In first grade, directional words are a focus of language arts instruction. A game involving directional words can be made by writing directional terms, such as "around," "on top," "above" and "next to" on one set of index cards and on another set of index cards drawing pictures that illustrate each of the terms. Place all of the cards face-down on a flat surface. To play, one student at a time flips over two cards and if the cards feature a picture and a term that match, the student may take them; if the cards don't match, they get turned back over and the next player takes a turn. The game ends when all cards have been removed and the player with the most cards wins the game.
In this activity, children form different words from a given rime, or keyword. On paper, write a rime that you are working on with your students; perhaps "at," "og" or "op." Provide children with a separate print out of the alphabet and instruct them to place different letters in front of the given rime and write out the words they've created. For example, if children are given the rime "op," they could create the words, "top," "hop" and "mop." Through this activity, children learn that a variety of different words can be made with one rime by simply changing the onset consonant sounds.
Rhyming words are another focus of first-grade language arts instruction, and this activity can help reinforce the phonemic concept. Cut out fish shapes from construction paper and on each fish, draw a picture of a simple item that has a definite rhyming word; "a bat," "a dog" and "a nose," for example. Punch a hole in each fish and thread a paper clip through the holes. Spread the fish on the ground. Make fishing poles by tying a magnet to the end of yarn and tie the yarn around the end of a ruler. State a word to one student at a time and that student must fish for a word that rhymes with the word you've stated. For example, if you've said the word "rose," a student should fish for the "nose."
Digraphs are two letters that when put together form a single sound and are found in many words. Use a file folder game to reinforce first graders' recognition of digraphs. Inside a file folder, print different digraphs; "sh," "th" and "ch," for example. Print out picture of items that contain each of these digraphs and place them inside the folder. Children must match the pictures to the proper digraph that the contain. For instance, a picture of a fish, a shoe and a sheep should be matched to the "sh" digraph.