I'm going to camp....

My fifth graders love this game! I decide ahead of time what type of pattern my chosen words will have and then I tell the kids what I am taking to camp. They each get to say what they are taking to camp and I tell them, "yes" or "no" based on my pattern. The goal of the game is for the children to guess the pattern of the game.

Some suggested patterns:

Words with double letters--examples: bookeeper, school, cheese, moose
Words that begin with the first letter of that specific students first name--examples: Issaic can take ice cream, Kayla can take a kite, Alexis can take an alligator
Items that you buy in multiples--examples: rice (big bag of grains), earrings, shoes, 12 pack of cokes, box of pencils

Most commonly used words

http://candohelperpage.com/sightvocab_1.html#anchor_374

This link is to a page with Fry's List of most commonly used words.

Games

SMACK!
This game is simple and can be adapted to any grade. Students are given a number. They need to write down a secret word with that number of letters. Then the writer writes single letters on the board. As letters are written, students cross off any that are in their word. When they have crossed out all of their letters they "Smack" their table and say Smack. That student now gets to pick the number and be the writer.


* The key to this game is that it is a silent game. As the room gets loud the writer writes "Bad" letters like Q and X. This works really well right before or after a spelling test.