Word-Form Recognition Accuracy, Word War
From FreeReading
| Activity Type: Build Accuracy |
| Activity Form: Game |
| Grade: 1, 2, 3 |
| Group Size: Small Group |
| Length: 10 minutes |
| Materials: A deck of cards that contains two copies of each word recognition word learned so far for each pair of players (ideally, about 40 cards in a deck) |
| Goal: Given a written regular word, the student can say the word with automaticity ( abc -> "abc" ). |
| Items: All word-recognition words learned so far |
What to do
- Hand out a deck of cards to each pair of students. One student should shuffle the cards, and the other should deal the cards, so that each student has half of the deck in front of him in a draw pile.
- Let’s begin the game. You should each have a pile of word cards face down in front of you. Now, turn over the top card in your pile. Look at the first letter of your word, and then look at the first letter of your partner’s word. The person with the word whose letter begins closer to the beginning of the alphabet gets to read the cards first. So, for example, if I have the word cat and John has the word dog, I get to go first because the letter c comes before the letter d in the alphabet. Now that I know I am first, I get a chance to read my entire word, plus John’s entire word. If I can read both cards, I get to keep both cards. If I can’t read one or both cards, John gets a chance to try and read the words I missed. If he can read them, he gets to keep the card or cards he can read. If you and your partner are both stuck, please raise your hand and I will come help you read the words you missed. Once both cards are read, turn over the next card in each of your draw piles and play again. Remember--if you get to keep a card, put it face up in a treasure pile.
- If you both draw the same word, this is called a word war. In this case you must play, rock, paper, scissors. Whoever wins gets a chance to read both word cards--remember, in this case, the cards should have the same word on them. If the winner of rock, paper, scissors can read both cards, he or she gets to keep them. If not, his or her partner gets a chance to read the cards.
- The game finishes once you've finished flipping over all the cards in your draw pile. The person with the most cards in his or her treasure pile wins.
- Begin playing. You may want to model a few rounds for your students if this is a new game. While the students are playing in pairs, walk around the room to make sure they are reading the word cards correctly. Encourage students to read the words by first sounding them out in their heads, then saying them quickly aloud.
Related activities
- Word-form recognition accuracy
- Word-form recognition accuracy, Old Maid
- Word-form recognition fluency
- All Word-Form Recognition Activities