Objective: Students will practice joining compound words and using them in sentences.

Materials: 3 x 5 index cards

Teacher Prep and Information:

This compound game is based on the game “Old Maid”. Pick out as many familiar compound words as you can (some are listed below). Using the index cards as the playing cards, place the beginning word on one card. Then, place the ending word on a different card. It should look like this:

CARD 1 CARD 2

Cup – board

It helps younger students if you color code the words, for example “cup” “-board” could be red, while “farm” “-house” could be orange, etc. Just keep the cards in bundles with a rubber band for easy use and play.

Place in each deck a card that says CONJURE. This is the “old maid” in the set.

Student Procedures/Directions:

1.Place students in groups of 3 or more.

2.Each group will get a set of “Compound Conjure”

3.Shuffle the cards as in a usual card game, and deal out all of the cards.

4.Each student should look in their hand for any compound word matches and place those down, words up, in front of them.

5.The youngest person then starts by picking a card still in the hand of the person to the LEFT.

6.If it completes a match they may lay it down, if not it stays in their hand.

7.Play continues, always taking from the person on the LEFT.

8.At the end of the play, one person should be left with the CONJURE card (the Old Maid) and they then go first in putting their compound words into sentences or giving the meaning or the compound word.

Compound words:

Snowflake upstairs bedroom

Birdhouse flowerpot treehouse

Dollhouse baseball backyard

Farmhouse downstairs driveway

Watermelon bookbag doghouse

Cookbook railroad candlestick

Ladybug sidewalk storybook

Cupboard playground background

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Darla Federwitz

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