Ideas for Working with Words at Home
Children need many opportunities to work with words not only at school in the classroom but
also at home.
Playing with words…
-helps foster fluent reading
-helps foster fluent writing
Below are some games that can be played at home to reinforce word play.
BINGO
Need: 1 set of word cards (16 word cards in a set) with weekly focus words for each player and 1 set for the draw pile
(can be written on index cards)
To play: Each player lays out their word cards face up in a grid (4x4 for 16 cards). The extra set of word cards is then
placed face down and will serve as the draw pile. Players take turns drawing a card from the draw pile. The player
that drew the card reads the card out loud. All players with that word turn it over on their grid. Play continues until a
player makes BINGO by turning over all cards in a row (horizontally, vertically or diagonally) on their grid.
**The Word Study calendar for grades 3-5 can be found at
http://www.katyisd.org/curriculum/Pages/SpellingWords.aspx
Go Fish
Need: 2 sets of word cards (20 cards in a set) with words from two different weeks of study (can be written on index
cards)
To play: Shuffle word cards and place in a stack face down. Each player draws 5 cards. Players try to collect a
match for each word card in their hand. Starting with the oldest player each player takes a turn asking the other
player for a card they need. (For example: If Player A has the word card cat they would ask Player B “Do you have a
word with the prefix re-?” or “Do you have a compound word?” If Player B has the word being asked for they must
give it to Player A. If not, Player B says “Go fish.” Player A must then draw a card from the word card stack.) Play
continues until all of the cards are matched. The first player to match all of their cards is the winner.
**The Word Study calendar for grades 3-5 can be found at
http://www.katyisd.org/curriculum/Pages/SpellingWords.aspx
Memory
Need: 2 sets of word cards with weekly focus words (can be written on index cards)
To play: Shuffle word cards and place in rows face down. Players take turns turning over 2 cards. If the two cards
match (i.e. have the same suffix, prefix, definition, etc.) the player gets to take both cards. If a player makes a
match they get to take another turn. If the words on the 2 cards that were turned over do not match, both cards
are turned face down again and it is the next player’s turn. Play continues until all cards have been matched. The
player with the most matched cards is the winner.
**The Word Study calendar for grades 3-5 can be found at
http://www.katyisd.org/curriculum/Pages/SpellingWords.aspx
Word Dominoes
Need: 2 sets of word cards (20 words in a set) with weekly focus words from two different weeks of study (can be
written on index cards)
To play: Shuffle word cards and deal out cards 7 cards to each player. The remaining cards are stacked face down
in a pile. Player A starts the game by laying down a word card from their hand. Player B must choose a word from
their hand that “connects” to Player A’s card in some way (i.e. words have the same prefix or suffix/words begin with
the same letter(s)/words end with the same letter(s), etc.). If a player does not have a card with a connection then
they must draw a card from the draw pile. If the player draws a card that matches they may put it down next to the
card it matches. If the player does not draw a card that matches play moves to that other player. Play continues
until all cards have been used or no more matches can be made.
**The Word Study calendar for grades 3-5 can be found at
http://www.katyisd.org/curriculum/Pages/SpellingWords.aspx
Word Fun Board Games
-Bananagrams
-Pairs in Pears
-Scrabble Slam!
-Word Rummy (tile and card versions available)
-Boggle
-Snap it Up!
-Blurt!
Word Fun Websites
http://www.pogo.com/word-games?pageSection=hp_gc_4word_seeall
http://www.wordcentral.com/games/alpha-bot.html
http://www.wordcentral.com/games/robobee.html
http://www.aasd.k12.wi.us/staff/boldtkatherine/readingfun3-6/readingfun_prefixessuffixesroots.htm
**Katy ISD is not responsible for content on external sites or servers. Katy ISD does not support or endorse the sites or app
listed. Students accessing these sites from a Katy ISD computer on the district's network will be filtered to prevent access to
inappropriate content. When accessing from home, a parent or guardian should supervise access to monitor inappropriate
advertising or links to other sites.
Word Fun Apps
-Word Shaker
-Wooords
-Hooked On Words
-Word Solitaire
-Word Ladder
-Chain of Thought
-Pop Words (balloon)
-WordsWorth
**Katy ISD is not responsible for content on external sites or servers. Katy ISD does not support or endorse the sites or app
listed. Students accessing these sites from a Katy ISD computer on the district's network will be filtered to prevent access to
inappropriate content. When accessing from home, a parent or guardian should supervise access to monitor inappropriate
advertising or links to other sites.