Build-a-Word Sandwich Game
Congratulations on your purchase of this Really Good Stuff® Build-aWord Sandwich Game—a fun and interactive game for primary
students to practice making two-, three-, four-, and five-letter words.
This Really Good Stuff® product includes:
• 100 Cards (65 slice-of-bread cards and 35
sandwich-filling cards)
• 4 Wooden Card Holders
• 4 Sandwich Mats/Word Score Sheets, laminated
• Storage Bag
• This Really Good Stuff® Activity Guide
Introducing the Build-a-Word Sandwich Game
Gather your class and ask volunteers to describe their favorite
sandwiches. Talk about (and perhaps draw) the parts of these
sandwiches—the top and bottom slices of bread and the yummy
fillings inside. Then tell students they will be building words and making
“word sandwiches” when they play the Build-a-Word Sandwich Game.
Choose 10 Sandwich Cards for demonstration purposes and show
students the two types of cards in the pack. Demonstrate creating a
word sandwich. Build different word “sandwiches,” place the cards in a
Card Holder, and transfer them to a plate. Then choose two to four
students to show the class how to play the game by following the
Playing the Game instructions below.
Playing the Build-a-Word Sandwich Game
Played with two to four players, the Build-a-Word Sandwich Game is
played like a combination of Scrabble and Rummy. The object of the
game is to be the first player to build six word sandwiches (each made
up of two- to five-letters). At the beginning of the game, players take
one Card Holder, which they arrange their cards on. Letter(s) on each
Bread Card begin or end a word and letter(s) on each Sandwich Filling
Card (a piece of cheese, meat, lettuce, or tomato) make up the
middle of a word. The dealer gives each player four cards facedown
that players look at and place on their own Card Holder. The dealer
places the rest of the cards in a draw pile in the center of the table,
turns over the top card from this draw pile, and sets it next to the
draw pile to start a discard pile.
The student to the left of the dealer begins the game and play
proceeds clockwise. On each turn, a player first draws a Card from
either the top of the draw pile or the discard pile and decides if the
letter can help him or her form a word. He or she tries to build a
two-, three-, four-, or five-letter word out of the five Cards. If he or
she makes a word, the player turns his or her Card Holder around to
show the other players the word. If they agree it is a word, the player
removes the word from his or her Card Holder and places the
“sandwich” of Cards on a plate on his or her Sandwich Mat. If it is not
a word, the player turns his or her Card Holder back around. Players
end each turn by either placing one card faceup on the discard pile if
he has 5 cards, or if the player has used some or all of his or her
cards to make a word, the player takes enough cards from the draw
pile to have four cards on his or her Card Holder.
When a player gets six sandwiches on his or her Sandwich Mat, that
player wins. Once there is a winner, the players remove their
sandwiches, turn over their Sandwich Mat to the Score Sheet, and
use a dry erase marker to record their words. Each player reads aloud
the words on his or her Score Sheet and congratulates the winner.
Extending the Use of the Build-a-Word Sandwich Game
• Have students keep an ongoing Word Journal of the words they
make while playing the game. When you review these journals, respond
to the entries with positive comments about the number of words
each child made, the variety of words, the complexity of words, and
the length of the words, and encourage students to keep playing and
try to build more complex words.
• Separate the Sandwich Cards into groups of letters to target
specific vowels, consonants, chunks, blends, and so on that students
are having difficulty with. Then use them in small-group instruction or
as follow-up activities. Make and distribute copies of the Sandwich
Card Patterns Reproducible to make individual take-home packets for
students to use for review.
• Set up identical mini bags of Sandwich Cards and challenge
individuals or small groups of students to make the most words
(and/or the longest words) out of them.
• Practice addition skills along with word skills. Assign numerical
values to the Sandwich Cards (similar to the values of the tiles in
Scrabble®). After students write their words on the back of their own
Sandwich Mat, have them tally up their numerical score. (Note: the
winners of the Build-a-Word Sandwich Game (the children who got six
words first) are not always the ones with the highest numerical
score!)
• Have fun with the words students make during the games. Challenge
them to use their words to make up a silly sentence (or two). For
example, a student might use his six winning words to write: When the
ten sheep tried to hug the cop, his teeth fell out! Your class will also
enjoy sharing and illustrating their silly sandwich sentences and
pictures.
• As students become more fluent in building words, use the Sandwich
Card Patterns Reproducible to add more beginning, middle, and ending
consonants; vowels; blends; digraphs; prefixes; suffixes; and so on to
the game.
• Challenge students to build compound and multisyllabic words by
dealing each player eight or ten Sandwich Cards.
• Copy and distribute the Sandwich Card Patterns Reproducible.
Encourage students to create their own version of the Build-a-Word
Sandwich Game and design the backs of their cards, too. Then store
each game in a zippered plastic bag and keep them in a center to be
played during free time.
• Create an eye-catching Build-a-Word Sandwich Game bulletin
board. Have students draw colorful, one-of-a-kind sandwiches made
up of a slice of bread with a beginning letter; middle letters on
sandwich fillings cards, such as mayonnaise, ketchup, horseradish,
cheese, meats, pickles, lettuce, tomato, and peanut butter; and a
bottom slice of bread with an ending letter. Add a language
component by having students write a story about their amazing word
sandwiches.
List of Sandwich Cards
Slice-of-bread cards
• 1 card each for z, bl, nd, ck, st, ll, sh, ch, th, br, and tr
• 2 cards each for a, b, c, d, f, g, h, i, j, k, l,m, n, o, p, qu, r, s, t, u, v, w, x,
and y
• 6 cards for e
Sandwich-fillings cards
• 1 card each for d, k, l, m, n, p, ee, ea, oo, oa, ai
• 2 cards each for r, t
• 4 cards each for a, e, i, o, u
All activity guides can be found online:
Helping Teachers Make A Difference®
© 2008 Really Good Stuff
®
1-800-366-1920 www.reallygoodstuff.com #157473
Sandwich Card Patterns Reproducible