Word Fishing game

I haven't come up with a more clever title for this game (which is found in the book I'm using to teach Asher how to read), but I can definitely say it was a hit.

We're currently learning about the "ng" digraph, which can be a little tricky, so the book suggested making this simple fishing game to help. It was definitely worth the 15 minutes it took me to make it the night before.

All you need are notecards, paperclips, a magnet, string for fishing line, and some kind of fishing pole (a pencil, a drum stick, a ruler, whatever you have on hand!). I wrote the endings "ang", "ing", "ong", and "ung" on separate notecards. Then I cut 9 other notecards in half and wrote various letters and letter combinations on these. I clipped a paper clip onto each half-sized card.

For the first round I set the "ang" card down in front of Asher. All the appropriate letter cards (such as "s", "cl", "b", etc.) were spread out, face down across the carpet. These were the fish in the sea. Asher had to catch one of these fish (his makeshift fishing pole had a small magnet tied onto the bottom of the string), then place the letter card next to the digraph card and read the word to me. If he got it right, he kept the card. If not, the card got thrown back into the sea.

He LOVED this game. And I could see him getting more comfortable reading that strange "ng", which he struggled with when I first introduced it.

Fishing for a letter

Caught one!

Sounding it out

Pleased with himself for getting it right!

This was such a great idea, and it's totally adaptable to a number of lessons in different subjects - not just reading. I'm sure I'll use it again.