Learning letter sounds activities
Learning Letter Sounds - PreKinders
By Karen Cox | Affiliate Disclosure | Filed Under: Phonological Awareness
These games help pre-K children practice Letter Sound learning in a fun, hands-on way.
Sound Cups
Use 26 disposable clear punch cups and label each cup with a letter. Letter cup labels can be downloaded below. Collect a set of small trinket objects (you can ask parents and friends to send things in), such as plastic lizard, small block, watch, plastic frog, bandaid, necklace, button, dice. Place the trinkets in a basket. Children sort each trinket into a letter cup by its beginning sound.
You can use all 26 cups at one time, or select 3-4 letter cups at a time for children to focus on. When searching for items to go in the cups, look for dollar store mini toys (especially packs of animals and bugs), look at doll house miniatures, browse craft stores for mini items.
Download: Letter Cup Labels
Erase the Sound
Draw a picture on a dry erase lap board. In the example below, I drew a snowman. Call children up one at the time to erase something that begins with something in the picture. In this picture, children can erase something that begins with H (hat), something that begins with B (buttons), something that begins with N (nose). Continue until everything is erased.
Mystery Bag
Place three objects beginning with the same letter in a bag (such as ball, bug, and button for B). Have a child pulls each item out of the bag and name each item. Have the class guess the “mystery letter”.
Guess Who?
Say three words and have the kids guess whose name begins with the same sound as those three words. For example, call out:
- lake
- lemon
- lamp
The class would guess Levi. If you have more than one child in your class (maybe Levi, Lucy, and Layton) who start with that letter sound, the class can name all of them.
I have prepared a list of words for each letter that you can use for your students.
Download the list below.
Download: Beginning Letter Sounds List
Monster Names
Have kids stand, stomp, and growl when you say their “Monster Name”. Replace the first letter of each child’s name with the letter M. For example, Braden’s name would become “Mad Monster Maden” and Ashlyn’s name would become “Mad Monster Mashlyn”.
Say Two Words
Say two words, and have kids stand up if the words begin with the same sound. Have them sit down if they do not. For example,
cat – cow (stand up)
hat – goat (sit down)
Letter Sounds Listening Games
Children listen for beginning sounds in words and use bingo markers to stamp a letter each time they hear the letter sound. Get the printable game here: Letter Sounds Listening Games.
Letter Sounds Activity Cards
Children look at the picture, say the word, and find the letter that matches the beginning sound. They mark the cards by clipping it or marking it with a chip. Get the printable game here: Letter Sounds Activity Cards.
Letter Tile Mats
Children match letter tiles to the pictures on the mats by identifying the beginning sound of the words. Get the printable game here: Letter Tile Mats.
More Resources
These are available in my shop.
About Karen Cox
Karen is the founder of PreKinders.com. She also works as a full-time Pre-K teacher in Georgia. Read more...
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Try These 10 Fun Phonics Activities to Teach Letter Sounds to Children
What is phonics?
Phonics is the relationship between letters and sounds as well as the understanding of how those sounds connect to form words.
For instance, the /c/ sound, the short /a/ sound, and the /t/ sound blend together to form the word cat.
What does the research say about teaching phonics?
Research indicates the importance of teaching children phonics as a preliminary step for learning to read.
Research also suggests that systematic instruction which incorporates wordplay (manipulating letters/sounds in words to change the word), writing words, and using manipulatives such as magnetic letters to create words are all effective strategies for teaching phonics.
Additionally, research demonstrates the benefits of applying a multi-sensory approach to phonics instruction.
A multi-sensory approach incorporates sight, sound, touch, and movement into instruction. This helps address a variety of learning modalities, enabling students to better absorb the information.
Ten Fun Research-Based Phonics Activities to Teacher Letter-Sounds
1. Play the game “I Spy.”
In the game “I spy” you pick something that you see and don’t tell the child what it is. The child has to guess what you see.
Here is how you can use “I Spy” to teach letter sounds (phonics):
Let’s say you see a book in the room: You can say: I spy something that starts with the letter B or I spy something that ends with the letter K.
