You probably noticed from my last blog post that I love lapbooks. I find them versatile and helpful in so many aspects when teaching English to students. At he beginning of the year I introduce lapbooks and start with my fall lapbook. It is the perfect activity to pair with some freshly cut up apples or a book about pumpkins and bats!
This blog post is going to be all about tips and tricks for getting students engaged in different activities centered around my fall lapbook. Once you and your students put it together, the fun isn’t over. I promise!
Fall Lapbook Matching Game
Inside each of my lapbooks including my fall lapbook are vocabulary cards. These cards include pictures and words. My students love playing the memory game with these cards. Hearing their laughter and excitement warms my heart knowing they are having fun while learning. Enjoy playing with a friend or independently.
I write more about this type of strategy in another blog post. Students always love playing this game and it can easily extend the use of the fall lapbook or any of my other lapbooks ideas far beyond just creating it.
The BONUS On The Back
The fall lapbook has an amazingly fun game on the back (all of my lapbooks do). My students love playing this game and they often will ask to play it if we finish early and have some extra time to enjoy together! I made the directions and game easy so you do not need to spend a lot of time going over the rules/instructions and can spend more time playing with students!
Personal Dictionary/Helper
Many times I give my students the fall lapbook when we are working on other worksheets or activities that involve a lot of vocabulary when my students are working on their Label It, Write About It! worksheets.
My students use their lapbook to help them figure out different vocabulary words and phrases.
It also helps them improve their writing and includes the correct spelling of the words. Frequently I notice students adding in vocabulary because they used their fall lapbook to find more words!
Fall Lapbook Guess What? Activity
Every student loves a good guessing game or activity. I use the flipbooks attached to my lapbooks to complete this activity with my students. I (or students) give clues to help the players figure out what object they are describing. The players then can use their lapbook to look at the pictures, and the words underneath each picture to help them figure out which object the other player is describing or thinking of!
There are many ways to play this game. I may make my students come up with a sentence where they must use the vocabulary word and the other students must find the matching picture. Sometimes we play something like Pictionary where a student draws the vocabulary word and the other students must find the matching definition as the student is drawing.
Reading Extension Activities
I enjoy reading books in my ELL classroom because students love to listen to the English language being read aloud. I can teach fluency and vocabulary and so much more just by using a book! Students find the cards of the vocabulary they have read in the books. Reading A-Z has some amazing books all about fall and fall topics (like Halloween, apples, pumpkins etc). They may find the pictures that match the vocabulary the first time we read the book and then they may need to match the words the second time we read. Really, you can think of so many engaging and different activities when reading books!
One of my favorites is Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid Of Anything. It is an outstanding fall read aloud and has amazing fall vocabulary that matches with my fall lapbook. We review the vocabulary we find that matches our lapbook vocabulary and then to take it a step further we work on the task cards which go along with the book!
FREEBIE! Grab the Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid Of Anything Task Cards HERE for FREE!
I hope you all have an amazing start to your school year! You can grab my fall lapbook and any of my other amazing resources in my TPT store!
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