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This exercise is great for children who are learning their speech sounds.

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Park Those Sounds!: Segmenting CVC Words into Phonemes in a Game

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This website includes phonemic segmenting and blending exercises that are great to use in small group settings.

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Hi, friends! Today, I'd like to talk about phoneme segmentation. Stretching out CVC words can be such a tricky skill for some of our little learners. You all know what I mean! Sometimes, identifying each sound through auditory means isn't enough. Sometimes, our kiddos need some kinesthetic and visual learning to make that connection between letters and sounds. Sometimes, they need to manipulate the materials as they learn.

So go ahead and grab yourself a snack as you read how I make phoneme segmentation easy during my small group instruction!
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In a recent post on The Primary Pack, I mentioned that each of my guided reading lessons is much like a workout, containing a warm-up phase, workout phase, and cool down phase. All of my alphabet, phonemic awareness, and phoneme segmentation activities take place during the warm-up phase. It is during this time that we warm up our brains before we begin reading the text.

Phoneme segmentation is the process of breaking a word apart into its individual sounds. It is the opposite of blending sounds together to form a word. However, the two often go hand-in-hand. Phoneme segmentation helps build phonemic awareness and is one of the first steps in the reading process. Oftentimes, students have difficulty orally "stretching out" a word... so we may practice this skill during the warm-up phase of our guided reading lesson. One of the best ways I have found to practice phoneme segmentation is with color coded picture and word cards, as well as with color coded manipulatives.

Color coding helps students easily identify the beginning, middle, and ending sounds in a word. It also helps with directionality, as it prompts the students to read from left to right.

One of the first color coded phoneme segmentation activities we begin with is CVC Puzzles. As you can see, the first phoneme is colored green, the middle is yellow, and the ending is red. The broken pictures provide just right amount of support for students to be able to assemble each puzzle. Once they have correctly assembled all three pieces, we go back and touch each letter as we say the sound. Then, we slide our finger under the completed puzzle and blend the sounds together to form the word.

I also like to give one piece to each student, so that three students have a piece. Each student will say the sound for the letter they have... make sure the students are sitting in the correct order for the word. After saying all three sounds, they blend the sounds together to form the word. Lastly, they assemble the pieces to make the picture to see if they were correct. My kiddos love these puzzles because it is like a game to them... and who doesn't love a game!

Our CVC sliders are also a big hit, since the kiddos get to slide the beads as they segment the word. Green is the beginning sound and means "go and stretch it out." Yellow is the middle sound and means "say the sounds slowly." Red is the ending sound and means "stop at the end of the word."

Before using these color coded CVC sliders to orally segment each word, we touch each dot on our CVC slider card. Then, we slide our finger across the arrow and blend the sounds together to form the word.

Then, it's time to use our CVC slider as we segment the word! The students slide one bead for each phoneme in the word. After sliding all three beads and saying all three phonemes, they push the beads back and say the word. In the beginning of the year, I like to use the cards with pictures to provide extra support.

As the students become better at segmenting and blending, we will use just the color coded word cards. This is a bit more difficult, as the students are not able to rely on the picture support when blending the sounds back together.

To differentiate even further, we often use the CVC Slider picture cards. These cards require oral segmentation (without any visual support) of the word, which is a much more difficult skill.

Another color coded trick is using color coded sound chips with elkonin boxes or these CVC Boxer cards. The students begin by placing each chip in the appropriate colored circle.

The students will push one chip down into the box as they make that sound. These boxes serve as a visual, much like the puzzle pieces and CVC sliders, that the word they are segmenting has three sounds. After all three chips have been pushed into the boxes, the students slide their finger along the arrow and blend the sounds together to form the word.

As we become better with the alphabetic principle, we push magnetic letters or letter tiles as we make each sound. Sometimes, my learners who are struggling to grasp this concept actually do better pushing letters, especially since these physcial letters serve as a visual to help bridge the connection between letters and sounds.

You can find each of these phoneme segmentation and blending cards below, but keep reading for some additional segmenting tips and tricks for small groups!

It's important to remember that not every teaching strategy works for every student. I have found that varying these activities helps hit the individual learning styles of each of my kiddos... and that, my friend, is the most important job of teaching! With that being said, here are a few additional phoneme segmentation activities that you might find beneficial!

Sound lights - This is one of our favorites as well! Simply push on a light for each sound. I sometimes use letter cards placed above each light.

Slinkys - You can guess that the kiddos love this one too! Stretch out the slinky as you say each sound in the word. I like to have the kiddos make distinct movements for each sound... so if there are three sounds, they make the slinky bigger and bigger for each sound.

