Best reading games for 1st graders
Reading Games for 1st Graders Online
1st Grade Reading GamesChildren love stories and books. And what better way for them to practice than to read on their own!
We love doing what we are good at, and children are no different. The more a child can read, the more they will want to. Learning the right methods and techniques can help children read faster. Fun reading games for 1st graders help engage and push children to read more words, build fluency, and gain familiarity with reading concepts. It also develops a greater interest in reading, writing, and spelling as a result.
When kids have fun, the process of learning becomes thrilling. Online reading games for 1st grade include phonics games and sight words games.
Other ELA games you can explore are: reading games, writing games, writing sight word games, letter tracing games, etc.
How Do We Introduce Reading to 1st Graders?Introduce reading after your child is well versed with letter and vowel sounds. While most learners in this grade will be fairly familiar with them, always practice them regardless because it is possible for children to lose touch with these concepts or forget them.
Learn to read games for 1st graders can also be used to introduce the concept of reading and reading skills. Your child can practice phonics, sight words, vowel sounds, vowel teams, rhyming words and much more with such games. This allows children to be introduced to reading in a way that’s fun and engaging.
How Can We Make Reading Fun for 1st Graders?Some of the best reading games for 1st graders can be used to make the process of developing reading skills fun! These games are innovative and fill your child with creativity and a want for learning. They set your child up for success perfectly by using varied techniques and encouraging consistent practice. Exciting and bright visuals make the process of learning reading skills fun and engaging.
How Can Games Help Better the Reading Skills of 1st Graders?Online reading games for 1st grade help kids pick a concept and allow them to practice similar groups of words or patterns.
Children learn to work with word groups with ease. Fun reading games for 1st graders help kids make strong associations between words, their sounds, their formation and other language elements. This helps in building a better understanding and thus enhances their reading skills greatly.
Suggested Reading Worksheets
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Frequently Asked Questions
- How do I teach my 1st grader reading skills?
1st grade reading games are wonderful tools to teach your first grader reading skills. Help your child recognize, build, rhyme and match words with these fun games. Your child can also explore words with long and short vowel sounds, initial blends, nasal blends, word families, end blends and practice to find the odd one out with fun reading games for 1st graders online.
- What to teach 1st graders in reading?
Kids should learn about long vowel sounds, initial and ending consonant blends, magic E words, vowel teams, bossy R and soft sounds in the first grade.
Online tools and resources can be employed to help teach children these essential ELA topics. - What are some of the best fun reading activities for 1st grade?
Some fun reading activities and some of the best reading games for 1st graders include: making story predictions, practicing rhyming words with fun poems, making a visual story flipchart, etc.
- What are the best books for reading for 1st grade?
Short fiction story books and poetry books for kids are amazing tools to practice reading skills with your first grader. A lot of poems include fun visuals, rhymes, and interesting backdrops that make practicing reading really interactive. Storybooks have bright illustrations that make them quite eye-catching. They help in creating a strong association with words, stories and characters.
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10 Free Online Reading Games for 1st Grade
The reading skills taught in first grade are crucial in developing a level of understanding students can build upon throughout the rest of their educational journey.
Our team of former educators created these effective and engaging no-prep resources you can use to help your students master key standards, all while fostering a love of reading! All of the games listed below are tailored to Common Core standards and can be found within eSpark’s personalized reading curriculum. Try out these free online reading games for 1st grade with your students!
Found in the Quest “Sh” and “Ch”
Click here to assign the Small Group Skill
Help Fox and Raccoon build a campfire! Select the correct items that start with “ch” or “sh” to help Fox collect sticks.
Found in the Quest “Context Clues”
Expand your vocabulary at Dakota’s Dog Rescue! Select which dog you would like to care for, then learn new words as you complete each task.
Found in the Quest “Questions about Stories”
Click here to assign the Small Group Skill
Uh oh, Rama Llama broke the one rule of their friend group—they caused drama! Find out what happened in this colorful, llama-filled story.
Found in the Quest “Long and Short Vowels”
Click here to assign the Small Group Skill
Olive the Knight needs your help. Help her find the long and short vowel sounds to scare the dragons away from the castle.
Found in the Quest “Blend Sounds to Make Words”
Help Chris move out of his house in this free online reading game for 1st grade. Read each word, sounding it out out loud, then select the picture that matches each word until Chris’s moving truck is full.
