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Lunch Menu

This pre-reading activity uses food to help early readers develop reading skills. This activity is also helpful for children with learning disabilities.
By: From the National Center for Learning Disabilities

Lunch Menu

What you need:
Old magazines
Glue stick
Scissors
Plain paper
Pencil
Pad

What you do:
1. Print the word "Lunch" at the top of the paper.

2. Cut out pictures of foods your child likes to eat, for example, milk, juice, sandwich, crackers, carrots, grapes, and cookies.

3. Paste the pictures in a column on the paper. Write the name of each item above or to the left of it.

4. Play restaurant. Give your child the lunch menu. Show him how to "read" it, saying each food name as you point to the printed word.

5. Pretend you are the waiter. Let your child order lunch. Write his order on the pad. Read it back to make sure it's right. Then pretend to serve the food to him.

6. Now switch. Let your child take your lunch order. He may use pretend writing or draw food pictures on the pad. Ask him to read back his writing to make sure the order is right. Then he can serve you.

Why it works:
Your child learns that one function of print is to record words.

© 2000 National Center for Learning Disabilities

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