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Intercultural Education.ie - Ideas for the classroom

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Just Children 1 comprises of a story sack and teaching resources to explore global justice issues with young children. The ideas and activities are based on research conducted with children and their teachers in pre-school and classroom settings. It is available to purchase through the Centre or by contacting Mary Boyce in Trócaire on 01-6293333.

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Language development activities for developing vocabulary

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Videos, songs, articles and activities for younger years with regard to Covid-19

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Videos, songs, articles and activities for younger years with regard to Covid-19

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Health Emergencies - Sesame Street in Communities

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Your care and support can make a huge difference in the life of a young child. Sesame Street is here for you with activities and tips for the challenges and joys along the way.

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Welcome to NanoWOW! - a primary science education programme!

Experiments, powerpoints and learning activities are beside each video below. These resources will take you through everything you need - so no prior experience of teaching is required.

By the 21st of May there will be 5 videos, numbered 1 through 5, with teaching tools for each video We recommend that parents, teachers and children work through the videos and resources in this order, but it's not necessary! Our Introduction to Nanoscience powerpoint underpins the full programme and can be used with each video.

The NanoWOW! Programme has been developed for children between 10-12 years old, but it is also suitable for older and younger children. NanoWOW! includes short, fun and educational videos for children, hosted by AMBER scientists, and downloadable resources which include background information for parents and teachers, and details of experiments and learning activities for children. Everything that a primary school teacher, or parent of primary school child, will need to introduce children to this exciting and fast-moving area of science.

We'll be rolling out a programme of virtual science events in coming months so please sign up to ScienceLive to register your interest. We really hope you enjoy using these resources but we would like to make sure they meet the needs of parents and teachers. Please tell us what you thought of NanoWOW via our feedback form at the bottom of this page and make sure to test your nano-knowledge with our 20 Nano-Questions Quiz!

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Welcome to NanoWOW! - a primary science education programme! Experiments, powerpoints and learning activities are beside each video below. These resources will take you through everything you need - so no prior experience of teaching is required.

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Oral language is a term I became familiar with in my later years of teaching. Partly because I worked with speech and language therapists as head of a speech and language base, and also because I work predominantly with teenagers who are emerging readers. Those pupils often had dyslexia, Autism Spectrum Conditions or ADHD. However, I learned of a new group of young people who didn't have particular difficulties with phonics when learning to read but struggling more with comprehension.

These young people had oral language difficulties. I now know the term is developmental language disorder (#dld). It affects children's expressive (talking) and receptive (understanding spoken language) skills. While it can be discrete, there are cross-overs with dyslexia and autism, which will come under the SEN term, Speech Language and Communication Needs (SLCN).

Oracy in schools

Teachers don't necessarily recognise the term, 'oral language'. 'Spoken language' may be familiar, although that misses out listening. 'Speaking and listening' is a recognisable term, especially for secondary English teachers. It may be shifting further into teachers' terminology due to a school called which stresses that oral language capabilities in their own right are vital for our young people. School 21 has created an excellent product that schools can now buy into called Voice 21.

Schools who use this approach call it oracy and there is even an All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) dedicated to oracy in schools. Oracy does not necessarily take into consideration the SEND, #DLD or those under the umbrella term of SLCN.

Returning to oral language however, we need to know as teachers how absolutely vital this skill is. It is the precursor to reading and makes up three out of five elements that enable a child to learn to read. Professor Maggie Snowling explains it well here. Essentially, reading is separated into two elements, oral language and phonics. Within phonics there is phoneme awareness and letter recognition. In oral language, there are three skills required: active listening, vocabulary and narrative skills. These are the building blocks for reading and academic success. It is easy to see how, if a child has oral language difficulties that this could negatively affect their lives in school.

What can a teacher or home educator do? Tip 1: Pre-teaching of words

Teach vocabulary clearly and in different contexts. Using a framework such as WordAware is useful. Basically ensure letter sound knowledge of word, chunk it into syllables then get children to say the word out loud as well as writing it. They then hear it and see but do they understand it? Can they use it in a sentence? Use it in different contexts? Know what it isn't? Know other words that mean the same? An exploration of words helps all children, but for those with oral language difficulties, it can mean the difference between 'getting' a lesson or being lost throughout.

Also, remember that it might not just be subject-specific words. For example, words such as explore and analyse. Think about value. ' I treasure this item.' can be 'I value it.' but in maths, value has a slightly different use although deriving from the same meaning. Think of a child who struggles with language switching from history perhaps where the 'value of human life' is discussed and then going to maths and discussing 'value'.

Tip 2: Keep carrier language simple and sentences short

I'm a chatty person and I talk a lot. Sometimes when I get excited, I talk so much that I'm trying to say three things at the same time. It can happen at the worst times, in staff training when I go off-script and tell a story I haven't rehearsed, but also in the classroom.

So you may think this is the 'pot calling the kettle black' when I tell you this. But I can be very different when I'm teaching a subject. I repeat and refine, retell, shorten and use visuals. When I am in 'teaching mode' I generally do simplify my language to get the message across. This should not be confused with dumbing down a subject, children need to know the subject-specific stuff. But how that is packaged can be made easier (language used to carry this). Multiple clause sentences are harder to extract meaning from, layers of unnecessary language more difficult to understand. It takes practice to use simplified carrier language but it can help.

