Prepare a list for students to read of word pairs that can be made into contractions. Include word pairs like "do not," "did not," "have not," "I am," "she is," "he is," "you are" and "I have."
Provide students with surgical masks and rubber gloves. Tell them they are going to role-play as doctors performing surgery on words. Have students put on the surgical gear and prepare to create new words.
Ask students to read each group of words on the printed list aloud.
Give students safety scissors, and invite them to cut apart the letters in each pair of words. Once they have separated the letters, ask them to lay them out in order on a desk.
Tell students which contractions can be made from each pair of words. For example, when working with the word pair "do not," ask them to form the contraction "don't." Instruct students to remove the letters that are not needed in the contraction. In this example, they would remove the second letter "O."
Hand out printed apostrophes to place where letters were removed from words. Apostrophes can be printed on paper, or try substituting something fun like a piece of candy. Teach students to correctly place apostrophes. Use tape to bandage up the new word and connect all the letters.
Ask students to write the new contraction they made on a separate piece of paper. Use the contraction in a sentence to deepen students' understanding of the word's meaning.