Kindergarten sounding out words
Helping Kids Sound out Words
I often receive emails asking how to help kids learn to sound out words. Many times, it’s because kids struggle to blend together the sounds in the word. For example, they may sound out the individual sounds in a word, like /l/ – /o/ – /g/ and then say something like, bat. Ugh. And this can be very frustrating for the adult and the child.
What can be done to help kids learn how to sound out words? Before we decide to beat our head against a wall, let’s explore some ideas together!
Before I get too far, I want to share just three warnings, if you please.
1. First and foremost, you want to make sure your child is developmentally ready to sound out words. This is key. If kids aren’t developmentally ready, sounding out words will be nothing but frustrating for your child and for you. I have a post called How You Know Your Child is Ready to Read and The Measured Mom also has a great list of ways to know when your child is even ready to sound out words.
2. Secondly, sounding out words isn’t the end-all-be-all for figuring out words. As kids progress in their word knowledge, we want them to use other strategies. Also, some words are not so easy to sound out and we’ll address those in a minute. But for the purpose of this article, we’re going to zone in on sounding out words.
3. Thirdly, sometimes you can try every trick in the book and your child still struggles to sound out words. Take a deep breath. Keep modeling. Keep playing with sounds. Keep teaching with a multi-sensory approach. Some children really struggle with sounding out words. Be patient and don’t compare your child to another child.
Helping Kids Sound Out Words
When your child/student struggles to sound out words, here are some tips to try. Remember to keep in your mind my three warnings mentioned above. If you haven’t read them, go back and do it!
1. Play with sounds in words.
Even though kids may know their letter sounds, seeing the letters in print and attempting to make and blend the sounds all at the same time blows their mind. It can help to take a step back and remove the actual letters and just play with sounds, specifically blending sounds.
In my 7-day reading series, 3 Important Skills Needed for Reading, I address specifically how to do this by playing with rhyming words, playing with syllables, and playing with phonemes {the individual sounds in words.} For our purposes, phonemic blending and phonemic segmenting will be the most helpful for readers who are struggling to sound out words.
2. Get kids writing and spelling. As I mention in my post on invented spelling and in Teaching Kids to Spell, allowing kids to “sound out” their spellings can actually increase their awareness of sounds words.
For example, if your child wants to write the word hat, help her listen for each sound in the word by stretching the word out.
{This is called phonemic segmentation.} Then, after the word has been spelled, ask your child to read the word by blending the sounds back together again {phonemic blending.}
“I love you,” spelled independently by my 4 year old.
So often parents feel that kids shouldn’t spell words until they can spell the word correctly {as taught in some curricula}, but allowing kids to spell by sound can boost kids’ awareness of sounds in words which, in turn, can actually help them become better readers! {You can also read more about this in our 10 week Preschool and Kindergarten Writing Series.}
3. Start with sounds that can be prolonged. Letters don’t all make the same kinds of sounds. In other words, not all letter sounds were created equal {read more about letter sounds here}. Some letters are harder to blend than others. For example, trying stretching out the word pat (p–a–t). Now try stretching out mat (m–a–t). Can you hear how it could be easier to blend together mat than pat?
This is because letter sounds from letters like m, f, h, r, n, s, z and vowels can be stretched or prolonged, making it easier to blend them together.
In other words, there’s no break of sound in between them. On the other hand, the letter sounds of c, d, t, and p do not continue their sounds. Try a few sounding out exercises with your child using real and/or silly words with these prolonged sounds like Sam, fan, zom, or nis. Say them slowly at first, then each time you sound them out, say the sounds closer and closer together.
4. Use word families. Blending together two sounds can be much easier for some young readers than trying to blend together three sounds. We typically teach sounding out as three separate sounds {t-o-p}, but many readers will find blending together easier if we teach it like t-op, as explained in my word family post.
One of my favorite activities for young readers is to focus on ONE word family, such as -at. Help kids see how adding different sounds to the beginning of -at can make new words by letting them manipulate the letters.
To see a few ideas, check out our –at post from Reading the Alphabet. You can also find more hands-on manipulatives for word families with our Flip-a-Word activity and our Dr. Seuss word family hats.
