The object of Paint Match is to match all the words into pairs in the fewest attempts.
Paint Match helps improve the ability to recognize words, the ability to recognize the relationship between letters and sounds, and the ability to understand letter patterns (word analysis). It also helps improve the ability to make correct distinctions based on individual phonemes (phonological accuracy). Paint Match displays paint tubes in groups of four, eight, sixteen, and twenty-four. Each paint tube has a word associated with it.
Teach your child a pattern
Activity: Listen in as the student works on the exercise. Teach the student to move through these exercises in the same pattern we use to read—left to right, row by row. Clicking in a pattern will usually help the students remember the sound for each location.
Additionally, you may want the student to try and remember the first tile he or she clicked on and find the matching pair. Early on, the student may forget the original sound he or she is trying to find. Have the student click the location again to commit it to memory.
It is also important to stress that the student needs at least one point remaining once all the matches have been made in order to advance to the next level. The student begins with a set number of points and each click reduces the number of points. Clicking randomly will decrease the number of points more quickly than developing a pattern.
Another idea is to have your child repeat the sounds aloud until the matching sound is located. Have the student click the first location and whisper the sound or word out loud softly. Continue to click in the pattern above until the sound matches the sound the student is whispering softly. When the student finds the match to the sound he or she is whispering, go back and click the original location to complete the match. Repeat this process with the next sound. Eventually, the student will be able to remember the sounds of several tiles which will make the matching task much easier.
Match pairs of words (on paper)
Resources: Grid with four squares. Write in ‘cap’, ‘map’, ‘lap’ and ‘cat.’
Activity: If your child is struggling with matching pairs of words starting with the same initial consonant, draw a four square grid. Ask the student to write one word in each grid: cap, map, lap, and cat. Discuss the initial consonant. Ask the student to then circle the pair of words that start with the same consonant. This exercise can expand using an 8-square grid and then a 16-square grid.
