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Compound Words: Construction Style

Friday was one of those fun, hands-on, best-day-ever kind of days. It was play-based, rigorous, and had my crew of 1st grader workers begging for more. Today I wanted to share with you more about Compound Construction – a morning filled with hands-on compound word fun!

Setting the Stage

Unapologetically I believe in the importance of play in the classroom. Our young students learn best through exciting, hands-on experiences. So, when possible, I love intentionally crafting play and wonder into our day.

When students walked in our classroom door, they were met with Caution Tape, had to quickly put away their things, and get on their apron for our day of learning! Lowe’s donated enough Kids’ Aprons for all of my workers which was an amazing treat and added so much excitement to our day (Thanks, Lowe’s!). Immediately I was greeted with HUGE eyes, smiles, and shouts of “This is the best day EVER!”

We gathered on the main Construction Floor (our classroom carpet) to hear from the Site Foreman. He explained to us his problem and we decided we could help him! As we worked, we heard the sounds of trucks, diggers, and saws with this music from Youtube.

What Our Morning Looked Like

Once we accepted the challenge, we split into construction teams (by table). Each different construction site had a task for us to complete. We took along our tool box and pencil, so we could record our work as we went. Each task was inside of a tool box or tool case that I swiped from my Mom (Thanks, Mom!). It made it so much more exciting to have to open up and dump each of the tool bags! Two of our construction sites were lego-based centers.

We also had to reassemble the school’s plumbing at another construction site. I purchased two 5-foot 1/2 inch PVC pipe poles from Lowes and cut them into 3 inch pieces. This gave me 40 individual pieces (enough for 20 compound words). I then picked-up 20 couplings or joints to connect the two parts of each compound word. (The couplings came in packs of 10, so I picked-up two packs.)

I decided to use labels for the pipes and the legos, because I want to use these materials for other activities. The pipes and connectors will be perfect for teaching conjunctions and the legos will be great for indoor recess.

At another construction site, we were commissioned to design our own towers. Using the sand-timer provided, we “played” with wooden blocks to build a fabulous tower. After the timer ran out, we had to use our tower to write an awesome 1st grade sentence!

Now I’ll admit – this was DEFINITELY a challenge for my friends but a very good one. It required the whole work time and really made us think about what we’ve learned about nouns, verbs, and adjectives!

The most challenging of our construction sites was the Compound Puzzle. Using a 24-piece puzzle set, students worked in partners to repair the broken picture. Each puzzle told a story of someone integrating 5-6 compound words. 
One of the great things about a day like Compound Construction is that you have instant student buy-in. Students are engaged, focused, and excited. While they are learning, the focus is so much on the excitement that you can really bump-up the learning and expectations. This is an example of one of those bumped-up activities. In our typical Daily 5 block, my friends would *struggle* with this activity and I would hear about it. While my friends struggled on Friday, they persevered and kept working the whole time. They were determined to complete that site! 

Reflecting on Our Learning

Once we had visited all the construction sites and had worked with over 100 compound words, we met together as a crew. We heard again from the Site Foreman and he thanked us for our work. Then, with our toolboxes in hand, we brainstormed some of the compound words we met. While there were WAY too many to include them all, every member of our crew shared their favorite one and used it in a 7-up sentence.

From walking into the construction zone to debriefing the crew about the day’s building, we conquered Compound Words in two hours. This is a day where I did not meet with reading groups, but it was totally worth it. Honestly, I’ll never have to touch Compound Words again, my 1st graders own them and they have such a positive memory to attach to the content…a definite win-win in my book!

Being Real – How Much Did It Cost?

When I do a special day like Place Value Bootcamp or Contraction Surgery one of the most common questions is – How can you afford this? I totally get this, so I wanted to break the cost down with you. In total, it cost me $17 dollars for our day of Compound Construction. Now our 1st grade team is sharing the activity, so it is easily split behind 5 teachers making it a $4 investment. The cost would have been much lower if I had borrowed the Legos from a student in my class, but I wanted them for indoor recess afterward. So, when I found mini-packs at Dollar Tree, I scooped up 5 packs!
Friends, are you ready to step outside of your traditional reading block for a day? Compound Construction is a perfect way to engage and excite your learners with hands-on learning! It’s fun, simple, and makes a HUGE impression. You can snag all of the materials, ready-to-go here.
Now tell me, is Compound Construction something your friends would dig? If so, I’d love to hear about ways you keep learning hands-on and fun in your classroom!

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Comments

  1. V Sanchez says

    Another great post…what a fun and memorable activity for your kiddos! We took the time out of R.Workshop last week to do contraction surgery and it was so much fun. 🙂 Veronica

    Reply

  2. Christa Swaney says

    OMG!! You amaze me! I am a second grade teacher and love all of your amazing posts! I am in awe of your knowledge and creativity! I have been teaching 21 years and I am so impressed with what you do! Thank you for all you do! Your kids are so lucky to have you as a teacher!!

    Christa
    sweetlifeofsecondgrade

    Reply

  5. Melissa Glenn says

    This is one of the best log posts I've ever read. You are incredible! Such creativity and organization! So much thought put into it! Your students are so very lucky to have you as their teacher! I'll be off to lowe's to see if they will donate to me as well for some contraction construction!

    Real Life in First Grade

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  9. Karen L says

    This sounds like so much fun. I think I will suggest this for a second grade Mix It Up Day.
    Can’t wait!!

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  15. Richland Siding Installation Contractors says

    This is an article about teaching compound words to first graders. It discusses a fun, hands-on activity the teacher did with her class. The students pretended to be construction workers and completed different tasks related to compound words. They used tools, building materials, and even Legos. The teacher incorporated compound words into other lessons, such as writing sentences and studying conjunctions. Overall, the students had a positive experience and learned a lot about compound words.

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  16. Richland Siding Contractors says

    This is a great activity for teaching compound words! I especially like the idea of having students pretend to be construction workers. This would be a fun and engaging way for students to learn about compound words.

    In addition to the activities mentioned in the article, I wonder if there are any other ways to reinforce learning about compound words. For example, would it be helpful to create a word bank of compound words that students can refer to when writing?

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    I absolutely love this blog post! The way you’ve incorporated hands-on, play-based learning into such an important topic is truly inspiring. The construction theme, complete with aprons and toolboxes, sounds like a dream come true for 1st graders! I can just imagine the excitement on their faces as they tackled each ‘construction site.’ It’s clear that these experiences leave a lasting impression, and I especially appreciate the reflection piece at the end. What an amazing way to make compound words memorable for your students! Bravo for creating such a fun and engaging learning environment

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    That sounds like such a fantastic day for your 1st graders! Engaging young learners through play and hands-on activities can really make a difference in how they absorb new concepts. The addition of Lowe’s Kids’ Aprons must have made them feel like real construction workers, adding to the excitement of learning about compound words. It’s great to see teachers like you embracing creative methods to make education enjoyable and memorable. What activities did you incorporate for the compound word construction?

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