Remix: Closed Word Sort (oi/oy)

Author of original resource: Elaine Shobert.

Day 1

Materials needed – Make a copy of the word cards for each student or pair of students to have a set. (word card template provided)

Preparation - Students cut word cards apart.

Activity - Teacher guides students to group similar words together. If necessary, teacher prompts with "Notice how the words look" and/or "Notice how the words sound."

For an extension, students could also create subgroups by sorting according to where the letter combination is found in the word-at the beginning, middle, or end. 

It is suggested that an anchor word for each combination be added to a resource such as a word wall or word study notebook for future reference. 

Day 2

Review words from yesterday. Create a T chart and have the students write the words under the correct vowel team oi/oy.

Highlight oi/oy words on the chart that are frequently used. Students will write the highlighted words in an ELA Journal.

Beside each word, students will draw a picture and write a sentence using the word.

Day 3

Game 1: Materials needed – Index cards, regular marker, list of words, dry erase marker & eraser (black socks work great) 

Preparation-Using the words on the T chart from yesterday, make several sets of flash cards. Students will use these flash cards to play Game 1. IF you use the word cards from Day 1, you may not have to create new flash cards.

Game Play: Students us dry erase markers to draw a T chart on the table or desk. One student will pull a flash card from the stack. IF they can read the flash card, they can write it under the correct heading (oi / oy) on the table/desk. IF they do not know the word, the word goes back to the bottom of the stack and it is another student’s turn.

Day 4

Review Game 1 from yesterday.

Game 2: Materials needed – dry erase marker, table or desk, unifix cubes or pop blocks (a set of 10 in one color for each players / e.g. Sam has 10 yellow pop blocks and George has 10 red pop blocks), dollar store toys that hop (e.g. frogs).

Preparation- Make sure dry erase will come off the table or desk you plan to use, write the words on the table in random places. (Sometimes, I will use a theme such as a Lilypad drawn around each word.) Around the entire table/desk draw a boundary line (e.g. for frogs and Lilypads, I draw a pond)

Game Play: Keeping with the frog theme… Player One sets up his/her frog outside the boundary line. Player One tries to hop his/her frog onto one of the words. IF the frog lands on a word & Player One can read the word, he/she will take one cube & put it on top of the word. That word is now out of play & belongs to Player One. It is now Player Two’s turn. After all the words have been claimed, the students count their used pop blocks. The player with the most used on the desk is the winner.

Variation: The Game 2 format works well with vowels, endings, etc. It is also fun to change up the themes with whatever hopping toy you find at a dollar store. Both games can be modified to meet the needs of all learners.

HINT: After practice, both games work great independently.

Day 5

Assessment: Cover, Write, Check (see attached document)