Free Long Vowel Patterns Roll, Say, Keep! Game

Keeping higher readers in kindergarten challenged appropriately doesn’t mean more work, or even more {{uuugh}} worksheets. Far from it!

In our classroom it means working on the next level of skills or working more in-depth.

Here is one example of a game we played in our guided reading groups to help higher readers stay challenged.

This Roll, Say, Keep! style game works on using long vowel patterns to solve words and read them more fluently.

This free printable game is easy to use. Let me walk you through how to make it and how to play it.

How to make the game

I didn’t make this game, but I’m so glad I found it. Here’s how you can make this game to play in small groups.

1. Download and print the Roll Say Keep Long Vowels Game. Print the mats and word cards (in black and white) onto colored construction paper or bright copy paper.
2. Print one game set for each pair of students in your reading group – each on a different color of paper to make cleanup easy.
3. Laminate game pieces if you want. Cut them out.
4. Add a dice for each game set.
5. Store each game set in a Ziploc bag to quickly pass out the materials and keep game cards separated.

It really is as simple as putting the game pieces together with dice.

I didn’t even laminate mine since I printed onto construction paper.

How to play

Let’s cover how to play this game. The rules are very similar to any roll-say-keep game.

Your students play in pairs.

First, they need to set up the gameboard. They put one long vowel word card (face up) in each of the six available spaces on the game board/mat.

Then they take turns rolling a die and reading the word card on the number space that matches the number rolled.

• If they read the word incorrectly, it stays on the game board.
• If they read it correctly, they keep the card as a “point.”
• A new card is drawn from the draw pile to replace the card taken off of the workmat so they can keep playing.

There are some special cards thrown in to spice up the “game factor.”

• If students get a +1 or +2 card, they get the opportunity to read 1 or 2 additional cards from the draw pile and keep them as points.
• If they draw a -1 card, they have to put one of their point cards back into the draw pile.

It’s game over when someone rolls the number and pulls the “game over” card. Count up card points to see who has the most!

Tip: Keep a long vowel patterns chart handy so students can use it as a reference if needed.

Let’s wrap it up

This game is simple, yet really good practice.

There you have it – an activity ready to go for when your readers have moved beyond kindergarten standards and are ready for vowel patterns. That’s exciting stuff!

Be sure that the next time they pick up a level book during guided reading to apply what they practiced in this game.

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