Teaching Contractions in Primary Grades

Teaching Contractions in Primary Grades

Hey, y'all! Contractions are a tricky concept for little learners. We practice all the time with our morning work, but they need additional practice. And our curriculum just doesn't hit it hard enough. So, during literacy centers, my students practice making contractions with these fun phonics games. 

Before the kids can use contractions in their own writing, they have to understand what the two parts of the word mean. We use word puzzles and matching games to practice making contractions. When we play the matching game, students have a set of cards, like when playing Go Fish or Uno, and they have to make a contraction with two of the cards they have. So if they have "can" and "not" in their hand, they can lay it down and say "can't." 

Before I let the kids play all these centers on their own, we practice them together in our small reading groups. We play the matching game together and do the word sorts (below) so they know what it is that they're reading. When they've got it down, they can play these centers on their own in their reading rotations. 

I also hold onto the roll and read games until I'm confident that they're able to read these words on their own. With this game, students roll a die, find a word they can read in that column, and cover it up with one of their game pieces. The first player to run out of game pieces wins. You could also play it like Connect Four or use it for quick read assessments. Whatever works for your class. I just want to make sure they know what they're doing before they get to play it on their own. 

At the end of the week, or when I feel like the kids are ready, we play Contraction Scoot. The cards are setup around the room. The kids find a card and write the contraction in the box with the matching number. This makes a quick little assessment so I know who understands what we're learning and who still needs some more practice. Plus, the kids love Scoots and write the room activities. 

All of these contractions games can be found in my TPT store here. It's also part of a larger, growing bundle of phonics games and interventions designed to last a whole school year (and save you a TON of $$). While you're checking it out, be sure to follow me on TPT. There are a ton of new things in the works that will be hitting my store soon and you won't want to miss it. 

I hope this helps make your contractions unit a little bit easier. Have a wonderful week and I'll talk to you soon.

Stay cozy,