Making Words for Big Kids

[dolmansaxlil]

Hi everyone,
I actually teach grade 7/8, but we're using "Making Words for Big Kids", and I know Making Words is more popular with the lower grades, so I thought I'd ask my question here.

Currently, I photocopy the needed strip of letters for the kids, have them cut them apart, and then do the lesson. I'd REALLY like to have more "permanent" letter sets though.

I considered doing up sets of letters for each kid on cardstock (figuring out the maximum number of each letter I'd need for any lesson), then laminating, and storing them in a 3-prong folder with either baseball card protector sheets or slide-protector sheets (can you still buy those?). But then I started doing the math:

2 of each letter (3 of some letters). So let's say there's a total of 70 letters needed in total.

Times 33 students.

That's over 2000 letters to cut out, laminate, and then cut out of laminate! Crazy!

Does anyone have any brilliant ideas?

[Krafty]

Is there any particular reason the letters have to be on card stock? How big do the letters need to be and what exactly are they doing with them (spelling on their deks, or taping to a board?)

My first reaction is that you'd be better off going to the dollar store and getting the sets of magnetic alphabet letters that kids use to play on the fridge. Those sheet protectors and overhead sheets (yes, they still make them) can get pretty costly, so in money you might be about the same. Look around the dollar store, local teacher supply, Wal-mart or Oriental Trading Company (or any equivalent). I'm sure you can find supplies that will fit your lesson, are about equal cost but will save you tons of time and effort.

[dolmansaxlil]

There's no particular reason they have to be on cardstock. They are moving the letters around on their desks. I thought about the magnetic letters, but some of the lessons need 3 and 4 of the letters, so to have enough for 33 kids to do it, that's a LOT of sets of letters! I also liked the idea of the plastic sheets because then they could be organized for each kid by letter. I can just picture them having a bag of letters to hunt through to find the right ones. :rolleyes: Alternatively, I could have a little bin for each letter and have them handed out at the start of the lesson. But I'm thinking if I'm going that route, I'd be better off to just photocopy the strip of letters for each lesson and have them cut them apart (which is what I'm currently doing). I basically want it to be a smoothly running as possible. :p

[naenae23]

I teach in a low income school district, and we always have to be creative with our supplies. I teach 1st grade and my kids make their own making words letters for each lesson. I post the letters on the board that they need, they fold the paper so that there are squares they can write in. They are able make most of the letters with just one piece of paper. Of course this is rehearsed a lot in the beginning, but it becomes second nature very quickly. They write the letters, then cut them out. After they do that, they bring them to me in my small group times. I don't know how feasable this is for you, but it works really well in my classroom.

[teach1027]

Magnet sets. They make magnet sets speciffically for making words you can get them at teaching stores, or if this is comming out of your pocket buy magnet sheets for your computer printer and print them out.

[RibbityRibbit]

I made my sets with colored paper laminated, but I don't have the kids keep them. I have a container with all the letters, and I sort them into baggies. It's too much work! I also use the big words, and if say, the word is helicopters that's a lot of letters for each kid. I spent HOURS cutting the letter sets. I only have 13 students and it takes ME too much time.

I would just have the kids cut them out from the photocopy. It should only take a moment to cut. If you photocopy the strips of letters onto one sheet, so there are about 10 on a sheet, then cut those into the strips on the paper cutter, they will have less to cut. (I don't like the way they are in the book, with the words all on the back together.)

[Boxcar]

Can you use graph paper for a grid? Seventh and eighth graders are old enough to handle the little squares.

Go to garage sales and dollar stores. Get old Scrabble and Scrabble Junior sets, then sort the letters into a divided shoe box. These games provide enough letters to make words. The children might have to sit in groups to figure with the letters, but they can do the moving around and write on a sheet of loose-leaf the answer.

[3rdgradeteach]

These are some really great ideas...I even thought to use wooden blocks and paint the letters on them...I mean, if you are just seeing if they can spell that would work as well....and I think I will even add this as a game in my class.....they really need the help in spelling! THanks!

[RibbityRibbit]

In addition to the laminated paper cut outs, I also have a tub of scrabble pieces, from about 4 games, and a tub of upwards pieces, also from about 4 games. This is not actually enough, as these big word often have more than 2 or 3 letters the same. However, the kids much prefer using the actual tiles. They are better to manipulate.

I was in a 1st grade classroom once and they were using old computer keys! They just pop off and sometimes you can find old keyboards at thrift shops.

Still, I'm telling you- giving a kid a baggy after doing all that sorting!! I only do it a few times a month, and it seems like much more work to me than necessary.

[maridee]

I came up with a creative--read: cheap--way to help my students with making words.

Use portable "white boards." The ready made ones are too expensive and, when I started teaching Special Ed in my district, I was told by the former principal that I had "no budget," in other words no $$$ for any kind of supplies. Almost anything I wanted to use I ended up buying myself due to a lack of funds.

I discovered I had only 3 mini-white boards for 29 students. Well, THAT wasn't gonna fly! So what did I use?

I bought a package of cardstock [in this case, I would use cardstock] and a package of plastic sheet protectors. Insert one piece of cardstock in a sheet protector--

Voila! Instant white board!

Students can use a marker to write on the surface and it wipes off with just a tissue. These mini-white boards can be used over and over. My students used them for math, for spelling word practice, science, etc.

My students certainly enjoyed them--although I should warn you that they MAY want to doodle on the boards.

Try it--you'll like it!

Maridee

[landreth2007]

I have used the tagboard letters, magnetic letters and having the kids make their own. They all have advantages and disadvantages but it is less work on YOU make photocopies of the letters needed and let the kids cut them out. I always put vowels first, then consonants. The kids kept their letters in an envelope or baggie when they were finished. Sometimes we wrote the big word on the outside after we "discovered" it. When I used this with younger kids they kept the baggies in their browse boxes to use again during free/reading time.

[becka_kate]

Two suggestions:
A) For inexpensive white boards go to your local tile shop / tile manufacturer / building recycling centre and see what sort of a deal they can do you on their 'seconds' of bathroom or kitchen tiles (the shiny type). They're small, easy to store, almost indestructible (and if they break you can glue them back together with PVA glue!) and wipe off easily when you use a white board marker on them. I have a set in my classroom that used to be in my dad's garage until he was going to throw them out! My kids love them! To protect my desks from getting scrached I stuck some 2inch squares of thin craft foam on the backs of tiles in the corners (also reduces sound of them being put on tables and cushions them in storage) and the kids use squares of dust clothes / felt as rubbers.

B) Getting back to the letter card situation, is there any reason why you can't make the sets you wanted to make in your initial post and then have your kids cut their own letters out - give up part of one lesson? I teach kinder and last week had my kids cut out a set of 1-30 number cards that we were going to use in class this fortnight and they've now taken them home for practice. They did a pretty good job. Also, do they actually need to be laminated? (I don't know what this actual program involves) If you're going to make them out of cardstock and then store them in some sort of protector won't they be ok? Just a suggestion. Sometimes we go over the top a bit with the need to laminate. I have maths games in my room I've used for two years without having them laminated and they're in fairly good condition. And, when they've 'passed their use by date' I can recycle them and replace part of one of the trees that have been cut down by classroom this year!

[becka_kate]

Also, for inexpensive magnetic letters try eBay - I got some great pre-loved one's there and sometimes dollar stores have them really cheap too!