Three games with the words: 'HALF TERM'
Here are three word games for stretching children's language through play, either at home or in the classroom. They also offer an absorbing way of filling time on a dull day at home or spare time at school.
1. Words out of the words
Write 'H A L F T E R M' across a sheet of paper, landscape way, with generous gaps between the letters. Underline it, and draw vertical lines down between each letter to make columns under each for listing words starting with that letter.
How many words can your children (and you?) make out of those two (apart from half and term) ?
For at least two players, of similar reading/writing level, or one being a supportive, non-competitive adult.
Method
Help children to follow a consistent method. The best way is to start with the first letter, H, and list below it all the words they can think of beginning with that letter that can be made from it and the other letters. No letters can be used twice in one word.
If ability levels of players range considerably, challenge abler players to find words of 3 (or 4) letters or more.
Allow 5 to 10 minutes. Then players count up their lists and total them to see who has found the most.
Take turns to read out a column each. The other players must shout 'Snap!' when a word corresponds with one on their list and all parties with the word have to cross it off.
Finally, everyone counts up the words they have left on their lists, i.e. the unshared, uncrossed off ones. Whoever has the most is the winner.
Examples
Here are some word examples to guide strugglers towards:
Hat, Art, Leaf, Tram, Elf, Raft, Me
Heat Arm Lame The Eat Realm Melt
2. Mix and Make Nonsense
This is a light, amusing game in which players switch the letters 'HALF TERM' around all different ways (using some or all) to make new, make-up words.
To make the game easier, and more fun, write out the letters, large and clear, once for each child, colour-coded for each, on squares of card, cut them out and let the children line them up whichever ways they like, presenting their new words on table or floor.
Examples (using all the letters)
LAFTHERM
MELFRATH
TRALHEMF
FLATMEHR
But what do they mean? Ah, that's for you and the kids to decide.
3. Nonsense poem
And now, what about a nonsense verse, to include one or more of those crazy creations in game 2? It might start along these lines, perhaps:
The Laftherm lived in a tralhemf tree.
He...
Enjoy!
Kate
Spring trees
Through my window, sunlit trees are tempting me outside. Swaying ever so slightly in the summer breeze, they catch my eye like waving hands or smiling faces.
Outdoor play
Alas, outdoors and laptops don't mix, at least in my experience, but children should be out there, drinking up the sunshine, the fresh air, and the sensory delights of nature and the elements.
Take a look at that tree
If you're a teacher, parent or carer, how about pointing out a tree, shrub, grasses or whatever summer vegetation you can find, and sharing its grace, colours and movements with your children.
Describe
Feel, watch, listen, sniff your chosen wildlife feature. Does it hum in the breeze? Does it feel silky, or perhaps rough, to touch? Does it glisten or twinkle in the sunlight? Swap and share thoughts.
Catering for the cynical
If it's a dull day, or your children are not turned on by that little shrub, turn the chat around and make it funny. Talk of the downside of plants: the dreariness of a yet-to-blossom shrub, or an overgrown bush of thorns stuck bang in the way of the path! Make up a silly name for it. Think of crazy things you could do with it. But hopefully, they'll love it, especially when they really stop to notice.
Activity value
What sort of an activity is that for a child? you may ask. Well, it's actually several at once, each valuable as a skill-developer and experience-enhancer: observation, evaluating, sharing, describing, summing up feelings and views through words and ideas. With any luck, it was a positive experience, luring your child back out in the sun and fresh air tomorrow! Besides, we haven't quite finished.
Creative follow-up?
Now, how about a sketch of that scene too, complete with caption, for the mantelpiece? And a verse, in an arc, over the top?
Kate
One of the best ways to nurture children's creative development is to share thoughts with them.
Chat is good!
Swapping ideas with family members, friends, teachers and other people they respect, is both valuable and enjoyable for children. Their fresh, open minds are always glad to gulp down new views and perspectives, and they love to express their own ideas too, and witness the interest on the face of their listeners. In the process, they also develop the knack of selecting words, building sentences and presenting their viewpoints - essential life skills. And here we are at half term: the perfect opportunity to discuss, discuss and discuss!
Which, why, what if...?
So if you're spending time with a child or more this week, you'll be doing them a huge favour by striking up conversations about anything and everything under the rainbow - and why not the rainbow too? What would it feel like, to fly through? you could ask; which colour would you choose to lie back and rest on? If the wind got up, and swept the rainbow away, where might you end up?
Debate the facts!
Or on a more realistic level, but keeping to the rainbow a minute, you could test their understanding of how rainbows are caused, or just swap opinions as to its most beautiful colour. Is it going to rain? Have you ever been soaked through, you could ask? Really? What happened? How did that feel? What's your favourite weather?... and so on. Or swap views about global warming: is it entirely a bad thing? Can it be slowed down? What has caused it?
Down on paper!
