A couple of years ago we had a student at our reading center who invented a word game that we have used ever since. As part of our normal lesson we make word cards that the student practices at home. When they come in for their next lesson, we see how many of the words they have learned. They get "points" for each word they know. These points build up like money and they can buy prizes in our reading center as they accumulate points. Here is how Evan's game works:

The teacher says, "Let's play a word game. You choose one of the words on your word cards (let's say they choose the word "friend"), then we put all the cards face down on the table. We mix up all the cards so we don't know where "friend" is; then we take turns picking cards. Whoever picks "friend" first, gets 50 points."

The student then typically acts confused and wonders why I, the teacher, would want points. I tell them that I like prizes too and this is the only way I can earn enough points to get a prize.

Each time a card is chosen, either by the teacher or the student, the student tries to read the word. This is where the learning comes in. At this point, I don't try to sound it out in detail or make it a long process, I just tell her the word so we can keep the game moving.

The other thing I do is I try to sneak a peek at my card while the student is looking at her card to make sure I lose the game. Sometimes she sees me switch cards and accuses me of cheating.

While the game is going, I try to make it more fun by saying something like "I lost my 'friend', can you help me find my 'friend'?".

Most students get a big kick out of the game. They tell me they play it at home with their parents. Even some of the students who are little old for the game want to play it. Evan has become a minor celebrity at our reading center as we always call it "Evan's Game".

Educator Don Jones has taught reading and math in a 1-to-1 environment for many years. He learned the methods from his father who started The Arcadia Reading Clinic in 1956. For more information, please visit http://www.growthspurtonline.com