as flash cards. Distribute one word to each child for line-up. Have children arrange themselves in alphabetical order according to the word on their card. Then collect the cards when everyone is in line, reading them together as you go.

❉ My Words! Give each child a bag or box for storing their personal game cards and other vocabulary words. Let children add words from books, phonics practice pages, and spelling lessons. Periodically, have them select a few at random to use in oral and written stories, sorting games, and alphabetizing activities.

❉ Collectors: Give children a blank word card (page 71) to use as a bookmark for their daily independent reading. Let them choose a word from their reading to share with a book group. Have them write the word on the card and draw a picture or use it in a sentence on the back. After sharing their words, children can add them to their “My Words!” collection.

❉ Fluency Practice: Use the word cards as a resource for fluency practice. Select a handful of cards at random from the master list (pages 8–10), or choose those with similar/confusing phonetic elements. Write the words on a 30-, 40-, or 50-word grid. Duplicate for each child. Let children practice reading the words until they are ready to be timed.

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Bibliography

Beck, I. L., McKeown, M. G., & Kucan, L. (2002). Bringing Words to Life: Robust Vocabulary Instruction. New York: The Guilford Press.

Blevins, W. (2006). Phonics From A to Z: A Practical Guide (2nd ed.). New York: Scholastic.

Fry, E. B. & Kress, J. E. (2006). The Reading Teacher’s Book of Lists (5th ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Kamil, M. L., Mosenthal, P. B., Pearson, P. D., & Barr, R. (Eds.). (2000). Handbook of Reading Research, Vol. III. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Shostak, J. (2002). “The Value of Direct and Systematic VocabularyInstruction.” Retrieved September 27, 2007, from www.sadlier-oxford.com/docs/pdf/9147-9_VW_WhitePaper_Vol7.pdf.

Willingham, D. T. (2004, Spring). “Practice Makes Perfect—But Only if You Practice Beyond the Point of Perfection.” American Educator.


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