Perhaps it's a bit of a dull evening. Suggest writing a story about a rainbow adventure before bed? Or a letter to the paper about global warming? Or a poem - in the shape of a rainbow - for the teacher? Too much like hard work? A rainbow picture, then, with a special word stretched over it - streaky, melty or shimmering, perhaps, or words to describe its sweeping, arching shape, or its mysterious way of appearing, hanging, fading.
Well, I've got rather hooked up on this rainbow, but of course any topic, especially an interesting, open-ended, or many-sided one, would be wonderful. You (if you're the adult) needn't say much. You can play prompter and listener.
Kate
Here's another poem for the Spring Bank Holiday, from my book, Wildlife Poems.
It's drawn from glimpses of the pair of blackbirds in our garden.
If you're a teacher, parent or carer, perhaps your children would like to make up a poem about a nest-building bird too.
Busy Blackbird
Skids about the garden,
never stops to rest,
stuffing beak with shreds and bits -
never mind what's best.
Flaps off over treetops,
dropping stalks and sticks...
back again - more hops, more bits:
blackbird building nest.
From Wildlife Poems.
Hope your spring bank holiday is being duly springy!
Kate
Here's a poem to celebrate spring.
It's from my book, Wildlife Poems.
Perhaps you, or your children if you're a parent, carer, or teacher, might like to write a poem in the same style, or similar, keeping the pattern simple.
Anticipating
Eggs
are opening;
hives
are opening;
dens
are opening;
doors
are opening;
wings
are opening;
eyes
are opening;
beaks
are opening;
jaws
are opening:
spring
is opening.
Summer
is waiting.
From Wildlife Poems
More spring poems coming later.
Meanwhile, have fun with your own!
Parents and carers, you'll have your work cut out this week, keeping your children occupied and happy, I expect! But it's also an opportunity for fun, finding out, free thinking, family time and a whole lot more out-of-school experiences. Holidays offer great potential for nurturing, learning and development in all ways - including language.
Here are 3 ideas for home language fun. They can be played while wandering through a park, rambling through the countryside, relaxing on the beach, or sitting round the kitchen table.
1) How many F's for Flower?
Choose an item you can see and think up words to describe it that start with the same letter.
Here's an example:
Flower: fragrant, fresh, floaty, flame-shaped, fragile, floppy, frail, fluted, fire-bright, feathery.
What's the score?
2) What rhymes with...?
Choose a simple word, such as Tree. How many words can you think up that rhyme with it?
Examples: tea, free, pea, me, three, he, she, be, bee, key, agree, brie (cheese), knee.
Now make up a verse with those words.
3) Limericks
These little rhymes start with a rhyming couplet, and finish up with another line that rhymes with it, but in the middle there's a different, shorter rhyme - or a rhyme within the line.
Aim for simple rhymes, and start with 'There once was...' or 'There was...'
Here's an example:
There once was a boy called Sam,
Who loved to eat toast and jam.
But he didn't like cheese, or carrots or peas,
And he simply couldn't stand ham.
If this is too hard for your children, just try the first rhyming couplet together.
Now they can write out their lists and rhymes, decorate, and display!
Enjoy your half term!
Kate
Hi again, and happy half term if you're in the UK, or anywhere else currently enjoying a school break!
If you're a parent, this is an ideal opportunity to spur your children's reading development. Here are some suggestions. Pick and choose to suit your child's age, reading level, interests and opportunities:
1. Point out car number plates and prompt for their letters, or the sounds they make. Do they combine to make a funny-sounding word, or a real one? Do any of the letters match the initials of any family members?
2. Ask your child to read out information on packets, cans or bottles for you, on shopping expeditions or at home. You could ask for the ingredients, cooking instructions, serving suggestion, 'Best before' date, or specified flavour.
3. Going on holiday? Involve your child in map reading or checking road names, signposts or directions on your 'sat nav' system.
4. Pick up a free newspaper or 'What's on' and ask your child to check an item of information in it. (This could be anything from the headline to the weather forecast or TV listings for the day.) If not ready for this level of reading, help him work out one of the more child-appropriate headlines, or to spot a word or letter they've come across elsewhere.
5. Out and about in town? Play 'I spy' with a chosen letter or word. The word might be 'Menu', 'Danger', 'Open', 'Push', or 'Exit', for instance. For more able readers, check and discuss the menu contents as you pass, or look out for longer, more challenging words like 'Restauraunt', 'Pedestrians' or 'Information'.
6. Read a book, story or poem aloud to your child, sharing a word or two, or taking it in turns to read.
7. Read yourself! There's nothing like setting an example to encourage your children to do the same!
Tip - obvious, of course, but not always when one's trying to do eight things at once to a deadline: act natural, showing interest in the subject on your child's level; you're not their teacher (unless you're one of the rare exceptions!), and he doesn't want a lesson from anyone in his half term break - least of all from a parent!
Have good week!
KateMore @ poemsforfun.wordpress.com
