Thursday, June 18, 2015

RAN CATEGORIES GAME

Here is a fantastic game you can make this summer and use throughout the school year. Write the categories below on index cards. Punch a hole in the cards and attach to a book ring. If you’ve got a few minutes before lunch or while you’re waiting during other transitions you can flip through the category cards and see how many words children can “pop out.” 

*Whisper - Let the whole class participate by whispering as many words as they can.

*Toss and Tell – Throw a beanbag around the group and each child must add a word to the category as they catch the beanbag.

*Brainstorm - Write words on the board as the students call them out.

*Think Time - Give older children 2 or 3 minutes to write all the words they can think of. You could also divide students into partners or small groups to do this.

            shapes                              cars
            something in the yard        animals
            fruit or vegetable              movie stars
            something in the kitchen   body parts
            river, lake, or ocean         towns or cities
            country or state                machines
            type of transportation       foods
            something you wear          actions
            something in the zoo         plants
            toys                                  books
            songs                                nouns
            famous person                   verbs
            something in the school     games
            TV shows                          feelings
            colors                               occupations
            restaurants or stores          adjectives
            sports teams                     candy
            cartoons                           things that fly

Hint! Adapt the categories to the specific age, skills, and interests of your students.

Alphabet Categories
To make this variation of categories you will need 2 sheets of poster board of different colors. Cut the poster board into 4” squares. (You will need 23 squares of each color.) On one color print alphabet letters. (Print “u & v” on the same card and “x, y, z” on another card.) On the other color print one of the above categories.

Shuffle up each set of cards. Draw a card from the “letter pile” and a card from the “category pile.” Encourage the children to make the sound of the letter. Can they think of a word in the category that begins with that sound?