My student and I take turns finding sentences in a book and reading them to each other. The trick is we leave out one of the words, and instead say, "blank." Then the other has to try and figure out what the missing word is.
For example, if we were using this book(which I found at Goodwill for only $.89! Goodwill book shopping is my favorite thing to do!) we would randomly find a page and select a sentence.
I love when it takes a while to find a good sentence because then my student is reading without even realizing it! Here on this page, I could use the sentence, "The giant took a gulp of tea and wiped his 'blank' with the back of his hand." The word I left out would be mouth.
Sometimes they get it right on the first try, but most of the time we give clues. We can tell each other when a guess is very close. Often this is using good use of synonyms, which I love. Or I will repeat the sentence and encourage using context clues. Sometimes we use a whiteboard to show how many letters.
I got this whiteboard at the dollar store and it was the best dollar ever spent. Students like using this far more than paper and it is much easier to erase and use over again. We will write blanks for the letters of the word.
Sometimes if the word is difficult to figure out we will give the first letter or even the last letter.
Usually with all the clues we give, we figure out the word. But if we can't figure it out, the other person gets a point. Because what fun is a game without points and a winner?!
I'm losing :( But he's reading, so I am one happy camper!
