making words

What can be more riveting than a post about spelling?  I know- how about another post about spelling- back to back!

I wanted to share one more activity that Moonpie and I did today at the last minute.  She was struggling to come up with more than two -ake words, so we made a game out of it.  I printed out a template used for geometry instruction.  It is a cube you can cut out and tape together.  On one of the cubes I wrote -ake on every side.  On the other cube I wrote different beginning sounds, like 'l', 'm', 'b', etc.  She would roll the cubes like dice and put them together to see what word she made.  Then, she would write the word on her paper (clipped to her very official clipboard).  

It's a very easy way to make word work a little more engaging and fun.  Here are some visuals:

 step 1:  You must dress up like a kitty cat.  This is crucial.  Do not skip this step!  Wait, that wasn't the first step.  Roll the dice.  Yes, that sounds more like it!

 step 2:  put the dice together and see what word you have made.

step 3:  write your word on your very official paper clipped to your very official clipboard.

I have made up another cube with new beginning sounds that we will use tomorrow to keep the list growing.

If you are not a homeschooler, this is a fun way to have your child practice their spelling words, or just practice making words in general.  Some variations would be to put a different word ending on each side of one cube (at, it, ock, etc.) and different starting sounds on the other.  Keep in mind that your child will probably come up with some very creative words.  On their paper you can have a column for non-sense words.  Every word made should be written down.  It will be good practice for you child to be able to differentiate between true words and non-sense words.  Or you can even go nuts and write numbers on each side!  Throw caution to the wind and use the cubes to practice math facts.

Keeping something as versatile as this on hand is an easy way to make language and math work a bit more fun!