5. Not all words can or should be “sounded out.” I am referring mostly to sight words. And while I do believe that MOST sight words DO follow phonics “rules” and that learners can sound out sight words, learners may not be developmentally ready for all the “rules” that are needed to sound out some of the basic sight words.
For example, the word away is a sight word taught early to young readers because it appears frequently in the books they read. Away follows the schwa rule for unaccented syllables and the -ay long a pattern. Are Kindergartners ready to learn all the rules to help them sound out away? Probably not.
Instead of trying to cram a bunch of rules into their brains {and most of our frequently used “rules” are broken more than followed} to help them sound out these words, some words just need to be learned by sight.
More Tips and Activities for Readers:
Short Vowel Folable Sound it Out Strips
1-2-3 Flip It for CVC Words
Enjoy teaching!
~Becky
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Help Your Child Sound Out Words
In the years leading up to kindergarten, your child is building a strong foundation for literacy — and you're supporting that through activities like reading aloud. Before you know it, your child will begin sounding out words.
Two of the strongest predictors of future literacy development are phonological awareness — the ability to recognize and play with individual letter sounds, rhyme, alliteration, and syllables — and knowledge of the alphabet, says Nancy Garrity, senior director of early childhood at Scholastic Education.
“We typically focus on phonological awareness before kindergarten with alliteration, rhyming, and separating words into syllables,” she says.
“It’s when children are learning to recognize letters and the most common sound each makes.”
These skills help your child sound out words more easily as they read new material. Here are three ways to accelerate their skills and ability to read new words.
For more book and reading ideas, sign up for our Scholastic Parents newsletter.
1. Play sound games tied to physical movement.
Physical activities like climbing stairs, jumping rope, or bouncing a ball all have distinct sounds that are perfect for games that build phonological awareness. For example, when climbing stairs, encourage your child to pay special attention to the thud of their feet, then invite them to say a few words that rhyme with the same sound, like mud, bud, and more.
“You can take turns saying rhyming words, naming words that start with the same sound, or breaking words apart by syllable and putting them back together again,” says Garrity. “These are games you can play almost anywhere to build your child’s literacy skills.
”
2. Play “I Spy” with the alphabet.
As your child learns the alphabet, they’ll soon realize they’re surrounded by letters! Garrity suggests encouraging children to be on the lookout for familiar letters in the world around them (say, on signs or on boxes) and of course in books. One book that’s (naturally!) perfect for this is I SPY Letters.
“When you find a letter, say its name and the sound it makes,” says Garrity. “And show excitement when you come across a letter that’s in your child’s name!”
When your child is ready to begin sounding out words, Garrity suggests reading decodable books — books with letter-sound combinations your child is already familiar with — like those in the BOB Books Set #1: Beginning Readers box set.
3. Write it out together.
Inviting children to be part of your everyday writing process, such as with to-do lists, thank you cards, and even text messages, is another great way to help them develop the skills they need to begin sounding out words.
“This helps them understand the importance of literacy in everyday life and provides great motivation for learning,” says Garrity. “For instance, as you type a text, invite your child to help you find a letter on the keypad. Or work together to make labels for toy bins, coat hooks, shelves, and more.”
Shop these resources that will improve your child’s ability to sound out words! You can find all books and activities at The Scholastic Store.
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Sound analysis of the word - Kindergarten "Annushka", Naryan-Mar
Consultation for parents on preparing children for literacy
Sound analysis of the word.
Hello dear parents of ! I propose to talk about preparing children for literacy training , namely, about conducting sound analysis of words .
Written speech is formed on the basis of oral speech. And the first steps to learning to read and write should not be familiar with letters, but learning the sound system of the language .
. Indeed, if a child does not pronounce the sound correctly , it is hardly worth counting on the fact that he will write it correctly in a notebook in the near future.
Pay attention to more than just correct articulation sounds, but and on the child's ability to isolate, that is, to hear sounds in the word .
This skill is developed during the systematic work of both teachers in kindergarten and parents at home in such games as: Catch sound ", "Find the position of sounds in the word " , "Find a place for the picture" etc.