Tip 3: Visuals

Walk into any special school and visuals are part and parcel of the total communication system within it. This does not necessarily happen so much in subjects or in mainstream schools however yet visuals make a huge difference in understanding concepts. The ways things are presented equally so. Keeping things simple helps to declutter the mind and visuals are a way to help with meaning when language is a challenge.

Another tip linked to visuals is to use a mini whiteboard to scaffold instructions, this can help give a pupil immediate visual support with little preparation of time for teaching staff.
Also read: SEND with Daulby: Unseen teaching tweaks that make all the difference
Tip 4: Be aware of metaphorical language

'Let me walk you round.' I say to a class about my new classroom. I turn round and there's a child right standing right behind me, so close that I nearly trip him up. He'd understood a physical walk rather than me moving and everyone else sitting down watching.

' Do you want to choose a question? ' said a TA.

' No. ' said the student.

'Well you have to. ' said the TA.

' You asked me if I wanted to. I don't.' replied the student.

A young person walks in late to class, as he walks in the teacher shouts, ' Sit down! ', the student sits down on the floor. The teacher sends him out for being rude.

It is easy to see where miscommunication can happen and also how such situations may escalate into a behaviour issue when really it is the lack of understanding of language which has caused the problem not a child being challenging.

Tip 5: Don't assume students know relatively common vocabulary

A few years ago when I was in working in a Speech and language base, one of my students was going through a particularly rough patch. I was struggling to find the cause but after a bit of delving and discussion, I realised that he hadn't understood what the word 'mock' meant.

In assembly, in classes (including mine), staff were all talking about mock exams. For him, he'd just understood exams and so his stress was linked to the fact that these were real exams and he was worried about failing and not getting into college. He was stressed as he'd thought the exams were in the summer.

Tip 6: But don't assume they haven't understood if they don't reply immediately

Part of a language difficulty is processing speed. Many students with #DLD are able to pass exams, answer questions and thrive, but only if they're given extra time to process information. It may be that just 10 seconds of thinking time could make all the difference to a pupil. Another alternative is to come back to them - pose the question and say, ' I'll come back to you in a minute.'

Lily Farrington explains what it's like to have #dld in the video below. It's really worth watching.

Summary

So in summary, lots of time, repetition, visuals and short concise language will make a big difference to children with language difficulties.

As always, speaking to the child and their family to find out what helps is good practice, while children have similar traits, each person is different.

Also read:

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SEND with Daulby: Supporting Oral Language difficulties - Special Needs Jungle

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Oral language is a term I became familiar with in my later years of teaching. Partly because I worked with speech and language therapists as head of a speech and language base, and also because I work predominantly with teenagers who are emerging readers. Those pupils often had dyslexia, Autism Spectrum Conditions or ADHD.

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Learn to read with the delightful educational phonics apps for ages 3+

Phonics is a vital part of learning to read, and Eggy Phonics - the highly interactive series of apps for the iPad - makes phonics a fun, motivational and multisensory learning experience for children aged 3+.

Developed by a team of highly experienced educators, Eggy Phonics teaches your child to read, spell and write the key short and long vowel words that make up a large part of early reading.

Each exciting app features five fun phonics games that progress through 20 levels. Your child will love using the 'tap' and 'touch and drag' functions to arrange letters, match words with pictures and trace and write letters - teaching them a range of essential early reading skills!

The Eggy Phonics apps include a variety of rewards to keep your child motivated to learn, including 100 badges to earn, 20 critters to hatch and a fun reward game!

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Eggy Phonics Apps | Phonics Games and Activities

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Phonics is a vital part of learning to read, and Eggy Phonics - the highly interactive series of apps for the iPad - makes phonics a fun, motivational and multisensory learning experience for children aged 3+.

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Teach Your Monster: Free Phonics, Reading and Mathematics Games

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Help children learn with our free, award-winning reading, mathematics and phonics games.

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Phonics Bloom create interactive online phonics games to help teach children the relationship between letters and sounds and develop the skills needed to read and write. All our resources are designed by an experienced team of teachers and parents.

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Phonics Games for the Classroom and Home - Phonics Bloom

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Play a range of online phonics games, helping teach children the relationship between letters and sounds and develop the skills needed to read and write.

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Comprehension - KS2 English - BBC Bitesize

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KS2 English Comprehension learning resources for adults, children, parents and teachers.

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Working out what a text means is called comprehension. Find out more in this Bitesize Primary KS2 English guide.

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A site packed with interactive phonics games, phonics planning, assessment ideas and many teaching ideas and resources to help children to learn to hear phonemes, recognise graphemes and develop the blending and segmenting skills that are vital for learning to read and spell.

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Phonics Bloom create interactive online phonics games to help teach children the relationship between letters and sounds and develop the skills needed to read and write. All our resources are designed by an experienced team of teachers and parents.

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Phonics Games for the Classroom and Home - Phonics Bloom

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Play a range of online phonics games, helping teach children the relationship between letters and sounds and develop the skills needed to read and write.

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It works well with lower intermediate and higher levels and it can be stretched and used as part of a lesson, as a warmer or filler.

Preparation
You will need large rubber bands and mini flashcards. The mini flashcards should each have a word or a picture of an animal, a fruit, an object, a famous person, a colour, a place, a country, etc. These can be prepared by the teacher in advance, or the teacher can provide blank cards and the students can make them. Collect the cards and shuffle.
Procedure

Divide the class into groups of fours or more and get each student to wear a rubber band around their head. Give a bunch of cards to each group, making sure all cards are facing down.