After your child guesses what “you spy” have them tell you the sound the letter makes. If your child cannot guess what “you spy” or does not know the letter sound, provide them with assistance.
You can also do the same thing using letter sounds. For example, if you see a book, you can say “I spy something that starts with (make the sound for b)” or “I spy something that ends with (make the sound for k).
After your child finds the object, have them tell you what the first letter (or last letter) of the object is. Take turns with your child. First you spy, then they spy, or vice versa.
2. Put letters on flashcards for a fun activity.
Put one letter on each card as shown below (create upper case and lower case cards):
Here is a sample activity:
Pick three to four-letter words and scramble them up. For example, if the word is pig, put the letters out-of-order (e.g., ipg) on the table in front of your child.
Put the letters one to two feet in front of your child so she has room to work. Next, give them a sheet of paper with three (or four) spaces for letters on it, like so _ _ _.
Then tell them the word or show a picture of the word and give the instruction (e.
g., “I want you to make the word pig on the lines below, using the letters above).
If you have Magnetic Letters, you can use these as well. You can also encourage your child to write the letters in with a pen or pencil.
You can do word families to help your child understand that many words are spelled the same way, with only the first letter different. So after pig, try big, wig, and rig.
Rhyming practice is another helpful strategy when teaching kids about letter sounds.
3. Play letter-sound Go Fish.
Make doubles of flash cards. Each player gets five cards and the rest of the cards go in a pile in the center of the table.
Player 1 calls out a letter-sound and asks if player 2 has a match.
If they don’t have a match, tell them to “go fish” which means to choose from the pile. See more detailed rules for how to play Go Fish here.
4. Make your own phonics Bingo game.
Draw a grid or make one on the computer like the one below.
(You can also print out a large version of the one below here). You can find more blank grids here).
While the grid above has 25 boxes, you can play phonics Bingo with 9 or 16 boxes also.
Here are four options for getting pictures into the boxes:
Option 1 – Draw something simple in each box.
Examples of simple drawings for each letter of the alphabet include an apple, a banana, a comb, a door, an egg, a feather, a girl, a hat, an ice-cube, a jar, a kite, a light bulb, a mitten, a nose, an orange, a pan, a queen, a ring, a spoon, a table, an umbrella, a vase, a worm, a xylophone (that one might not be so easy to draw), and a zipper.
Use colors to make it look fun.
Option 2 – Get images from Google Images, print them, cut them out and glue them in the boxes.
Option 3 – Go to Google Images, copy each image by hitting “control c’ or by right-clicking on the image and selecting copy, then paste each picture into each grid box by right-clicking in the grid and clicking paste or by hitting “control v.
”
Option 4 – Find and print out ready-made Bingo grids by doing a search for Kids Bingo Grids
You can play the Bingo game four ways:
1 – Call out a letter sound. If your child has a picture on her Bingo card that starts with that letter sound, have her put a coin, checker piece, or small piece of paper over the picture (you can cut index cards into small pieces.
This will work better than regular paper because the pieces will be heavier and stay on the Bingo card better).
2 – Call out a letter. If your child has a picture on her Bingo card that starts with that letter, have her cover the picture.
3 – Call out a letter sound. If your child has a picture that ends with that letter sound, have her cover the picture.
4 – Call out a letter. If your child has a picture that ends with that letter, have her cover the picture.
When your child fills up a row, up, down, or diagonally, she gets Bingo (she wins).
5. Make flashcards with a picture on one side and the letter the picture starts with (or ends with) on the other side
You can draw the pictures yourself or make flashcards using pictures from Google Images.
To make a flashcard from Google Images, go to the Image, copy it, “right-click” on it and click copy or hit “control c.” Then go to a word document and paste (right-click and click paste or “hit control v.”).
Then print out the pages, cut out the picture, and write the corresponding letter on the back.
If you know how to insert tables, you can put several pictures on the page in table boxes, print the page, cut out all the pictures, and put the letters on the back. Here is an example:
Show your child a picture and ask them to tell you the letter (or letter sound) it starts with (or ends with). If they are correct, let them know and show them the back of the card. If they are not correct, give them two more tries.
