With my small group pull-out sessions limited to half-hour increments, I’m always looking for quick, engaging reading and writing activities to reinforce literacy skills. I used to think dice games were only for teaching math and probability, but I’m starting to discover that there are ENDLESS possibilities for using dice with literacy. Are you looking for a few ideas? Well… let’s shake and roll!

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3 Roll-a-Dice Activities for Reading & Writing

My roll-a-dice resource collection continues to grow, but here are a few resources that I’ve added to my literacy toolbox that may be perfect for your students.

1. Roll-a-Story

A few summers ago, I taught a writing workshop at a local bookstore and had my students create story starters using the following Roll-a-Story template. With each roll of the dice, the students had a character, setting, and problem to use as a basis for their creative stories. Once students rolled the three story elements, they recorded them on a graphic organizer and planned out the rest of the story. If they weren’t happy with their story starter, they were able to roll again, but I did have to put a time-limit on this loud, rolling fun so they could get started with their stories. The best part about this activity was that students weren’t complaining that didn’t have anything to write about, and I was thrilled with some of the stories that took on a life of their own! Read more about how I use these Roll-a-Story templates in my classroom HERE! 

(Want a sample of my Roll-a-Story activity? It is FREE for email subscribers and also available in my TpT store. If you’re already a subscriber, you may download the resource HERE.)

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2. Roll-an-Emotion

Do you have any “robot readers” in your classroom? (You know, the ones who read without a smidge of expression in their voices!) For fluency practice, I created a fun Roll-an-Emotion activity to reinforce reading with expression. You can use the chart by itself with any text, or you can use it with phrase/sentence cards. It often leads to a lot of laughs, especially when the emotion doesn’t match the sentiment of the phrase/sentence.

(Want a copy of my Roll an Emotion activity? It is FREE for my email subscribers and available in my resource library. If you’re already a subscriber, you may download the resource HERE.)

Note: This activity is also a sample activity from my Fluency Boot Camp resource. It is my most popular resource and includes everything you need to get started with fluency, including phrase and sentence cards. Feel free to check it out and learn more about it my Fluency Boot Camp blog post.

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3. Roll-a-Reading Partner

This roll-a-dice activity is basically “clock partners” with a twist! Each student has to find six reading partners and record their names on the planner, one partner in each spot. The trick is for the partner to write the corresponding student’s name in the same exact spot or it won’t work! The teacher or class helper rolls the dice and whatever number is rolled will be the listed dice partner pairs for the task/activity. Big foam dice are perfect for this!

(Download your copy of this Roll-a-Reading Partner free resource from my TpT store!)

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Management Ideas for Your Sanity

Here’s a helpful management tip I came across that will prevent flying dice in your classroom! It’s still loud, but it helps… a lot. Use small plastic container to contain the individual dice. (Isn’t that brilliant?! Thanks, Pinterest!)

For my small groups, I bought a package of small plastic containers and filled each with one or two dice. My sanity is still intact, and my teaching colleagues whom I share a room with don’t hate me as much since the sound is a little more muffled and my students aren’t running around the room trying to find their dice.

If noise is still an issue, you can use foam dice (large or small) or even colorful foam sheets as individual dice placemats for each student! It doesn’t prevent rolling or bouncing, but it does help with the noise.

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Looking for Additional Materials?

Check out my Roll-a-Dice Activity category page here which includes my popular interactive “Roll-a-Story” Writing Activity resources. You can check out my individual monthly resources or grab the discounted bundle!

 

Happy Teaching!

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