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BLM Spotlight

Sound Waves Literacy 11/8/22

Get students playing with words using the printable activities available at Sound Waves Literacy Online. There are plenty of activities to choose from, but we’ve hand-picked a few of our favourites to show you how easily they can be set up and enjoyed by your students!

1. Four in a Row

For this game, students race to place four counters in a row on a game board. The catch? They’ll need to identify missing graphemes first!

Number of players: 2–4

What you’ll need:

• Four in a Row Board Game and Cards (available in Years 3, 4 and 5 in various units)
• Counters (different colour per player)

How to play:

1. Word Cards are stacked facedown.
2. The first player picks up a Word Card, finds the missing letter or letters from the word on the game board, then places a counter on that square.
3. The player places their Word Card at the bottom of the pile and the next player takes a turn.
4. The first player with four counters in a row (horizontally, vertically or diagonally) is the winner. 


Variations:
Generate your own words
Using an A3 version of the game board and small sticky notes, students race to make four in a row by generating their own words using the graphemes on the game board. Students take turns to write a word on their sticky note and stick it over the chosen grapheme.

2. Bingo


A classroom classic! Our twist has students practising their spelling and reading skills through this fun and engaging game.

Number of players: Whole class or small groups

What you’ll need:

• Bingo grids (available in the Black Line Masters tab*)
• A list of at least 12 words that relate to a concept being taught in your current Sound Waves Literacy unit (e.g. rhyme, homophones, suffixes or Focus Words).

*Within the Black Line Masters tab of your Sound Waves Literacy online teaching resources, you’ll find the Bingo grids in three different sizes – 2x3, 2x4 and 3x4. Laminate your Bingo grids to make this a fun go-to game you can use again and again!

How to play:

1. Students choose words from the designated list and write one in each of the empty rectangles on their Bingo grid.
2. Read the words from the list in random order to the class. Students cross off each word on their grid as it is said.
3. The first student to cross off every word on their grid calls ‘Bingo!’

Variations:
Playing Cards Bingo
In small groups, students are dealt six cards from a Standard Sound Box Playing Cards deck and these are placed face up so the students can see them. The caller uses a second set of Standard Sound Box Playing Cards to call out the phonemes. Students turn their cards over when their phonemes have been called. The winner calls ‘Bingo!’ when all six of their cards have been turned over.

Phoneme Bingo
Students fill their Bingo grid with words from the designated list. Rather than calling out words, the teacher uses Standard Sound Box Playing Cards or Sound Box Cards to call out a phoneme. Students cross off the words in the Bingo grid if their word contains the phoneme that was said. The winner is the first student to cross off all six of their words.

3. Match Up

This activity is ideal for students who need practice with Focus Words. It is a great variation on the digital match-up activity in the Sound Waves Literacy online teaching resources because it suits students who are more engaged by hands-on activities.

What you’ll need:

• Match Up BLM (available in all year levels and in most units*)
• Scissors

*Each year level contains a variation of the Match Up activity that is suitable for that year level. Variations include Match Up: Pictures to Words, Match up: Focus Word Beginnings and Endings, Match Up: Letters to Finish Words, Match Up: Words to Rhyming Words, Match Up: Focus Words to Clues, and Match Three: Focus Word Parts.

How to play:

1. Cut the BLM into pieces.
2. Arrange the pieces to create matching pairs.

Tip: As an alternative, students can glue the matching pairs into a workbook.

Variations:
Whole Class Match Up
The Match Up BLM can be enlarged on a photocopier and cut into cards. The class is divided into two or four teams. The cards are attached facedown to the board and students take turns in their teams to flip over the cards to make a match.

Partner Match Up
In this game the cards are shared among all students in the class. On a signal from the teacher, the students mingle and try to find the classmate with the matching card. When they find their partner, they both sit down side by side. When all students are sitting, their cards are checked to make sure each is a correct match. Cards can then be collected and redistributed to play again.

4. Race to the Clouds Board Game

The race is on! Which student will use the graphemes for to complete their column and reach the clouds first?

Number of players: 2–4

What you’ll need:

• Race to the Clouds Board Game and Cards (available in Year 3, Unit 31)

How to play:

1. Cards are stacked facedown.
2. Have each player choose a column on the game board.
3. Player 1 picks up a card and tries to make a word by placing it in one of the boxes in their column.
4. If a word can be made, player 1 leaves the card in place and takes another turn.
5. If a word can’t be made, the player places the card at the bottom of the pile and the next player takes a turn.
6. The first player to complete all the words in their column is the winner.

Note: Only words can be made. For example, the word shout is acceptable, but shut is not.

Variations:
Whole class race
The game board and cards can be enlarged on a photocopier or projected for the whole class to see. Divide the class into four teams and place the cards on the floor in front of the game board or projected game board. Students work as a relay in their teams to select a card and place it in their column.

Excited to get started? Log in to Sound Waves Literacy Online and print and prepare the printable activities listed in your upcoming Sound Units, or bulk download the printable activities for your year level through the Black Line Masters tab.

Many of the BLMs in the Sound Waves Literacy online teaching resources have been cleverly designed so they can be easily stored in ziplock bags and re-used throughout the year. Use the heading strip on the BLM to label the ziplock bag and use the icon on each cut-out to identify which game they belong to. The printable activities can be used as a fast finisher activity, in group rotations or as a fun end-of-week consolidation activity.

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