If they do not get the letter or sound, show them the back of the card and tell them the letter and sound (then enunciate the sound as you say the word), have them say the letter/sound back to you twice and shuffle the card back in the pile.
Repeat.
6. For children who have a lot of energy, turn a phonics lesson into a movement activity.
Tape four letters onto the wall as shown in the image below:
Call out a letter sound and tell your child to run to the letter that makes that sound, touch it and run back. Spice it up. Here are some examples:
-Hop to the letter that makes the sound
-Skip to the letter that makes the sound
-Tip Toe to the letter that makes the sound
7. For another movement activity, put tape on the floor, with a letter on each piece of tape.
Tell your child to start with their feet on a certain letter (e.g., start on letter A), then tell them to jump to different letters, using the letter sounds.
For example, “Jump to the letter that makes the sound (insert letter sound).”
See an example below:
As your child becomes more independent with his letter sounds, you can make the letters spell actual words. For the word cat, have three pieces of tape, C, A, T.
Tell your child to start at the C, then jump to the next letter in Cat, and then the last letter.
To make it more challenging, have your child spell the word backwards, by starting with the last letter and jumping in order until they get to the first letter.
Mix up the game with upper and lower case letters. The example above has three letters, but you can use as many pieces of tape and letters as you want.
Start out with a few and add more if your child is making good progress.
8. Make a worksheet, using words and pictures with your child’s favorite characters, foods, animals, etc.
You can draw the worksheets by hand or use tables in Microsoft Word. For a three-letter word, make a table with five columns and one row.
Put the picture of the word in the first box of the table (you can draw in the pictures or copy and paste them from Google Images). Put the letters in the other boxes, but leave one letter out. Have your child fill in the missing letter.
Here is an example of the worksheet:
Click here to print out your own version of this sheet.
For children who may have trouble solving this worksheet, try providing them with a letter bank to see if that helps.
See an example of a worksheet with a letter bank below.
Click here to print out your own version of a phonics worksheet with a letter bank.
9. Have your child paste letters on paper as you call out the sounds.
You can use the letter flashcards you made, like in number 2.
You can use this activity to teach your child how to spell words. Draw lines or boxes on the paper so your child knows where to paste the letters.
You can give your child the exact number of letters in the word, or throw in some extra letters to make it more challenging.
Call out the first sound in the word, have your child pick the correct letter, and paste it on the first line.
Then have them do the next sound, and so on, until the word is complete.
Supervise the activity, providing assistance as needed.
When your child is done, hang up their work to show them that you are proud of their effort.
You can also use this idea to teach a child how to spell their name, such as the sample in the image below.
10. Sing the alphabet sound song.
The tune is similar to the traditional alphabet song.
Here is a great example by Kidstv123. You can make up your own version as well.
What else can you do to help your child learn letter sounds?
If your child is significantly struggling with learning letter sounds or acquiring other academic skills, despite consistent practice and guidance, talk to your child’s school and/or doctor.
They can refer you to the appropriate professionals to determine what might interfere with your child’s progress and if additional strategies could help.
Additional Information About Teaching Phonics to Children
Keep in mind that the activities in this article are recommendations. Please do not try to pressure a child into participating in any of these activities.
This can lead to your child feeling frustrated, and possibly shying away from phonics (letter-sound) practice.
Remember to always stay calm when working with a child or student, even if you think they should be getting something that they are not getting.
If you get frustrated with them, they may start to feel anxious, angry, inferior, stupid, etc. which will lead to a less productive learning session.
Keep practice sessions short (2 to 10 minutes for younger children or children who get easily frustrated and 10 to 15 minutes for older children or children who can work for longer periods without frustration), unless the child is eager to keep going.
For suggestions on ways to encourage children to complete tasks or assignments they do not want to do, read the following articles:
- 3 Ways to Use Timers to Encourage Homework and Chore Completion
- How to Use Schedules to Improve Children’s Behavior
Video Presentation
Education and Behavior – Keeping Us on the Same Page for Children.