In turns, each student takes a card and, without looking at it, places it on his/her forehead, so that the rest of the group can see it.

Each member of the group takes turns to ask questions until he/she guesses what is on their card. The other members of the group should only answer yes or no, or give short answers. Set a time limit per person of 1-2 minutes. Students should come up with questions like:

Am I a person? No.

Am I a place? No.

Am I an animal? Yes.

Where would you find me? In the forest.

Which country? India.

Do I live in the water? No.

Am I a big or small animal? Big.

Do I have black stripes? Yes.

Am I a tiger? Yes.

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It works well with lower intermediate and higher levels and it can be stretched and used as part of a lesson, as a warmer or filler. Preparation You will need large rubber bands and mini flashcards. The mini flashcards should each have a word or a picture of an animal, a fruit, an object, a famous person, a colour, a place, a country, etc.

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A variety of activities to to make you think!

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A variety of activities to to make you think!

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Maths Games for addition and subtraction 

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Maths Games for addition and subtraction 

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Math Games – Free Online for Grades K–6 | Math Playground

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300+ free math games to build fluency and problem solving. Kid-safe, classroom-ready, no sign-in.

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Aims to help students and children to memorize English (US) vocabulary in an easy and efficient way by using images, pronunciation and games. Free and Fun!

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Check out what Michelangelo painted upside down!

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Check out what Michelangelo painted upside down!

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Online tours - Enjoy the Louvre at home!

1. Back to Home

2. See all breadcrumbs

3. Online tours

Virtual tours

From afar. Travelling Materials and Objects

Through materials and objects, this exhibition describes exchanges between distant worlds - exchanges often far more ancient than the explorations of the 16th century. From deepest antiquity, carnelian, lapis lazuli, ebony and ivory circulated along trade routes...

Louvre at home

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Online tours - Enjoy the Louvre at home!

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Online tours - Enjoy the Louvre at home! Back to Home See all breadcrumbs Online tours Virtual tours Through materials and objects, this exhibition describes exchanges between distant worlds - exchanges often far more ancient than the explorations of the 16th century. From deepest antiquity, carnelian, lapis lazuli, ebony and ivory circulated along trade routes...

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Look at some paintings in the National Gallery 

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Look at some paintings in the National Gallery 

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Virtual tour of the National Gallery of Ireland

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Take a virtual tour around some of the Gallery spaces

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Aacute;ras an Uachtaráin is both a family home and a venue for formal state occasions. The President and his wife Sabina live here and the President also carries out…

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Live webcams from Georgia Aquarium to watch underwater animals.

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Open Today 9:00 am - 9:00 pm

Explore Ocean Voyager Built by the Home Depot

Find out more about Ocean Voyager, one of the largest single aquatic exhibits in the world.

Voyage Deeper Into Other Aquarium Experiences

Support Georgia Aquarium

Please consider supporting the Aquarium today so we can continue delivering amazing animal experiences for everyone.

Buy Tickets

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Ocean Voyager Live Webcam | Georgia Aquarium | See Whale Sharks

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Check out the live Webcam from our Ocean Voyager gallery, built by The Home Depot. Watch our whale sharks, manta rays and thousands of other species.

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Online books for reading for all ages and abilities 

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Online books for reading for all ages and abilities 

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Use our library of Free All Books to help your child find a book they will love. We offer over 1,000 free childrens books for readers from preschool to third grade.

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Let’s Explore Poets, Collections and Interviews | Children’s Poetry Archive

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Our archives have lots of poetry for you to explore and discover. Get started by looking for your favourite poem or poet.

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Materials needed to play the games

The games in this packet require one full deck of cards (52 cards). The games are played without Jokers. Some of the games require counters (e.g. beans, pennies and coins, or buttons) and paper and pencil to assist with scoring. The needed materials are listed in the game's instructions. Click here for other homemade learning games.

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picture exchange communication system cards

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Do2Learn: Educational Resources for Special Needs

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The games in this packet require one full deck of cards (52 cards). The games are played without Jokers. Some of the games require counters (e.g. beans, pennies and coins, or buttons) and paper and pencil to assist with scoring. The needed materials are listed in the game's instructions.

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picture exchange communication system cards

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Do2Learn: Educational Resources for Special Needs

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picture communication cards, songs, games and learning activities for autism, aspergers, fetal alcohol syndrome and disabilities

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picture exchange communication system cards

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Do2Learn: Educational Resources for Special Needs

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picture communication cards, songs, games and learning activities for autism, aspergers, fetal alcohol syndrome and disabilities

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Group Games to Develop Higher Level Language

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PowerPoint Lessons and Games to improve English language learning.

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ESL PowerPoint Lessons,PowerPoint Games, PPT for teaching English vocabulary

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ESL PowerPoint lessons for download, Teach English vocabulary with ppt

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Our math curriculum is a made up of 40 short and simple games that you can play with your children. Each game builds slightly on the last, taking your children from beginners to promising mathematicians.

Children who complete the curriculum will have a strong foundation for counting and will be ready to start basic addition and subtraction.

The following 40 games form our basic math curriculum. Through exciting games, children will build on skills they learned from previous games to learn new concepts. At the same time, children will practice previous lessons to build a strong foundation.

