Sound match activity

Sound Matching Bin: An Easy Phonics Activity

Busy Toddler » Learn » Literacy » Sound Matching Sensory Activity

Author: Susie    Published: 07/27/2018    Updated: 04/23/2020

My son learned the alphabet at an early age. He liked the song, he liked the puzzles, he quickly memorized the symbols (letters) and the names that go with them. That’s one step on the journey to learning to read, and right now, we are working on our next stop: phonemic awareness. That’s what this sound matching activity is all about…. phonemic awareness.

RELATED: Wonder how I teach my kids each day? Check out Playing Preschool: my hands-on, super easy homeschool program.

But what is phonemic awareness?

Phonemic awareness is another stop on the learning to read train. There are a lot of stops on this train. Often, parents think that learning goes from memorizing the alphabet to direct reading instruction, but that’s just not the case.

It’s not how kids learn.

It’s not developmentally appropriate.

And it skips over a lot of steps that kids need as they learn this BIG skill (reading).

Phonemic awareness is the ability to hear sounds in a word. This is way more than just knowing the sounds letters make. This is about hearing those sounds in a spoken word, isolating the sounds in your head, and then being able to identify the letter making the sound.

YIKES.

That’s a lot right?

Phonemic awareness baby! It’s a huge part of the “learning to read journey” and it is NOT one that you want to miss.

How do we teach phonemic awareness?

First, we start with initial sounds – that’s the first sound in a word – an then we build from there.

So that’s what we are doing today with this sound matching activity. We are going to isolate the first sounds in a word and match it to the letter that makes that sound.

RELATED: I don’t use worksheets or workbooks with my kids. Here’s why.

Here’s what you need to do.

Materials:

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• Small container of rice (this is my 17 qt bin and about 5 lbs of rice that I store in a Ziplock)
• Assortment of toys
• Construction paper
• Sharpie

You need to go toy hunting but be strategic!

You don’t want to grab 5 toys that start with Bb – ball, bracelet, block, book, and bird are NOT going to work for this activity.

Be picky about the toys you use, get creative.

I did have a “same letter toys” but only one or two, and it still worked out great for my 5 year old.

I lined up all my toys and wrote the initial letter sound on a piece of construction paper. Make sure to be big – you want everything to fit!

Then I put all the toys in a rice bin…

I put it in a rice bin because…sensory for life!

No matter how old my son gets, he loves a good sensory bin. So I knew that hiding the objects in the rice, adding a bit of hide and seek plus sensory would be the perfect way to kick off this sound matching activity.

RELATED: Want to know how to introduce sensory bins to your kids? Check out this post!

My son

He’d find an object, say the name, and really focus hard on isolating that initial sound.

Once he matched them all up, he dumped the toys back in for two more rounds. He did this activity 3 more times the next days before we finally put the toys back in their rightful bins.

Phonemic awareness is where it’s at!

I know the road to reading is a long one, and we sometimes wish it would go faster. But the truth is, our kids need to make all the stops on this journey so they can fully grasp this complexity of reading. This sound matching activity is perfect for working on those phonemic awareness skills that are so important.

When will you make a sound matching activity bin?

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5 Senses Activity - Sound Matching Game for Preschoolers

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Learning about the 5 Senses is so important for young children. It’s the perfect unit for preschoolers because exploring the world with the senses is their natural inclination. Set up easy centers for each sense at the science center and try this Sound Matching Game as a circle time lesson.

Sense of Sound Matching Game

Step 1

To create the center, gather 12 plastic easter eggs – 6 of each in 2 different colors (like purple and orange.) Plastic eggs are often sold at the dollar store or local big box store in the spring time.

Step 2

Filled pairs of eggs with different items. The goal is to have 1 of each color egg filled with the exact same noisy object.

• Button
• Jingle Bells
• Pennies
• Paper Clips
• Unifix Cube
• Dry Beans

Addition good fillers for Sense of Sound:

• Cotton Balls
• Rice
• Small rocks
• Popcorn Kernels
• Super Ball
• Play Dough
• Water Beads
• Cheerios
• Pony Beads
• Broken Crayons

Step 3

Tape the sound eggs together to prevent any “peeking” or rearranging of the items. The students use their sense of hearing to match the purple egg with the same sounding orange egg.

After teaching the Sense of Sound game during circle time, find a place to display the game for additional practice. Students can play the sound matching game independently or with a small group during center time.

It requires a bit of cooperation and can help students develop their social-emotional skills, problem-solving abilities, and negotiation.

More 5 Senses Activities for Preschoolers:

5 Senses – Sense of Touch Board

5 Senses – Sense of Taste Activity

My 5 Senses – 15 Hands-On Activities for Preschoolers

5 Senses Interactive Bulletin Board

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5 Senses Preschool Unit

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Activate all your students’ senses in this engaging 5 Senses Preschool Unit. Ten daily lesson plans, printable activities, classroom posters, as well as literacy, math, and fine motor centers are included.

• 10 circle time lessons
• 9 math, literacy, & fine motor centers
• Book Recommendations

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Filed Under: Five Senses, Science

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Pitch Notes - FIFA 21 Career Mode Details

Dear FIFA Fans!

