Game of Rag Tag

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Objective

Blend a beginning consonant or consonant blend with -ag to make words such as rag, tag, wag, and drag.

See Standards

Lesson Plan

Target Words:

rag
tag
wag
drag

Materials:

Rags
Word-blending letter cards
Wag a Rag song

Overview

The children will play a game called Rag Tag as they add sounds to the -ag ending to make words such as rag, bag, tag, and wag.

Literacy Activities

Rag Tag

Teach the children the Wag a Rag song (sung to the tune of “A-Tisket, A-Tasket”), pointing out that wag, rag, and tag all end with the -ag sound.
Play the Rag Tag game (like duck, duck, goose).
- Choose one child to be the tagger and give him or her a rag.
- Let everyone sing the Wag a Rag song while the tagger walks around the circle, wagging and dragging the rag.
- Once the song is finished, let the tagger drop the rag behind the closest child and run around the circle.
- Let the tagged child snag the rag and chase the tagger around the circle, trying to tag the tagger before he or she sits down in the open seat.
- Let the child with the rag be the next tagger.

Make a New Word Tag

Give each child a word-blending letter card and tell them it is a pretend rag.
Have the children walk around the room singing the Wag a Rag song as they wag their “rag.”
When the song ends, have the children find a partner with the missing piece to their word (either the beginning sound or the -ag sound) and sit down together.
Give each pair of children the opportunity to stand and make their word by each saying their part then saying the whole word.
Repeat, encouraging the children to find new partners each time so they can make as many words as possible.

More Practice

Have the children blend individual sounds into words by tapping their head (beginning sound) and toes (-ag sound) and then have them clap to say the whole word.
- w ag = wag
- r ag = rag
- t ag = tag
- b ag = bag
Write about the activity using target words
Help the children make a list of words from the song that have the -ag sound and have them copy them onto a pretend rag (piece of paper).
Invite the children to underline the -ag ending in each word.

Wag a Rag

I'll wag it, I'll wag it,
I'll drag my rag and wag it.
I'll drag it here, I'll drag it there,
And use my rag to tag you.
I'll wag it, I'll wag it,
I'll drag my rag and wag it.
I'll drag it here, I'll drag it there,
And use my rag to tag you.

Sung to the tune of A-Tisket, A-Tasket
(http://kids.niehs.nih.gov/games/songs/childrens/tisket-tasket/index.htm)

Word-blending Letter Cards

SEEL At Home

Objective

Blend a beginning consonant or consonant blend with -ag to make words such as rag, tag, wag, and drag.

Materials

Rag Tag text
Several rags

Activity: Game of Rag Tag

Read the Rag Tag text together with your child and have him or her underline the words ending in -ag.
Play a game of Rag Tag (a game for two or more players)
- Have one child be the tagger, and have several other players tuck rags in their waistbands.
- Have the tagger try to "snag" the rags from the other player(s).
- Have the players who aren't the tagger chant, "Snag the rag!" during the game.
- Each time the tagger snags a rag, he or she will shout, "Tag! I have the rag!"
- Once the tagger has all of the rags, choose another player to be the tagger and continue as desired.
Help your child write a sentence about how to play the game using as many -ag words as possible (e.g., "Snag a rag and tag a kid.").