Working with a small group of students, send them on a treasure hunt around the classroom to look for objects starting with a particular sound, for example, /t/. As they look, repeat saying the letter sounds /t/ until they find something they think starts with /t/. Have them place it in a treasure box. Once each child has contributed to the treasure box, review each object's name and if each object begins with /t/ for it to stay in the treasure box.

(95 Percent Group, 2024)

Everyone loves BINGO! In this activity, children can practice beginning blends and digraph sounds as they work toward being the first to get five in a row. Each child would be given a picture bingo card. Using cards that have beginning blends and digraphs on them, the teacher would show and give the sound. The children will look for the picture that has the sound and mark it. The first to get five in a row wins Bingo! This is a great activity for small and large groups.

(Education, 2023)

This activity is a great, fun, and engaging way to introduce new vocabulary. Using chants and total physical responses, teachers can capture their attention and incorporate the whole class into the lesson.

(Gill & Gill, 2024)

This digital resource is an asset for any elementary classroom. It provides educational brain breaks that help students review essential literacy topics while having fun.

KWL charts, which stand for "what I know," "what I want to know," and "what I learned," can help students improve their reading comprehension in several ways. Teachers utilize this to activate students' prior knowledge to apply to the text/topic, develop a purpose as they are being asked what they want to learn from the topic and help children reflect on what they have learned. "This learning strategy is great for helping students comprehend lessons because it encourages them to connect their prior knowledge, their desire to learn more, and the new information they just absorbed." (Storm, 2023)

Learning to blend sounds is crucial for children to improve their skill of reading. This phonemic awareness skill helps children decode unfamiliar words and build their reading fluency.

Using the tune of “If You’re Happy and You Know It, Clap Your Hands.” Use this little chant to get student's attention and interest in blending sounds to make a word.

If you think you know this word, shout it out!
If you think you know this word, shout it out!
If you think you know this word,
Then tell me what you’ve heard,
If you think you know this word, shout it out!

After singing, the teacher says a segmented word such as /k/ /a/ /t/ and students provide the blended word “cat.”

(95 Percent Group, 2024)

Utilizing a CVC flip book is an effective way for students to learn consonant vowel consonant words. It is a helpful tool for phonics and reading. CVC flipbooks can help children in various ways such as word building, blending sounds, and rhyming patterns. Teachers can have students create personal books for everyday reference and practice or have a set for small-group instruction.

(Education, 2023)

Word walls are a prominent feature of classrooms. It serves as a visual reference for students, showcasing words they have learned. Word walls provide a constant visual reminder of new vocabulary, promoting word recognition and independent learning.

An effective word wall should have these qualities:

• Word Selection: Choose high-frequency words, thematic words, or words related to current topics or lessons. Include words that are relevant to kindergarteners' lives.

• Visual Aids: Include a large, clear print word card with a corresponding picture for each word. This visual representation helps children associate the word with its meaning.

• Alphabetical Order: Arrange the word cards alphabetically, making it easy for children to locate specific words.

• Interactive: Encourage children to interact with the word wall. They can point to words, use them in sentences, or even take turns being the "Word Wall Helper" who changes the word cards.

(Effective Vocabulary Building Activities for Kindergarten: A Comprehensive Guide, n.d.)

This academic practice has been found to have positive effects on reading comprehension. Repeated Reading is a strategy of rereading or reading a passage several times. Working with the same piece of text multiple times helps children better understand the text as they become more comfortable with its vocabulary. Some classrooms do what they call "shared reading", where teachers give texts children will read and complete activities weekly. Teachers guide the class through the reading on the first or second day for meaning or enjoyment and then rereading with explicit instruction is done on days two through five. Shared reading can help students develop skills such as sight word knowledge, comprehension, background knowledge, oral language skills, and literacy proficiency.

Retelling and sequencing activities can help children improve their reading comprehension and writing skills. Retelling involves recalling and repeating the events of a story in order, while sequencing is the ability to identify the beginning, middle, and end of a story or event. These activities can help children understand text structure, identify main narrative components, and summarize. They can also help children develop storytelling skills in a spoken format before applying them to writing.

https://www.readingrockets.org/classroom/classroom-strategies/story-sequence#:~:text=The%20ability%20to%20recall%20and%20retell%20the,summarize%20%E2%80%94%20all%20key%20components%20of%20comprehension.

This is a great activity for learning the differences between separate sounds. Your child has to hear the first letter to decide what to remove from the basket.

Directions:

1. Take a basket and place different objects inside (all with different phonemic beginnings)

2. Ask your child to remove objects using only their first sounds:  “Remove the object that begins with /b/.”

3. As they hold the object, ask them to tell you what the object is called. ("bear")

4. You repeat the object name and then ask them to isolate the beginning sound. ("Bear makes what sound? /b/")

Cooking is a hands-on activity that introduces children to a world of flavors and the vocabulary that describes them. From ingredients to cooking techniques, every recipe is a language lesson. This is a great way to get children exposed to unfamiliar terms, and as they cook, ask them to describe the textures, flavors, and processes, expanding their culinary vocabulary.

(Gill & Gill, 2024)

After reading a story together, have your child tell you five things about the story, using her fingers to talk about each one:

1. Characters: who was in the story?

2. Setting: where did the story take place?

3. Events: what happened in the story?

4. End: how did the story end?

5. Favorite character or part of the story

(Comprehension: Activities for Your Kindergartener | Reading Rockets, n.d.)