I know I am not alone in finding lockdown challenging. We are teachers, and as such having quiet schools with only a handful of children just does not feel normal. We, along with our children, are learning to adapt every day and the stark difference in the quality of learning many children are experiencing in this lockdown is incredible – a true testament to how well colleagues have reflected and adapted to rise up to the challenge.
That being said, it is hard and online learning is still never going to be any substitute for face to face teaching.
Reflections on this, and how best to meet the needs of learners in my target groups; providing them with fun and engaging activities that they can engage in at home has led me back to an activity that I used in my second year of teaching, when I reached out to GDSS for advice on how to support one particular learner; I have linked to their website below as it is a superb resource. They showed me how to use the game ‘Snakes and Ladders’ to support literacy development. Now, there are many ways to do this, and after hunting for the resource that was shared with me I could not find it so I have put together a resource (below) which works really well for me with learners who require support with reading and spelling.
Link to PDF resource: Snakes and ladders game
For this game you need word cards, but children can easily make these at home by copying down their spelling words/common words. There are fantastic word card packs out there, which I will also link to below. Anything can be used as a counter, and this can easily be played as a family game.
I have used it with a variety of learners from P3-7, and have found that they really enjoy it, and, as children can use their own word cards it is automatically differentiated as children can play at their own pace. Indeed, when I have children who are using more advanced words, they will often use the rules for game one while children with cvc words would use the game 1 rules.
However you play it, do, as it is truly a fantastic game. Again, I take no credit for the idea but just put together a quick resource to save you making one!
Have a good week,
Donald
Word cards website that I love to use: ESLFlashcards.com
GDSS website: gdss.glasgow.sch.uk
