Design and Illustration: Hyru Gau Editor: Nancy Tune ■ © 2004 Primary Concepts® P.O. Box 10043 Berkeley, CA 94709 www.primaryconcepts.com Catalog No. 7007 ■ All rights reserved. ■ Primary Concepts grants teachers permission to photocopy the reproducible pages from this eBook for classroom use only. Permission is limited to the teacher for whom the eBook was purchased. No other use of this product is allowed without prior written consent of the publisher. ■ ISBN 978-1-60184-177-3 WC_pp_FM 12/29/03 8:54 PM Page 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS Teaching Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iv Word Chain Activities cat to dog 1 ship to fish 16 goat to barn 31 bed to log 2 sock to wing 17 rain to wind 32 pen to mug 3 bird to nest 18 seal to ball 33 sun to hat 4 lamp to cave 19 coat to hook 34 bat to wig 5 mice to hole 20 star to moon 35 bus to cab 6 bone to cube 21 tree to crow 36 pig to mop 7 tire to rope 22 stamp to brush 37 six to ten 8 cage to mice 23 plant to snake 38 ant to bug 9 fire to hose 24 swing to slide 39 arm to leg 10 lock to gate 25 whale to shark 40 net to tie 11 duck to cake 26 skirt to pants 41 cow to bee 12 kite to leaf 27 clown to braid 42 two to pie 13 hand to feet 28 goose to stork 43 flag to swim 14 bath to soap 29 couch to bench 44 mask to belt 15 frog to toad 30 Word Chain Lists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Recording Sheets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 Sample Shortcuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 Letter Tiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 WC_pp_FM 12/29/03 8:54 PM Page iv TEACHING NOTES Research shows that the best readers and writers see analogies between words they know and those they are trying to decode or spell. Word Chains fosters this strategy by having children build words from other words. Working with Word Chains helps children grow in their understanding of words and their common spelling patterns. It also helps to focus children’s attention on identifying differences in words that are almost the same (set and sit, for example) and identifying the letters that represent those different sounds. The intrigue of solving the puzzle of how to transform one word into another makes Word Chains an irresistible activity for all ages. The activity pages are designed so that children can work directly on the pages with letter tiles. Working hands-on with letter tiles allows students to build each word and then experiment with ways to change the word right on the page. As children build each word, they write it in the word chain. The activity pages can be used in two ways. Teachers can either dictate a list of words to the children or have children solve the puzzles independently. Word lists are provided on pages 45–55. These lists have been carefully selected to give children experience with a wide variety of word changes. It is recommended that teachers begin by dictating the words, and then challenge children to come up with another way to solve the puzzles. There are many different ways to solve the three- and four-letter word chains, while alternative solutions for the five-letter word chains are more limited. ACTIVITY SEQUENCE The 44 Word Chains activities are sequenced by difficulty level, starting with three-letter words with medial short vowels, progressing to four-letter words with blends, digraphs, silent e pattern, and vowel pairs, and concluding with more complex five-letter words. In almost all cases, the words are phonetically regular. You may wish to coordinate the use of Word Chains activities with phonics skills you are teaching, using the chart below. Word Chain Word Length Content Emphasis 1–8 3 letters medial short vowels 9–10 3 letters final blends 11–13 3 letters final vowel pairs 14–18 4 letters blends and digraphs 19–26 4 letters final silent e 27–36 4 letters vowel pairs 37–41 5 letters blends and digraphs 42–44 5 letters vowel pairs Word Chains © Primary Concepts iv WC_pp_FM 12/29/03 8:54 PM Page v WHAT YOU WILL NEED Students will need activity pages, letter tiles, and a pencil for writing. Letter Tiles Each child will need a set of lowercase letter tiles. You can use copies of page 58 to make paper letter tiles, or you can use plastic Student Letter Tiles available from the publisher. The letters on these tiles are color-coded, with vowels red and consonants black, to help children recognize vowel patterns in words. The tiles can be used for all sorts of word-building activities in addition to word chains. Activity Pages (pages 1–44) Copy the activity pages you intend to use, one for each child. You may want to make transparencies for the overhead projector as well, for class demonstration purposes. Word Chain Lists (pages 45–55) Refer to the word chain list for each activity if you wish to dictate a list of words. You may also wish to make copies of these pages, cut out the word chain lists, and make them available for children to check their spelling. Recording Sheets (page 56) Make copies of the Recording Sheets on page 56 and cut the pages into strips. Pass out the strips for students to use to create their own word chains. GETTING STARTED Hand out an activity page to each of the children and have them find the letter tiles indicated on the page. Read the instruction line at the top of the page, pointing out the pictures of the starting and ending words for this chain. Point out the word-building boxes in the center of the page and have the children use the tiles to build the first word pictured. Then read off the list of words from the corresponding word chain list on pages 45–55 and have the children build each new word in one of two ways: • Exchange one letter tile for a different letter tile in the set (change cat to bat, for example). • Change the order of the letter tiles in the word (change ant to tan, for example). Once children have built a word, they should record