Making Concept of Word Stick


One of the major things we work on in kindergarten is making sure they have a solid concept of word.  When children have a firm concept of word, they can identify words from a poem and know where words are in sentences.  The students I work with struggle with this, so I help them to find that concept of word.

This past week we used my absolute favorite poem:  "Alligator Pie".  We have been working on tracking the poem, which they have pretty firmly, but that is not all that concept of word is about.

Children have firm concept of word when they can identify words that are in a text but have been taken out of the text.  Each day we have played a game where they can earn word cards from the poem if they know the words.  It has been fun.

On one of the days, I gave the students the lines from the poem cut up.  I put the line numbers on the back, but I would color code them the next time I do this.

They worked together to recreate the poem and make it again.

When they finished, they double checked the lines and pointed to the words as we read it together. We talked about how a word like alligator has 4 syllables but is one word, which is something they struggle with.  Seeing the separate word cards helped them to see that concept.

This is just one way I have helped my students understand concept of word.  There are so many other ways to help.  I will continue to work on this with my students as they gain a firm concept of word.

2 comments

  1. I do a lot of this at the beginning of first grade too!!! It sure is hard for some but I think this type of activity is helpful too!

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    Replies
    1. It is perfect for first graders too. I have a couple who actually still need this.

      Andrea

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