Found in the Quest “Sh” and “Ch”
Click here to assign the Small Group Skill
Jacob is putting on the Ch Parade, and he needs your help getting it ready. Choose the items that start with “ch” to build the floats.
Found in the Quest “Prefixes and Suffixes”
Select your character to race against other animals through the jungle. Answer questions about prefixes and suffixes to speed past the other cars and win the race!
Found in the Quest “Questions about Stories”
Click here to assign the Small Group Skill
Best friends, Rabbit and Cat, are neighbors.
Find out what adventures they get up to and answer questions along the way.
Found in the Quest “Find the Main Idea”
Click here to assign the Small Group Skill
Have you ever played The Floor is Lava? Read this story to learn how to play!
Found in the Quest “Retell Stories”
Click here to assign the Small Group Skill
Squidge doesn’t like going to the doctor. One morning, as he headed out to school, his mom told him he needed to visit the doctor today. He tried hiding and crying and running away. Read the story to learn how his visit went!
Looking for more free online reading games for 1st grade? eSpark offers thousands of student-approved, no-prep activities for K-5 classrooms.
Comments
Top 3 best apps for teaching children to read
Often modern parents face the problem of teaching children to read. The old methods don't always work, especially for hyperactive babies who can't sit still for long periods of time.
Such children need to be really interested and captivated. Using special good applications for learning to read, you can quickly learn this skill at home.
Many of today's children have tablets, which are perceived as exciting entertainment. To prevent your child from wasting time watching uninformative videos and playing with toys, install useful educational programs that can quickly learn the alphabet and master reading skills.
How do you find the best app for teaching kids to read when there are so many? We have analyzed dozens of educational programs for preschoolers and selected the best ones for you!
Our pick:
- Reading - This game makes learning to read an exciting adventure. It features easy to operate, intuitive interface and an incredibly exciting storyline. Suitable for children from 3 to 7 years old.
- "Talking ABC" - Application with high-quality animation for the little ones.
- "Learning letters is fun for kids!" - This game is best suited for those who are just learning to read.
Training takes place with the help of elementary exercises.
Contents of the article:
- 1. Reading - the author's game according to the method of Zaitsev's cubes
- 2. Speaking alphabet
- 3. Learning letters is fun for children
- When to start teaching a child to read?
- How to choose a good reading app?
- Pins
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The application that took the highest line in our rating is “Reading”. We will pay special attention to him in the article, because there is something to tell about.
"Reading" is an interesting educational sequential game for children from 3 to 7 years old. Differs in simplicity in management and intuitively clear interface. There is a plot here, which is even more captivating for a child who seeks to learn new information.
Thanks to the sound accompaniment, the child quickly remembers letters and sounds. All letters, warehouses and words are pronounced clearly and slowly.
After starting the application, a short animation appears on the screen - two heroes in a balloon get into a magical land, but a strong wind blew and the balloon skidded to the top. Now friends will have an exciting journey through Reading.
The guys will regularly have to move to new levels, where more difficult tasks await them. In order to maintain your rating, it is recommended that you regularly go to Reading, which encourages children to study systematically. The child is immersed in an exciting adventure, while developing such useful qualities as attentiveness, diligence, kindness and love of knowledge.
"Readings" is an application that will be a great addition to learning with "Zaitsev's Cubes" - one of the most effective methods today. The educational program is aimed at instilling in children a love of reading from childhood.
In the game, you can create several profiles, which makes it possible to deal with several children at once. The multiplayer mode allows each student to learn at their own pace. Additional profiles can be created for free. There are statistics on the passage of the game, in which parents see the progress of their child, the percentage of correctly completed tasks.
Benefits of the application:
- Fascinating plot – the application captivates from the first minutes, so classes are held in a relaxed manner. This is the first app we've analyzed that has a story. The child does not just learn, but becomes a participant in the quest, which further fuels his interest.
- Rich functionality - thanks to the application, you can not only learn letters, but also form syllables, read words in full, write letters and words correctly. The game has an extensive vocabulary and many levels, the passage of which will take more than one day. The lessons are very interesting.
Therefore, we can conclude that the application will not get bored for a long time. - Stylish design - illustrations are made in watercolor, the application has a unique musical accompaniment, the main characters speak with children's voices.
