Focus on the /ea/ and /ear/ sounds. Learners complete three sentences by adding the appropriate ea word from a word bank, re-writing each sentence. Then, they read an excerpt from Little Red Riding Hood and find all the...

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...

Reading readiness can be a fun skill to foster. Scholars manipulate phonemes to change one word into another. They pick picture cards, say the object's name on the card, then change the final phoneme to create a new word. They then find...

This neat idea gets kids to use phonics and puzzle-solving skills. Pairs take turns picking picture cards from a pile, say the name of the object on the card, drop a letter to turn that word into a new word, then look for the new word on...

These words sound the same but are spelled differently, giving scholars a chance to practice spelling patterns and rhyming words. First they read that the /ai/ vowel sound can be made with three different spellings. Learners label three...

In this phonics activity, little learners glue picture cards under the initial, medial, and final phonemes represented by the lead sound cards. An image of a shark broken into three parts represents the initial phoneme /sh/, the medial...

Pairs use onset and rime cards to make as many words as possible by blending the onsets with the rimes.

Play letter sound detective with your class, and snoop out sounds, onsets, blends, and rhyme. In pairs, children take turns choosing a card from the pile; as they sound out part of the word, their partner attempts to figure out which...

Make a phonics train filled with matching initial phonemes. Early readers say the name of the objects on each of their cards, identify the initial letter sounds or phonemes, then paste them on a train. They make three trains, which means...

Learners are given a star; each star contains a c_c form in the center and vowels on each point. They use the vowels to fill in the blank between the consonants making a simple CVC word. They write each word they make on a piece of...

Go fishing for initial sounds with this engaging phoneme game! Similar to the card game Go Fish, pairs use picture cards and try to match initial sounds. They set aside any pictures that are a match and ask their partner for specific...

Pre-readers use the provided cards to say and sort based on the number of phonemes in each word.

Help writers recognize how word order affects meaning, discover new words, and confirm or check meaning writing. They will explore how punctuation helps a reader understand what is written and the connections between punctuation,...

Practice sequencing with your 2nd graders via Patricia Polacco's Civil War book Pink and Say. Begin with a blindfold and a bag of mystery items. Connect their use of clues to identify what they can't see with the skill of making...

Use online resources to aid young readers' phonemic awareness. They will look at various sources to practice letter-sound relationships. They also are assessed using a rubistar rubric. Quite a few resources are given for this lesson.

Young scholars play a memory-matching game to practice recognizing rhyming words and sounds. With picture cards, they flip over two cards and say the pictures' names. If the pair make a rhyming match, the learner keeps the cards. The...

Show your scholars how adding an affix changes the entire meaning of a word; they focus on the suffix -able. You'll find a complete script here, but if you don't want to read this verbatim, use it simply as an outline. Learners...

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 get together and match medial phonemes. They take turns picking picture cards from a pile; they say each word, then determine whether the pair has matching medial sounds.

Complete a variety of activities related to the Maurice Sendak's book Chicken Soup With Rice. Readers identify the months of the year, identify words starting with the letter J, explore online illustrations created by Maurice Sendak, and...

There are eight homograph riddles here: can your scholars figure them out? For each, there are three definitions and a picture. Learners use the picture and multiple meanings as clues, recording a word that matches all three. They read...

Listen to the book Madeline, and identify rhyming words with learners as they hear them in the book. Learners will engage in a class discussion about rhyming words. After listening to Madeline, they will circle pictures of words that...

Scholars use a T-chart and puzzle pieces to practice saying and recognizing the medial sound in a series of words. Peers take turns choosing a puzzle piece, saying its name and medial sound, then placing it on their side of the chart. 

This phonemic awareness activity would be great for morning meeting or circle time. Teacher calls out a word, s/he identifies the final phoneme. The class then take turns saying other simple or cvc words that also have the same ending...