Reading Activities with Manipulatives

Alphabet Matching

Directions:

Take each egg and write one letter of the alphabet on each egg with marker.
Take the eggs apart and put them in a basket.
Let your child match the upper case letter to the lower case letter until they have completed the whole alphabet!

Sensory writing

Writing trays are a dry or wet sensory material in a low tray or bin type of container. Children can use their finger or a tool such as a pencil, paint brush, or other item to draw, write letters, or form numbers into the sensory material

Letter tiles

Letter Tiles are a great way to practice spelling and reading words.

Air writing

Air writing (also called sky writing) reinforces the sound each letter makes through “ muscle memory .” It can also help reinforce commonly confused letter forms like b and d. Kids use two fingers as a pointer (keeping elbows and wrists straight) to write letters in the air. They say the sound each letter makes as they write it.

tactile writing

Letters cut out of textured paper (ex. sandpaper, glue over sight words etc) can help children retain a tactile (touch) memory of letters and their sounds. Children trace each letter with their fingers while saying the sound of the letter out loud. They can feel the shape of the letters as they write.

Story Sticks

Story sticks can help kids who struggle with reading comprehension visualize the elements of a story. Use a different color craft stick to represent each element. Yellow sticks might ask the question, “Who are the characters?” while blue sticks ask, “What is the setting?”

Read and reread....and reread

Fluency involves lots and lots of reading and rereading. When kids read a passage over and over again, they build up their speed and accuracy automatically. One fun way to work on expression is to try rereading with different voices.