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For a small group activity I would use different activities from the FCRR. I like the idea of giving students a variety of different things to try. I also want to make the activities more challenging as time goes on and they get more of a chance to learn and practice their skills.

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For a small-group literacy activity, I liked the sound bag activity from FCRR. This activity includes each student, whether in small groups or as a class. For this activity, the students can draw an item from a bag and say what it is and clap out the syllables. Once they say what it is, they can say the first letter sound of the word. This activity incorporates listening, speaking, movement, and seeing. Overall, I think this activity would be engaging and fun for kindergarteners.

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For a small-group literacy activity, I would use Elkonin boxes and magnetic letters to help kids practice both phonemic awareness and alphabet knowledge. I’d start with a simple word like cat, showing students how to break it into individual sounds (/c/ /a/ /t/) and place letters in the boxes as they say each sound. Then we would blend the sounds to read the word together. To make it more challenging, students could swap the sounds in the words to make new words. For example, changing the /c/ in "cat" to /m/ to make "mat," and adjusting the letters in the boxes. By using hands-on materials and short, repeated practice, the activity is fun and engaging, while helping students connect the sounds they hear to the letters they see.

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If I were designing a Kindergarten lesson for phonemic awareness and alphabet knowledge, I would have them listen for beginning sounds in a game of “I Spy a Sound.” Next, I would have them connect sounds to printed letters by matching objects or pictures to alphabet cards. To reinforce learning, students could sky-write the letters while saying the sounds out loud. By using multiple of their senses (listening, speaking, moving, and seeing), children strengthen sound-symbol connections, letter recognition, and early writing skills in an engaging and developmentally appropriate way.

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I would start by making sure that the activity is engaging, interactive, and appropriate for kindergarten knowledge. Then I would take the children's interest into mind, what kind of things they interested in and interested in doing. One thing that you can do is find or make alphabet cards that have the letter, both upper case and lower case, and a picture of something that represents that letter's sound (for example for the letter Aa you have a picture of an apple). Children can look at the image to help them figure out the letter sound for each letter. You could also do letter bingo. Similar to the last activity, you would have bingo cards with the letters and an image that correlates to that letter. You would then say the letter sound and the students would match the sound to the letter on their card.

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If I were planning a small group literacy activity to build phonemic awareness and alphabet knowledge, I would be sure to make the activity engaging and build on previous knowledge the students may already have. One activity that I could use is an alphabet sound match and letter hunt. First, as a class we would sing the alphabet song together to use our prior knowledge. Then, we'd sit on the rug and I would show the class a picture card where students would have to say the first sound they hear (ex: picture of a sun, students say sssss). I would then have student find the letter that matches the sound we heard (letter s). Students would then participate in a letter hunt where they have to find the card with the letter or sound I say aloud. This is a great activity to use because it requires students to use phonemic awareness and alphabet knowledge to participate in the activity, all while it's engaging for students.

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To plan a small group activity that would allow kindergarteners to build phonemic awareness and alphabet knowledge I could use an activity called "sound detectives". In this activity students would practice identifying initial phonemes in speech, students will also connect phonemes to their matching alphabet letters. The way this activity starts is by saying a sound and asking your students to repeat it. Then you stretch out the sound and have the repeat it again. You then hold up a picture of something and say the word and ask what sound is at the beginning of the word. They have to search for the letter card in the pile and hold up the correct letter that starts the word. Doing an activity like this improves phonemic awareness by having students identify and say beginning sounds in words as well as improving alphabet knowledge by linking the written letter to the sound heard by the student.

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For this activity, I would adapt an FCRR Letter-Sound Train lesson. In this lesson, students are given a train engine car that they will assign a letter to, several caboose cars, and a variety of pictures with diverse medial sounds. FCRR’s goal for students is to have them attach pictures to caboose cars, which they will then match to the correct letter that matches the medial sound. In doing this, students will create a “letter-sound” train where an alphabet letter drives all the words with matching medial sounds.

I would adapt this lesson to focus on the onset or beginning sounds of words and their corresponding alphabet letters; however, medial sound correspondence would also be beneficial. I would also have students write or trace the letters on their train engines, and give them a few extra caboose cars to draw additional pictures they come up with that have matching sounds.

https://fcrr.org/sites/g/files/upcbnu2836/files/media/PDFs/student_center_activities/k1_phonics/k1_letter_sound_correspondence/k1_p020_letter_sound_train.pdf

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For a small-group literacy activity for kindergarteners, I would begin by creating a fun, interactive lesson that incorporates pictures that go with the letter as cards (animals work well for this) and a fly swatter (a kid-safe, small one).

I have this game at home that goes from grades K-3+, but I cannot find my version online. I have had it since my eldest was little, so it has likely changed since then. LR-Sight Word Swap

Anyway, I would start the small-group activity by sharing how the gam will work with students, then having them try a couple together. They will draw an alphabet card and say the letter and letter-sound of their card. After this, they will search the pile of scattered picture cards and "swat" the animal that starts with the same sound.

Once the student swats the matching card, they will say the letter, the letter sound, and the animal. If time permits, all students in the group can repeat this after the student.

This activity is engaging and active, allowing students to move their bodies and make the connections to alphabet knowledge and phonemic awareness.

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If I were planning a small group literacy activity for kindergarteners to build both phonemic awareness and alphabet knowledge, I would design it to be interactive, engaging, and developmentally appropriate. I would create opportunities for each child to participate actively and receive personalized support, which small groups make possible. The activity would focus on helping children listen carefully to the individual sounds in words, such as beginning, middle, or ending sounds, and connect those sounds to their corresponding printed letters. I would use hands-on experiences like games, songs, and picture sorting to encourage children to name letters, produce their sounds, and link them to familiar words or objects. To keep motivation high, I would incorporate playful themes and ensure the activity provides repeated, meaningful exposure to letters and sounds. Finally, I would include scaffolding and differentiation so every child can engage at their own level and make steady progress.

