Phonics Center for Blends

We're working with a new reading series and I have thoughts. Sometimes I'm so completely overwhelmed by the amount of resources that accompany the series and sometimes I'm scratching my head and searching my files because they don't provide some of the most basic activities. Sound familiar? I'm on a mission to close the gaps. I need to add some things that my kids need while also keeping my pledge of "fidelity" to the series. It feels like an arranged marriage, but here we are...

So, what I find myself looking for is easy to implement center activities that are not overwhelming, can actually be completed independently, and provide practice for the skill set forth in the series. One way I've accomplished this is my word work booklet that I blogged about here. Another are these Chunk-It Games. These games are so easy to put together and really easy for the kids to figure out. Just print and cut, laminate in there if you like, and put them in a container. I like these double sided ones from Sistema, but obviously any container will work. I like the 2 compartments, but even one sandwich sized tub or even a baggie are just fine. 

I love the idea of teaching the kids how to play a game or complete an activity that I can just change up slightly to make it fresh and exciting but the kids can rely on the independence they have from learning the basic structure of the activity. So this set of Chunk It Games fall into this exact category. The basic idea is that the kids turn over two cards, one with the blend and one with the rest of the word, they read it and decide if it's an actual word. Each game comes with the word cards, teacher notes, and ideas for classroom use.

I've created three games so far, L, S, and R blends. They're working really well for my kids, so be on the lookout for more if these seem like something you can use. Each game is $2.25 but I just bundled all three for $4.75. You can snag that bundle here.