Stretchy Snake - This was an idea I saw on the fabulous Deanna Jump's blog. We move a sound chip into the box as we say each sound.

As we become better, we stretch out the word and record the sounds we hear.

So there you have it! My tips and tricks for phoneme segmentation! Keep it novel! Keep it kinesthetic! Keep it visual! I hope that you might be able to give some of these ideas a try in your classroom!

You can also check out my "CVC Words and Word Families" board on Pinterest for more phoneme segmentation and blending ideas!

Want to grab some of the great resources I used in this post? Check them out on Amazon!
Amazon.com Widgets
Happy segmenting!

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Phoneme Segmentation & Blending Made Easy - One Sharp Bunch

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Hi, friends! Today, I'd like to talk about phoneme segmentation. Stretching out CVC words can be such a tricky skill for some of our little learners. You all know what I mean! Sometimes, identifying each sound through auditory means isn't enough. Sometimes, our kiddos need some kinesthetic and visual learning to make that connection between ...

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This toolbox is filled with effective and helpful resources, activities, and apps for young beginning readers. Phonemic awareness is very important for every child to understand in order to become successful readers and writers. Explore this tablet and find a variety of effective resources to help your child/student master the sound construction of language.

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How to Improve Phonemic Awareness: At Risk Students 

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How to Improve Phonemic Awareness: At Risk Students 

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Research proves that phonemic awareness is a predecessor to reading success. This resource provides information on how to effectively teach the essential phoneme awareness skills in order for student success. A few points of interest that this resource covers includes, instruction, manipulating difficulty, activities, and how to plan lessons. This resource is a great tool for teachers and parents to use when teaching children the foundation for reading.

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How Now Brown Cow: Phonological Awareness Activities

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Phonemic awareness training is essential for students who are at risk for reading difficulties. This article describes the components of phonemic awareness and provides activities that special educators can use to provide this training to at risk students.

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This webpage provides step by step instructions on how to help children articulate phonemes. This is a great tool for teachers and parents teaching young children phonemic awareness, those that are having difficulties understanding and producing speech sounds, and ELL students.

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List of phonemes, spellings, and sound analogies - The Reading Genie

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List of phonemes, spellings, and sound analogies

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This website breaks-down the most effective ways to teach children phonemic awareness.

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Phoneme awareness is the ability to identify phonemes, the vocal gestures from which words are constructed, when they are found in their natural context-spoken words. Children need phoneme awareness to learn to read because letters represent phonemes in words. A phoneme is the meaning of a letter or digraph, the "mouth move" signaled by the letter. The spelling of a word-its letter sequence-is a map of the pronunciation-its phoneme sequence. To learn to read words, we have to understand this mapping. Thus, learning to read begins by "making friends with phonemes"-becoming comfortable and familiar with them. Informally, children develop this familiarity in conversations about books read aloud, especially alphabet books and books of nursery rhymes. Guiding and encouraging children's attempts to invent spelling also helps children make friends with phonemes.

Children can also be taught to make friends with phonemes in explicit lessons. When we examine research-based programs for teaching phoneme identities, we find three features in effective programs:
a) A focus on a basic set of individual phonemes, one at a time.
b) Activities designed to make each phoneme memorable.
c) Practice finding each phoneme in spoken words.

Research demonstrates that getting familiar with phonemes helps children make breakthroughs in learning to decode.

Focus on individual phonemes. Children need to get a feel for each phoneme they will use in reading and spelling. Just as we do not expect children to learn to recognize all the letters at once, neither should we expect children to learn all the phonemes at once. Instead, we spend time with each phoneme they will need to read and spell words. Where to start? Continuants phonemes such as /f/, /m/, and /s/ are easy to stretch and pronounce by themselves. Unvoiced consonants like /t/ and /p/ can come soon after. We need vowels right away, because we can't put together any word without a vowel. Long vowels are easier to identify than short vowels. However, short vowels should come early because they are typically the first to be introduced in reading lessons since they have simple one-letter spellings. Children do not need to be taught every phoneme. As they get used to identifying a limited set of phonemes, they will learn how to identify others.

