square blocks of wood or purchased large wooden dice (I've seen these at teacher supply stores.)
sticky dots
fine-tipped permanent marker
plastic zipper-type bag or other storage container
Assembly:
If using blocks of wood, cut them to form a cube. The ones I use are about one inch on all sides.
Place a sticky dot on each face of the cube.
Determine the skill upon which you will be focusing and write a symbol, word, etc. on each face. Possible skills:
types of sentences (exclamatory, imperative, compound, etc.)
punctuation marks
affixes
parts of speech
The die is ready to use.
Store the dice in plastic zipper bags or another container.
Hints:
You may want to make multiples of each type of die. I have eight of every one I have; each die has a different colored sticky dot on it. I can tell immediately if a particular die is missing especially when using dice in combination and hold its group accountable. By having multiple dice, I can have students working in cooperative groups on an activity , or I can place them in a learning center and have enough for several students to be using them at one time.
I also mark one face on every cube "choice", giving the student who rolls this face an opportunity to select a response.
I store each 'type' of die in its own plastic bag labeled with their topic and keep all the plastic bags in a shoebox. This makes it easy to locate which set you need right now!
Uses:
Roll a die and write the particular type of sentence shown on the upright face. I sometimes roll a die and use the types as a whole class homework assignment.
Take a sentence type die and mix it with a punctuation die. Roll the dice in combination and create sentences using the two features shown.
Use a punctuation die and a set of cards upon which are written weekly spelling words. Roll the die and draw a card. Create a sentence using the two features. For an extra challenge, add a sentence type die to this activity.
Use a part of speech die in conjunction with punctuation and sentence type dice to create sentences.
Use an affixes die and a set of cards upon which are written root words and base words. Create a word from your combination; use it in a sentence. Score points for correct spelling and usage.
