Five Fun Compound Word Activities

Here are five fun compound word activities to liven up your lesson. These activities fit in nicely as a center activity.

Compound Word Activities and Ideas

Activity #1 Logic Sentences

Logic sentences are a fun way for students to form compound words and gain some depth in understanding the words.

Examples of Logic Sentences:

Shells in the sea are _______________. (They would write seashells.)

A coat you wear in the rain is a ______________.

You can write these on index cards to make your own set of task cards. For encouraging higher-order thinking,  you can flip it by giving them a list of compound words. Then let them choose words to write out their own logical sentences. I would recommend modeling a few first if you plan to have students writing them.

Now, this will not work for every single compound word out there. For example, you would not write, “A type of butter that flies is a ___________.” However, there are many words that do make logical sense, and this is a fun activity for vocabulary development.

 

Activity #2 Picture Addition

This activity works really well for visual learners. Pictures are used to form addition problems, and students will need to use the pictures to name the compound word.

For example, jelly + fish = ___________

compound word task cards

Click the image or here to link to the compound words task cards.

You can also turn this into missing equation problems too.

For example, jelly + __________ = jellyfish

These can also be completed digitally. If your class is handy with devices, you could extend this by letting students create their own addition problem with a compound word by importing pictures. They can also illustrate one on paper too.

compound words digital task cards for Google Classroom

Click the image or here to link to the digital task cards for compound words.

 

Activity #3 Magnetic Compound Words

This is an engaging activity for your kinesthetic learners and for the those that love science. Write out a part of a compound word on each index card. Attach a paper clip to each card. Provide a horseshoe magnet. Let students try to grasp two words to form a compound word. Let students identify if the word is a real compound word or not by sorting them into piles. You could provide a laminated mat that has a section for real compound words and a section for unreal compound words too.

There are different ways students can share their learning with you or others. One way is to let them discuss their words on video after they have completed the sorting. This also gives an opportunity for them to review their work, which will help them to retain what they just learned.

If you do not have a tablet or other type of device with video features, you could also have students use a recording sheet or share their learning with a partner or a small group.

 

Activity #4 Categorizing with Compound Words

This may seem like a simple activity, but categorizing is level four on Bloom’s Taxonomy because it involves analysis. Categorizing helps students to make more connections in their brains. Plus, this adds a hands-on element that is great for your kinesthetic learners.  Here students are going to analyze those compound words and sort them into the categories of person, place, thing, and animal.

You can do this by writing each category on a piece of construction paper or colorful paper and laminating it. It does not need to be fancy, but you could always type one up with some fun fonts too. I recommend using one that they can easily read.

After you prep the mats, you will need compound words for them to categorize. I recommend having the words either written out or typed out on small pieces of paper. You may want to laminate it for future use. Also, you will need the pictures of the compound words. Of course, you can differentiate by having the words and pictures together as one. By having the words and pictures separate, students can match the words and pictures and then sort them into categories. That way, you are meeting the needs of your visual learners, and you are getting students to pay attention to reading the actual word too. Otherwise, they may just read the picture and not even pay attention to the word.

 

Activity #5 Compound Word Puzzles

You can easily put this together with some paper cut-outs such as some strawberry themed paper cut-outs or whatever theme you prefer.

To create the puzzles, write one part of the compound word on the left side and the other part of the compound word on the right side. Cut them in half. If you want to make them self-checking, cut each one different when cutting them in half. Laminate for durability.

Students will join the puzzles together to form the compound words. Students can record the words on a recording sheet. You can also have them make an illustration for each word they write down too.

 

I hope these ideas will make learning compound words a fun and engaging in your classroom! If you would like to have more ideas like this sent to your email here and there, some freebies along the way, and more, please sign-up for email here. By signing up today, you get a free set of task cards.

 

Compound Word Activities and Ideas

Thanks for stopping by the Candy Class! Make sure to check out some of my other vocabulary posts here.

Candy Class for Teaching Resources and Ideas

Jolene Mathew 🙂

 

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