Modified/Extended Activities for Kit 1 - Book 03 Make a Friend

As parents and educators, we are always searching for ways to differentiate instruction for our children.  I like to compare it to children learning to play a sport, like baseball.  The child begins by hitting the ball off of a tee, then progresses to coach pitch, and then to regular pitching.  The child builds on each skill.  Reading is the same.  We must always start with the foundations necessary to understand sounds and how words work.  If a child is struggling, often they may have missed an integral part of the steps of learning to read.  Our Ned & Patrick Series has books and activities that are prepared for a teacher or parent to use, but that doesn’t mean that everyone should do exactly the same thing with our Literacy Kits.  A child may not be ready to group words by syllables if they have not been taught what a syllable is.  In this blog, we give suggestions as to how to modify or scaffold the activities to meet your child wherever they are in this exciting journey of learning to read.  We must build their confidence as we go!

Note:  The activities in each book can be modified for a reader who may need extra support.  Below are ideas to use with the activity cards for readers who may not be ready to attack the word cards independently.  The activities will build skills necessary for successful reading.  The extension activities are for readers who may need supplemental work.  These consist of a list of words to enhance vocabulary.  The words can be discussed orally in kid-friendly language.  A child can use the words in spoken sentences or written sentences.  There is also a list of comprehension questions to encourage deeper thinking about the stories.  Again, these can be discussed to promote oral language or written responses can be created.

Modified Activity One:  Phonemic Awareness-Child will gain an awareness of sounds through listening activities.

• Choose 10-20 activity word cards.
• Tell the child that you are going to say two words.
• Child will give a “sign” (possibly thumbs up or thumbs down) if they hear the same long vowel sound.
• For example, the adult might say, “smile and phone.” The child would give a thumbs down.  The adult might say, “name, make.”  The child would give a thumbs up. 

 Modified Activity Two: Rhyming-Children will practice the skill of generating words that rhyme.  *For this activity it is helpful to choose words for which a rhyming word can be easily generated. 

• Read the cards to the child and ask them to create a rhyming word.
• For example, the adult might say, “make” and the child would say, “take.”

Extension Activity One: Words Worth Knowing

trotted - another word for a jog

greet - give a polite welcome or to say “hi”

rude - with no manners

globe - a model of the world

travel - go from one place to another

flute - a wind instrument made from a tube with holes

Extension Activity Two: Questions Worth Asking:

• What was the first game that the new friends played together?
• How did Patrick know where Kate and Ned were hiding?
• Why did Patrick like to look at globes?
• What instrument did Kate play?
• Do you think that Patrick and Kate will make good friends for each other? Why? 
• List three characteristics that would make a good friend.