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Activity Overview
Identifying and counting syllables is a key component to developing early reading skills. Practice playing with this numerical element of literacy strengthens these skills. This activity continues the students’ work with syllables and introduces the age-appropriate idea of keepsakes. Students will be asked to reflect and think about items in their life that they find meaningful. Combining numeracy and literacy tools with the big ideas associated with self-reflection and metacognition help to make this a powerful activity.
What You Need
Various keepsakes or special items from around the home
Optional: Taking Time by Jo Loring-Fisher on Epic.
Steps
Walk around your home and collect some small- or medium-sized objects that are special to you. As you gather your items, use the guiding questions to talk about what is special about each selection.
Find a surface to place your items on. Spread out the Syllable Sorting Mats so that you can clearly see the separate categories.
Pick an item and say the name of the item. Think about how many syllables are in the word. Clap out the beats to represent each syllable (Remember: syllables are beats in a word that count vowel sounds).
Physically move the item to the corresponding mat to represent one, two, or three syllables. Once you have finished sorting, double check by saying all of the names of the items on one mat at a time.
Guiding Questions
Does the item remind you of a special time, a special person or pet, or a special place you visited? How did you feel at that time?
How is it that certain objects remind us of certain experiences? Do you have a keepsake from a special memory?
Can you still feel the same feelings you experienced (even though that time has already happened)?
What is a syllable? How do we count out syllables?
Extensions
If developmentally appropriate, use the “Challenge mat” and try finding items with four syllables.
Read Taking Time and think about how keepsakes can represent important memories. Follow it up with the Tanka Time activity.
Pick new categories of items to sort each day – kitchen items, beach toys, items from a nature walk.
Knowledge of one's own cognitive processes
Knowledge of one's own cognitive processes
Store, retrieve, and recall basic facts from memory
Store, retrieve, and recall basic facts from memory
Identify observable patterns within one’s own environment
Identify observable patterns within one’s own environment
Identify one's personal growth goals and areas of passion including how they contribute to a healthy sense of self
Identify one's personal growth goals and areas of passion including how they contribute to a healthy sense of self
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