Going Fishing... Gonna Catch A Freebie

My students need to learn to identify letters, sounds, numbers, and even colors. Flash cards do not keep them engaged but going fishing holds their attention for a long period of time. I introduce and model this for several days with the entire group and eventually will put it in my literacy and math stations for additional practice. GO FISH!

Remember when we use to take a dowel rod and add a piece of string with a magnet? Okay this is not one of your memories but older teachers are on board with me. Lakeshore has these fishing poles which can be used for a bazillion activities in your classroom. If you are not able to create your own cards stick with me and I will help you make this happen.

Walmart carries self adhesive magnetic buttons that make this activity so simple to create. I created the cards and added the Open Court letter-sound cards right on top. Easy and effective. Naturally I
laminated the cards before adding the magnetic buttons.

Here are what the cards look like before cutting them apart. My head is spinning with other cards I can make. What would you want? I was even thinking of making cards with student names and pictures since they still point to each other and can't always tell me each other's name.

Once I have modeled this enough (not sure how long that will take) I am releasing it to be used in a literacy station with partners working together. Each child will fish for a card, say the sound of the card and the name of the letter. This is then colored in on a chart! This will keep them actively engaged and accountable.

We had so much fun playing this game as a class and we chanted "Going fishing... we're going to catch a fish" which made it even more fun. The chant was what you would use for going on a bear hunt....
I have a free download for these cards on my Facebook page if you are interested. Just "like" my page at the top and hit the fan freebie button on the left side and the file will open up. If this scares you to death grab a cute, young teacher and she will have no problem getting this for you. That's why I love young teachers. Click on this Like button to get to my Kindergarten Crayons FB page and leave a comment just because you are so wonderful!

What other cards would make you so happy? Remember to keep it simple. They just started school!