How To: Bananagrams

• Lesson Objective: Review known morpheme or phoneme to grapheme relationships.

• Grouping:  Partner or Individual

• Methodology:  Students make as many words as the can with the targeted pattern within the time frame.

• Duration: 5-10 minutes (warm-up)

  
  

I can't not associate this game with Raffi's 1994 Bananaphone song.

It's in your head now too, isn't it? Sorry.

Bananagrams is a go-to option on catch-up days, though it could easily be incorporated into your regular unit routine if you’re so inclined. I used to include it more often, but scaled back once I developed richer, more targeted learning activities. That said, this game remains a favorite. It's highly engaging, offers a tactile experience, and naturally reinforces morphemes and spelling patterns. Plus, students get weirdly competitive in the best way. Add some candy prizes and it’s game on.

🖍 How the Routine Works

Students can partner up or fly solo. I display the slide below as a visual reference. At the beginning of the year, some students find it tricky to grasp that any touching tiles must form real words and that we read left to right, top to bottom. A quick demo usually clears things up!

This particular unit the phonology concept was hard vs soft c vs CK.

Check out the Interactive Unit Guides to see how this lesson fits within each unit.