This past week I had the pleasure of visiting my sister-in-law’s 2nd-grade class. I was so excited to get back into a classroom that I immediately started working on my lessons and activities. She asked me to introduce compound words to her students, so that is exactly what I did. Let me show you the compound word activities we did that day and some other things I’ve come up with for teaching compound words!
You can find all of the activities that I mention (and more) by clicking HERE!
First I wanted to gauge their knowledge of compound words. I gave each student a large sticky note. They numbered it from 1 – 5. I called out words and they wrote them as best as they could. I did not write the words on the board until after they finished because I did not want them just copying my words. 3 of the words were compound words and 2 were not. After making their list I had students look through the words to see if they could find any commonalities. We then discussed what compound words were and located those on our lists. Once we determined which words were compound words, we underlined the two words that were used to create the compound words. This was a quick and easy introduction!
As soon as I had introduced compound words, I taught the class a compound word chant that I came up with. I created a video with the words, rhythm, etc and put it inside of THIS pack!
After learning what a compound word is, we brainstormed as many compound words as we could. As students were telling me compound word examples, I wrote them onto a sticky note. After we had a good amount, I gave each student a sticky note with a compound word. Their job was to underline the two words and illustrate the compound word. Once they were finished, they shared the compound word with the class and added it to our chart.
Next up we became compound word conductors! Our job was to build compound word trains. I gave each student a card. They had to silently walk around the room and join forces with the students that belonged in their train. For example, homework, home, and work had to locate one another and line up in the order to build the compound word train for homework. Once we all got matched up, each group shared their compound word with the class.
Sticking with the train theme, students created a compound word train. They chose a new word from our chart (not the one that they had previously worked with). Students created their train and illustrated their compound word. They loved this activity and the trains turned out so cute!
I didn’t get around to making these compound word conductor hats with the class, but I sure wish I would have! For this hat, students show examples of two compound words. Just picture your kiddos wearing these hats while making the trains! CAH-UTE!
I like having a few digital activities on hand so that I can display them using the projector. These three digital activities are great for mini-lessons while introducing and reviewing compound words. They involve building, writing, and identifying compound words.
Another thing I like to have on hand is a work-mat. I pull these out for mini-lessons and small group activities. With this work-mat, students practice writing, identifying, and illustrating compound words. You can use the compound word cards that I included in the freebie along with the work-mat.
Don’t want to forget about this freebie or the activity ideas? Save the image below to your Pinterest boards!
Hey, y’all! My name is Amy Lemons and I am passionate about providing students with both engaging and effective standards-based Math and ELA lessons.
Sample a day of Rooted in Reading with these lesson plans and activities for Reading Comprehension, Vocabulary, and Grammar!