Each lesson takes about 20 minutes and works best when taught to children individually or in small groups (2-5 children). For each lesson, play one new game and at least one old game. Repeat each game as many times as you can. Even when you think your child has mastered an activity, continue playing it a few times to build a strong foundation.

Once activities are mastered, it is important to return to those games and activities periodically for a little review. Doing so helps children retain and practice learned skills and boost their confidence as they learn new skills. The curriculum we have laid out follows the general development of math skills. So it is best to follow this sequence in teaching children. However, once the skills have been mastered, you can review activities in any order you choose.

Every child is different and will move through our curriculum at a different pace. A child who breezes through the Number Puzzles may struggle with Number Matching, while another child will struggle with the Number Puzzles but master Number Matching very quickly.

Many of our activity pages have recommendations on how to match the activity level to the needs of your particular child. Confidence Builders make the game a little easier for struggling students. Extensions offer extra challenges for children who have already mastered the main activity.

These tools for scaffolding and scaling can be used with groups of children if some are more advanced and others need extra help.

Q: How old does my child need to be before I start teaching him math?
A:The Math curriculum is generally recommended for children who are three to five years old. Some of the most basic counting activities can be done with a child as young as two, but only if the child is willing to learn.

Q: How long will it take to go through the entire Math curriculum?
A: This depends on your particular child or group of children. On average, if your children start early (around 2 to 3), then they should be adding before kindergarten. For four-year-olds, the average time is 10 to 12 months.

Q: I'm a teacher. How long will it take to get my students back up to speed after summer vacation?
A:Encourage the students' parents to go to our website and play math games with the kids over vacation. Each activity only takes a few minutes, but not all parents will do it. Plan to spend up to one month at the beginning of the school year reviewing material from the spring. Remember, we are building a foundation, and we want to be sure that foundation is solid. Once you're sure the kids have retained (or re-learned!) last year's material, start introducing brand new activities.

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Our math curriculum is a made up of 40 short and simple games that you can play with your children. Each game builds slightly on the last, taking your children from beginners to promising mathematicians. Children who complete the curriculum will have a strong foundation for counting and will be ready to start basic addition and subtraction.

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Congratulations! Your child should now have solid phonemic awareness skills and is now ready to start learning to read!

This module is actually not Phonemic Awareness but rather a bridge between Phonemic Awareness and Phonics. The games in this module will give your child a taste of working with letters to make and read real words. She will then swap various sounds within the words - first, middle, or last - to make new words.

After completing our Phonemic Awareness curriculum, your child knows the primary sounds made by all the letters of the alphabet, as well as the digraphs. She also knows how to pay attention to the individual sounds in a word and put them in the right order. As a result, your child can now read a large number of simple one-syllable words.

L1: Mat Match - Compare two sounds (phonemes) in a pair of words, and practice matching the sounds to their alphabet letters.

L2: Swap Two Sounds - Swap letters in two-sound words to build new words.

L3: First Sound Swap - Produce and then read three-sound words by swapping out the beginning sounds to make new words in the same word family.

L4: Last Sound Swap - Produce and then read three-sound words by swapping out the ending sounds to make new words.

L5: Middle Sound Swap - Produce and then read three-sound words by swapping out the middle vowel sounds to make new words.

L6: Swap-a-Rama - Produce and then read three-sound words by swapping out various sounds (first, middle, and last) to make new words.

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Congratulations! Your child should now have solid phonemic awareness skills and is now ready to start learning to read! This module is actually not Phonemic Awareness but rather a bridge between Phonemic Awareness and Phonics. The games in this module will give your child a taste of working with letters to make and read real words.

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This module is actually the final module in your child's Phonemic Awareness curriculum. Your child is nearly ready to start learning to read!

The Consonant Blends module is your child's introduction to initial consonant blends, those found at the beginning of a word. Examples of words with initial consonant blends are , , , , , , , and .

Consonant Blends are different from Digraphs, in which two letters combine to form a new sound that is different from the sound made by either of the individual letters.

Hearing, isolating and manipulating the internal (second) consonant of an initial consonant blend is extremely hard for many children - especially before they are seven years old. We cover this in the final two activities of the module, Sound Store and Sound Hound. This module does not cover final consonant blends, such as in words like , , and . Your child will be better able to hear and manipulate these tricky sounds after he/she has some experience with reading.

K1: Sticky Sounds - Add a consonant sound before an existing consonant sound at the beginning of a two-sound word to make a brand new word.

K2: More Sticky Sounds - Add a consonant sound before an existing consonant sound at the beginning of a three-sound word to make a brand new word.

K3: Separating Sticky Sounds - Remove the first consonant from a three-sound word with an initial consonant blend to create a new word.

K4: Separating More Sticky Sounds - Remove the first consonant from a four-sound word with an initial consonant blend to create a new word.

K5: Cut or Paste? - Cut off or paste on a sound at the beginning of a word to create a second word in a pair.

K6: Sound Store - "Buy" sounds to add to the inside of words to make new words.

K7: Sound Hound - Help Chunky the Sound Hound "eat" sounds in the inside of words to make new words.

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This module is actually the final module in your child's Phonemic Awareness curriculum. Your child is nearly ready to start learning to read! The Consonant Blends module is your child's introduction to initial consonant blends, those found at the beginning of a word.

