Reading: Ages 4-6

Wacky Conversations

 

Today's Snack: Take two completely different slices or pieces of fresh fruit or vegetable (a broccoli spear and a red pepper slice, a pear slice and a strawberry, a half a banana and a baby carrot, etc.). Have them introduce themselves to each other and carry on a conversation. You can have them talk about the weather, where they came from, where they think they are going (your stomach!) or whatever you want. When they are finished talking, eat them both. You can "pretend scream" for them if you wish after you swallow them. If you're sad about swallowing your friends, drink a whole big glass of water and drown your sorrows.

 

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Supplies:

A white board and marker are nice to have for this

 

 

Here's a great way to transition between activities, give kids a few laughs, and help them practice the two levels of listening to language that help them with reading:

 

1.      The sounds that letters make individually in words

2.      The sounds that blend together into one whole word.

 

The adult leader can write an everyday sentence on the whiteboard, or just say it aloud. Write them one at a time, and then erase and write a new one. Examples:

 

It is time to go outside and play.

 

Oh, no, I have to sneeze!

 

I love to hug my dog and give her a cookie to make her wag her tail.

 

Now the adult can turn to the children and say the sentence in one of two ways: either really, really slow, pronouncing each letter distinctly . . . or very, very fast, like a high-speed machine that has gone bonkers.

 

It's valuable for the students to listen to the words at the same time they are decoding them on the whiteboard. The adult might want to use a pointer to help them follow along at the two different speeds.

 

After a few demonstrations, the adult can write questions on the board one at a time, ask them out loud either slow or fast, and encourage the children to raise their hands and answer at the opposite speed.

 

Examples:

 

What did you have for breakfast this morning?

 

Did you wear a jacket today?

 

What is your favorite season of the year, and why?

 

If the children are young, the adult leader can read each question and call on different children to respond at the opposite speed. So if the adult reads very slow, the child is to answer very fast . . . and vice versa.

 

Older children may enjoy coming to the board and writing their own questions, then asking a classmate to answer them.

 

Another idea is for the children to conduct wacky conversations with a partner, either making all the questions and answers very slow or very fast, or varying the speed however they would like.