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

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 = ___________

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.

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.

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

Jolene Mathew 🙂

Today, I want to share five ways to teach multiple meaning words. Multiple meaning words are words that sound alike but mean different things. These can include homonyms, but it also can include words that have a noun and verb meaning too. Students will need to depend on the context to understand the intended meaning of the word.

Why teach multiple meaning words? Teaching multiple meaning words will help deepen reading comprehension and expand vocabulary use in writing.

Activity #1 Homophone Picture Match

Visuals are a great way to help your visual students to build a mental image of the homophones. Playing a game of cards that involves matching is a fun, easy way to accomplish this. Print some pictures of some homophones like pair/pear, hair/hare, ate/eight, etc. Attach the pictures to some index cards with the words written on the bottom. Laminate them. Students can use the cards to play a memory game or a round of go fish.

Activity #2 Homophone Sort

Word sorts are also beneficial to students. While visual pictures should be used too, it’s important to focus in on the spelling differences too. For this activity, write the homophones on some index cards and laminate them. Let students sort the matching homophones into pairs.

Activity #3 Illustrate Two Meanings

With this activity, students will draw two illustrations to represent the word with multiple meanings. Have students fold a sheet of paper in half. Then on each side, let them illustrate the meaning of the word. For example with the word bat, students will draw a baseball bat on the left side of the paper. On the right side, they may draw a flying bat.

To up enthusiasm, let your class use this activity to make the game cards for the picture match activity that was mentioned first. Instead of using paper, they can draw on index cards. Let students write the word under each illustration. Instead of it being folded, they will make two separate cards for the same word such as the word bat. Laminate them for durability. Place the cards in a center for them to use. They will LOVE this even more. I’m telling you, this will be a hit and have them very engaged and picking up on those multiple meaning words FAST.

Activity #4 Dig into Context

It’s important that students also be able to use context to distinguish the differences in multiple meaning words. Task cards are a fun way for students to determine the meaning of a multiple meaning word in context. Students can read sentences, and then select the meaning that fits the word.

Task cards can also be used for an assortment of activities. You can play a game of Scoot or combine them with a game board easily.

On a side note, these task cards pictured below actually tells a story about a bat that loves baseball for fun.

Click here or the picture to check out these printable task cards. These include color and black lined options. There are also two options for the recording sheets, so you can use 20 or 28 task cards with your students.

You can also save time with the digital format instead. That means no cutting, and it is engaging for students! Click here or the image to link to it.

Activity #5 Write it in Context

Once students have some experience with defining multiple meaning words in context, challenge them more by letting them come up with their own sentences that contain them. If your students have an interactive notebook, you can let them use one of these free templates linked below and write the multiple meaning words within the context of sentences under each word. Click here for the free template.

There you have it, five ways to teach multiple meaning words. I hope you found these ideas helpful! If you would like a free set of task cards for long and short vowels, sign-up for email here. You will also receive many other freebies, more teaching ideas, sales announcements, and more over time.

Thanks for stopping by the Candy Class! Make sure to check out my post about prefixes here and my post about vocabulary strategies here.

Jolene Mathew 🙂

Students need opportunity to work with words and manipulate the parts of them. In primary grades like 2nd grade, students can start to dive into prefixes to strengthen their vocabulary skills. There are many ways for students to work with prefixes, and you will find a few ideas for teaching prefixes below.

Idea #1 Sorting Prefixes

Have students sort words by the prefix. Simply write the words on index cards for students to sort by prefix. You can laminate for durability. Another way is to type them up, print on card stock, and laminate. Making prefix sorting mats provides a visual for students to place the words on top of as they sort. Simply type the prefix on a single sheet of paper. I recommend putting the prefix meaning on the mat too, so students can really learn that prefix.

Idea #2 Creating and Decoding Words with Prefixes

Let students figure out the meaning of words by providing a small list of prefixes and a root word. Include the meanings of the prefixes with this list. Let students form a new word from the list, and use the root word and the prefix meaning to define the new word in their own words. This activity is great because it pushes students to use some higher-order thinking. Now you can always create the lists and root words yourself, but if you would like to save time, I have a paperless resource for that here or by clicking the picture below.

Link Here

Idea #3 Prefix Interactive Notebook

Use an interactive notebook template for students to write a prefix on top and a group of words with that prefix under the flap. You can get a FREE interactive notebook template by clicking here to use for this activity.

I hope you find these ideas for teaching prefixes helpful to use with your students, so they can strengthen those vocabulary skills! If you would like some helpful tips, ideas, freebies, and sales announcements sent to your email, make sure to subscribe here. You can also view my privacy policy here.

Thank you for stopping by the Candy Class!

Jolene 🙂