Going on a word hunt

Going on a word search (also known as a word hunt) is one of my absolute favorite activities to do with a book after reading it. Word hunts not only give beginning readers a reason to re-read text, but also help them to see how phonics patterns, such as word families, are applied to reading and spelling.

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A word search works particularly well with phonics-based books, like the BOB Books. We used our BOB Books Rhyming Words set, the newest set in the BOB Books collection, for this activity this time (read more about this set here).

Let’s Go on a Word Search

Before going on your word search, it is important to read the book with the child first. This ensures that the child knows how to read the words and comprehend the text, when appropriate.

Once you have read it, either on the same day or a subsequent day, tell your child, “We get to go on a word hunt!” If you are using the BOB Books Rhyming Words set, I have created free printable word search templates that correlate with them. You can download them all HERE.

Ahead of time, print off (or create your own) one of the word family word search charts. Tell your child that you’re going to re-read the book and search for words that fit that particular word family. (We used the -ed page.) I also printed off our re-reading eyes and attached it to a popsicle stick, from our Simple Writing Lessons Series, to make re-reading a little more fun.

Once the child finds a word that fits the word family pattern, ask him to write it in the chart. This is a great way for readers and spellers to see that words that rhyme are often times spelled similarly. Be picky about spelling. There is no excuse to misspell the word! 🙂

After all the words are written from the text, see if you and your child can think of more word family words that would fit the pattern and write them in the chart. Try to stick with words that are spelled using the same word pattern, as sometimes rhyming words are not spelled exactly the same (red and head). Talk about this with your child and point out the differences.

Find more FREE BOB Books Rhyming Words printables HERE.

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~Becky

Simon loves to look for things; it’s fun for him. I like to capitalize on fun, so I created a few word hunts to help him learn some sight words (and to aid in practicing tally marks). 

Here’s what I did for this activity:

1. I wrote all the words on sticky notes and stuck them all over the living and dining rooms.
2. I attached a word hunt page (see printables below) to a clip-board. We read through the words together. We read through the words again.
3. Simon hunted through the rooms for the words.
4. He made tally marks on the page as he found each word.
5. We looked at the tally marks and determined which word he found the most, which word he found the least, and we read all the words again.
6. When we were finished, I stuck all the post-it notes together (so we can use them again soon). 

You can download the word hunt pages by clicking on the image below. 

If you are looking for other games and printables for your child who is learning to read, try my On the Road to Reading Pinterest board.