How to make and use a Cootie Catcher for Reading

Step 3 Adding Words to your Cootie Catcher

To write the words I flexed the Cootie Catcher and wrote the halves of the “a” first.  We then filled in the rest of the word.  As we are working on words with the short-a sound, the words we used were: bat, sad, ran, cap.  I wanted each word to have a different beginning and ending, and be able to match when moved so the letters would form a new word.  You can switch the words if you prefer. 

After we wrote the "outside" or "half-a" words, we opened up our cootie catcher and filled in the rest of the words:  bad, cat, sat, pad, rap, van, can, & tap.  Now there are 12 short-a word combinations for your children to use to practice their reading and motor skills at the same time!  Here are some other resources for teaching your preschooler to read.