It's a Soccer Shoot Out! - Make Take & Teach

Soccer is my sport! I love, love, love soccer. My oldest child was five when we enrolled him in our city recreational league. Our family has been hooked ever since. You know how organizations are always short on volunteers? Well, the soccer league was short on coaches. When I was asked to coach I remember saying, “I’ll think about it” and the next thing I know I received a roster of 15 10-year-old boys. Having never played soccer, I did what any rational person would do–googled “how to coach soccer.” How difficult can it be- right? Well, ever since I’ve coached all three of my kids recreational league teams as well as Lizzie’s travel team. I loved every minute of it.

Here’s a picture of my travel team with my good friend, Mike, who I coached with for many years. Most of these little ladies are now playing soccer for their high school team. My daughter, Liz, however, traded in her soccer cleats for a tennis raquet and is now playing #1 singles.

So, being such a soccer fan myself, I really enjoyed creating these soccer-themed activities. Recreational soccer teams are just now forming in our area and the kiddos are so excited. Boy, it brings back so many wonderful memories. For my first grade friends now working with long vowel sounds, I created the “Soccer Shoot Out! Long Vowel Sounds” game. This activity addresses the common spellings for long vowel sounds. Students read the words on the soccer balls and match the balls to the corresponding soccer net. There’s also a fun little variation of the activity. There are soccer nets for all 5 vowels and 140 soccer balls!

The Long Vowel Sound Soccer Shoot Out! game is available through my online TpT store

Here’s another one of my favorite activities. “Let’s Play Soccer! Dolch Sight Words Lists 1-9” contains 220 sight words as well as “goal” and “penalty” cards. Students take turns choosing soccer balls and reading the words. If a student picks the “goal” ball, he/she can choose more balls, but pick the “penalty” card and all the balls are put back in the pile. The students absolutely LOVE this game. It’s a fast-paced game and offers lots of opportunities for response.