Working with English Language Learners

Newton's Tree

For third graders who need practice in phonics.

Here is a great alternative to the Hangman game of old. This game asks children to guess the secret word before all the apples drop (or are erased) from the tree.

Draw an apple tree with 10-20 apples on an erasable surface, like a chalk board or white board. Choose a word at an appropriate difficulty to challenge the children. Count the number of letters in the secret word and place that number of dashed lines under the tree.

Tell children Isaac Newton lived a long time ago and is a famous mathematician. Choose one child to play the role of Isaac Newton. This child provides clues to the other children in the form of sounds of the letters from the secret word. It is important for Newton to provide these sound clues, in order—from the first sound in the word to the last sound—one at a time. This way the children can guess at the letters that might match the sound clues. Children lose an apple for every wrong guess. When they guess correctly, Newton writes the letter or spelling pattern in the appropriate blanks under the tree. For example, if the secret word is automobile:

Newton: "The first sound is /au/."

Children: "Could it be a u?"

Newton: "Nope, sorry. You lose an apple. Try again, /au/."

Children: "How about an a?"

Newton: "Yep, a goes right here at the beginning, but there is also another vowel in this sound."

Children: " o?"

Newton: "Nope, sorry there goes another apple."

Children: "Oh, I know, a u!"

Newton: "Yep, /au/. Now the next sound is /t/."

This is an exciting game for children. It requires high level phonemic awareness and phonics skills for children to relate spoken sounds with their written letters to determine the spelling of words.

This information was produced by the National Center for Family Literacy for use on www.thinkfinity.org, a powerful educational platform supported by the Verizon Foundation. This information is in the public domain and may be reproduced for noncommercial purposes without permission.