Let’s face it… students lose interest in practicing skills about this time every year. Rotating in themed or seasonal materials helps re-engage students and make learning fresh and exciting. Here are word work ideas that are perfect for the winter months.
Create the ideal reading center or station by combining winter themes with hands on activities. This combination is great for improving on task behavior and decreasing behaviors.
In January, we do general snow related activities in our word work centers or stations. We use the January Reading Centers Set to target parts of speech, sound blending, rhyming and vocabulary. Below is one of the parts of speech sorts students will do.
We use the materials below to target verbs and vocabulary. They can be used in a variety of ways:
- Use in a pocket chart for a standard word work stations
- Use the cards to play memory or Go Fish to make the review or learning more fun.
- Add in movement by hiding the picture cards around the room and have students have to find their match.
- Add in a sensory component by hiding the cards in a sensory bin. Have students find and match the cards.
During our Polar Animals Unit, we work on writing vocab, initial sounds, word families, and more.
WE extend learning with these fill in the initial sound task cards by having students sort them after they have filled in the missing letters. You can sort them by:
- Number of syllables in the word
- Type of animal… legs vs no legs, wings vs no wings, etc.
- Animal or not an animal
- Put the words in alphabetical order
We also work on word families. The ideas for using materials in different ways that are listed above work well with these center materials, too.
We also plan a reading station around the book, The Mitten, by Jan Brett. This book companion set helps students practice vocabulary, sequencing and comprehension.
In February, we use materials from the Dollar Store to create fun sensory based Valentine’s Day word work stations. Read 8 Inexpensive Valentine’s Day Tasks to see more Valentine’s Day themed reading and math stations that are super simple to implement.
