Literacy and Math Activities (Story Stretchers)
These are activities that you can use during PACT time. They also enhance the learning in children and parents. These activities also provide parents with activities they can use at home to reinforce learning concepts. You will notice that we have more activities than listed in section E “Lesson Plans.” You can choose different activities other than the ones we chose. It will depend on the families who comprise your GSL groups.
Activity – ABC Kit |
Knowledge, Skills, Attitudes (KSA) |
|---|---|
| Jumbled Name. Write name on a piece of paper. Cut letters apart, mix them up, Can you put them back in order? | K – letter recognition, name recognition |
| Letter Walk. Have families walk in room or in building to find letters of the alphabet. Each time they recognize a letter they need to record it on the sheet provided. | K – letter recognition K - matching |
| Pipe cleaner letters. Have families make letters with the pipe cleaners. Extension – have parent tell the child which letter to create. | K – letter recognition |
| Popsicle stick letters. Have families create letters with popsicle sticks. Extension – have parent tell the child which letter to make | K- letter recognition |
| Memory matching game. Create homemade cards with letters on them. Can you remember and find the letters in order of alphabet (either upper or lower case). Extension – for older children use both upper and lower case letters for a greater challenge. | K – letter recognition S – memory skills |
| Name recognition. Write all of the childrens’ names on a board. Ask them to pick out their name, come up to the board and copy it on the board. | Make letters, numbers, count, etc. |
| Tracing of names or letters. Write out the letter using a highlighter. Children trace over the highlighter. Extension – older 4 and 5 year olds can copy a letter or their name if it is written by an adult who uses dashes for the letters. | K – letter recognition S – fine motor coordination |
| Alphabet letters tracing books | K – letter recognition S – fine motor control |
| Play dough letters. Make letters of alphabet out of play dough and say which letter it is. This is extremely good for children (and adults) with learning disabilities/difficulties because it is multi-sensory. | K – letter recognition S – fine motor control |
| Whole body alphabet. Children form different letters with their bodies. | K – letter recognition S – gross motor control |
| Letter Tracing. Trace first letter of their names in sand, rice, or sugar on a tray | K – letter recognition S – fine motor control |
| Hopscotch letters. Write letters of child’s name in hopscotch squares and have them jump on the boxes with the letters of their name. Begin with the initial of their first name | K – letter recognition S – gross motor control |