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Phonics

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Here is a fun game for beginning readers that involves a great attention-catching element... slapping with a fly swatter!

Owen (almost 5) has been very interested in learning to read lately, mainly to keep up with his brothers. He's not quite developmentally ready yet, so we'll be taking it very slow. He knows most of the sounds for the consonants, and we are starting to work on vowel sounds and short three letter words. When he tries to read a word like "cat," he looks at the word and says, "c-c-c-c-c (pause) a-a-a-a-a (pause) t-t-t-t-t-t" while staring at the ceiling. Not very helpful for figuring out the word!

I was trying to think of a way to get Owen (a very tactile/kinesthetic learner) to read words by saying each letter sound only once. I asked him to bring me the foam bathtub letters and the fly swatter, and he was very curious about what we were going to do!

I made a three letter word for him, and asked him to slap each letter with the fly swatter and to say each letter sound ONE time. It worked! When he said each sound once, it was much easier for him to figure out the word! The letters bouncing in the air when he slapped them was definitely an added bonus.

I could tell Owen liked the game because he told Dad about it when he came in from work - that's the true test of how much they liked something!
More Ideas for Beginning Readers:

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Letter Sound Slap: A Phonics Game for Beginning Readers - Frugal Fun For Boys and Girls

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Here is a fun game for beginning readers that involves a great attention-catching element... slapping with a fly swatter! Owen (almost 5) has been very interested in learning to read lately, mainly to keep up with his brothers. He's not quite developmentally ready yet, so we'll be taking it very slow.

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Phonics

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Kindergarten readiness skills include letter recognition, phonemic awareness, and phonics skills. If your child can already recognize letters and can hear and say letter sounds then you may be wondering what types of phonics activities you should be doing with him. The truth is that you don't really need to do anything other than reading together every day, but if your child is ready to start reading playing phonics games can be both fun and motivating!

One of our favorite ways to play with phonics is the Walk the Word game! Kids get to use their whole body to practice identifying and blending sounds together. Adding the gross motor aspect to it helps kids to internalize the process of sounding out a word.

This game is simple to set up and easy to play! All you need is sidewalk chalk and a place to draw. Write easily decodable (sound-out-able), very large words on the concrete. Ask the child to start at the side you start reading at. Then have them step on each letter and say the sound. Prompt them or give them the sounds if needed (this is a game not a test) and have fun walking and reading the words!

This phonics game is fun and helps kids make the transition from saying the letters sounds to putting the letters together to form words. Making learning fun is the best way to help your child get ready for kindergarten!
Thank you to My Cute Graphics for the use of this superhero kids graphic.
This post is part of our Get Ready for K Through PLAY! series where a group of bloggers share weekly ideas that you can do to help get your child ready for kindergarten. Check out the Kindergarten book and literacy readiness activities shared by the other hosts:

20 Alphabet and Phonics Activities for Kids from Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas

Water Balloon Phonics from Mess for Less

Active Alphabet Activities from Toddler Approved

Learning Letters and Their Sounds from Mama Smiles

Chalk Letters from Rainy Day Mum
Next week we'll all be back sharing activities to develop skills needed for Kindergarten!
And catch up on my other Get Ready for K Through PLAY! posts: How to Read Aloud to Your Child, Math Activities for Kindergarten: Snack Time Practice, Teacher Says! Listening Game, Language Experie nce Story and 3 Independents Skills {You May Not Realize} Your Child Needs for Kindergarten.

In the meantime be sure to follow our Get Ready for K Through PLAY! Pinterest Board for a huge collection of Kindergarten readiness activities!

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Kindergarten readiness skills include letter recognition, phonemic awareness, and phonics skills. If your child can already recognize letters and can hear and say letter sounds then you may be wondering what types of phonics activities you should be doing with him.

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Phonics

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Club James Studios - Learning Videos For Kids

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Phonics

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Phonics

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Silent Letters for Kids | Reading & Pronunciation | Kids Academy

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Phonics

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Aug 31, 2018 - Seriously I did.  I would always have those kids that would just "get" it.  They would clap along on each syllable like it was second nature...

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Phonics

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Welcome to Multisensory Monday! Educators are always looking for quick, effective activities. Whether working one-on-one with a student or in a whole classroom, this activity is easily assembled and costs nothing more than the paper it is printed on!

Open and closed syllables are the first types of syllables students are introduced to in the Phonics First® program. Students need plenty of practice manipulating these syllables to understand the change in vowel sounds in open (no) and closed (not) syllables.

Open & Closed Syllables Activity

First print both sides of the worksheets.
Folded Paper Side 1 Folded Paper Side 2

Finally, fold the paper a second and third time.

You are done! Have fun!

Make two. Make one for the student to take home and one to use as an intensive to review.

Loraine Hodgson

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Multisensory Monday- Open & Closed Syllable Types - Orton-Gillingham Weekly

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Welcome to Multisensory Monday! Educators are always looking for quick, effective activities. Whether working one-on-one with a student or in a whole classroom, this activity is easily assembled and costs nothing more than the paper it is printed on!

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Phonics

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Phonics

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Spacing Between Words | Early Literacy Concepts | Reading & Writing | Kids Academy

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Phonics

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ABC Song (Hip Hop Remix) + fun songs for kids | JoolsTV Nursery Rhymes

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Phonics

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Letter Recognition Grab Bag | Miss Mae's Days

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Create a fun letter recognition activity for preschool or kindergarten using this FREE Letter Recognition Grab Bag printable!

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Phonological Awareness

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Fill in the Blank Nursery Rhyme Guessing Game! | Blaze and the Monster Machines

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Phonological Awareness

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Free rhyming picture cards (with words!) from The Mailbox. Print in color or in… | Rhyming words kindergarten, Rhyming activities, Rhyming kindergarten

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Sep 8, 2016 - Free rhyming picture cards (with words!) from The Mailbox. Print in color or in…

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Phonological Awareness

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TOP 20 ENGLISH NURSERY RHYMES | Compilation | Nursery Rhymes TV | English Songs For Kids

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Phonological Awareness

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Phonological Awareness

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Are your students tired of doing the traditional blending drill? Why not change it up a little with this fun alternative?

The blending drill, of course, is a crucial element of the Phonics First® Three-Part Drill. Because of that, we want to continue to use the blending drill as part of each lesson. How we implement the drill, however, may be changed so that it is more appealing to students.

One of my favorite ways to do the blending drill is with dice. I simply write letters on wooden or foam blocks and have the students roll the dice, arrange them into consonant-vowel-consonant order, and read the words. Based on student needs, you can use single consonants, consonant blends, single vowels, vowel teams, bossy-r, or whatever needs extra blending practice. I have even written syllables on dice and had students practice reading multisyllabic words.

*One note of caution- Just as with the Blending Drill, make sure to ONLY use concepts you have introduced.

Tammi Brandon, M.Ed., CDP

Tammi Brandon is a Master Instructor and Education Consultant with Brainspring Educator Academy.

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Multisensory Monday- Orton-Gillingham Blending Blocks - Orton-Gillingham Weekly

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Are your students tired of doing the traditional blending drill? Why not change it up a little with this fun alternative? The blending drill, of course, is a crucial element of the Phonics First® Three-Part Drill. Because of that, we want to continue to use the blending drill as part of each lesson.