- fishing pole
- magnet tied to a string
- magnetic letters “s,” “e,” and “d” (several of each letter)
- word card seed
- first
- fourth
- last
- second
- seed
- third
MA Standards:
Foundational Skills/RF.PK.MA.1.d: Recognize and name some uppercase letters of the alphabet and the lowercase letters in one’s own name.
Head Start Outcomes:
Literacy Knowledge/Alphabet Knowledge: Recognizes that the letters of the alphabet are a special category of visual graphics that can be individually named.
PreK Learning Guidelines:
English Language Arts/Reading and Literature 7: Develop familiarity with the forms of alphabet letters, awareness of print, and letter forms.
Fish for Letters
© Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Department of Early Education and Care (Jennifer Waddell photographer). All rights reserved.
Skill Focus: Fine Motor Skills, Letter Recognition, Word Recognition, Vocabulary
Educator Prep: Before beginning the activity, make a fishing pole out of a long stick or ruler, a piece of string, and a magnet. Tie the magnet onto one end of the string. Tie the other end of the string onto the stick. Have children use the 'fishing pole' to fish for letters.
Display the seed word card. Read the word together. Remind children of the word’s meaning. Say, A seed is the part of a flowering plant that is able to grow into a new plant.
- Point to the letter “Ss” and ask, What’s the first letter in the word seed?
- Have children identify the second, third, and fourth letters.
Then have children fish for the letters in the word seed and then arrange the letters to match the word on the word card.
Educator Tip: Guide the activity so the game focus stays on naming and matching letters rather than on fishing.
Educator Tip: If you do not have magnetic alphabet letters you can create magnetic letters by copying letters from an alphabet book or finding letter tiles online and printing them out. Leave enough blank white space on the side (or top) of each letter to glue on a large paper clip (but not cover the letter.) The magnet will be attracted to and pull up the paper clip.
Adaptation: For groups with very young children, you may want to use larger magnetic letters and larger fishing poles or make large laminated letters and glue magnets on the back.