Making Words!

One way young writers learn to read is by building words.  You can also do this at home. You will need the following letters, either magnetic or written on small pieces of paper and cut apart: m, g, d, p, h, t, i, o.

Review each letter, making sure your child knows the sound. Starting at the beginning of the list below say a word and have your child make the word with the letters.  Then say the next word. One letter will change. Listen with your child to see if it is the beginning letter, the middle letter or the ending letter that needs to change.  Have your child change the letter to make the new word. Continue down the list, changing one letter at a time.

mop – top – tip – hip – hit – hot – pot – dot – dog – dig – pig

In writing, we have been thinking about the question, “Why do people write?” We listed some of our ideas and realized there are many reasons that people write.  

These include writing:

• to tell what something is (labels)
• to learn how things work (recording observations)
• to remember (lists)
• to share stories (books, poems, songs)
• to give information (signs)
• to let someone know how they are feeling (cards, letters)

We have been working on stretching out words and and hearing as many sounds as we can to help write the word.  We write the sounds we hear. We practiced this by making labels for our classroom. You will notice that the words are not all spelled correctly.  That is okay! Not only is it okay, it’s developmentally appropriate. Learning to write is a little like learning to talk. At first things don’t come out perfect, but with lots of encouragement and practice progress is made.