Babi’s Blog

I have a fun activity to practice reading and saying the names of SHAPES that my beginning students really enjoy.  I give them a blob of playdoh that I have made (see recipe below) and a bunch of cookie cutters in the shapes I want to practice. I started with CIRCLE, SQUARE, STAR, TRIANGLE, HEART AND RECTANGLE.  I write the name of 3 of the shapes on the board in some order from left to right. They have to mash out the playdoh, cut out the correct shapes and put them in the correct order. If I see they have made a mistake, I ask them to look at the board carefully and read them again. When they are correct, I erase the words on the board and ask them to tell me what they have made, using the correct words and order (to reinforce reading order).

The game can be made more advanced by using a bigger number of shape words, using more complicated shapes or having students compete within a time limit. Sometimes I have them write the shapes on the board for me or another student to make.

This is a real favorite that the kids ask to do again and again. I make my own playdoh, because it’s inexpensive, and I flavor it with Kool-Aid to make it a treat for their sense of smell too! The recipe can be found at

I have been trying to look at some of my colleagues blogs to get ideas and I got excited when I read a posting on “coffetalk”. She talked about using tools to put pictures in for words to help those who are struggling with reading and I think it might be adaptable for my ELLs. I went to the Enchanted Learning website that she raved about and I must say, it all looks great. For now, I am a bit overstimulated by all it’s choices and I am not sure what I can use without a membership. I wasn’t able to print the samples I wanted to look at in the SNOW category, but maybe I will figure out how to use some things and how to join later. If it works as she says, and I can send things to classroom teachers to use with the ELLs in their classes, then it should be very valuable indeed.

A colleague sent me the RIF website and I have found a few of their items to be really fun for my ELLs. When I click on READ ALONG STORIES I get books that the computer will read to the kids. It includes the text and a pause/stop option. Another fun place is the Games for Kids where there are 2 games I like. One is PICTURE PAIRS where they can play a game of memory, and the other is SUPERMARKET SPREE where they have to fill the cart with the groceries on the list by dragging the pictures, in a set time.