List of Reading and Writing Games Appropriate for Low CL

Reading and Writing Games

There are two main recognised methods for teaching reading and writing:
 The phonic method’
 The word recognition method’

Both methods have their place in the English Language classroom and should be used extensively to teach and practice the written word.

The phonic method’ uses the sounds of the individual letters and letter combinations as building blocks, which when put together make words. When teaching this method, individual letter sounds should be taught first followed by the letter combinations (about 40 sounds altogether).
It should be remembered to concentrate on the middle and the end sounds of words as well as the initial letter sounds of words.
All phonics exercises can be expanded from the simple ‘what is this sound’; to the more complex tell me a word beginning/ending with this sound’.

The word recognition method’ concentrates on the shapes of the word as a whole as a means of recognition. This is a very quick method for teaching word families such as colours and numbers.

In the teaching of children, games and fun activities can be used very successfully to teach reading and writing skills. Below are some such games/activities which can be used in the classroom.

*Can be adapted to teach both phonics and word recognition.

1. HEIDI’S GAME*: A group of words is written horizontally across the board and a magnetic counter is placed a t each end e.g.

@ red yellow blue black orange @

The class is split into 2 teams and made to stand in 2 lines facing the board, one on the left side and one on the right. The front member of each team is asked in turn what the next word is. I.e. orange for the team on the right and red for the team on the left. If the answer is correct the teams counter is placed above the relevant word. The front member then moves to the back of the line and the process is repeated. Eventually the 2 counters will be above adjacent words


E.g.
a) @ @
b) red yellow blue black orange

Both teams now play paper, scissors, stone to decide the winning team. The losing team counter then returns to the beginning and the game resumes. The winning team is the team to successfully get their counter to the opposition’s first word. This game can take a long time so it is better to set a time limit, rather than waiting for a winner.

2. WORD PELMANISM*: Two sets of the words to be taught are written on cards and placed face down on the table. The students take it in turns to turn over 2 cards, each time reading the word written. If the cards match then the student scores a point. If they don’t then the cards are placed back face down and the next student tries.

3. SLAP*: Words are written on cards and placed on the table. The students stand around the table with their hands on their heads. The teacher calls out one of the words and the students must slap the card. The 1st student to slap the card keeps it and scores a point.

4. RUB OUT*: A group of words are written on the board and the students are given a minute to look at them. They must then turn away and close their eyes whilst the teacher rubs out one of the words. The students must then say which word has been erased.

5. O’s and X’s*: A standard O’s and X’s grid is drawn up on the board and a word is written in each square. To claim a square the students must read the relevant word. The team or student that makes a line of 3 horizontally, vertically or diagonally is the winner. This game can be ‘spiced up’ by using a sticky ball which the students throw at the board to select the square to be read.

6. BINGO*: All students are given bingo cards with words in each square. The teacher pulls individual word cards out of a bag and the students call out the words. The 1st student to call out the word is given the card. The winner is the one to complete the card first.

7. WRITE-RUB-WRITE: A word or sentence is written on the board and the students study it for a minute or two. It is then rubbed off and the students have to write it in their books. In a class where there is a good rapport, it is often funny to read out the student’s mistakes, emphasising the problem area.

8. SPELLING RACE: The students race to spell a word the teacher gives them. This is good fun if magnetic letters are used and the students are in teams. For more advanced students they should be encouraged to write on the board or in their books.

9. WORD SHAPES: The students must try to guess the word from the shape of the boxed in word.
E. g.


The words should be pre taught in families and then this activity can be used as an interesting follow up activity.

10. SNAKES AND LADDERS*: Snakes and ladders board can be made with words in each square as well as numbers. When the students land on the square they must read the word before continuing.

11. INITIAL LETTER SLAP: Flashcards are spread on the table and a letter is called out. Students slap any card beginning with that letter.

12. SPELL-WRITE: The teacher spells a word or sentence and the students write the word or words in their books or on the board. This can be a team or individual activity.

13. A-Z RACE: Students are split into 2 teams and given one set of letter cards or magnetic letters. They then race to put the letters in order. This can be expanded so that the students must then find a flashcard beginning with each letter and place it next to the corresponding letter.

14. UPPER/LOWER CASE MATCHING: Some or all of the letters are written on the board (both upper and lower case) and the students have to circle ‘a’ and draw a line to ‘A’. This can be expanded by the teacher calling out ‘apple’ and the students have to recognise the initial letter sound before they can complete the task. It can be made more fun by insisting that no 2 lines can cross or touch.

