Multisensory Monday: Prefix Ball Toss!

In this Multisensory Monday, we suggest an activity to help students grasp what the purpose of a prefix is. A prefix comes before a base word and changes the meaning of the base word. Give this activity a try, and your students won’t BElieve how fun learning prefixes can be!

Materials Needed:

• Disposable cups, small containers, or small buckets
• Small, soft, ball or beanbag
• Index cards
• Permanent marker
• Prefix/base word list

Making it Multisensory:

Begin by writing one prefix on each cup, container, or bucket as shown …

Students draw a word card and hold it up to each cup and read the pseudoword or real word that is made by reading the prefix and base word together.

Next, the student decides which prefix and base word combination creates a real word and drops or tosses the ball into the corresponding cup. The activity continues until all of the word cards have been used. In the event that none of the word combinations are familiar to a student, the teacher tells the student the correct word by using it in a sentence.

Up the Challenge…

To make this activity more challenging, secure cups to a table with masking tape. Students stand 5-8 feet away and gently toss the ball into the cups. Plastic sand pails or mop buckets can be used instead, and the activity can be conducted in the gymnasium or on the playground. In this case, students begin 2 feet away from the buckets and then move a big step back for each additional word. The more the student steps back, the more of a challenge there is to get the ball into the bucket.

Enjoy!

Written by Tammi Brandon, M.Ed., CDP

Tammi Brandon is a Master Instructor and Education Consultant with Brainspring Educator Academy.

Bring Brainspring Orton-Gillingham multisensory instruction to your classrooms, transforming struggling K-12 readers into skilled learners through our effective, evidence-based approach.

For more information please visit brainspring.com or call 1-8007323211