mice on ice

State and Model the Objective
The children will pretend to watch mice skate on ice and will read and write words with the long-i-silent-e vowel pattern, such as ice, mice, nice, and twice.
 
Literacy Activity
Skate on ice

• Using the blue paper, a tray with salt, or cellophane, set up a pretend ice rink and label it Nice ice.
• Point out the long-i-silent-e vowel pattern and explain that the letter c followed by an e makes the /s/ sound.
• Read the target text Mice on Ice (found below) to the children.
• Allow the children to use the ice rink and pictures of mice (found below) so the mice can slide and glide on the ice.
• Ask the children to pretend to have the mice slip and fall twice.
• Help the children make a list of words that end with -ice (e.g., ice, nice, mice, twice).

More Practice 
Identify, blend, and manipulate sounds

• With word-building cards (found below), help the children make new words by changing the vowel or either of the consonants:
  • Change the beginning consonant(s): nice→ mice, rice→ dice, twice→ price
  • Change the vowel: rice→ race, lice→ lace, ice→ ace
  • Change the ending consonant(s): mice→ mine, rice→ ride, lice→ lime, pride→ price

Read target words in texts

• Have the children underline the words with the long-i-silent-e spelling pattern in the target text Mice on Ice (found below).
• Read the text to the children and then engage them in reading the text with you.
• Allow the children to read Mice on Ice again, fading support.

Write about the activity 

• Introduce a word wall displaying target words (e.g., mice, ice, nice, twice).
• Have the children refer to the word wall as they write about mice on ice.