15. SOMETHING BEGINNING WITH: The teacher says “I can see something beginning with…” and the students must look around the room and guess the object. This can be made into a team game.

16. LETTER TRACE: The students are split into 2 teams, in lines facing the board. The teacher goes to the back of each line and traces a letter on the back of the last number of the team. The students wait until the teacher says “go” and then trace the same letter on the back of the student in front of them. This is repeated up to the front team member who runs to the board and writes the letter. The students cannot speak and can only trace the letter on the back of the person in front of them. The team order then changes and the game is repeated. It is a good idea to make the letters form a word and give a bonus point to the team that reads the word correctly.

17. BODY LETTERS: The students split into teams of about 4 and the teacher calls out a letter or word. The students have to lie on the floor and arrange themselves in the shape of the letter or initial letter of the word. Lower case is preferable to upper case.

18. MISSING LETTERS: Words are written on the board with certain letters or phonic components missing. The students have to write in the missing letters. It depends on the level of the students as to whether or not they are told what the word is. This can be a team game if required.

19. A-Z INITIAL LETTER: The letters a-z written on the board and the students are split into 2 teams. The teacher says a word or holds up a flashcard and a student from each team rushes to touch the initial letter. As stated in the introduction, all games can be used for any letter or phonic component of the word, not just the initial letter. This of course depends on the level of the students.

20. SPELLING STUDENTS*: Students are given one letter of a word each and the teacher says the word. The students have to line up in the correct order. If the class is big enough this can be a team game. This can also be expanded to split sentences, where each student is given a word from a sentence.

21. FEEL A LETTER: Students are blind-folded and a magnetic letter is placed in the student’s hand. They have to feel the letter and tell you what it is or a word beginning with that letter. This can be a team game if required.

22. HANGMAN: Dashes are drawn across the board (one for each letter of a word). The students try and guess which letters are in the word. If the student guesses correctly the letter is placed over the dash. If student guesses incorrectly then one stroke of the hangman’s gallows is drawn and the letter is noted on the board. It is up to the teacher whether the students are told the word beforehand or not.

23. RELAY GAMES: The students are split into 2 teams and the teacher says a word. The 1st student of each team runs to the board and writes the 1st letter of the word before running back and passing the pen to the next student who repeats the process with the next letter. For lower level students a simple alphabet relay is good fun.

24. UNSCRAMBLE*: The students are given a scrambled word or sentence and they have to rearrange the letters or words.

25. WORD CHAIN: The teacher says a word and the next student says a word beginning with the last letter of that word. This continues around the room E.g. Cat>tall>letter>red>dog

26. LAP GAMES*: About 30 word cards are laid in a loop on the table. The students throw a dice and move around reading the words. Penalties can be given for incorrect reading. The first team to complete one circuit is the winner.

27. BATTLE-SHIP*: Instead of letters and numbers, words can be used to give the co-ordinates. This needs setting up very carefully and photocopied sheets are better than the students doing these themselves.

28. WORD GIRDS: A grid can be drawn with letters in each square. Within the grid there should be some hidden words that the students must circle.

29. CROSSWORDS: A simple crossword has pictures as clues. These pictures can be direct photocopies of flashcards and therefore the preparation time is minimal. This can be expanded for older students, so that they make their own crosswords for other students to complete.

30. TWO LETTER SOUNDS: Lay down the five vowel letter cards vertically and place a consonant card to the right of the top one. Ss have to say the sound that they read, e.g. “at”. Elicit this by comparing it to a known word, e.g. ‘bat’. Move the consonant down the column of vowel sounds, producing, “et, it, ot, ut”. Change the consonant card and repeat. After the Sts understand this you can use this for quick pronunciation practice, leaving the cards face up on the table. Dictate a sound-“op”-and the Sts have to pick up the appropriate cards. Later the Ss themselves can give the example, and even help each other with error correction.

31. THREE LETTER SOUNDS: A variation of the above using consonant-vowel-consonant combinations, e.g. h-o-t

32. WRITING QUIZ: When a question is introduced in the text give each student a piece of paper. They must write the question according to the pattern in the book (sometimes illustrating it as well). They then pass the paper on to their neighbour who reads it and then writes the answer.

33. FRUIT SALAD: Put the chairs in a circle and hand out one word card from a vocabulary group, e.g. colours, to each student. Play musical chairs, and the student left standing has to say two words from the vocabulary group (but not their own!) The two students holding these word cards must stand and try to swap seats before the student in the middle sits in one of them. The student left standing continues the game. Exchange cards every so often.