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Use a popular children's song to introduce your child to the names of the vowels. You will also teach your child the terms vowel and consonant.
More

In this module, your child will build upon the skills learned in Beginning Sounds, Ending Sounds, and Digraphs.

We start with an introduction to the vowel names (which are also the "long" vowel sounds). Later in the module, we will build on that knowledge by teaching the "short" vowel sounds.

Children will do several activities where they practice working with individual sounds (phonemes), adding and removing them from the beginning and end of short words. Children will also learn to count the number of sounds in these short words and to pay attention to the order of the sounds.

NOTE: This module is NOT about spelling words! We are identifying and counting sounds, not letters. Some words have a one-to-one correlation between their sounds and their letters (e.g., map), but some do not (for example, phone).

We wrap up this section with a Sneak Preview of Reading, which will give your child a taste of how the skills he/she has learned will soon lead to actual reading!

The ability to correctly identify, count, and order the sounds in words leads to formal learning of decoding and spelling later on (in Phonics). These activities build the foundation for success in later reading and spelling.
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J1: Vowel Names - Use a popular children's song to introduce your child to the names of the vowels. You will also teach your child the terms vowel and consonant.

J2: Connect the Sounds - Blend two sounds together, in order, to make a word.

J3: Word Surgery - Perform "surgery" on a word, cutting it up into its two sounds (phonemes), keeping them in the correct order.

J4: Snap It On: First Sound - "Snap" a sound onto the beginning of a word to make a completely new word.

J5: Snip It Off: First Sound - "Snip" a sound off the beginning of a word to make a completely new word.

J6: Snap It On: Last Sound - "Snap" a sound onto the end of a word to make a completely new word.

J7: Snip It Off: Last Sound - "Snip" a sound off the end of a word to make a completely new word.

J8: Snap or Snip: First Sound - Count the sounds in two spoken words and determine which one has more sounds.

J9: Snap or Snip: Last Sound - Count the sounds in two spoken words and determine which one has more sounds.

J10: Short Vowel Sounds - Introduce the short vowel sounds to your child, emphasizing that vowels are "smart letters" because they say their name and a sound.

J11: Bingo Vowel Song - Use a popular children's song and a funny picture to help your child remember the short vowel sounds.

J12: Snatch a Match - Compare two short words, identify the vowel sound in each, and decide whether the two vowel sounds match.

J13: Turtle Talk - Synthesize three to five sounds into a whole word. This game introduces the skill of blending together individual sounds.

J14: Hop, Stop & Drop - Count and compare the sounds in two spoken words containing two to four sounds in order to "hop" across the lily pads to the other side of the pond.

J15: Sneak Preview of Reading - Introduce the use of letters in forming and reading three-sound words in the same word family.

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Use a popular children's song to introduce your child to the names of the vowels. You will also teach your child the terms vowel and consonant. More In this module, your child will build upon the skills learned in Beginning Sounds, Ending Sounds, and Digraphs.

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Introduce your child to the idea that some sounds have two letters. When those letter sounds are put together, they make a new sound - ch, th, and sh. More

Introduce your child to the idea that some sounds have two letters. When those letter sounds are put together, they make a new sound - wh and ng. More

Digraph Sounds are single sounds that are represented in writing with two letters: ch, th, sh, wh, and ng. When teaching young children we call them "special sounds."
/ch/ /ng/ /sh/ /th/ /wh/
Digraphs are not the same as consonant blends like the st in stop and the pl in play. With digraphs, the pair of letters make a new sound that is different from the sounds made by the two individual letters. These digraph sounds occur in a lot of simple one-syllable words that your child will encounter frequently in early reading. Digraph sounds can be found in words likechip, fish, think, ring, and wheel. ↑ Top

I 1: Touch & Tell: ch, th, and sh - Introduce your child to the idea that some sounds have two letters. When those letter sounds are put together, they make a new sound - ch, th, and sh.

I 2: Touch & Tell: wh and ng - Introduce your child to the idea that some sounds have two letters. When those letter sounds are put together, they make a new sound - wh and ng.

I 3: Quick Pick - Make a game of identifying the "special sound" (digraph) in each of a variety of words.

I 4: Heads or Tails, Part 1 - Identify whether the "special sound" (digraph) in a word comes at the beginning (head) or end (tail) of the word, with pictures as visual clues.

I 5: Heads or Tails, Part 2 - Identify whether the "special sound" (digraph) in a word comes at the beginning (head) or end (tail) of the word, without any picture clues.

I 6: Sorting Sacks - See a picture card and decide which "special sound" (digraph) is in the word and whether it comes at the beginning or end of the word. Then put the picture card in the appropriate sack.

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Introduce your child to the idea that some sounds have two letters. When those letter sounds are put together, they make a new sound - ch, th, and sh. More Introduce your child to the idea that some sounds have two letters. When those letter sounds are put together, they make a new sound - wh and ng.

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The activities in this module are very similar to the ones in the Word Families and Beginning Sounds modules, but they focus on the final sound (phoneme) rather than the initial sound.

Children have greater difficulty hearing and isolating a sound at the end of a word than a sound at the beginning of a word, so some of these games may be challenging for your child.

Children should be very familiar with the consonant letter sounds from doing the Word Families and Beginning Sounds activities. If your child is still shaky in identifying these sounds, please spend more time on the previous modules before starting the Ending Sounds module.

