This is the final game in this set of five activities to make spelling fun. Just like Letter Ladder and Throwing and Tossing students are able to practice Fundamental Movement Skills. Like Bingo Spelling students must work in a group and like Buzz as many or as few of their spelling words can be used to play this game. The more spelling words that are included the longer the game will take and the more fun students will have.
This game is based on the card game Memory which features heavily on our Learn From Play website. Playing Memory games builds children's attention span, concentration and focus, visual recognition and short-term memory.
This version of Memory is great for introducing the weekly spelling words to students as it allows them to discover the weekly word rule and which words they will be learning for themselves. It will also help them remember their list words as they have to remember the words in the game.
This game can be played in groups of 3 or more provided the students have the same list words. You need to print each group’s list words onto cardboard and cut them out. I would suggest using different coloured card or marking the back of different teams sets of cards so they do not become mixed up during the game.
This game can be played with a whole class outside or in a large indoor area if available.
Alternatively, it could be played with half the class while the other half play another spelling game such as Spelling Bingo with teams alternating which game they play each week as Spelling Buzz does not require as much space as this Memory Game.
Once the cards have been printed and cut out, they are placed face down and team members take it in turn to reveal 2 cards at a time. If the 2 cards are a pair the student can keep the cards and reveal 2 more cards until they turn over 2 that are not a pair. These 2 unmatched cards are shown to the rest of the team and placed face down where they were found. It is then the next team members turn to reveal and collect cards.
To make set up easier the cards could be placed in a hoop to differentiate between separate teams or cones used to mark “lanes” of each team’s cards. Alternatively, for a slightly more challenging game multiple teams could have their cards interspersed with each other and 3 students could be turning cards at the same time but can only turn the cards with their team’s colour or image on the back of them.
If playing outside you could space the cards out over a long distance and students could use a given Fundamental Movement Skill such as hopping, skipping or side galloping to move between the cards. The further the cards are apart the more active students will be in this game. Students may need to tell their teammates which words they found rather than showing them if the cards are too small. This further reinforces the student’s ability to remember their list words and aids in their spelling of these words.