- Detailed explanations for children and hints for parents. Tasks in the game adapt to the child. If the student successfully copes with the tasks, the algorithm selects more difficult levels. This is a useful functionality that allows each child to study at a pace that is comfortable for him. All children are different. For some, it takes 1-2 months to learn to read, and in some cases it may take at least a year. An important role in learning is played not only by how the child remembers information, but also by his age. The Readings app is suitable for both a 3-year-old and a 7-year-old child.
Disadvantages:
We did not find any cons in this application. The developers have created a really useful tool for teaching preschoolers, taking into account the age characteristics of children and paying attention to details.
You can learn more about how everything works here:
A short video review of Reading will allow you to evaluate the functionality, design and main features of the application.
An application with high-quality animation will surely appeal to little fidgets. Letters appear on the screen, and when pressed, they fold up like plasticine, transforming into funny animals. You can click on the note symbol and listen to the list of animals that begin with that letter.
For children who have already mastered the alphabet a little, the second learning option is more suitable. Six letters appear on the screen. The voice in the program says which letter to choose and the child clicks on the option that suits him. If the answer is correct, an animal with that letter appears on the screen, if not, the letter folds into a ball.
Benefits:
- Three modes - learning, games and puzzles. All the knowledge gained can be consolidated in a playful way.
- Interesting design - plasticine animals will appeal to many children.
- Quality soundtrack.
Disadvantages:
Although the application is intended for children from 2 to 7 years old, in our opinion, it will appeal mainly to toddlers. Children over 5 years old will be carried away for a while.
The app is best suited for young children who are just learning to read. Training is carried out with the help of elementary exercises. The main screen contains the alphabet. When you click on a letter, a picture and a word that begins with that letter appears. There is also a funny rhyme. To consolidate the knowledge gained in the application, coloring pages are provided; games "Memory", "Find the letter in the picture", "Show what begins with a letter", "Make a word".
Advantages:
- large letters;
- original coloring book that helps to remember the letters well;
- intuitive interface.
Disadvantages:
Of the minuses of this application, we can note a small functionality. From personal experience, we can say that such an application will quickly get boring for a child. Especially if the baby is active. It can be concluded that using "Learning letters fun for children" is only at the initial stage of learning. When the child masters the alphabet, it is worth moving on to more functional programs. For inquisitive children, the application is too simple.
When should a child start learning to read?
The days when children went to school unprepared and learned to read all together in the classroom are long gone. The school curriculum is now quite complicated, so parents start preparing for school at the age of 4-5, which will reduce the load in the first months of schooling.
It is important to adhere to the "golden mean" in everything. If the neighbor's child is already reading with might and main at 5 years old, and yours does not show interest in learning, you should not sound the alarm. In some cases, it is necessary to wait a little for the child to show interest in learning.
The main signs that the child is ready to learn to read:
- the child understands the words and phrases addressed to him by others;
- vocabulary allows the child to communicate freely with other children and adults;
- the child pronounces most of the words correctly, without gross errors.
Studying letters and reading is necessary regularly, but little by little. It should be borne in mind that due to age, it is difficult for a child to spend a lot of time in one place, so many hours of classes become a real test.
How do I choose a good reading app?
New preschool learning apps are released regularly.
Only a few of them really deserve attention and are useful. Modern parents simply do not have time to monitor all the information and choose the right programs. Therefore, we have already done it for you and prepared a rating of the best applications, thanks to which a child can quickly learn to read at home.
When choosing an application, consider:
- Age - there are both universal applications, calculated from 3 years old to the school itself, and designed for a specific age. The first option is more convenient, because the child starts learning in one program and, as he grows up, he does not need to study other applications. If there are several children in the family with a small difference in age, you can study together using one application!
- Degree of preparation - if the child is already familiar with the letters, he will be absolutely not interested in using the application, in which classes are designed for the smallest. While the baby is uncomfortable to engage in a program designed for the age of 5 years.
It is better to choose universal applications that are suitable for both those who are just learning to read, and for children who want to improve their knowledge. - Interface - should be as simple and clear as possible so that the child can independently launch the application and start classes.
- Additional features - children perceive information more easily in a playful way, so it's great if the application provides coloring books, various puzzles and games. The presence of built-in educational games helps to maintain interest in completing tasks and stable memorization of the information received.
- Security - no malware.
Now let's take a look at the top 3 apps for learning to read. When compiling the rating, such points as the teaching methodology, functionality, the presence of advertising and the ability to turn it off were taken into account.
Conclusions
Of all the analyzed applications, "Reading" is the most adapted to children of different ages.
