Message In A Bottle- Fun Phonics Center!

I have been such a bad blogger this year- uh!

Reduced staffing + increased demands + needy students + home renovation + attempting to take more time for myself (exercising an hour a day) + 2 active boys who are involved in extracurricular activities = no time left to blog!

I have tons of pictures in my Dropbox account of all we have been doing this year- hoping to play catch up this summer!!

But I did want to share this little activity we are starting next week...

I made 2 versions for differentiation... one for reading CVC and CVCe words and one for initial sounds.

For the CVC/CVCe version:

I simply typed up a list of words and then made a recording sheet that had pictures to match all the words.

For the ABC (Initial Sounds) version:

I simply typed up all the lowercase letters and then made a recording sheet that had a picture for each letter (for Xx I used the ending sound).

To prepare the center:

I first cut the words into rectangles, but they were sticking together in the bottle, so I then trimmed them to 'outline' each word.

I had dyed rice over the summer (read this post for the 'how to') so I just went to my bucket and was all set (I tried beans- WAY TO NOISY!!! And that was just me 'trying it'- I can't imagine if all 4-5 in a group were shaking 'kindergarten speed' at the same time!)

I had purchased the containers at CVS over the summer as they were emptying out their 'bargain bins' (to make room for Halloween!!).   There were $1 each PLUS 90% off...yes... 10 cents a piece!!

I put a little rice in, then a few words (or letters), then rice, then words...until it was filled to the top.

Although they had a screw top, I didn't want to tempt fate, so I put some decorative duct tape to seal it!  I used 2 different tapes so that it was easy to determine which was the CVC/CVCe set and which was the ABC set.

To use it:

I am having the kids use daubers to mark the answer- but you can use crayons to color the picture, markers to circle or 'X'  the picture OR print the sheet on colored cardstock and laminate it.  Then provide counters or manipulatives and have students use them to cover the pictures.  This would reduce paper use and make the center 'reusable' (or for an early finisher basket!).

I don't have time to make a fancy cover and get it 'TpT Ready' so I am putting the words/letters and recording sheets into a Dropbox download!  Simply click here to download!

I'd love to hear how your students enjoyed this center!  You can even post pictures of it in use on my Facebook page!

Hope you are somewhere enjoying the gorgeous spring weather...we hit 70 in NY today...I spent the day in the garden and soaking up much needed Vitamin D!

Until next post (and hopefully it is soon!),