Soft Schools
Soft Schools: Beginning Sound Games
In this activity, students are asked to type in the beginning letter sound of a word, based on a picture provided.
Free Reading
Free Reading: Beginning Sounds; Poem
An activity that can be adapted for the whole class, small group, or large group. The instructor first reviews a letter and its sound, then presents the group with a poem with that letter that the students will then identify.
Free Reading
Free Reading: Catch a Sound: Letter Sound Accuracy Activity
A quick alphabet game for the whole class. Young scholars stand in a circle and throw a beanbag to each other. When they catch it, they must say a word that begins with the letter given. Continue this in alphabetical order.
Free Reading
Free Reading: Sound Spaghetti; Letter Sound Accuracy Game
A great game to teach students how to sound out words. Each student picks a piece of long paper out of the teacher's basket and pronounces the letters on it.
Free Reading
Free Reading: Give Me Five; Letter Sound Accuracy Activity
An exciting game to build students' understanding and accuracy of producing words that begin with the same letter. Students sit in a circle and the teacher says the sound of the letter. One student must pass a bean bag around the circle...
Free Reading
Free Reading: Egg Carton Game; Letter Sound Accuracy Activity
A small group game to build students' abilities to identify letters and their sounds. A student shakes an egg carton, opens it to see where a chip landed, and says the letter and its sound.
Free Reading
Free Reading: Connect 4 Words: Letter Sound Accuracy Activity
A reading game based on "Connect 4" that will build student's abilities to say the name and sound of a letter and find a word beginning with that sound.
Free Reading
Free Reading: "I Spy" Letter Sound Accuracy
Use this game of "I Spy" to help students build their accuracy of letter identification! Can be student- or teacher-led.
Alabama Learning Exchange
Alex: Upper and Lower Case Match Up
This technology-based lesson has students navigate Internet sites to assist them with learning the letter names and sounds. Students also use slideshow presentations to identify letter matches and learn beginning sounds.
Alabama Learning Exchange
Alex: Spotting Sounds All Around
This is both a hands-on and technology based activity where students can apply their knowledge of letter/sound relationships while incorporating the use of classroom technology. This Language Arts activity will allow for the students to...
Read Works
Read Works: Vocabulary in Context Kindergarten Unit: Using Sound and Picture Cues
[Free Registration/Login Required] Lesson uses Growing Vegetable Soup by Lois Ehlert to teach learners to use picture cues and initial word sounds to identify unknown words. Ideas for direct teaching, guided practice, and independent...
Free Reading
Free Reading: Guess What I'm Thinking?: Initial Sound Accuracy
A version of the "20 Questions" game. The instructor tells the class he is thinking of something that starts with, for example, /b/. The students have to come up with what the teacher is thinking of.
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Super Why! Spectacular Sounds Bingo!
This interactive Super Why! game features a BINGO game. Students listen to Princess Pea read aloud the following: initial vowel sounds, initial consonant sounds, and/or words with emphasized initial vowel or consonant sounds. Then...
Reading Rockets
Reading Rockets: Launching Young Readers: Episode 2: Sounds and Symbols
Hosted by Annette Bening, Sounds and Symbols focuses on how children learn the relationship between sounds, letters, and words as an initial step before being able to decode the printed word. Features children's book author and...
Auburn University
Auburn University: Teaching Letter Recognition
How can you teach your students letter recognition? This site offers insight into this necessary pre-reading skill set. Come and explore this informative resource.
ReadWriteThink
Read Write Think: Student of the Day: Create Sound/letter Understanding With Names
A recurring lesson plan focused on understanding letters and sounds. Each session lasts ten to twenty minutes with one session for each student in the class. Each student has a turn at being the Student of the Day and other students...
Utah Education Network
Uen: 1st Grade Act. 05: Chrysanthemum Sound Boards
This lesson plan involves having students listen to sounds and match sounds. Students will match rhyming sounds, beginning sounds, ending sounds or vowel sounds.
Free Reading
Free Reading: What's the Sound? Identifying Phenomes Activity
An activity to build students' abilities to identify sounds, even in nonsense words. The teacher says a word and states that it is not a real word, but asks the students to just listen for the sounds.
Free Reading
Free Reading: Amplify Education, Inc.: Switch the Sound Activity, Phoneme Substitution
A classroom activity to help the student determine what is different about a one syllable word. The teacher says a word, then changes one sound in the word, and asks the learners what is different.
Scholastic
Scholastic: Clifford the Big Red Dog: Letter Match
Practice initial letter sounds with this game from Scholastic.
Starfall
Starfall: Make a Word: Ig
Create short IG words using picture cues. Drag the initial letter sound to spell each short I word. Match pictures to make words: pig, wig, big, dig.
Free Reading
Free Reading: Picture Hunt Activity: Phoneme Manipulation
This activity uses the students' favorite classroom book as a resource. The instructor says We are going on a Picture Hunt! and then asks the class where an object is in the picture, but leaves out the first letter sound when asking.
ClassFlow
Class Flow: Beginning Letters
[Free Registration/Login Required] This flipchart is good to use toward the beginning of first grade or the end of kindergarten. It has children look at pictures and match the beginning letter with the pictures. A pretest and posttest is...
Alabama Learning Exchange
Alex: Phonemic Awareness With Technology
This lesson allows students to use the Internet to manipulate words by changing initial sounds. Students will use computer skills while learning how to change words by changing the initial sound.