State the Objective

Tell the children that they will play Duck, Duck, Goose and read and write words ending with -uck, such as duck, luck, and stuck. 

Literacy Activities

Duck, Duck, Goose

• Read Duck, Duck, Goose! by Kristen Hall (optional). 
• Have the children sit in a circle and choose one child to be Lucky Duck. 
• Tell Lucky Duck to walk around the circle and tap classmates softly on the shoulder to tag them as ducks.
• After Lucky Duck names several children as ducks, have him or her tap a child and say “goose.” 
• Explain that when a child is tagged as “goose,” he or she must jump up and run one way while Lucky Duck runs the other way to see who is the first to get back to the open spot. 
  • If Lucky Duck returns to the open spot before being tagged by the goose, he or she gets to keep that spot and the goose becomes the new Lucky Duck.  
  • If Lucky Duck is tagged by the goose before getting back to the open spot, that child continues to be Lucky Duck for another round. 

Duck, Duck, Goose with word cards

• Choose a child to be Lucky Duck, then have the rest of the children sit in a circle and give each of them a word card to hold face down in their laps. 
• Tell Lucky Duck to tap each child, as before; when tapped, have the children lift up their word cards so that Lucky Duck can read them aloud. 
• When Lucky Duck gets to the child who holds up the Goose word card, have them both race as before. 
• After each round, have the children pass their word cards facing down to the right until you say ‘stop’ so that the Goose will be a different person. 

Identify, blend and manipulate sounds

With word-building cards (see below), have the children make new words by  changing a consonant or the vowel.

• Change the beginning consonant: duck → luck; tuck → puck; stuck → buck
• Change the vowel: duck → deck; luck → lack; stuck → stick 
• Change the ending consonant: puck → pup; tuck → tug; stuck → stud

Write about the activity using target words and phrases

• Let the children write short sentences using target words.
  • I will tap a ___ (duck).
  • Did the duck get ___ (stuck)?
  • Do not ____ (pluck) the duck.
  • The duck will drive away in a ____ (truck).