Write sight words with marker! Yes, I know this sounds way too easy to even work, but in my experience, it does! Just imagine if you had to write in drab pencil- Every. Single. Day. And you are age 5, 6 or 7. Boring, right? I had a small group of first graders SO excited about their sight words on drawing paper, they called it a “word wallet” and carried them around in their pockets. And, their teachers reported that this helped them practice and remember more sight words! Awesome.
Or, if you are really daring you can put a tablespoon of finger paint on a tray or directly on the table for students to “write” in it. I have done this on trays in the art room while co-teaching with a classroom teacher. With two of us, it was easy to check everyone’s work and easy to clean up because my art room has four sinks. (Yes, four!) I showed the students how to put their tray down in the bottom of the sink and scrub it with a sponge, then scrub their hands with the sponge. It took about ten minutes to clean up. If I were in a regular classroom I would probably do this in small groups, it would be much more manageable!
This was first published at Education Closet.