Sound Sorting Cards: Students will sort picture cards and organize them by their beginning sound. English language learners can benefit from labeled images, and visual learners can benefit from the pictures on the cards.

"I Spy" Sound Game: Educators can ask students to find matching items in the classroom that match the sound they provide. For example, the educator can say, "I spy something that begins with /t/." Which students can answer with items, such as a table. This activity supports auditory learners.

The next steps will be introducing them to phoneme blending by using isolated sounds.

Rhyming Bingo: Students will play Bingo, where they need to match pictures to the rhyming sounds that the educator makes. For example, the educator will say, "Match the rhyme with Cat," and students will mark the pictures for hat and bat. This activity supports group collaboration and visual learners.

Singing Rhyme Songs: Educators can play the song "Down by the Bay", where students can add in their rhymes. This activity supports auditory learners.

The next steps will be introducing them to onset-rime blending. For example, the rhyme is "at" for the words "cat" and "bat."

This activity supports independent learning.

Stretch and Say: Educators will use a Slinky to practice stretching out words. For example, the educator can stretch out each sound in bat and have students say the full word. This activity supports visual and auditory learners.

Blending Trains: Students will use train cars that are labeled with phonemes to connect and drive the word provided by the educator. This activity supports kinesthetic learners by being hands-on.

The next steps will be introducing them to phoneme segmentation using the same words.

Elkonin Boxes: Educators can work one-on-one with students where they move a token into a box for each sound. This activity provides hands-on and visual support.

Tapping and Counting: Students can tap their fingers when saying the phonemes in words.

The next steps will be integrating segmentation with spelling activities.

Sound Change Game: Students will begin with a word and replace the beginning or ending sounds. For example, a student can say, "Say Pink. Now change the /p/ to /l/." to create a new word. This activity supports auditory learners.

Word Builder Game: Students can create their own words by changing the sounds and letters. For example, a student can combine bat and kit to create bakit. This activity is fun and allows for creativity for all learners.

The next steps will be applying these skills in their independent writing. For example, creating and sounding out their sentences on their own.

Cooley, M. (2024, February 13). Phonemic Awareness Lesson plans. 95 Percent Group. https://www.95percentgroup.com/insights/phonemic-awareness-lesson-plans/

Keys to reading: Phonemic Awareness - IMSE - Journal. IMSE. (2015, November 13). https://journal.imse.com/phonemic-awareness/