Designed to meet these objectives:
Language
• Students will develop vocabulary.
• Students will use knowledge of individual words
to predict the meanings of unknown words.
Building compound words is as easy as tying your
shoe with these colorful language lacers! Students
will love lacing the shoestrings to create compound
words, and with 15 different boards, students get
lots of practice with a variety of vocabulary words!
What’s Included
• 15 shoe boards
• 15 laces
• Answer card
• Storage box
© 2009 Lakeshore
(800) 428-4414
www.lakeshorelearning.com
FF224
Ages 6+
Printed in China
Before You Begin
Make a knot on one end of each lace, and pull one
lace through the top left hole of each board to give
students a place to start. Set out the boards at a
center, and provide sheets of lined paper for
extension activities.
Getting Started
Demonstrate how to lace up the “shoes,” starting
with the word at the top left of the board, and
pulling the lace through the hole next to the word on
the right side that forms a compound word. When
students have completed an activity, ask them to
undo the laces, leaving them attached through the
first hole so that the boards will be ready for the
next student to use.
Using the Cards
Whole-Class Activity
• Review compound words with the class. Write
some examples from the shoes, such as “stoplight”
and “sunshine,” on the board or on chart paper.
Ask students to identify the two words that make
up each compound word and ask what the
meaning of each compound word is. Encourage
2
volunteers to suggest some compound words they
know and add them to the examples you have
written.
Small-Group Activities
• In advance, write each of the words from six or
seven shoe boards on index cards. Mix up the
index cards and place them at a center along with
the language lacers. Have students visit the center
in groups of three. After working together to lace
up the shoes, have students play a game of “Go
Fish!” with the index cards. Deal five index cards
to each student and place the rest of the cards
facedown in a pile. Students take turns asking
each other for a card they need to make a
compound word. (Have them use the completed
lacers as a reference.) If the other player does not
have the card, the student draws a card from the
pile. When students make a match, they set the
two index cards on the floor next to them. The
first person to get rid of all her cards wins!
• Set up the boards at a center for students to
visit during your scheduled center time, or for
early finishers to use for extra practice.
3
Meeting Individual Needs
ELL
With a small group of students, read each word on
a shoe board aloud, letting them repeat after you if
necessary. Go through each word on the left side of
the board and help them find the word on the right
side that forms a compound word. Lace the shoe
board as you go along. Have students copy the
compound words into a language journal or word
book, and have them draw a vertical line between the
two individual words that make up the compound
word. Then, ask them to draw a picture of the
compound word.
Reteach/Extra Support
In advance, write each of the words from two or
three shoe boards on index cards. Mix up the index
cards and place them at a center along with the
lacers. Have students work with a partner to lace
up the shoe cards. Then, allow the students to play
a game of memory with the index cards.
Challenge
Challenge students to see how many new compound
words they can make using words from one of the
boards. Encourage them to use a dictionary to find
new words. Have them make a list of the new words
and write the definition for each one.