it in the word chain list on their page. Continue this way, saying the words and having the children build and record them, until you get to the bottom of the list, which is the second word pictured at the top of the page. You or your students can use the lists on pages 45–55 to check their work. v Word Chains © Primary Concepts WC_pp_FM 12/29/03 8:54 PM Page vi EXTENDING THE LEARNING Before going on to another word chain, see if the children can build any other words with the letters shown on the page. List the words on the board as the children suggest them. Now challenge the children to find a different way to go from the first word on a list to the last word. Some students may be able to come up with a way that is much shorter than the list you dictated. Again, each new word should be different from the previous word in only one way: either one letter has changed or the order of the letters has changed. The children’s word chains can be recorded on blank word chains (page 56). Give children a chance to share shortcuts they find to get from the first word to the last. Examples of shortcuts are given on page 57. seal sell bell ball MORE WORD CHAINS Some children enjoy creating their own word chain puzzles. Hand out copies of blank word chains (page 56) and challenge the children to come up with a word chain on their own. They may even illustrate the beginning and ending words to create a puzzle page like the ones in this book. Students will enjoy trying each other’s puzzles. OTHER RESOURCES These word-building activity books follow a format similar to that of Word Chains. d B iles m t bl sk ® Prr ® ptts Rime Time: Building Word Families with Letter Tiles Time to Rhyme: Building Words with Rimes that Rhyme Vowel Power: Building Words with Vowel Patterns Building Bigger Words: Building Words with Prefixes and Suffixes Also of interest from Primary Concepts… Word Ladders Letter Tile Word Puzzles For these and other language arts resources for teachers, consult a Primary Concepts catalog, or visit our website at www.primaryconcepts.com. Word Chains © Primary Concepts vi 4 1:47 PM Word Chains © Primary Concepts sun Word Chain 12/30/03 a g h n r s t u Change sun to hat. Name: ___________________ WC_pp_01-44 Page 4 14 1:47 PM Word Chains © Primary Concepts flag Word Chain 12/30/03 a c f g i l m p s w Change flag to swim. Name: ___________________ WC_pp_01-44 Page 14 25 1:47 PM Word Chains © Primary Concepts lock Word Chain 12/30/03 a c e g k l o r t Change lock to gate. Name: ___________________ WC_pp_01-44 Page 25 35 1:47 PM Word Chains © Primary Concepts star Word Chain 12/30/03 a c l m n o o r s t Change star to moon. Name: ___________________ WC_pp_01-44 Page 35 bed wed wet get got lot let leg log cat pat pot top tip pit pig dig dog 45 mug bug beg bet but nut hat hut hug tug tag rag ran run sun Word Chain p.4 10:11 PM net pet pen Word Chain p.3 1/27/04 Word Chains © Primary Concepts Word Chain p.2 Word Chain p.1 WC_p45_new_012304 Page 45 flag flap clap clip flip slip slap slam slim swim two tow bow boo too toe top tip tie pie 48 belt best bets pets pest past fish fist fast past pest step stop shop ship Word Chain p.16 1:53 PM last mast mask Word Chain p.15 12/30/03 Word Chains © Primary Concepts Word Chain p.14 Word Chain p.13 WC_pp_45-58 Page 48 send sent rent bent best nest wink sink sing king wing 49 cave bend wick dame dime dive live hole pole pile mile mole role rope ripe rice 1:53 PM lime lame mice Word Chain p.20 12/30/03 Word Chains © Primary Concepts came bind sick lamp bird sock Word Chain p.19 Word Chain p.18 Word Chain p.17 WC_pp_45-58 Page 49 duck luck buck back lack lace lake bake cake lock rock rack race rake take lake late gate 51 leaf lead bead beak bake lake like feet feel feed seed send lend land sand hand Word Chain p.28 1:53 PM bike bite kite Word Chain p.27 12/30/03 Word Chains © Primary Concepts Word Chain p.26 Word Chain p.25 WC_pp_45-58 Page 51 coat coal goal goat boat boot book cook hook seal seat beat beam team meat melt belt bell Word Chains © Primary Concepts 53 moon loon loot lost cost cast cart crow crew grew grow glow flow flew flee free tree Word Chain p.36 1:53 PM cars scar star Word Chain p.35 12/30/03 ball Word Chain p.34 Word Chain p.33 WC_pp_45-58 Page 53 1:53 PM Page 56 56 12/30/03 Word Chains © Primary Concepts WC_pp_45-58 WC_pp_45-58 12/30/03 1:53 PM Page 57 SAMPLE SHORTCUTS Page Words Sample Word Chain: 1 cat to dog cat cot dot dog 2 bed to log bed led leg log 3 pen to mug pen peg beg bug mug 4 sun to hat sun run ran rat hat 5 bat to wig bat bag big wig 6 bus to cab bus sub cub cab 7 pig to mop pig pin pan nap map 8 six to ten six sax tax tan ten 9 ant to bug ant tan tag tug bug 10 arm to leg arm ram rag lag leg 11 net to tie net ten tin tie 12 cow to bee cow sow sew see bee 13 two to pie two tow toe tie pie 14 flag to swim flag flap slap slam swam 15 mask to belt mask mast malt melt belt 16 ship to fish ship hips hits fits fist 17 sock to wing sock sick sink sing wing 18 bird to nest bird bind bins tins tens 19 lamp to cave lamp lame came cave 20 mice to hole mice mile mole hole 21 bone to cube bone cone core cure cube 22 tire to rope tire tile pile pole role 23 cage to mice cage page pace mace mice 24 fire to hose fire sire rise rose hose 25 lock to gate lock lack lace late gate 26 duck to cake duck luck lack lace lake cake 27 kite to leaf kite bite bike bake beak leak 28 hand to feet hand sand send seed feed feet 29 bath to soap bath path pats pans snap soap 30 frog to toad frog from form foam roam road 31 goat to barn goat boat boot boon born barn 32 rain to wind rain raid laid land wand wind 33 seal to ball seal sell bell ball 34 coat to hook coat boat boot book 57 mop swim fish nest rope leaf toad hook Word Chains © Primary Concepts WC_pp_45-58 12/30/03 1:53 PM Page 58 LETTER TILES aabb c d e e f f h h i i j l l mm n o p p q r s t t u u ww x y y Word Chains © Primary Concepts 58 c g k n r v z d g k o s v z