Dear parents, please remember:
1. Sound is what we hear and pronounce.
2. We write and read letters.
3. Sounds are vowels and consonants.
Vowel sounds can be sung with the voice, while the air coming out of the mouth is not obstructed. Consonant sounds - sounds that cannot be sung, because. the air coming out of the mouth during their pronunciation meets a barrier.
Six vowels: A, U, O, I, E, S
Ten vowels: A, U, O, I, E, S - correspond to sounds and four iotated, which denote two sounds: Ya-ya, Yu-yu, Ye-ye, Yo-yo.
Vowel sounds are marked in red in the diagram.
Consonants are soft and hard.
Always hard consonants: Zh, Sh, Ts.
Always soft consonants: Y, Ch, Shch.
Teaching children the sound analysis of words begins with determining the sequence of sounds in the word : you need to highlight this sequence by repeatedly pronouncing words with intonational emphasis on each sound .
So, when analyzing the word "BEETLE" , the child must pronounce it three times: "ZhZhuk" , "zhuuk" , "beetle" .
In order for a child to be able to analyze some phenomenon , it must be understandable, materially represented.
Let's draw a diagram of the sound composition of the word : in the word "house" three sounds - draw three cells. And let's give the child this card: a house is drawn on it, so that it is clear which word we will parse , and under the house - a diagram of this word : the child already knows that words consist of sounds .
We show him that the cells under the picture tell how many sounds are in the word . "How many cells?" - "Three". - "And how many sounds are in the word ?" - "Also three." - "Let's be these sounds look for .
Say the word house so so that I hear the first sound in it. Our child already knows how - he learned at the first stage of learning . ?" - "D". - "Very well! Let's close the first cell with a chip, what will it be sound ?" - "D".
Any material can be used as chips: cut squares from white cardboard or take an old mosaic and choose white or yellow elements from it. Do not take red , blue, green - they will still be needed.0005
So, in front of the child is a diagram of the sound composition of the word "house" in which the first cell is already closed. You can move on.
"Now let's pronounce the word "house" so that we hear the second sound in it, the first d - we already know." Help the child for the first time, say together with him "d-o-oh" .
Here, the scheme of the sound composition of the word 9 will help us a lot0004: you need to pronounce the word and at the same time move your finger along the scheme and stop it for a long time on the second cell.
We hold our finger on the second cell of the diagram, and together with the child you pull “to-oh-oh” for a long time. "What is the second sound in this word ?" - "ABOUT!" - "Great! Let's designate this sound with a chip!" The child takes exactly the same chip as the first one and puts it on the second cell.
"You see," you continue, "we already know two sounds in the word "house" . Let's find the last sound in this word . Say the word "house" so that you hear the last sound ". in the word house-m-m ?" - "M-m", - the child answers and puts the last, third chip on the diagram.0004 .
It would be nice to repeat it again. But how? Remove chips and start over? It's not fun for a kid! No, it's better to play the game "Who is attentive." "And now, - you say, - I will call sound , and you will remove its designation from the diagram.
Let's see how attentive you are. Please remove the designation of the sound" d "(blue chip)
For of this type analysis the child is offered words of three sounds : poppy, house, cheese, cat, whale, ball, beetle, onion, forest, cancer.
When studying with a child, you need to remember all the time: we teach him the sound analysis of words , we teach him to listen to the word , to hear sounds , its components. Therefore, the child must call sounds like , as they are heard in word .
This type of work with sounds is especially important for children with speech disorders. If you see that from the child cannot cope with the sound analysis of the word , then return to games for the development of phonemic hearing.
While analyzing 3 sound words , remind the child about the presence of vowels and consonants in the language sounds .
First, ask him to find the vowel in word and replace the neutral chip with a red one.
Then remember that consonants sounds are soft and hard: hard sounds are denoted by blue chips, and soft ones by green ones. Thus, now, when drawing up schemes for words , the child will use chips of three colors.
All characteristics of sounds are given ORAL (no need to write down) . If the child wants, design the model of the word in the form of an application, so that later you can show it to someone else (ask grandma or grandpa to “guess” what is this “mysterious squares” ).
MBDOU "Kindergarten No. 63". Recommendations for parents “Teaching children sound-letter word analysis”
Recommendations for parents
“Teaching children sound-letter word analysis”
A few decades ago, children did not know how to read and write.