Rachel Wise
Rachel Wise is the author and founder of Education and Behavior. Rachel created Education and Behavior in 2014 for adults to have an easy way to access research-based information to support children in the areas of learning, behavior, and social-emotional development. As a survivor of abuse, neglect, and bullying, Rachel slipped through the cracks of her school and community. Education and Behavior hopes to play a role in preventing that from happening to other children. Rachel is also the author of Building Confidence and Improving Behavior in Children: A Guide for Parents and Teachers.
“Children do best when there is consistency within and across settings (i.e., home, school, community). Education and Behavior allows us to maintain that consistency.
”
www.educationandbehavior.com
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| Welcome! Sound Acquaintance Methodology One of the meanings of the word "phonetics" is the sound composition of the language. Classes for the development of the child's sound composition of the language include three stages: acquaintance with sound, differentiation of sounds, acquaintance with the letter.
Getting to know sound To get acquainted with the sound, you can use riddles, the answers of which begin with a given sound; poems with repeatedly repeated "necessary" sound. Refinement of sound articulation. That is, the child is invited to pronounce the sound. At the same time, the child is asked questions that allow him to “feel” the articulation of the sound. For example, "What is the position of the lips (tongue)?" Definition of sound characteristics For example: sound [a] - the mouth is open, the tongue lies calmly, the air does not meet obstacles, the sound can be sung with a voice. It is necessary to explain to the child that such a sound is called a vowel. Sound [m] - lips are closed, air cannot escape freely, as lips interfere with it; the sound can be pulled (that is, the sound can be pronounced for a long time), but it cannot be pronounced higher or lower, that is, it cannot be sung. The child is explained that such a sound is called a consonant. More details about the characteristics of sounds can be found in the section >>> cheat sheet for parents . After getting acquainted with the characteristics of the sound, a series of questions are asked to consolidate the acquired knowledge:
Separation of a sound from a number of other sounds, syllables, words The next stage is the selection of a sound from a number of other sounds, syllables, words. Determining the place of sound in a word Determining the place of sound in a word is based on pictures. For example, an adult shows a picture and pronounces a word, and a child determines the place of the sound being studied (beginning, middle, end of the word). The display is carried out in the following order: pictures for the sound at the beginning of the word, at the end, in the middle and then alternate in a different sequence. In this case, after the child has determined the place of the sound in the word, the picture is laid out in the appropriate row (upper, middle or lower). Thus, the formation and consolidation of the concept of the place of sound in a word is based not only on hearing, but also on vision. Determining the hardness/softness of consonants. When studying consonants, the next stage is introduced - the formation of the concepts of "hard - soft". At the end of this stage, the children are once again asked a series of questions to reinforce:
It is necessary to pay attention to the fact that when studying the first consonant sound, which can be hard and soft ([m]), it is advisable to talk about a soft sign, “saying” that the letter written before it means a soft sound. Compilation of syllables, words from given sounds The final type of work on the sound is an independent selection of words. The child pronounces the word with the sound being studied, whether it is hard or soft; at the beginning, middle or end of a word.
Clarification of articulations and characteristics of sounds, finding their similarities and differences See items >>> sound introduction and >>> sound characterization Selection of a given sound from a number of other sounds, syllables, words At this stage, the game is being played >>> “hear - clap” with additional conditions: after hearing one given sound, you need to clap once; hearing another given sound - twice. Determining the place of sound in a word See paragraph >>> definition of the place of sound in the word . Compilation of sound patterns, syllables, words At this stage, the child is asked to make syllables and words from separately pronounced sounds, as well as words from separately pronounced syllables:
Turning to the acquaintance with the letter, it is advisable to remember that we hear and pronounce the sound; in writing, sound is denoted by a letter; we see and write the letter. Letter games
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The child's mastery of the sound composition of the language underlies the development of speech. In other words, the peculiarity of the formation of a child's speech directly depends on his ability to hear, recognize and distinguish between speech sounds. 