Review the pronunciations of the letter sounds before starting this module to be sure that you - the adult - are still saying them correctly.

H1: Last Things Last - Identify and practice listening to the ending sound in one-syllable words, focusing on one sound at a time. It is more difficult for a child to hear and notice ending sounds than beginning sounds.

H2: Finish the Word - Blend the first part of a spoken word together with the final phoneme (sound), using picture cards as visual clues.

H3: Sound Sort - Sort picture cards into piles by their ending sounds. Now that your child has learned some of the ending sounds, she will practice differentiating between multiple ending sounds.

H4: Make a Match - Play a variation on the game of Memory or Concentration, matching picture cards to their ending sounds.

H5: Three's Enough - Look at five pictures and pick out the one that ends with a different sound.

H6: Find the New Word - Add a sound to the end of a word to create a new word, using picture cards as clues.

H7: Say the New Word - Add a sound to the end of a word to create a new word, without any visual clues.

H8: Build-a-Word Puzzles - Put together a two-piece jigsaw puzzle made of a root word and an ending sound. The assembled puzzle is a new word.

H9: Hidden Word Hunt - Take away the ending sound of a word to reveal the "hidden" word that remains, using picture cards as clues. Then identify the sound that was removed from the original word.

H10: Password - Figure out the "secret password" by taking away the ending sound of a word to reveal the "password" that remains, with no visual clues.

H11: Tail End Bingo - Use the game of Bingo to identify the sound that has been cut off the "tail end" of a word.

H12: Sound Circus - Play a board game in which you must pick a picture card with the right ending sound to move forward on the board.

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The activities in this module are very similar to the ones in the Word Families and Beginning Sounds modules, but they focus on the final sound (phoneme) rather than the initial sound. Children have greater difficulty hearing and isolating a sound at the end of a word than a sound at the beginning of a word, so some of these games may be challenging for your child.

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In the Word Families module, your child learned to synthesize beginning sounds and word stems to make words. In this module, your child will start analyzing one-syllable words by identifying, "chopping off," and isolating their initial phonemes (sounds).

Here are a few things parents and teachers must do before teaching this section (and the following sections) to their children or students:

1. Be sure that you are pronouncing the individual sounds (phonemes) correctly. Start with the consonant sounds, because that's what you'll use in the Beginning Sounds activities.

2. Use the right child-appropriate terminology. When teaching children, explain that lower-case letters are "the pictures of what the sounds of the alphabet look like when we write them or see them printed in a book."

3. Always have a copy of the written sound (the lower-case letter) for the beginning (onset) of the word in front of the child while doing these activities. For example, you will put out a d card when playing a game that focuses on the word duck. This will draw the child's attention to the written sound while you pronounce it in the word.

G1: First Things First - Identify and practice listening to the beginning sound in one-syllable words, focusing on one sound (phoneme) at a time.

G2: Picture Piles - Sort picture cards into piles by their beginning sounds. Now that your child has learned some of the starting sounds, she will practice differentiating between multiple beginning sounds.

G3: Mark the Misfit - Look at five pictures and pick out the one that begins with a different sound.

G4: Find the Hidden Word - Remove the first sound from a word to find the "hidden" word that remains, with picture cards as clues.

G5: Say the Hidden Word - Remove the first sound from a word to find the "hidden" word that remains, but with no picture clues.

G6: Sound Chop Bingo - Use the game of Bingo to identify the beginning sound that has been "chopped" off of a word.

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In the Word Families module, your child learned to synthesize beginning sounds and word stems to make words. In this module, your child will start analyzing one-syllable words by identifying, "chopping off," and isolating their initial phonemes (sounds).

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This section is a bridge leading to a child's being able to hear one sound (phoneme) of a word in isolation and blend it together with a spoken word family ending to form a whole word.

Professional educators may refer to these as Onset-Rime activities. The onset is the beginning of a word, before the first vowel, and the rime (not to be confused with rhyme!) is the remainder of the word. For example, the word split can be broken down into its onset spl and its rime it. Dog has the onset d and the rime og. Not every word has an onset: for example, the word it has only a rime.

In this section we will focus only on one-syllable words with a simple onset that has only one sound (phoneme): words like dog but not frog. Some educators call this a CVC construction, where C stands for consonant and V indicates a vowel.

Here are a few things parents and teachers must do before teaching this section (and the following sections) to their children or students:

1. Learn how to pronounce the individual sounds (phonemes) correctly. Start with the consonant sounds, because that's what you'll use in the Word Families activities.

2. Use the right child-appropriate terminology. When teaching children, explain that lower-case letters are "the pictures of what the sounds of the alphabet look like when we write them or see them printed in a book."

3. Always have a copy of the written sound (the lower-case letter) for the beginning (onset) of the word in front of the child while doing these activities. For example, you will put out a d card when playing a game that focuses on the word duck. This will draw the child's attention to the written sound while you pronounce it in the word.

F1: What's My Word? Part 1 - Blend the first sound (phoneme) together with the remainder of a spoken one-syllable word, using picture cards as visual clues.

F2: What's My Word? Part 2 - Blend the first sound (phoneme) together with the remainder of a spoken one-syllable word, using picture cards as visual clues.

F3: What's My Word? Part 3 - Blend the first sound (phoneme) together with the remainder of a spoken one-syllable word, using picture cards as visual clues.

