E Learning; Phonics and Letters

Make Letters Fun!

Make letters more enticing for your child by doing a few simple, easy tricks! All you need to do is take something highly motivating for your child and put it behind the letters. This was made right on word!

Letter Activities

• Slap It!

  • All you need is a set of post its with letters on them and a spatula or fly swat

  • Shout out a letter and have your child slap it as quickly as they can. Add another person in to make it a fun competition!

• “Tracing”

  • Working on letters through tracing activities can be tedious for children. Let’s get creative! Have your child work on creating letters using cooked spaghetti, licorice, or other food items!

• Letter Bingo

• Letter Pong

  • To play letter pong all you need are plastic cups and a small ball of some sort (ping pong ball, bouncy ball)

  • Write a letter on each cup and have your child throw the ball into the cup of the letter you shout out

Phonics

• Spin the Roll!

  • Toilet paper and paper towels are a hot commodity right now so let’s take full advantage of having some and make use of those rolls! All you need for these activities are yarn, paper towel or toilet paper rolls, scissors and a marker.

Below’s setup can be used to spin and rhyme, work with word families, or work on beginning sounds.

If you want to modify the activity, cut the roll into three’s to sound out CVC words, four’s to sound out CCVC words, or work on middle and ending sounds.

• Beginning Sounds Around the House

  • Write big letters on a piece of paper and have your child go around the house and sort the items by their beginning sounds. You can also use hula hoops or chalk it outside to create groups!

E Learning; Comprehension Activities

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Comprehension Activities

Using TV time to Build Comprehension

Let’s make the 30 minutes of TV time that you as parents are beating yourself up about and turn it into a learning experience! Comprehension can be built in a number of ways; reading a story and answering questions is certainly the first thing we think of, but through conversation, probing questions like why and how can go a long way. After your child has finished watching a movie or a show, use these questions to build comprehension without them even knowing it!

• How did the movie or show end?

• Who is your favorite character and why?

• Which part of the movie or show was your favorite?

• Was there a problem? What happened and how was it solved?

• What was the setting of the movie or show?

• What was your favorite part and why?

• What happened at the beginning of the show?

• Was there anything that surprised you?

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Comprehension Games

• Dice Games

  • Materials: paper, dice, marker

  • Make comprehension more fun after reading by having your child roll the dice to answer the questions. Questions can be interchanged based on books, level, etc.

  • Responses can vary based on each child: children can verbally say the answer, draw a picture of the answer, or write about their answer.

• Spinners

  • Materials: paper, marker, pen/pencil, paperclip

  • Create a spinner with a variety of questions with just a piece of paper and marker.

    Make it basic and to the point:

    • What was the setting?

    • Who were the characters?

    • What happened in the story?

      Make it more complex:

      • Write three sentences about the problem and how it was solved

      • If you could change the ending, what would it be?

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Inferencing Activities

Inferencing is one of the most difficult comprehension skills to grasp for children at all ages. There are ways to build comprehension that can be fun and silly using simple things around the house.

Use Magazines and Media

• Put those magazines to good use! Magazines are full of toys, things to buy, food, movies, etc. This is a fun way to approach inferencing at home. Flip to a page and ask your child to guess what the item is based on the information given. Here are a few examples of things you may see:

  • Electronics Section

    • I have buttons you press. You use me to add, subtract, multiple and divide. You can keep me at home or at school. (calculator)

    • I am small. Many people have me. You use me to make calls and text. (phone)

  • Toy Section

    • I am something you use outside. I have four, small wheels. You stand on me and use your foot to make me move. (skateboard)

    • I am a toy that goes on a track. You can ride me to go to different places. I stop at stations. (train)

Inferencing Bingo

• Create bingo boards with different items, animals, activities, etc.- rather than saying the name of the items, describe them and have your child infer what you are talking about.

What’s in the Bag?

• This silly game goes a long way! You can turn this into your own version of charades. Have a bag of a variety of different items around the house and describe it. See how many you can get in one minute!