Foundational phonics skills are important to a young learners' future success in reading and writing. Here are four of my favorite phonics activities that are great for learners of all levels and during any time of the year. Within these four activities, I focus on letter/sound knowledge, middle and ending sound identification, rhyming words, vocabulary development, long and short vowel sounds, blends, and syllables. I use these activities in my small reading groups, but they would be great to use in a literacy-based center or for an independent tub activity, too.
First up, the Alphabet Sounds Pocket Chart Card Set. I love the versatility of this set! During the beginning of the year, we used these awesome cards to sort sounds as a whole group in a pocket chart. Later in the year, I used them in a small group to reinforce and reteach sounds my students struggled with. I was able to pull out the stack of letters my students needed to learn and the letter card (to help us sort pictures into the correct categories) quickly.
After working with letter and sound matching, we moved on to beginning sounds. I introduced the Beginning Sounds Matching Puzzles to my students during our small reading group time because I noticed some students were struggling with isolating the beginning sounds. I placed the left half of the puzzle in the lid of the puzzle box and placed the right half of all the puzzles on the table. My students picked one puzzle half from the box and then searched the table for the other half. They had to tell me both the words on the puzzle after they matched them up to reinforce the beginning sound.
This is the activity I used with some students who were struggling with identifying and isolating the middle vowel sounds in CVC words. The 100 pc. Short Vowel Word Cards Set was the perfect thing to help them! I placed each of the vowel cards on the table in small piles, sorted by each of the included letters. You'll notice that some of the vowel cards are bigger than others; these are used in CVC words with 3 sounds. The smaller letters are used in CVC words with 4 letters. I was able to give students word cards of varying levels of difficulty this way.
I find that when I create small groups, the students within them are on different levels of understanding for various phonological skills. That's why I love the Phonological Awareness File Folder Games! I was able to give different groups of students practice in the specific skills they needed more work on. We worked on vowel sounds, blends, and rhyming words. Some students worked individually, and some students worked with a partner to complete the activities in each folder game, depending on their needs. After introducing the file folder games in my small groups, I placed several of them in our literacy center tubs for added practice.