Complete a variety of activities related to the long /a/ sound with a focus on words containing the ai and ay correspondence with your readers. As a class, they recite a tongue twister, then spell different words containing ay and ai...

Emergent math masters practice 1:1 correspondence, number recognition, and quantity-to-number relationships. They view number flashcards, state the correct number name, and circle the corresponding numeral to represent the number of...

Establish 1:1 correspondence by counting students, first one gender, then the other. Give each child a colored cube (one color for boys, another for girls) and have small groups determine more or less and how many all together. As a...

Using a familiar decodable text, pairs take turns reading sentences. The partner who isn't reading follows along silently, helping if needed. They alternate sentences until the entire book is finished and then reverse to read the other...

As scholars become more comfortable with initial sound correspondence, introduce them to medial sounds. As they focus on the vowel sound /i/, youngsters examine a set of images and draw a line from the letter i to any with that...

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...

Emergent readers create new words by changing a phoneme, using sets of letter cards to spell out each CVC word. They begin by substituting initial sounds, then final sounds, and lastly the middle vowel. Help them sound out each word,...

As scholars are learning about letter sound correspondence use this activity to help them with the /u/ sound. Learners examine a large u on the board, identifying it if they can. They listen to you make its sound, explaining to...

This worksheet focuses on the medial vowel sound o. Pre-readers complete two tasks to practice the short o sound. They draw a line from the letter o to pictures that contain the medial /o/ sound. They then, fill in six cvc words with the...

Budding mathematicians explore the concept of skip counting. They practice skip counting as they use it to determine the number of wheels that come to school at 3 different times throughout the day. They also create a data graph to show...

An activity challenges scholars to show what they know about onset and rime. Learners choose from a stack of picture cards and give onset and rhyming clues to see if their partners can guess the word they are holding.

Early readers put their short vowel know how to the test. They read a series of simple cvc words, circle all the words that contain the medial short vowel sound indicated, then write those words in the space provided. Phonics, reading,...

Take your kindergartners on a journey to the mythical planet Paz where residents segment words into phonemes, touching parts of their arm with each sound. This physical response to phoneme segmenting will appeal to your physical learners...

If you're looking for a fun way to practice initial phonemes with emerging readers, look no further! They examine a farm scene to find things that begin with f, h, or g, writing the total number they found in a box beside...

Which word is Mico trying to say? A puppet helps make phoneme blending fun as you challenge your scholars to blend segmented words. Mico (or a puppet of your choice) has trouble saying words without separating the phonemes. Using the...

Young learners listen to a read aloud of Gail Gibbons book, Apples and the story A Red House With No Windows and No Doors. They compare characteristics of a number of kinds of apples, graph them and create a apple print picture. Learners...

Early learners explore shapes using colored blocks. They first get some hands-on time with the blocks and then look at beginning math concepts regarding spatial relationships. They work with a partner to build a 6-8 block tower...

Join Ug the Bug for some vowel sound practice focused on the short /u/ sound. Scholars examine six images and label each with a CVC word that has this as its medial phoneme. Next, they complete two rhyming sentences about Ug, using a...

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...

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...

The best way to get your scholars familiar with the alphabet is to expose them to each letter in multiple contexts. This strategy incorporates letter recognition, sound, word examples, and pronunciation, and emerging readers will feel...

Give youngsters a better grasp of the letter d by combining letter sounds, pronunciation, recognition, and word examples. Scholars examine the letter shape then listen to you make the /d/ sound and try it on their own....

As your emerging readers are learning the alphabet, set them up for success with strategies like these that incorporate multiple contexts and learning styles. Focusing on the letter g, write it clearly on the board. Model the /g/...

What letter is this? As you introduce pre-readers to letter sounds, keep them entertained with this fun game. Start by drawing the letter s on the board, large enough for all to see. Once you've demonstrated the sound it makes, use...