• Example: "What are all the sounds you hear in cat?" (/k/ /ă/ /t/)

Stretch the Word

You can talk about segmenting a word into phonemes as stretching the word.

Visual and tactile support for this concept is saying the word with hands together, palms inward, and moving them out from each other as each sound in the word is said in the order.

Putting an elastic band around the hands allows the stretch to be felt more easily. I also love using a slinky to demonstrate how to stretch out a word. 

I Spy

This segmenting game is just like the traditional game of I Spy, but instead of focusing on the first sound, the child segments the clue. For example, “I spy with my little eyes something that I can see. It is a c-l-o-ck.”

Segmenting Pictures

Providing children with segmenting picture cards is a great way to teach phoneme segmentation.  

Make picture cards showing phoneme dots or Elkonin boxes under each picture. The number of dots or boxes represents the number of phonemes for that spoken word.

Children segment the word as they point to each dot or box.

For some added fine motor practice, give the children some clothespegs. Ask them to repeat the segmenting but this time, they attach a peg to each box or dot.

When it comes mastery of this skill. The child will have be able know the sounds of the word and not have to get any help or struggle at all.

Counting Cubes.

Give each student the number of cubes they will need. They will take the cubes apart as they say each sound.

You can have students blend two different ways. The first is to blend all the sounds at once into the word. This is what we usually think of with blending.

However, connecting cubes are perfect for practicing pyramid blending.

For pyramid blending, students will practice blending smaller chunks before they blend the whole word.

With the word frog, they will connect two cubes as they blend f-r fr. Then, they will blend the chunk with the next sound while connecting one more cube – fr-o fro. Finally, they will blend that larger chunk with the last sound as they add the last cube – fro-g frog.

Smashing Playdough

Honestly, is there anything play dough can’t be used for? We love smashing play dough to practice segmenting words!

You will want to tell students how many balls of play dough to make. Then, they will use their fist to smash each play dough ball as they say the sounds.

We usually use this activity when we are practicing just segmenting words, but if you want to use it as a blending activity, you can have students roll the balls together as they blend the word.

Pom Pom Blending

Pom-Poms are not usually included in your phonemic awareness toolbox

Pom-Poms to practice blending words because they are so light and easy to scoop.

Students will put out pom-poms as they segment the word. Then, they can scoop them up quickly as they blend the word.

Demonstrating mastery of blending. Students will have to be able to blend words together without help from the teacher or struggling while they are doing it.

• RHYME REPETITION:

  • Have your little one repeat the rhymes in a poem or song in order to draw their attention to the rhymes.

    • “Twinkle, twinkle, little star, how I wonder what you are. Star/Are. These words rhyme. Can you say star/are?”

• RHYME RECOGNITION:

  • Say two words and have your little one tell you if the two words rhyme or don’t rhyme.

    • “Do these words rhyme? Cap/Tap.” (yes)

      • If they rhyme, have them clap their hands.

        
        

    • “Do these words rhyme? Call/Take.” (no)

      • If they don’t rhyme, have them cross their arms over their chest like an “X.”

  • Say three words out loud (2 that rhyme and 1 that doesn’t) and have your little one tell you which word doesn’t rhyme.

    • “Which word doesn’t belong? cat/hat/dog.” (dog)

      • As an alternative, you can also have them repeat the 2 words that do rhyme.

  • If your little one is struggling with rhyme recognition, try this hands-on way to help them hear rhymes:

    • 1. Have them hold out their left arm straight in front of them.

    • 2. Using their right hand, they will tap their shoulder for the onset and run their hand down their arm for the rime.

      • For the word “tin,” they would tap their shoulder and say /t/, then run their hand down their arm for /in/.

      • Then repeat with “fin.”

      • Show them that both times they ran their hand down their arm, they were saying “in,” which means those two words rhyme.

        
        

        RHYME PRODUCTION:

        • Say one word and have your little one produce as many rhyming words as possible.

          • “Can you tell me three words that rhyme with like?” (hike, bike, Mike)

To demonstrate mastery on this skill. The student will have to be rhyme words together without help from teacher or students or hesitate when trying to come up with the words.

• CHIN DROP:

  • Have your little one place their chin in their hands and say the word “dog.” They should feel their chin drop one time into their hands.

  • Then try it again with the word “doghouse.” They should feel their chin drop two times.

• CLAP, SNAP, OR STOMP:

  • Have your little one clap, snap, or stomp every time they hear a syllable in a word.

  • Another option is to use rhythm sticks or straws.

  • It’s also fun to talk in a robotic voice while doing this since robots speak in syllables.

• HUMMING:

  • Have your little one “hum” a word by saying it without opening their mouth.

  • The number of times they wanted to open their mouth is the number of syllables in the word.

  • This one is really fun for kids!

Demonstrating mastery, the child will be able use syllables without help from the teacher or students. They will be able to hear syllables and say what word or letter it is.

Four Corners

A simple, last-minute phonics activity to practice phoneme isolation is this 4 corners game. All you have to do is put up four signs, each with a different letter, around the classroom. Say a word that begins with one of those sounds and have a few students find that letter. You can do one student at a time, or a group of students. It's a great way to get your students up and moving!

Beginning, Middle, or Ending Sound Picture Sort

Phonics picture sorts are my favorite way to practice phoneme isolation. You can use it with beginning, middle, or ending sounds, and later- by word family, digraph, or long vowel pattern! I like to use it in a pocket chart, but you can put it up on the board using magnets or sort it on a table if you do this in a small group activity. Students will look at the picture, isolate the phoneme, then sort the picture under the letter it starts with. You can find the beginning sound picture sort in the centers

Sort by Color

This sort-by-color activity is a great way to practice sorting without cutting and pasting. Students will use the color code at the top to color each picture by beginning or ending sound.

Demonstrating mastery of this skill. They will be able to demonstrate that a word has more than just one sound. They will be able to this without help from teachers or students.