Select a good basic set of perhaps a dozen phonemes, and introduce the phonemes one at a time, setting aside a few days for each one. A good introductory strategy is to use meaningful names, gestures, pictures, and letters. Meaningful names provide a familiar image of a sound similar to the sound of the phoneme in the world; for example, /z/ sounds like a buzzing bee. Children readily associate /a/ (short a) with a crying baby. (Click here for a list of ideas for meaningful names). Phoneme gestures are hand motions children can make to remember phonemes; for example, a good gesture for /p/ is flicking open the fingers on both hands like popcorn popping. Phoneme gestures require no special materials-they are always at hand, and children enjoy participating in lessons with hand motions. (Click here for a list of ideas for phoneme gestures.) Phoneme pictures capture an image of the phoneme's meaningful name. (Click here for phoneme pictures for the five short vowels.) Display the principal letter or digraph for each phoneme, and teach children to recognize the letters by guided printing practice. (Click here for instructions for teaching letter recognition.)

Make the phoneme memorable. After children have been introduced to a phoneme, they need to stretch it, examine it, and make meaningful connections to other things they know about. To get across the idea that a phoneme is the same "mouth move" across many different words, have children learn alliterative "tongue ticklers," e.g., "Many mice make music." Here are three guidelines for good tongue ticklers:

1. Make sure most words begin with your phoneme (i.e., use alliteration). Beginnings are most noticeable. In most cases, don't use words with the phoneme in the middle or end of the words ( x is the exception).

2. For tongue ticklers young children can remember, 4 or 5 phonemes is plenty. If they are too long, they are hard to remember.

3. It doesn't matter how phonemes are spelled in the tongue tickler as long as the phoneme is consistent. These are oral language activities, and children will not see the spellings.

GOOD: Cats and kittens cry for Christmas. (The main words all have the phoneme /k/.) BAD: Annie ate an apple in the alley. (
Ate has the wrong phoneme for learning about /a/.)

Click here for an excellent collection of tongue ticklers for practicing phoneme awareness.

Once children learn a tongue tickler, have them have them practice stretching the sounds, e.g., "Nnnnnobody was nnnnnice to Nnnnnancy's nnnnneighbor Nnnnnick." Have them make the phoneme gesture as they stretch the phoneme, in this case, "driving a jet ski." Another good way to practice is splitting the target phoneme from the rest of the words, e.g., "N-obody was n-ice to N-ancy's n-neighbor N-ick." This is important with stop phonemes like /t/: "T-om t-ricked T-im and t-ook his t-rain off the t-rack." Children can compose their own tongue ticklers and write them with invented spelling. An excellent resource is a good alphabet book. Look for alphabet books that have multiple examples of familiar words to illustrate each letter, such as Dr. Seuss's ABC, with wonderful alliterations like "Silly Sammy Slick sipped six sodas and got sick, sick, sick."

Ask children to be scientists and figure out how they are making the sound with their mouths. They will need time to experiment and discover what their mouths are doing as they practice producing each phoneme. For example, how do we make /m/? When children learn that they must press their lips together and hum, they zero in on the key concept for deciding whether /m/ is found in summer or winter. As they say the words slowly, they will press their lips together and hum when they say summer, but not when they say winter.

In the long run, children need to learn letters and digraphs as symbols for phonemes. After students learn to print the most common letter for the target phoneme, have them invent spellings for words with this letter. To invent a spelling, you must stretch out the word, feel what your mouth is doing, and record letters for the mouth moves. Daily writing opportunities with invented spelling allow children to identify phonemes and practice using correspondences they are learning.

Find the phoneme in word contexts. Phoneme awareness means recognizing phonemes in their natural environment, spoken words. Children have not learned the phoneme until they can spot it in words. For early practice, help them recognize the target phoneme at the beginning of words. For this, you might have them pick out illustrations of words beginning with the phoneme from a bulletin board. Later have them search for the phoneme in the middle or end of a word. Have them choose between words related in meaning to practice the switch from meaning to sound. For example, you might ask them to listen for the sound /s/, the "flat tire sound" in words related in meaning:

Only after children recognize phonemes in words should we ask them to think of words that feature the target phoneme. For example, until they can readily find the phoneme in words, they can't search magazines for illustrations that begin with the phoneme. DaisyQuest and Daisy's Castle are excellent computer games that use state-of-the-art animation and synthesized speech to help children find phonemes in word contexts. (Click here for these and other resources for teaching phoneme awareness).

Blending and segmentation work with the target phoneme is very helpful in recognizing the phoneme in word contexts. Remember in blending and segmentation to work with only one phoneme at a time. Most blending and segmentation programs presume that children can work with assorted phonemes, most of which they haven't learned to identify. Blending and segmentation work usually requires letters to represent the phonemes, because otherwise children have too many things to think about at once. Oddly, research suggests it is easier to blend phonemes to the ends of words. For example, it is easier to blend roo-m, crea-m, and sli-me than to blend

Creative teachers will think of many other ways to help children make friends with phonemes. Effective lessons and activities will focus on particular phonemes, make these phonemes familiar to children, and then provide practice finding the phonemes in word contexts.

