I love to use this activity with my small groups. It is versatile, easy to differentiate and always popular.
Make
I use a large piece of poster board. The dollar store usually has sheets. I draw a tree trunk and branches. I’m not an artist so it is crude but recognizable! I write the words that we are currently working on around the branches. I add a few leaves and it’s all set.
To play I put the tree poster on the table or hang it up. It depends on where I am teaching. Some locations don’t have a good place to hang posters at kid level. You could also put it on an easel or stand.
Play
I give each student a sheet of stickers. If you can find apple stickers these are perfect, if not red dot stickers work. We used fruit stickers on the tree pictured above.
We take turns. I call out a sight word and the student finds it and covers it with a sticker.
That’s all there is to it. The kids really enjoy it. I’m not sure why!
The great thing about this activity is that you control what student gets what word. You can mix lists on one tree and call the words each student needs to work on.
I’ve also done this activity with my pre-k class with letters instead of sight words. I say a sound and the student finds the letter and covers it. The tree in the picture above has letters. I used a rubber stamp set to make this one.
If you have less time in your group to play, you don’t need to finish covering every word. Just pull it out another time and finish it up.
Blue Cottage Tutoring 