Literacy with Popsicle Sticks

I love popsicle sticks!  If I had known how useful they would be in my career I wouldn't have carelessly thrown them away all those years.  Silly, silly, Ms. Q for not thinking ahead. I love educational games for the classroom and popsicle sticks seem to be one of the simplest ways to do so. 

So here are a few ideas...

1. ABC Order: write spelling, high frequency words, or vocabulary words on the end of each stick.  Have the students place them in ABC order.

Over Tunstall's Teaching Tidbits, she has a list of different games to play along with worksheets.  They're $5 at TpT, but may be worth it.

2. Sequential Order:  Write sentences on the sticks and have students arrange them in sequential order.  Use key words like First, Then, Next, and Finally to practice How-To's and beginning, middle, and end. 

3. BAM!: Or Bang!  Write high frequency words, spelling words, or vocabulary words on the end of each stick.  Include some popsicle sticks with the word BAM!  Students each take turns pulling out a stick and if they can read it they can keep it, but if they pull out a BAM! stick they have to put ALL their sticks back. 

4. Rhyming Jars, Word Families, and Word Sorts:  I LOVE this idea over at First Grader... At Last! 

First Grader... At Last Word Sort

She doesn't use popsicle sticks, but you definitely can. 

5. Parts of Speech: This is another sorting idea.  Write different parts of speech on the end of the sticks and have students sort them into nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc. 

6. Build a Sentence: Write different words on the sticks and have students practice building sentences.  As the year progresses the students can practice building longer more descriptive sentences.

7. Story Prompts:  Color code sticks to represent different parts of a story: people, places, and problems.  Have the students randomly draw one of each to create their own story prompt.

8. Sight Word Puzzle: Place 2 popsicle sticks together and write sight words, or spelling words, across both. The students then have to match them up.  Quick, easy, fun way to practice site words.  Click here.

9. I'm Done: For fast finishers write different activities they can complete on the sticks and place it in a cup.  They can come, pick a stick, and work quietly.  Team V's First Grade Fun has a list of activities you can include.



10.  Organizing popsicle sticks.  This is why I created this blog, to keep track of all the great ideas I come across on my never-ending search for teaching ideas.  There was a post, somewhere, at some time, that I rummaged through where the author organized all her popsicle stick activities by unit.  She labeled each jar and had them ready as the students progressed through the year.  The moment I re-find the wonderful post I will appropriately give her credit for a fabulous idea... 'til then...

What the Kids Want: Persuasive Writing

I love to give students real world examples when writing, gearing prompts to some type of relevance to their lives.  Persuasive writing seems to be a perfect time to teach students how to correctly and effectively argue their points of view.   The topic can be changed according to the seasons, ex: If you were a pumpkin persuade someone to pick you.  Current popular trends.  Why should everyone listen to One Direction?  But, I love this idea.  Use travel brochures and have students write a persuasive piece convincing their parents to take them to their favorite vacationing spot.  It exposes students to different types of print and practices a writing skill. 


Thanks to Caitlyn at Kindergarten Smiles.

Reading A-Z With Style

In the district I currently work with, Reading A-Z is a much-used resourced.  I, still a substitute, am not privy to my own secret password, but have perused the site  Shhh...don't tell anyone.  Actually, this became vital in my most recent position because the school lost most of its textbooks, workbooks, supplies, library books, etc. as a result of Hurricane Sandy.  We all scrambled for materials to use in the classroom.  What I sought most were leveled books and Reading A-Z had plenty of them... thank goodness.

Which is I why I loved this idea so much!!! It's a cute and decorative way to organize all those great resources offered at Reading A-Z. 

Kaitlyn, at Wicked Fun in First Grade, explains how she laminates the cover page and then adds colored duct tape to the edge.  She not only protected them for future use, but color coded them according to levels.   Brilliant!  There are so many possibilities... classroom library, Daily 5 "good fit" books, or as Kaitlyn did - leveled homework reading.