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Letter sound fluency, Word Race

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Activity Type: Build Fluency
Activity Form: Game
Grade: 2, 3
Group Size: Small Group
Length: 12 minutes
Materials: paper, pencils, clock or stopwatch
Goal: Given a sound, the student can identify and write words that begin with that sound ("/d/" -> "dog").
Items: All letter sounds learned so far.

What to do

  1. Before introducing the game, organize students into groups. Make sure that each student has a sheet of paper, a pencil, and a surface to write on.
  2. Today, we are going to play a game. It is a race, a word race. You will play in your groups, but each person plays for him/her self.
  3. I’m going to say a sound. Then, I’ll say “Go!” You will write down as many words as you can that start with that sound. You will have one minute to write down your words.
  4. For example, if I say the sound /b/, what words could you write? Call on students to answer. Good, those are all words that start with /b/.
  5. At the end of one minute, you will have to stop writing words. Then, you will go around your group and say your words one at a time. If someone has a word that you wrote, everyone who has that word will have to cross that word off their list. You get one point for each word that no one else has. So, if Raj wrote the word ball and Samantha did too, neither will get a point for that word. If A.J. wrote boy and no one else in his group wrote boy, he will get one point. You have to be creative and write down interesting words.
  6. Once everyone has read out their words, count your points. The person with the most points gets to pick the sound for the next round! If there is a tie, you can choose the next sound together.
  7. Does anyone have any questions? Answer questions, clarifying the rules of the game.
  8. For the first round, I will say the sound. Get ready. Say sound. Go!
  9. Play a few rounds of the game.
  10. Vary the game by asking students to give words that end with the desired sound or that contain the desired sound in the middle of the word.
  11. Observe small groups of students play the game. For students who struggle, give them help and make a note in an Activity Log.



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About this activity

This game is a cross between Scattergories and Boggle.

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