Florida Center for Reading Research
Phonological Awareness: Syllables, Feed the Animals
An activity challenges scholars to sort picture cards based on the number of syllables they count as they say the item's name on each card. Depending on how many syllables they count, they place the card in the corresponding box...
Florida Center for Reading Research
Syllable Hopscotch
Let your little learners move while they practice breaking words into syllables or chunks. Place a hopscotch "board" on the floor (this can be done with tape). Your class takes turns choosing picture cards, and then they say the name of...
Florida Center for Reading Research
Phonological Awareness: Syllables, Syllable Say
Counting syllables can be fun when it's done with a friend. In pairs, learners say words as their partner counts the syllables they hear.
Curated OER
Segmenting Syllables Name Game
Clapping out syllables gets more engaging when you're using learners' names. Model some names first, then have the class join you in chanting names with each syllable clapped out. Bring up the difference between multiple-syllable and...
Florida Center for Reading Research
Phonological Awareness: Syllables, Syllable Graph
Scholars make a pictograph based on the number of syllables in each picture card. They choose a card, say the name of the object on the card, break the word into syllables, count the syllables, then glue the picture onto the number chart...
Florida Center for Reading Research
Phonological Awareness: Syllables, Clapping Names
Scholars practice identifying and counting syllables. Images of classmates are cut out and placed on a chart. Learners clap and count the syllables in each child's name. They finish by writing the number of syllables under the...
Curated OER
Blending Syllables Name Game
What a fun way to practice segmenting words into syllables! Engage learners by using their own names, spoken by Mico the puppet (or one of your favorites). Mico announces names slowly, syllable by syllable. If scholars have a...
Curated OER
Syllables
How many syllables? This practice activity starts with a brief introduction on segmenting words, encouraging kids to say words aloud. They categorize 12 words into lists based on number of syllables: one, two, or three. Next, scholars...
Curated OER
Introduce First Sound Segmenting
Mico is back, and he's ready to test your scholars in initial sounds in single-syllable words. Using a puppet and the picture cards provided (these are great and in full-color), play a game with pre-readers. Hold up three picture cards...
Curated OER
Phonemic Awareness: Syllables
Count the syllables in your name, now count the syllables in your friend's name. Kids count syllables as they clap out and segment words. This activity is done as a whole class and has the potential of being highly engaging. The engaging...
Curated OER
Decode and Write Words with More Than One Syllable
Practice sounding out multi-syllable words with this scaffolded lesson plan. Learners decode words by segmenting them into phonemes and combining the sounds. Your lines are in bold here, but you can easily use this simply as an outline...
Curated OER
Sound Blending Lesson Plan
Mr. Snowman wants to help emerging readers understand compound words, so he segments some familiar words to help them see that they are made of two distinct words. Learners repeat the words, both segmented and blended, and observe them...
English Enhanced Scope and Sequence
Blending and Segmenting Multisyllabic
Syl lab i ca tion. Kindergartners practice segmenting and blending multisyllabic words in an activity that asks them to repeat the process modeled by their teacher. The teacher slowly says the name of a classroom object, enunciating each...
Curated OER
Onset-Rime Segmenting Accuracy
Use a puppet (in this case named Mico) to make onset and rime more fun. Mico presents 12 picture cards to kindergartners, all depicting single-syllable words. He pronounces them with segmenting onset and rime, encouraging kids to say the...
Curated OER
Beginning and Ending Sounds - Lesson 1 of 2
Stamp, slap, and clap! Emergent readers demonstrate their awareness of the initial, medial vowel, and final sounds in spoken, short vowel, single-syllable words with a stamp/slap/clap activity. After identifying the letters and sounds of...
Curated OER
First Sound Segmenting Accuracy
What's the sound, Mico? Use your class' favorite puppet (in this example, Mico) to teach them about initial sounds in single-syllable words. Using the picture cards provided, choose three and lay them out in front of learners. When Mico...
Florida Center for Reading Research
Phonological Awareness: Phoneme Segmenting, The Sound Game
Pre-readers get a better understanding of phoneme segmenting and counting by playing a board game. They pick an image card from the stack, say the name of the object, break the word down into segments, then move their piece that number...
Curated OER
Phoneme Identification with Sound-it-Out Chips
Looking for a tangible way to help emerging readers identify phonemes? You've found it! They use chips without letters to segment single-syllable words into first, middle, and last sounds. As you say each sound, scholars place a chip on...
Curated OER
Introduce Word-Form Recognition
Sound out sight words using these word cards and word-form recognition strategies. As you point to each word, scholars sound out the letters silently instead of segmenting the sounds aloud. Show them how you do this by mouthing the...
Curated OER
Using the Sounds of Words Reading Task
Young readers demonstrate phonemic awareness in words and blends, and recognize 100 high-frequency words. Use a nursery rhyme to point out rhyming words, and change the words by putting a new letter at the beginning. Each learner will...
Curated OER
Phonemic Awareness: Words
I'm not sure what the purpose of this exercise is but I'm sure someone will find it useful. Learners repeatedly say a single sentence over and over with their teacher, then count each word in the sentence. They don't count phonemes or...
Curated OER
Introduce Onset-Rime Blending
Mico (or your favorite puppet) helps emergent readers recognize words from segmented phonemes. Explain to learners that he struggles with pronouncing words and needs their help. Model how Mico segments sounds in single-syllable words....
Curated OER
Counting Words in a Sentence
Combine numbers and pre-reading by counting the words in a sentence. Kindergartners begin by counting objects in the room, putting a counter down for each number. Do this a few times to get them confident with the skill before applying...
Florida Department of Education
Phonemic Awareness
Build your library of strategies and activities for teaching phonemic awareness with the ideas provided in this resource. Described here are five different activities to try out with your class.