The modern rhythm of life requires a thorough preparation of the child for school, so that his intellectual development during the school years is more successful.
In the preschool years, an intensive mental development of the child takes place: he masters speech, gets acquainted with the richness of the sound, lexical and grammatical composition of the language.
Sound-letter word analysis, an integral part of literacy education.
This skill begins to be formed in kindergarten in the senior group and continues throughout the entire period of study.
Sound-literal analysis of the word is the basis of both reading and writing. However, very often such an analysis of the word causes difficulties not only for children, but also for parents. Therefore, let's try to determine what this operation includes, and how to help the child master it better
Our goal is to acquaint a preschooler with a word - its semantic (a word denotes a certain object, phenomenon, action, quality) and phonetic or sound side (the word sounds, consists of sounds following in a certain sequence, has syllables, one of which is stressed, etc.
. P.).
Children with problems in speech development, who have impaired pronunciation of phonemes and their perception, especially experience difficulties in sound analysis and synthesis. They can be expressed in varying degrees: from mixing the order of individual sounds to a complete inability to determine the number, sequence or position of sounds in a word.
Teaching children literacy in kindergarten is carried out using the analytical-synthetic method. This means that children are first introduced to the sounds of their native language, and then to the letters.
Teaching the sound analysis of a word is the main task of the stage of preparation for learning to read and write and involves: determining the number of sounds in a word, the phonetic characteristics of sounds (the ability to differentiate vowels and consonants, voiced and deaf, hard and soft, determining the place of a sound in a word.
Dear parents, remember :
There are concepts of "letter" and "sound".
Sound - we hear and pronounce.
Letters we see, write and read.
Sounds can be vowels and consonants.
Vowel sounds can be sung with the voice, while the air coming out of the mouth is not obstructed.
Consonant sounds - sounds that cannot be sung, because the air coming out of the mouth when they are pronounced meets an obstacle.
Six vowels: A U O I E S
There are ten vowels : A U O I E S - correspond to sounds and four iotated, which denote two sounds: Ya-ya, Yu-yu, E-ye, Yo-yo.
Vowels are marked in red in the diagram.
Consonant sounds are deaf and voiced. A dull sound is formed without the participation of the vocal folds, we explain to children that when we pronounce
a dull sound, the voice sleeps, and when pronouncing sonorous sounds, the voice rings (Put your hand on the neck or cover your ears with your hands) .
In the diagram, voiced sounds are denoted by a bell.
Voiced sounds: B, C, D, D, F, Z, Y, L, M, N, R.
Ш,
Consonant sounds are soft and hard.
Always hard hard consonants : Zh, Sh, C.
Always soft consonants : Y, Ch, Shch.
Preparation for word analysis has four steps:
- At the first stage of education, children learn to distinguish the initial vowel from the composition of words: u-duck . Using the material of vowel sounds, children are given the first idea that sounds can be arranged in a certain sequence - an analysis of a series consisting of two or three vowels (aiy ).
- The second most difficult stage of preparation is the analysis and synthesis of reverse syllables of the type an, ut, ok. At the same time, children learn to isolate the last consonant from the end of the word (cat, poppy).
- The third stage of preparation for the analysis of the word is the selection of stressed vowels from the position after the consonants (house, tank).
- After these exercises, children easily master the fourth stage of preparation - the analysis and synthesis of a direct syllable like ca, and then the ability to isolate the first consonant from words.
Only after mastering the 4 steps of the preparatory period, the speech child becomes ready for complete sound analysis and synthesis from
Sound analysis of words (mode of action - algorithm)
1. Say the word and listen to yourself.
2. Select the first sound, determine whether it is a vowel or a consonant, mark it with a symbol. If the sound is a consonant, give it a description: voiced - deaf, hard - soft.
3. Select the second sound ... (step 3, and so on with each sound of the word).
4. Lay out the scheme (sound model) of the word on the table or draw it in a notebook.
Game "How many sounds are hidden in the word?"
Lay out the scheme of the word CAT.
- How many sounds are there in the word CAT? (There are three sounds in the word CAT)
- What is the first sound in the word CAT? (first sound [K])
- What sound [K]? (sound [K] consonant, deaf, hard) .
