Print book

Home Support - Phonemic Awareness Activities

Listening Awareness

1.  Have child close eyes and listen for three sounds you make.

Ex:  Parent claps hands, snaps fingers, and stomps feet.

Child opens eyes.

Parent says, "First you hear _____, in the middle you heard ____.  And last you heard ____."

Child fills in the blank.

2.  Continue listening game using the following:

• animal sounds (moo, oink, quack, etc.)
• color words
• familiar items (tree, grass, truck)
• letters of the alphabet
• sounds of the alphabet (the sounds each letter makes, not the name of the letter)  "b-a-t"

Rhyming Awareness

3.  Read and teach your child Mother Goose's Nursery Rhymes

• substitute rhyming words
• Ex:  Hickory, dickory, dock.  The mouse ran up the clock. (sock)
• Child changes 'clock' to a rhyming word such as 'sock'.

Continue above substitute rhyming with multiples nursery rhymes and Dr. Seuss books, and any other rhymes/songs your family knows.  

Word and Syllable Awareness

4.  Play Word Clap

• Parent says :Sailboat."  Child says, while clapping, "Sail...boat" (claps two times for the two parts)
• Sample words:  

playground          sandbox          crayons.          chair          friend           classroom

paint                    paper               kitchen            bedroom   bathroom     computer

*  When your child has mastered 2 syllable (2 part) words, try 3 syllables.  

• Play "what's the Word" Game.  This time the parent says a word in parts and the child repeats the entire word

Examples:     Parent:  di...no...saur                    Child:  "dinosaur"

                      Parent:  al...pha...bet                    Child:   "alphabet"

                      Parent:  car...pet                           Child:    "carpet"  

Again, you can make this more difficult using words with more syllables when your child is ready.

Word family Awareness (Phonograms/Rhymes)

5.  Choose a word family to practice.   Parent says, "C....at.  What's the word?"  Child says:  Cat

Continue with the same word family to reinforce rhyming, vowel patterns and sound blending.

Examples:          at          an          it          en          ot           ake          ane          ole

                          cat        ran         bit        hen        dot         cake        plane        sole

                          sat        fan          hit        pen       cot          sake        cane        whole

                          bat        man        sit        ten         tot          rake         lane         mole

                          fat         clan         fit        men       lot           make       mane      pole

Table of Consonants, Vowels & Word Families

Consonants:                              b   d   f   g   h   j   k   l   m   n   p   q   r   s   t   v   w   x   z

Vowels:                                      a   e   i   o   u   (sometimes y)  

Short Vowel Sounds:                 a   e   i   o   u   (cat, pen, it, top, cup)

Long Vowel Sounds say their own names:   Long "a"             "e"             "i"             "o"             "u"

                                                                                cake          me               tie            no             cute

                                                                                say            meet            wife         poke          hue

                                                                                 train          eat               night       boat           cue

Nearly 500 rhymes can be derived from the following 37 rhymes:

-ack          -ain          -ake          -ale          -all          -ame          -an          -ank          -ap         -ash          -at          -ate

-aw           -ay           -eat           -ell            -est         -ice           -ick          -ide          -ight        -ill             -in           -ine

-ing           -ink          -ip             -ir             -ock         -ope         -op           -or            -ore        -uck           -ug         -ump

 

Ideas for using double-sided alphabet cards

• place alphabet letters in alphabetical order across floor - it's great to watch the children do this in groups.
• distribute cards among children - they then rearrange themselves to form words or the alphabet
• musical letters - pass one, more, or all the letter cards around the group of children - when music stops, each child thinks of a word beginning with the letter they received (use a theme such as animals, items in the room, etc)
• nominate a letter, then go through the set of cards showing the group of children each one.  As the card nominated appears, children respond by clapping, jumping up, etc.
• match "Dolch Word Cards" with appropriate alphabet letter
• classify alphabet cards by:  colour, style of letter, etc.
• Trace over cards using whiteboard markers for handwriting practice
• finger trace letters in the air using the alphabet practice cards as guide
• emphasize understanding the the difference between letter sounds and letter names
• children create 'creatures' from printables - e.g. five them tails, face, etc.
• make alphabet books using printable and scrapbooks
• make separate sets of one-sided small and capital letters, play concentration matching small and capital letters
• cut and match pictures from magazines with alphabet letters
• each child draws a card from the pack and acts out something beginning with that letter, other children guess what it is
• spell out simple words using the letter cards

Note the links below for Dolch Words.  Dolch words are the most common sight words found in children's books.  They are not the only words, but knowing these words by sight improves overall reading.  They are graded, but can be taught at any grade, including by the end of Gr. 1.   Take them slowly and build up steadily!