F4: Word Maker, Part 1 - Blend the first sound (phoneme) together with the remainder of a spoken one-syllable word, but with no picture clues.

F5: Word Maker, Part 2 - Blend the first sound (phoneme) together with the remainder of a spoken one-syllable word, but with no picture clues.

F6: Word Maker, Part 3 - Blend the first sound (phoneme) together with the remainder of a spoken one-syllable word, but with no picture clues.

F7: Building Rhymes, Part 1 - Blend a beginning sound (phoneme) together with other spoken word parts to make rhyming words.

F8: Building Rhymes, Part 2 - Blend a beginning sound (phoneme) together with other spoken word parts to make rhyming words.

F9: Building Rhymes, Part 3 - Blend a beginning sound (phoneme) together with other spoken word parts to make rhyming words.

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This section is a bridge leading to a child's being able to hear one sound (phoneme) of a word in isolation and blend it together with a spoken word family ending to form a whole word. Professional educators may refer to these as Onset-Rime activities.

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In the Compound Words games, your child got a preview of the concept of syllables. Now we will dive into a series of games involving words with up to four syllables. Some of the syllables might sound the same as one-syllable words, but many of the syllables sound like nonsense on their own.

So instead of dividing words into units of meaning, as the child did with compound words (where each syllable is a word with its own meaning), your child will now learn to divide words into their individual syllables by feeling and hearing the different parts. Children will also learn how to blend syllables into words.

The ability to divide words into syllables is the gateway to being able to analyze the individual sounds in words. A child who cannot hear syllables will have great difficulty hearing individual sounds (phonemes), which will lead to difficulty with spelling and reading.

E1: Stringing Syllables Together - Hear a word divided into syllables and blend the syllables together into a whole word. This activity will introduce the skill of syllable synthesis.

E2: Snail Speech - Hear words that have been divided into separate syllables, and blend the sounds together into whole words. This is another activity to practice the skill of blending syllables into words.

E3: Feeling Syllables - Feel how your mouth and jaw move with each syllable of a word. This is your child's introduction to the idea of dividing words into parts called syllables.

E4: Two-Syllable Words, Part 1 - Hear a two-syllable word and identify the first syllable, using picture cards as visual clues.

E5: Two-Syllable Words, Part 2 - Hear a two-syllable word and identify the first syllable, but without picture clues.

E6: Two-Syllable Words, Part 3 - Hear a two-syllable word and identify the last syllable, using picture cards as visual clues.

E7: Two-Syllable Words, Part 4 - Hear a two-syllable word and identify the last syllable, but without picture clues.

E8: Two-Syllable Words, Part 5 - Hear a two-syllable word and identify either the first or last syllable, using picture cards as visual clues.

E9: Two-Syllable Words, Part 6 - Hear a two-syllable word and identify either the first or last syllable, but without picture clues.

E10: Drumming Names - Beat a drum for each syllable in a name or word. Learn to hear and feel the syllables within words.

E11: Clapping Names - Clap your hands for each syllable in a name or word. Reinforce the idea of hearing and feeling syllables within words.

E12: Animal Sorting - Sort picture cards by the number of syllables. Your child will get experience listening for the number of syllables in familiar words.

E13: Syllable Softball - Count the syllables in words to move around the bases of the softball diamond, where each syllable represents one "base."

E14: Syllable Supper Chart - Place pictures on a chart according to the number of syllables in each word. This will reinforce the child's skill at listening for syllables.

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In the Compound Words games, your child got a preview of the concept of syllables. Now we will dive into a series of games involving words with up to four syllables. Some of the syllables might sound the same as one-syllable words, but many of the syllables sound like nonsense on their own.

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Your child now understands that spoken language can be broken down into sentences and words. The next step is learning how to divide words into syllables, and then the child will be ready to divide words into individual sounds, or phonemes.

But syllables are a difficult concept for young children. An individual syllable, like the cy part of fancy, might have no meaning on its own, so your child has never noticed it before. For that reason, we ease into the concept of syllables with a series of games using compound words.

Compound words are multi-syllable words that are made up of smaller words, such as rainbow, skateboard, and birdhouse. Because each syllable of a two-syllable compound word is a word on its own, children are better able to notice them and to understand what you mean when you talk about dividing a word into parts (syllables).

D1: Making Compound Words - Combine two one-syllable words to make a new word: a compound word.

D2: Making A Longer Word - Blend a one-syllable word and a two-syllable word into a longer compound word.

D3: Compound Words, Part 1 - Hear a two-syllable compound word and identify the first syllable, using picture cards as visual clues.

D4: Compound Words, Part 2 - Hear a two-syllable compound word and identify the first syllable, but with no picture clues.

D5: Compound Words, Part 3 - Hear a two-syllable compound word and identify the second syllable, using picture cards as visual clues.

D6: Compound Words, Part 4 - Hear a two-syllable compound word and identify the second syllable, but with no picture clues.

D7: Compound Words, Part 5 - Hear a two-syllable compound word and identify either the first or second syllable, using picture cards as visual clues.

D8: Compound Words, Part 6 - Hear a two-syllable compound word and identify either the first or second syllable, but with no picture clues.

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Your child now understands that spoken language can be broken down into sentences and words. The next step is learning how to divide words into syllables, and then the child will be ready to divide words into individual sounds, or phonemes. But syllables are a difficult concept for young children.