- Which square in the diagram will denote the sound [K]? (Blue box) .
- What is the second sound in the word CAT? (Second sound [O])
- Sound [O] what? (Sound [O] vowel) .
- Which square in the diagram will denote the sound [O]? (Red square) .
- What is the third sound in the word CAT? (Third sound [T]) .
- What is the sound [T]? (Sound [T] - consonant, hard, deaf) .
Which square on the diagram shall denote the sound [T]? (Blue box) .
- The sounds became friends. What happened? (CAT) .
- What letter will denote the sound [K]? (letter K) .
What letter shall we designate the sound [О]? (Letter O) .
What letter shall we designate the sound [T]? (Letter T) .
- Letters made friends. What happened? (CAT) .
It is important that the child learn what the sound of speech is, be able to differentiate sounds, divide words into sounds and syllables.
Only then can he easily master the skill of reading.
Letters are the graphic symbol of sounds. Often we are faced with the fact that children are taught letter-by-letter reading, i.e. children, seeing a letter, pronounce its name, and not the sound: pe, re. The result is "keote" instead of "cat" . Children have difficulty understanding the rules for voicing letters and letter combinations. This creates additional difficulties in teaching children to read.
In the method of teaching reading in kindergarten, it provides for the naming of letters according to their sound designations: p, b, k .... This makes it much easier for children to master the skill of reading. In order for the child to better learn the graphic appearance of the letter and for the prevention of dysgraphia at school (dysgraphia is a violation of writing) recommend the following tasks :
- "What does the letter look like?"
- In a row of letters, circle the given letter.
- Lay out letters from counting sticks, from a string on velvet paper,
mold from plasticine, etc.
DIDACTIC GAMES WITH CHILDREN FOR THE FORMATION OF SOUND ANALYSIS AND SYNTHESIS
1. "Clap your hands" - invite the child to clap his hands when he hears a word with a given sound.
2. "Identify the first sound in a word" - this game will teach children to hear, distinguish and identify the first sound in a single word.
3. Game - competition "Who will come up with the most words" with a given sound, or ask the child to find objects in the room (on the street, in the park, etc.) whose names contain one or another sound.
4 "Beginning, middle, end": an adult pronounces words with a certain sound (for example, C), and the child determines its position in the word.
5. "Catch the last sound in your palm." Ask the child to slowly pronounce the word and pronounce the last sound, emphasizing in a voice, into the palm of your hand.
“What sound did you catch in your palm?”
6. The game "The neck hurts." Say the whole word with your lips without sound, only the last sound aloud.
7. "Chain of words": each next word must begin with the last sound of the previous word.
8. “Collect the word”: an adult pronounces a word by sounds, for example, D, O, M, and the child must guess what word it is.
9. While in the store, invite your child to choose from a variety of products only those in the names of which have a given sound.
10. Ball game "Finish the word" - adding the missing sound by the child, for example: BALL - SCARF, CAT - CATS.
11* Spread the word
An adult pronounces a syllable (word), and children, after preliminary analysis or without it, lay out a syllable (word) scheme from chips on a table, magnetic board or refrigerator door.
Sample syllables and words for sound analysis:
- Words from two sounds: UM, US, AH, OH.
- Words from three sounds: POPPY, HOUSE, WILLOW, BULL, DOWN.
- Words of four sounds: MOM, VASE, STORK, GESE, DUCK, UMBRELLA, BRIDGE, TANK.
- Five-sound words: BAG, CAT, LEMON, SOCKS, BANANA, JAR. Etc.
A preschooler entering school must have the following knowledge and skills to successfully learn to read:
- Know that speech consists of sentences, sentences of words, words of syllables, syllables of sounds;
- Be able to distinguish a letter from a sound;
- Be able to distinguish sounds in words;
- Be able to determine the place of sound in a word;
- Be able to select words with a given sound.
In conclusion, I would like to note that the sound-letter analysis of words is necessary not only for teaching reading, but also for literate writing. It serves as the basis for the phonetic analysis of the word, which children perform in Russian language lessons throughout their education in secondary school and which is included in the Unified State Examination.
