Vowels and Consonants: A Graphing Activity and Game

Knowing the difference between a vowel and a consonant is important for reading and writing.  This week in my first grade classroom, we spent a lot time learning about the differences between the two and doing all kinds of activities to reinforce this concept.

We started with a simple sort. I placed all the letters of the alphabet on the white board and asked my students to help me divide them into two groups- vowels and consonants. This was a breeze for a few students and for others, the concept was brand new.  Of course, the question arose about the letter y and we discussed how it can be both a vowel and a consonant, but for this series of activities, we were going to consider it a consonant and we placed it in the middle of our chart (not shown)

 After sorting the letters, we played a game called, Vowel and Consonant Spin. You can read about this game in our post, Teaching Vowels and Consonants to Children.  The game was a huge hit and by the end pretty much all my students could sort vowels and consonants independently.

Once we were comfortable with the two different kinds of letters, we moved on to taking that basic knowledge into the real world– their names!  I created two graphs (see photos below), one for the number of vowels in each person’s name and one for consonants.

I created slips of paper where students could record their names, circle the consonants or vowels in their name and a box for the number of consonants or vowels in their names.  I modeled how to fill out the slips for my students then sent them off to complete the task on their own.

(Click the image below to download)

When everyone was done, we gathered together and put our slips of paper in the appropriate column for the numbers of vowels (or consonants) in their names.  After our graph was complete, we spent some time talking about what the numbers mean. The biggest discovery was that no one had a name without at least one vowel- that was a HUGE revelation for my first graders. 🙂

The next day we completed a similar graph for the consonants in our names.  Before beginning, we made some predictions about what we would see based on what we saw the day before with our vowel graph.  They predicted that there would be more slips of paper in the bigger number columns.  They also thought that the zero column would be empty again since every one has at least one consonant in their names. And, they were very proud when their predictions were right.

Could we take this another step? Of course, we could get even more specific- how many of each specific letter appears in our class, but as we all know, there are other things that have to be done so we had to move on.

Outside the classroom:  This could certainly be done outside the classroom with the names of  family and friends. The same games could be played and the same kinds of data could be gathered.

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AFTER SCHOOL LINK UP

I am so excited to announce that I recently joined an amazing group of bloggers as co-host of the After School Link Up.  This is a great place to share ideas and to find new ideas to do with your children after school or in your homeschool.  The After School Link Up goes live every Monday. So, if you are a blogger, an educator or just someone looking for some good ideas, be sure to stop by Boy Mama Teacher Mama (or the other co-hosts) on Mondays and see what others have to share.

I had fun visiting the posts from last weeks linky party. There are so many wonderful ideas out there! Here are a few of my favorites.

Superhero Upper and Lower Case Match from B-Inspired Mama

These FREE superhero printables are just the thing to inspire your young super hero to learn his letters!

Learn Your ABCs on an Architecture Scavenger Hunt from KC Edventures

I love the idea of getting out and finding letters all around us.  What a fun way to spend a morning!

And now the linky…

What do you have to share?

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We would love to have you link up your School-Age Post (Ages 5 and up) about your learning week after school including Crafts, Activities, Playtime and Adventures that you are doing to enrich your children’s lives after their day at school, homeschool or on the weekend! When linking up, please take a moment to comment on at least one post linked up before yours and grab our after school button to include a link on your post or site! By linking up you’re giving permission for us to share on our After School Pinterest Board or Feature on our After School Party in the upcoming weeks!

2013 After School Party HOSTS