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An activity I could do with kindergarteners that builds both phonemic awareness and alphabet knowledge is called, "one card out." The goal of this activity is for students to match initial phonemes in words. In this activity, students determine which words have the same initial sounds based on their pictures. They place an "X" card over the pictures that don't have the same initial sounds as the other cards. This activity is designed so students build phonemic awareness by identifying each initial sounds in the words (ex. "z" in zebra) and students build alphabet knowledge by saying what letter the picture card starts with. You could extend this so students write that letter out a few times on a whiteboard and say some other words that letter starts with.

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After introducing letters and sounds during whole-group instruction, I would transition students into their small table groups to practice more independently. Each group would receive a set of letter cards and corresponding picture cards that align with the focus sounds we are working on, for example, (S, M, T ,A). The students would then sort the pictures by matching the initial phoneme of each word to the correct letter card. This activity reinforces their understanding of letter-sound relationships and gives them a hands-on, collaborative way to apply what they have learned.

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One small group activity that I would love to do for Kindergartener's is the "Pack a Backpack". In this activity, students have one image at the top of the pack, and several others that they have to match the same starting phoneme to (ex: car to cow). The corresponding image gets packed in the backpack. This activity is wonderful for phonemic awareness because it allows students to talk about one letter, hear how the letters are the same between words, and have repeated practice listening and make the sound. This activity could be adapted to literally having students put objects into a backpack that all have a similar starting sound (or have a similar sound in the middle or at the end of the word). Giving students an opportunity to work orally, visually, and tactically.

I would pair this activity with an alphabetic activity that is physically working on forming the shapes of letters. One of my favorite activities to do in school when writing or spelling, was to write with my finger in shaving cream. Not only does this provide a sensory experience for kids (which is super important when learning to form letters), but it also cleans the students desk! I would only do this activity if the cards were laminated, so that we can clean the cards and continue to use them in future years. I also do not think that I would have students do this activity if they were physically putting objects in a bag, especially because it would create a huge mess that may be hard to deal with in a 20 kid class.

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The FCRR has lots of small group literacy ideas, on that I chose was the Alphabet Tiles Name Sort. This game has you sort letters that are and aren't in your name, additionally to build on this activity, you can sort the letters in classmates names and say the sound of each letter as well. This allows students to recognize letters along with putting a sound to the letter. Doing classmates names builds on learning as many students tend to master there names, letters, and sounds after practicing. They do it so often its easy, but using other classmates names allows the to work on more recognition and apply it farther

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For a small group activity on phonemic awareness and alphabet knowledge, I would have students participate in an activity from FCRR - "Quick Pick". This focuses on segmenting, blending, and onset/rime in words. Along with those, students get to learn alphabet knowledge and phonemic awareness through hearing, identifying, and manipulating different sounds they hear. Students will say the first sound they hear (onset) and then the last (rime). I think this is beneficial for students because they get to explore different sounds and practice those necessary skills. I think it can definitely extend their vocabulary skills as well.

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The "Popular Pals" activity from FCRR is a great activity for developing phonemic awareness and alphabet knowledge in kindergarten small groups. By focusing on alliteration, the activity matches a "pal's" name to an object that starts with the same letter. A teacher could select a target letter and explore its name, uppercase and lowercase forms, and sound with the students. This activity promotes alphabet knowledge through letter study and enhances phonemic awareness by practicing the isolation of initial sounds. Additionally, I think it can expand vocabulary by introducing new objects to students.

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For a small group, I would do an activity from the FCRR on letter correspondence. Students have spinner that has all the vowels and picture cards with things that have those vowels. When they spin and land on a vowel, they then have to state what letter it is and the sound that letter makes. They then select the picture card with the vowel and state what the word would be and point to the vowel and say the sound. This addresses phonemic awareness by having students isolate those vowel sounds. This also addresses alphabet knowledge by having students do letter recognition and letter sounds.

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For a small group activity with kindergarteners, I would have printed pictures of different objects, animals, etc. With these, I would put two or three of them next to each other, and ask each student to say what the picture is. I would then ask them "which picture starts with the letter _______." Then everyone in the small group would say the picture name slowly and together, to stretch the first sound. This works on alphabet knowledge and working with the sounds of the word.

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For a small group literacy activity, I would have the students take turns with in their group being the "thinker". The thinker would think of a word. Then to their group they would say, I am thinking of a word that starts with this letter. They would then write out that letter, example s. Then the rest of the group would call out words that start with s. Each student in the group would get to do this. This helps students with alphabet knowledge and phonemic awareness of the words.

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I would be use an activity from the Florida Center for Reading Research called "Alphabet Tiles Name Sort". I would give them each the letters in the alphabet. They would then have to determine which letters are in the word I provide them. Let's say I use the word "cat" , they would sort the letters c, a, and t. They would then practice every sound that is in that word /c/a/t/, and then say it all together. This would help them learn the alphabet, what the letters look like and what they are called, as well at phonemic awareness, practicing the different sounds of a word.

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For a small-group kindergarten literacy activity, I would design a “Sound Detective” game that builds both phonemic awareness and alphabet knowledge. First, students warm up by listening to and repeating a target sound (for example, /s/) and brainstorming words that begin with that sound. Next, I would introduce the matching letter card (S), show them how it looks, and have them trace it with their finger while reinforcing that “S says /s/.” Then, using picture cards, students take turns being the “detective” by naming each picture, identifying the first sound, and sorting it under the correct letter card or into a “not S” pile.