I'm Thinking of a Word....

My pre-k students love this "game."

I start off by saying, "I'm thinking of a word. See if you can use the clues to figure out what I'm thinking about" and then I proceed to give 3 or 4 clues about my word.

For example, one night I pulled into my driveway and there were two very large rabbits in my front yard. I took a picture of them and used it during circle time the following morning. I told my class, "I'm thinking of a word. My word is an animal with very long ears. It has a puffy tail. It likes to eat grass and carrots. My word begins with the /r/ sound."

The beauty of this simple strategy is that it can be used any time of the day and requires very little prep work. We have used toys in the classroom, pictures from our Jack Hartman Learning Letter Sounds song and book, or as an introduction to a new topic.

I'm thinking of a word requires children to think critically about the information they are receiving auditorily. This helps to sharpen their listen skills and their higher order thinking skills. Since it is presented in a game format, the kids enjoy the thinking process!