The plot develops dynamically, the child is always waiting for new tasks, so he is moving forward with interest.
When compiling the rating, we used not only our own experience, but also the opinion of other parents, having studied dozens of reviews on specialized sites. We hope this information will be useful to you and will help your child learn to read faster!
10 cool games that will teach your child to read quickly and without errors
How to teach a child to read confidently, fluently, correctly? Interest and captivate! We offer a selection of games from the teacher, speed reading and memory development instructor Guzel Abdulova.
Gyuzel Abdulova, neuropsychologist, teacher, speed reading and memory development coach, head of the Eidos Intellectual Technology Center
These exciting games will not only arouse interest in reading, but also help develop memory, attention and the level of understanding of texts. Play - reading, read - playing!
"Racing"
What should I do? Invite the child to read his favorite poem several times, each time increasing the speed and power of the voice.
Purpose. The exercise significantly increases the speed of reading, improves reading technique and promotes the development of speech.
"Foreigner"
What should be done? We read the words, highlighting the last syllable, as if with a "foreign" accent. Reading text or columns of words. For example:
In a healthy body healthy mind.
Not the one who is RIGHT who is strong, but the one who is honest.
A tree is supported by roots, and a person is supported by friends.
And Vaska listens and eats.
Elbow is close, but you won't bite
The cuckoo praises the rooster for praising the cuckoo.
Alone in the field is not a warrior.
Purpose. This exercise helps children get rid of the habit of swallowing endings. It is quite tedious, so we complete it for 30 seconds.
"Voices"
What should be done? The task is to read the text in the form of a person or animal, cartoon or literary character.
Discuss with the child how Baba Yaga or a mouse, a hare or a wolf would read this text.
Purpose. The exercise improves the reading technique, helps to captivate the child with reading, to show that it is fun and interesting.
"Funny pictures"
What should I do? For this exercise, you need to select a text with a large number of pictures. Cut the pictures and mix. The task of the child is to arrange the pictures in order to restore the sequence of events.
Option 1. Read the text and put the pictures in order.
Option 2. Tell a story from pictures. Then read the text and compare your version with the one proposed.
Purpose. The exercise contributes to the development of semantic reading and a deeper understanding of what is read.
Magic puzzles
What should I do? Cut the text into pieces-puzzles and mix. We invite the child to collect them and read the restored text.
Purpose. The exercise is rather difficult, and memory, attention, and thinking are involved. The skill of semantic reading is being improved. At first, you need to choose familiar texts, better - fairy tales.
“The word is lost”
What should be done? We read the text aloud, skipping words. The child must understand which word was missed.
Target . The exercise contributes to the development of attention, the formation of the skill of semantic guessing and a deeper understanding of what is read.
"First and last"
What should I do? The child reads the text, saying aloud only the first and last letters in the word. Then he should tell what he read about.
Purpose. The exercise trains concentration and quick switching of attention, teaches you to perform several actions at the same time: read, understand, memorize.
Head-tail
What should I do? Option 1. An adult reads the beginning of a word, and the child must find the "tail", that is, the end of this word. To do this, you need to quickly scan the entire text, find the word and read the ending.
Option 2. The adult reads the beginning of the sentence, and the child must find its ending.
Purpose. This is a good training for the skills of "scanning" the text with the eyes, concentration and semantic reading.
"Read and count"
What to do? The child must not only read and understand the text, but also count the words. Naturally, for starters, you need small texts - from 10-20 to 40-50 words.
Purpose. This exercise helps to develop attention and better understand the text.
Shooting a movie
What to do? We invite the child to imagine a movie in his mind based on the text.
We help with leading questions, find out what he sees and feels when he reads. The task is not only to understand what the text is about, but also to hear sounds, feel smells, tastes, and experience the emotions of the characters. The child must answer your questions and retell the text.
Purpose. Develop figurative memory, speech, retelling skill. Thanks to the use of the method of co-sensation, children easily remember and tell the text with all the details, even come up with details.
G. Abdulova “Reading after the ABC: developing speed reading”
It is important to teach a child to read correctly. The book by an experienced neuropsychologist, speed reading trainer and head of the Superbrain School of Intellectual Development Gyuzel Abdulova contains interesting and fun exercises that will help a child learn to read fluently without mistakes and hesitations. And although this book is designed for children of primary school age, it will certainly be interesting for parents to study: try to quickly read the text upside down or find a few words in a whole sea of scattered letters.