Return to the Reading Genie homepage.

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How to teach phoneme awareness - The Reading Genie

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Phoneme awareness is the ability to identify phonemes, the vocal gestures from which words are constructed, when they are found in their natural context-spoken words. Children need phoneme awareness to learn to read because letters represent phonemes in words. A phoneme is the meaning of a letter or digraph, the "mouth move" signaled by the letter.

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This is a great game to play with children in K-3rd who are struggling with rhyming and those who just need a little bit of rhyming practice.

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Initial and Final Letter Sound Activities

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Initial and Final Letter Sound Activities

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This site has a vast amount of activities and worksheets to use with students who are learning initial and final sounds. Each activity can be manipulated in difficulty, making these activities great for all levels in grades K-3rd.

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This game is for students who are just beginning to learn CVC words and for those who need extra practice. This website includes fifteen free games, each targeting different skill levels. Choose a level best suited for your student and begin to work on skills from short vowel CVC words to long vowel CVC words.

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This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Today I'm excited to share my newest project: 15 easy-prep games to help your child or students master CVC words!
(This post contains affiliate links.)
If you've been following along with me, you know I've done a variety of activities with my preschooler as I teach him to sound out words.

Learning to sound out words

It's been very slow progress - which is to be expected, of course, since he was just four when we started. I made sure he had the readiness skills for reading in place before tackling "sounding it out." And then we touched on it here and there.

As in... fewer than twenty minutes total in a week. When he showed some resistance, we didn't do any sounding it out for months.

After our little hiatus, I pulled out my word family houses, short vowel phonics readers, and some new activities: my Roll a Short Vowel games and This Reading Mama's CVC Rhyming Blackout. It was a combination of these last two activities that helped him crack the code.

Now he reads 3-letter words without that painful sounding it out that you hear from new readers.

You know how it goes:

"rrr...aaa....t. Ram."

Or "p...eeeee...t. Pit."

Today he reads almost all CVC words automatically! This means I was about a week too late with this game. 🙂 But review is a good thing, and he has younger siblings who will be ready for it in a few years.

Games for teaching CVC words

How to play

1. Print the game you'd like to play. You can choose a game that features short short a, e, o, i, or u words. Or you can print a game that features a combination of short vowels. So many possibilities in this pack of 15 games!

2. Get a playing piece for each player. Our colorful transparent counting chips were perfect.

3. Take turns rolling the die. Move ahead and read the word you land on. There's no penalty for reading a word incorrectly - but the other player should help if there's a mistake.

4. If you land on a leap pad, you have to go back three spaces.

5. The first to the pond wins!

And the instructions are printed on each game board in case you forget. 🙂

P.S. In response to a reader request, the last game in the file is blank so you can add your own words.

CVC WORD PASSAGES

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This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Today I'm excited to share my newest project: 15 easy-prep games to help your child or students master CVC words! (This post contains affiliate links.)

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This app is for ages 3-7 and is designed to build and practice reading skills at any given pace. It is customizable, allowing every child to learn at their personal academic level. Every level provides fun games and activities that will keep your children engaged and wanting to learn more. This app provides every player with ample time, reinforces learned concepts, and provides both verbal and written instruction.

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‎Help your children learn to read with their own personal reading adventure guide! ▸ Voted Most Awesome Kids App of 2012 by over 100,000 Red Tricycle readers ▸ A Parents' Choice Award Winner ▸ Apple Staff Favorite and What's Hot in Education ▸ Rated Among Best Five iPad Apps to Teach Your Kid How...

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This app is for 1st grade level readers that targets core foundational reading skills.

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I had high hopes for this app but found some issues that need to be addressed before I can give it a higher rating. As a Reading Specialist I will not continue to use it until those are made, for instance when segmenting sounds beginning blends should not go together in one sound box, they are 2 separate sounds and each need their own box. Also, the sound for /b/ sounds like /p/ and should be adjusted. I hope you make these changes.

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‎Phonics Awareness is a comprehensive, low cost educational app based on the pre-reading skills 1st graders must have as they move from hearing sounds, into seeing the letter as a representation for the sound. This is the beginning of true phonics learning. Teachers can easily integrate these lessons...

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Phonics They Use              Author: Patricia M. Cunningham

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Phonics They Use              Author: Patricia M. Cunningham

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Ch. 2: Phonological and Phonemic Awareness