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In this section we will start focusing your child's attention on the structure as well as the meaning of the language she hears. By that, we mean your child will learn that our language is made up of sentences, which are made up of words, which she will later divide into syllables and finally individual phonemes (sounds).

In this section we learn about sentences and how they are made up of words.

"Why does my child need to learn this? After all, she can already speak in complete sentences!"

A child's understanding that a sentence is made up of a series of individual words is her first introduction to the structure of our language. Ultimately, it is her ability to break words apart into individual sounds and put individual sounds together to form words that will lead to her success in reading and spelling.

Think of spoken language as a movie that your child is watching. A sentence is like a single frame of film, which your child will never notice unless she is taught to pay attention and listen for it.

The first six activities in this module help children understand both the meaning and structure of sentences. They also plant the very early seeds of literal comprehension that is an essential element for children to acquire in later reading and writing sentences in school. The final three activities focus on the concept that sentences are made up of words, and those words have a structure that is separate from their meaning.
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C1: Introducing Sentences: Who It's About - Learn what a sentence is and how it can be divided into parts. This is an introduction to the concept of spoken language being broken down into individual statements.

C2: Introducing Sentences: What's Happening - Review what a sentence is and learn to identify both parts of a sentence: who it's about (the subject) and what's happening (the predicate).

C3: Identifying Who & What's Happening? - Using picture cards, give your child practice identifying the two parts of a sentence: who it's about and what's happening.

C4: Identifying Incomplete Sentences - With picture cards as visual aids, give the child just one part of a sentence. Your child will identify which part it is as well as which part is missing.

C5: Fixing Incomplete Sentences - Using picture cards, turn incomplete sentences into complete sentences.

C6: Creating Sentences - Use picture cards to make up sentences, with an understanding of what a sentence is as well as its two parts.

C7: Introducing Words - Use colored paper squares to discuss how sentences are made up of individual words, introducing your child to a deeper awareness of the structure of sentences.

C8: Word Count - Count the number of words in a sentence, reinforcing the concept of words and the idea that sentences are made up of words.

C9: Which Sounds Longer? - Compare two words and judge which sounds longer (has more syllables). This exercise will focus on the concept of a word as separate from the thing the word describes.

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In this section we will start focusing your child's attention on the structure as well as the meaning of the language she hears. By that, we mean your child will learn that our language is made up of sentences, which are made up of words, which she will later divide into syllables and finally individual phonemes (sounds).

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Match rhyming action words with an -ing suffix. Your child will learn to listen beyond the -ing suffix and pay attention to word stems. More With the listening games, activities were structured from the simple to the complex. Children should play the listening games until they have mastered them.

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Children's ability to listen is critical to learning in school and in life. Attending to sounds in the environment and in language starts at an early age. The first step in building children's active listening is to use games and activities that purposely emphasize attentive listening.

Although listening is not a phonological awareness skill, it is the foundation for learning all phonological awareness skills. That's why it is included as the first module of this curriculum.

"The ability to listen closely is a key ingredient of phonemic awareness."
- Jeannie Partin, Kindergarten teacher

Here are a series of games to build children's active and attentive listening. They are simple and short, but when repeated regularly and frequently, they will train your child to listen for and recognize different types of sounds.

The games begin with listening to environmental sounds and progress to listening attentively to spoken language.

Some of these listening activities can be done with toddlers as young as two years old, even though they are designed more for three- and four-year-olds.

But if your toddler does not do well with these activities, do not be concerned. Simply wait a few months and try again!

A1: Start & Stop - Your child raises her hand while the music is playing and lowers her hand when it stops. This introduces her to the practice of noticing and paying attention to a particular sound.

A2: Name That Sound - Play a variety of sounds for your child to identify. This will help your child to practice focusing attention on identifying particular sounds.

A3: Find the Noisemaker - Locate an unseen sound somewhere in the room. You are continuing to teach your child to listen attentively, this time by focusing on the location of a sound.

A4: First Sound, Last Sound - The child listens to a sequence of two sounds and names the sounds they hear. This develops the child's memory and attention skills.

A5: Sound-Source Matching - Match animal sounds with animal pictures, learning and practicing the skill of hearing a specific sound and matching it with its source.

A6: First, Next & Last Sounds - Play three sounds and ask the child to say which came first, next, or last. This will develop the child's memory and attention skills.

A7: Add the Sound Effects - As you read a storybook, your child will add "sound effects" where appropriate, further developing the skill of paying attention to what she hears and making mental connections between sounds and their sources.

A8: Silly Songs - Identify the "mistakes" in a variety of altered nursery rhymes and songs. Through this the child will learn to pay attention to differences between what she expects to hear and what she actually hears.

A9: Just Following Directions - Listen to and then follow a short sequence of instructions. This will cultivate your child's ability to remember and then execute actions in the right order, while also continuing to develop his ability to listen attentively.

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Children's ability to listen is critical to learning in school and in life. Attending to sounds in the environment and in language starts at an early age. The first step in building children's active listening is to use games and activities that purposely emphasize attentive listening.

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LearnEnglish Kids is brought to you by the British Council, the world's English teaching experts. We have lots of free online games, songs, stories and activities for children. For parents, we have articles on supporting children in learning English, videos on using English at home and information about English courses for your child.