You can also use stories in which the sound is associated with a certain image. For example, a story about water (sound [s] - song of water) or a story about a mosquito (sound [s] - song of a mosquito). 
Then the child is invited to put his hand on his neck and repeatedly pronounce the sound [m], while asking the question: “What do you feel?” (throat trembles). When the child is convinced that the “throat is trembling”, it is necessary to explain that it is the vocal cords that are working and such a sound is called voiced. Sounds and letters of the Russian language - scheme, table, transcription
Contents:
• What is sound?
• What sounds are there?
• How are sounds pronounced?
• Transcription of the word
• Color scheme
Sounds belong to the phonetics section. The study of sounds is included in any school curriculum in the Russian language. Acquaintance with sounds and their main characteristics occurs in the lower grades. A more detailed study of sounds with complex examples and nuances takes place in middle and high school. This page provides only basic knowledge of the sounds of the Russian language in a compressed form. If you need to study the device of the speech apparatus, the tonality of sounds, articulation, acoustic components and other aspects that are beyond the scope of the modern school curriculum, refer to specialized textbooks and textbooks on phonetics.
What is sound?
Sound, like words and sentences, is the basic unit of language. However, the sound does not express any meaning, but reflects the sound of the word. Thanks to this, we distinguish words from each other. Words differ in the number of sounds (port - sport, crow - funnel), set of sounds (lemon - estuary, cat - mouse), sequence of sounds (nose - dream, bush - knock) up to a complete mismatch of sounds (boat - boat, forest - park ).
What sounds are there?
In Russian, sounds are divided into vowels and consonants. There are 33 letters and 42 sounds in Russian: 6 vowels, 36 consonants, 2 letters (ь, ъ) do not indicate a sound. The discrepancy in the number of letters and sounds (not counting b and b) is due to the fact that there are 6 sounds for 10 vowels, 36 sounds for 21 consonants (if we take into account all combinations of consonant sounds deaf / voiced, soft / hard). On the letter, the sound is indicated in square brackets.
There are no sounds: [e], [e], [yu], [i], [b], [b], [g '], [w '], [c '], [th], [h ], [sch].
How are sounds pronounced?
We pronounce sounds while exhaling (only in the case of the interjection “a-a-a”, expressing fear, the sound is pronounced while inhaling. ). The division of sounds into vowels and consonants is related to how a person pronounces them. Vowel sounds are pronounced by the voice due to the exhaled air passing through the tense vocal cords and freely exiting through the mouth. Consonant sounds consist of noise or a combination of voice and noise due to the fact that the exhaled air meets an obstacle in its path in the form of a bow or teeth. Vowel sounds are pronounced loudly, consonant sounds are muffled. A person is able to sing vowel sounds with his voice (exhaled air), raising or lowering the timbre. Consonant sounds cannot be sung, they are pronounced equally muffled. Hard and soft signs do not represent sounds. They cannot be pronounced as an independent sound. When pronouncing a word, they affect the consonant in front of them, make it soft or hard.
Transcription of a word
Transcription of a word is a record of sounds in a word, that is, in fact, a record of how the word is pronounced correctly. Sounds are enclosed in square brackets. Compare: a is a letter, [a] is a sound. The softness of consonants is indicated by an apostrophe: p - letter, [p] - hard sound, [p '] - soft sound. Voiced and voiceless consonants are not marked in writing. The transcription of the word is written in square brackets. Examples: door → [dv'er '], thorn → [kal'uch'ka]. Sometimes stress is indicated in transcription - an apostrophe before a vowel stressed sound.
There is no clear correspondence between letters and sounds. In the Russian language, there are many cases of substitution of vowel sounds depending on the place of stress of a word, substitution of consonants or dropping out of consonant sounds in certain combinations. When compiling a transcription of a word, the rules of phonetics are taken into account.
Color scheme
In phonetic analysis, words are sometimes drawn with color schemes: letters are painted with different colors depending on what sound they mean. Colors reflect the phonetic characteristics of sounds and help you visualize how a word is pronounced and what sounds it consists of.
