“The standards expect that students will grow their vocabularies through a mix of conversations, direct instruction, and reading
The standards will help students determine word meanings,
appreciate the nuances of words, and steadily expand their repertoire of words and phrases.”

The Common Core
State Standards Initiative

The Reading Game & Common Core Standards Criteria:

 

Measurable: Pre and post card game sight word and test sentence assessments are available along with class recording sheets that allow for formative and summative assessments and evidence based measurement for reading vocabulary development at the individual and class levels.

 

Clear & Specific: The purpose and intent of the card game is clear to students and the 180 words are specifically chosen to mirror pre-k, K, and 1st grade high frequency sight words and the Dolch Word List.  (See more at bottom of page)

 

Rigorous: The fast action card game hard wires words into the student’s long-term memory. Each game/book builds on the previous set’s reading vocabulary.

 

A Clear Goal: To develop a reading vocabulary in a manner which students find fun and familiar, giving them the tools to read the accompanying books which are content rich and engaging. “The Reading Game” makes learning to read fun and builds reading confidence.

 

For a full listing of standards and how The Reading Game correlates to them, click here.

 

 

 

 

“The Reading Game is a great product - it is the foundation
of reading, period!”

Jennifer Skeels
Reading Intervention Specialist
La Mesa/Spring Valley Schl. District, CA

 

Enhanced, 2nd Edition:

The Reading Game - Official Website

Add the reading game to your cart   View Cart

$34.95 ea

20% discount on a case (9 games) or more

 

The Reading Game includes six decks of matching word playing cards, six sets of picture flashcards, six beautifully
illustrated story books, and
a Teacher and Parent's Guide
Ages 4 & Up        2 or More Players

 

Come see The Reading Game

in person!  Click: Events Page

 

 

award winning reading game

"We are pleased to replace the first edition of "The Reading Game" with a second, enhanced version, that has a new set of picture flashcards and introduces capitalization and punctuation. If you own the first edition of the game, the worksheet downloads and class recording sheets are available here for your use.

For a list of retailers that may still carry the First Edition, click here.
1st edition MSRP: $24.95

the reading game characters

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Free Worksheet Downloads:
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Pre-Post Sight Word
Assessment Worksheets Instructions:

     Before playing each of the memory card games (skunk, snake, bear, penguins, unicorn, zebra) print off the corresponding worksheet and show your child the 30 words listed.

     Check off any words that your child recognizes in the "Pre" column. After completing all card sets of the memory card game, show your child the list again, and check off the words recognized in the "Post" Column.

Pre & Post Sight Word Assessment
Class Recording Sheet

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Test-Sentence Assessment
Worksheet Instructions:

     After playing card sets 1 & 2 of each of the memory card games (skunk, snake, bear, penguins, unicorn, zebra) print off the corresponding worksheet and see if your child can read the short sentences comprising the ten words they have learned through game play.  This helps the child transition from reading stand-alone words to reading a whole sentence, ensuring success when they eventually get to the corresponding storybook.

     Repeat this process on the same worksheet after completing cards sets 3 & 4 and again after 5 & 6.

Test Sentence Assessment
Class Recording Sheet

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Reading Game is a learn-to-read program consisting of six illustrated storybooks: skunk, snake, bear, penguins, unicorn, and zebra. Each book comes with a simple word matching card game. Each game is played in six stages, each of which teaches five words.

 

Frequent exposure through play hard-wires these words into long-term memory. The card game requires two players, the student and a tutor. When used in classrooms and reading centers, parent volunteers or student “reading buddies” can easily be shown how to play the matching card game. By transforming rote learning into a fast paced game where there is a winner every few seconds, learning to read becomes fun.

 

After completing stage six of the first game, the student has a reading vocabulary of thirty words.

 

The first story is told using just those thirty words. It tells of a skunk without a stripe who is rejected for being different but finds acceptance among a group of cats and becomes their defender. Each subsequent game in the series adds a further thirty words for a reading vocabulary of 180 words by the time the complete series is finished. Of the twenty-five most commonly used English words, twenty-two are on that list; of the forty most commonly used English words –thirty. The multi-sensory teaching approach – through the card game play and the storybooks - works well for retention and student enjoyment.

 

The Reading Game is supplemental curriculum material that complements most standard curriculums, meets the criteria of the Common Core State Standards for Language Arts and Reading and Foundational Skills for both kindergarten and first grade, and improves classroom teaching effectiveness.

 

Free Individual Student Assessment Worksheets include two sets of worksheets for use with your students to clearly identify and measure individual progress. The first, the Pre/Post Card Game Sight Word Assessment Worksheets enable you to assess each student’s sight word recognition BEFORE and AFTER playing each of the six card games. The Test Sentence Assessment Worksheets are a transitional step between learning the words through game play and reading the complete storybook. These assessment sheets provide a basis from which you can track individual student’s progress in three stages for each game as they work through the series and are an important step in the development of the student’s reading vocabulary. At the back of the Teacher and Parent Guide, which comes with each game, is a listing of all 180-vocabulary words, which can also be used for pre and post sight word assessment if more expansive summative testing material is desired.

 

Download the Class-Recording Sheets to keep track of the class’s progress as a whole and make formative and summative assessments on the success of the program. There are two class-recording sheets, the Pre & Post Game Sight Word Assessment and the Test Sentences Assessment for recording results from the individual student assessment worksheets.

 

Collecting and reporting data on how students are progressing is becoming increasingly important. Many school districts nationwide have adopted or will be adopting evidence-based learning practices and most states have embraced the common core standards. Using the pre-game sight word assessment worksheets to establish the student’s individual sight word knowledge before they start the series, the test sentences worksheet to assess formative progress during the series, and the post-game sight word worksheet after the student finishes each card game/book for each of the six in the series will allow you to make an evidence based summative assessment and show measurable results for each student in your care and your classroom as a whole.

 

By the time students come to the end of the zebra story, 180 words are hard-wired into memory. Phonics can then be incorporated into the game by using the cards to develop links to similar words and sounds (see notes on Phonics in the Rules and Teachers Guide ). The brain is now perfectly capable of going it alone; new words as they are encountered will go into long-term memory because that part of the brain is now primed for such a task. Millions of neurons are geared up to go to work. All you have to do is feed the student books. The Reading Game is intensely rewarding; you are giving the gift of literacy. Enjoy!

 

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•  Dolch Word List of “service words” (pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and verbs) that cannot be learned through the use of pictures. 60% of the words in “The Reading Game” are on the Dolch Word List for pre-k and k and makes up 54% of dolch words for Pre-K, K and 1st Grade.

 

•  Of the first 100 most commonly used English words (source The Reading Teachers Book of Lists, Third Edition by Fry, et al) “The Reading Game” incorporates 88% of the most common twenty-five words and 63% of the first 100.

 

 

award winning reading game

 

 

 

the reading game characters