My class LOVES playing Magic Hat Vocabulary. They either pull a card out of the hat, or there are plastic bunnies inside the hat with vocabulary cards inside of them. The students tell what the word means, the part of speech, and use correctly in a sentence. This gives us a chance to really practice the words. Learning Resources used to sell the hat I have, but you can find inexpensive magician's hat and wands on Amazon. You can find the bunnies at The Dollar Tree around Easter. The kids adore the novelty of this!
If you would rather not use a hat, you can use a large paper lunch bag. I created a cover for the bag, and editable cards. If you would like to download this freebie, click on either of the pictures.
Another fun activity we play in my classroom is Swat That Vocab Word. I display the vocabulary cards for the week in a small pocket chart, and students play two at a time, and whoever swats the correct word with a (clean) flyswatter first, is the winner. I usually have one student give the definition, and the other student uses it correctly in a sentence, but I like to mix it up. This gives us so many opportunities to discuss the words and language- synonyms, antonyms, suffixes, prefixes, etc. You can click on the picture below to grab this freebie.
Hot Potato Vocab is another fun game we play. I bought my Hot Potato Game at Target after seeing it posted on Instagram. The vocabulary cards are inside the paper bag, and students pass around the hot potato. When the music stops, the student holding the potato has to pick a word out of the bag and give the same vocabulary information as the previous games. If you would rather not purchase the game, you can just pass a paper bag around with the words inside and play music in the classroom. When the music stops, whoever is left holding the bag has to choose a word. You can download the printables and vocabulary words by clicking on the picture below.
I wanted to share a bit of what we are currently doing during Spelling/Word Work time. When I was in fifth grade, by favorite teacher had monthly themed spelling sheets that had several spelling activities on them. What I loved most was getting to choose what I wanted to work on. I decided to create something similar for my students. There are separate monthly sets, (and a few other spelling packs shown) or a bundle that now includes the entire year! I've been using these during my literacy block rotation, but they would be great to send home as homework too.
I have several other spelling and word work ideas and freebies in this post if you would like to check it out.
I hope I've given you some useful tips you can implement into your day to make things fun and engaging. I would love to know if you have any other ideas to make spelling and vocabulary practice meaningful and engaging for your kiddos! :)
