Word Cards! I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: if we take the fear out of writing, students will write forever. Part of what we need to do with early writers is teach them to enjoy writing. Taking their fears of “spelling it wrong” or “making mistakes” away, creates students who not only WILL write, but will write A LOT. One of my strategies for taking fear out of writing includes word cards. Word cards can include a theme and 16-20 words for that theme. When students are given these words, they can write great sentences and stories.
What Can I Do with Word Cards?
The better question is what can’t you do? Word cards provide a venue for:
- Make a few copies and post them on your writing board or put them in a WRITING CENTER as TOPICS.
- Writing predictable sentences: I see the snowman. I see the boots. I see the icicles.
- Creating a 4 SQUARE and writing a topic sentence and 4 supporting details: What do I wear? Here is my coat. Here is my scarf. Here is my red hat. Where are my ear muffs?
- Ask students to use as many words in a STORY as they can. Use cards for vocabulary in a winter story: I went down the hill on my sled. I saw a snowman was by the igloo. There was snow on the evergreen tree.
5. Writing about a winter SEQUENCE: First, I made a snowman. Then, I rode the snowboard. Last, I went inside for hot cocoa.
Are Word Cards Just for Writing?
No way! Anytime you have word cards, you have a group of words you can use in a variety of ways.
- Sort into NOUNS and VERBS.
- Use it to search for COMPOUND WORDS.
- Use it to search for LONG AND SHORT VOWELS.
- Use it to search for LONG AND SHORT VOWELS.
- WORD PATTERNS – L-Blends: using the cards for blanket, (snow)flakes, gloves, and sled, ask students to find more words in their reading that belong in these categories.
6. Choose 2 words and make a CAUSE AND EFFECT statement.
7. Use the list to DICTIONARY SKILLS and find the guide words for words on the list.
8. Use words to sort by SINGULAR or PLURAL.
what about math?
- Choose pictures to draw a simple EQUATION.
- Choose 2 words and write a MATH WORD PROBLEM.
If you would like the Winter Word Card Set, click the link or the picture below. This resource $4.00.
The set includes word cards for
- Winter Wonderland
- Snow
- Merry Christmas
- Happy Hanukkah
- Happy New Year
- Groundhog Day
- Valentine’s Day
- President’s Day and
- Hibernating Animals.
The set contains 9 Cards and individual vocabulary cards, as well as writing activities pages:
- ABC Order
- Syllable Sort
- Writing Paper
- Word Search/Crossword Puzzle Grid
If you would like a free sample of the Winter Wonderland Word Card, Fill out the form below to join my email list and the file will be sent to you directly.
