Multisensory Monday: Consonant-LE Bubbles!

Let’s face it, bubbles are fun for kids of all ages! Who doesn’t love the changing iridescent colors of bubbles floating in the air, or watching them fuse together when they collide? Bubbles are an excellent tool for multisensory learning. Aside from their scientific properties, their very name coincides nicely with learning consonant-le (c-le) endings.

What is a Consonant-Le ending?

To put it simply, consonant-le endings are syllables with a consonant before the “le.”

•  -ble, -cle, -dle, -fle, -gle, -kle, -ple, -tle, -zle

C-le in closed syllable words (short vowel sounds) These words have first syllables that end with a different consonant sound than the c-le endings. Examples include words such as bundle, simple, twinkle, rumble, rectangle, example.

C-le in open syllable words (long vowel sounds) These words contain first syllables that end in a vowel.  Examples include words such as noble, rifle, table, bugle, cradle, title.

C-le with double letter words (short vowel sounds) These words have first syllables that end with the same sound that the c-le syllable starts with. Examples include words such as middle, cripple, frazzle, juggle, battle, huddle.

Make it Multisensory

Did you know that there is a lot of science to bubbles? They are made up of a thin film of soap with a pocket of air, but this film has water molecules trapped between two layers of soap molecules. Bubbles pop when the water in them evaporates or they touch a dry surface.

Bubble Activities

Blow Bubbles for Words Ending in C-le

Prepare a list of words, some with c-le endings and some without.

Exp:  table, blanket, book, frazzle, watch, sunshine, staple, etc…

Dictate a word, have the child repeat the word and then blow a bubble only when hearing and saying words with c-le endings.

Bubble Pop

Follow the same process as the previous activity but Instruct students to “pop” bubbles when hearing spoken words that do not follow the c-le pattern. You could have a team of bubble blowers and bubble poppers or use a bubble machine.

Catching Bubbles

Use a bubble machine and have children catch bubbles when hearing words with c-le endings. Once all c-le syllable types have been taught, have them catch only open syllable words, such as “table”.

Double Bubble Riddles

Have students answer riddles and try to catch a double bubble on their bubble wand. For example,  “I end with the syllable /ble/ and am the noise a turkey makes.  What am I?” Gobble

“I end with the syllable /gle/ and am another word for laughter.  What am I?” Giggle

Glowing Bubbles

Make your own bubbles with children and create three different colors to coincide with c-le syllable types.  They can even paint with these bubbles and spell their c-le words on the paper once it dries. Bubbles can also be placed between two sheets of paper to create some interesting effects.

Recipe:

1 cup of water

1 tsp of dish soap

1 squirt of glow-in-the dark or fluorescent paint

You will also need:

bowls, spoons, paper

Written by Julie Palermo,

Julie is a tutor at our Clarkston Learning Center and former Kindergarten teacher.