Spring into Silliness

There comes a point in time when your child will not just be learning to read but reading to learn. This week we wanted to focus on sentence structure in a really fun way to help with that transition. We're going to play Mad Libs, a sentence forming game where you make up how the story goes! This activity will include at least two people. Now let's get started with how to play! We have given you a worksheet below that has blank spaces for nouns, adjectives and other missing words. You will print out the worksheet and not show it to your child. You will go to each blank and ask your child to give you a word for that part of speech. Remember, don't read them the sentence because you want it so be a silly surprise when the worksheet is all filled out! Sometimes the sentences won't make sense but that's okay, its part of the game.


Just for a refresher here is the definition of the parts of speech:


Noun- person, place or thing (for example: dog, school, France)


Adjective- describes nouns and pronouns (for example: red, big, bouncy)


Verb- shows actions or state of being (for example: sing, run, gallop)









































For more Mab Lib silliness, check out: http://www.madglibs.com/

Phonics Fun!

This week we decided to get back to the basics! We thought spreading the word about the importance of phonics would be helpful in your family reading time. Not only should you be reading to your kids but they should be reading to you, as well! Learning phonics, or the sounds that letters make, isn't something that should be kept inside of the classroom walls, it should be practiced everyday everwhere when one is learning to read! But since it's rather difficult to explain phonics, we thought it would be helpful to show you all two videos that you can share with your children. Now, we know these video are a bit silly but if you're serious about helping your little ones learn to read, these videos can be a great tool!








Have a fun Friday everyone and happy reading!

ABC de Las Cosas

When I younger I lived in Puerto Rico and was on a traveling swim team. On the weekends we would go around the country to different competitions and while we waited for our event to start, we would all play “A,B, C de las cosas” which in English means “A,B,C’s of things”. For my team members and their parents this game always turned into quite a competition.


First you will need each player to have a piece of paper and a writing instrument. If you have have younger players pair them up with an adult, friend or sibling that can help them write! Each player needs to make a table with seven columns and at least two rows. Look at our table below for some suggestions on categories and be sure the write them on your table.


One of the players picks a letter from the alphabet and then the whole group begins with that letter. Depending on the age of the group, you can have from as little as one minute to as much as five. Not let’s begin! Say Juan picks the letter L. The whole group will need to find a name with letter L (for example Lillian), a last name with letter L (for example Lopez), a place with letter L (for example London), a thing with letter L (for example Lion), a food with letter L (for example Lasagna) and a Country or State with letter L (for example Louisiana). If you finish your whole row before the time runs out then you’ve done well! For each category that you fill with a word you get one point. If your word does not match the category or is spelled wrong, sorry but no points will be awarded! Next, everyone will use their six words and make a sentence. Don’t be scared to get silly with it…this is how our story reads: Lillian Lopez’s Lion lives in London where they eat Lasagna from Louisiana. That sentence is worth 6 points!


Brittany, Anna and myself wish you a weekend of wonderful, whimsical, wacky good times sharing wisdom with your family! Happy Friday Everyone!

A Read In The Park

When people think of reading to their children what comes to mind for many is bedtime stories. Now, bedtime stories are wonderful and we here at the Adult Literacy League are big fans of everyone reading to their children before bed, but you can read with your family and friends at any time of the day. So, this weekend we are challenging you to do just that! This can mean setting up a tent in the middle of the living room on Saturday morning, going into the backyard with a book or exploring Orlando for the perfect reading spot.

There are places in our very own city and neighborhoods that can provide a wonderful reading adventure and a great day out and about that are completely free. Local parks, playgrounds and other grassy areas provide a great space for a picnic and a book. If you live near downtown, Lake Eola is an awesome place for a reading excursion. If you are an Orange County Library member, the lake is conveniently located just blocks from the main library. If not, that’s okay! No matter which county you live in, there is a library that you can join for free.

Click here to find your local library with this Orange County Library System map.

Reading outside is an exciting opportunity for your children to be inspired by nature and the diverse community they live in.

This weekend, pack a picnic, a few great books and enjoy your family literacy time!

A List Made Fun!

This week, rather than teaching you a game or sharing a recipe, we thought we’d have fun with an activity that you already do anyway.


The trip to the grocery store is not always the most favorable experience, especially with young kids. But this trip can be turned into something fun! And the fun can begin even before you leave the house!


If your child is at a literacy level where he or she can write, together you can go through the pantry and refrigerator to name items that you need to purchase at the store. As you name each item, have your child write out the name of the item on a piece of paper. For example as if while you were scanning the refrigerator, you see you are running low on milk, say “MILK!” If your child isn’t certain how to spell milk, spell it out “M-I-L-K” and then repeat the word for them, “milk!” Even if you have to spell out the name of some or all of the items, this is still great practice putting a name to an item.


Now if your child is not at the level of writing quite yet, you both can still go through the pantry and refrigerator together to name items that you will need to purchase but you can focus on writing the shopping list. Before you leave the house though, have your child pick out their favorite color crayon and have them give the crayon to you, for now, for fun later!


Once you get to the store, bring out the crayon! You might want to advise him or her that is a special crayon. This crayon is now their “cross-out crayon” and, while in the grocery store, this crayon can only be used to write on this paper (you might want to show him or her the grocery list at this point).


Each time an item is placed in the cart have the child find the item on the list and have them cross-out the item with their crayon. It’s best to switch up the items on the list so that you’re not just going down the list. Most children will soon catch quite quickly and this will not be much of a literacy learning activity anymore. If the child is not sure how the name of the item you just placed in the cart is spelled, you have 2 options. One, you could spell out the item’s name and have your child match it the list. Or two, if the item has a label with its name on it, have the child match what’s on the label with what’s on the list.





You might be surprised how much your child will have doing this, especially if you get excited about it too! Before you know it your child will be asking you, when are we going shopping again?