We are pleased to present you a detailed breakdown of what's new in Career Mode in FIFA 21!

This year we wanted to put a lot of emphasis on Career Mode and bring you the gameplay experience you've been asking for in FIFA 21. It's been an unprecedented year and we've all had to overcome new challenges, but that hasn't stopped us from bringing you a Career Mode full of innovations and new gameplay options.

There's a lot of new stuff, so let's get started.

Overview

• INTERACTIVE MATCH SIMULATION
  • Instant match entry and exit
  • A new way to play the match
• NEW LAUNCH MATCHES
• PLAYER DEVELOPMENT
• CHANGING THE POSITION OF THE PLAYERS
• NEW ACTIVE WORKOUT
• GAME TONE
• PLAYER STATUS INDICATOR
• TEAM SCHEDULING
• NEW OPTIONS AND IMPROVEMENTS OF TRANSFERS
• OTHER IMPROVEMENTS
• BROADCAST IMPROVEMENTS

The main objectives of our work on the career mode was to give players more control, freedom of choice, depth, variety of the game and make the mode more realistic. We want to bring new depth to matches, transfers and training, while at the same time we want to make Career Mode more accessible.

We know that some coaches want to control everything. Even minor decisions can be decisive and determine the outcome of the moment, bring the title, lead to the championship. However, not all moments are equally important, so this year we wanted to give players more freedom in determining the level of control over their team.

Interactive match simulation is a new way to play Career Mode matches. Now you can move away from traditional gameplay and focus on strategy. Interactive match simulation provides a faster and more tactical approach to matches - the coach can make all the important decisions from the coaching area and watch them come to life from a bird's eye view of the pitch.

In interactive match simulation, the game is played at double speed. Non-game moments are automatically skipped so that you can only watch the important things.

Instant entry and exit from the match

In the interactive match simulation, you can enter and exit the game at any time.

You can take control when your team is losing, or step in whenever players are in strike position - interactive simulation lets you play matches exactly the way you want. In addition, at any time you can exit the match and see the rest of the simulation or just calculate the final result.

Both entering and exiting the game, as well as calculating the final result, can be done at any time in the match, regardless of whether you started the match in normal mode or in simulation mode.

A new way to play the match

During an interactive match simulation, you'll see how your team's players implement your game plan, and get all the tools you need to make adjustments right during the match if needed. You can use the Team Management section, change game plans and monitor the performance of your team and the opposing team in real time. The following tabs are available to you:

• Physical form - here you can understand which players on your team are running out of strength.
• Player Ratings - this shows which players are playing a good match and which are not doing well.
• Match Stats - An instant summary of both teams' performance.
• Game plan are the tactics that teams use on the field.

In addition, live simulation matches will feature audio commentary as well as stadium atmosphere.

You can start a match using one of three options.

• Play Match - Loads a regular match with traditional gameplay.
• Match Simulation - Launching a new interactive match simulation
• Result calculation — instant calculation of the match result.

To help you make your decision, we've made the start of matches more informative. Now you will be able to see the likely lineup next to your current lineup and will be able to assess the importance of the match and make an informed decision.

In addition, we have tried to simplify and speed up the process of starting a match by making a number of changes, for example, the automatic selection of team kits. It also now houses the Match Options and some new settings for interactive match simulation, such as the ability to change the display of teams on the field map during a match simulation.

Developing players and building a strong squad that can take you to football glory is an integral part of the job of a head coach and we know that in the past, squad building has mostly been through transfers rather than player development. Now, with the new Player Growth gameplay feature and a completely revamped progression system, your squad will be able to progress and get the most out of that progress.

Depending on the playing position, players will be able to develop and specialize in a certain role; in addition, exactly those characteristics of players that correspond to the style of your game will develop. Whether you prefer to play from deep, have a lot of possession, or make quick counterattacks, you can instruct your players to focus their development in the direction you want.

The height of players is determined by the amount of experience gained. The amount of experience gained will depend on how well players perform in matches (i. e. game form) and the player's growth potential. The experience gained is distributed according to the characteristics and determines the development of the player in the future. By default, all players use a balanced development plan, which means even distribution of experience across all characteristics. You will be able to assign a specific development plan to the player and select certain characteristics and features on which all the experience gained will be spent. Thus, instead of “squandering” experience on characteristics you don’t need, the development plan implies the distribution of experience into:

• main characteristics (characteristics on which the OVR rating of the player at the current position depends)
• Special moves/off foot score (especially for offensive players)
• Player efficiency in attack/defense
• Attributes that affect specialization (such characteristics may not affect the OVR at the current position)

As in reality, the pace of development of players depends on age, ability, potential, form and playing time. Give a young player with a lot of potential to play in a few matches, help him show a decent game, and he will progress faster. If such a player is seated on the bench for a long time, this will have the opposite effect - so it's up to you to decide what is best for your team.

In your feedback, you asked for the opportunity to train players in other positions. Now the player development system includes the ability to transfer players to new positions and gives you more freedom and control over the composition. Moving to a new position can provide a chance for players who have lost their place in the roster in their original position, so you can be more flexible with each player.

Transfer to a new position uses a similar mechanic to the development of a player, but the key difference is that all the experience gained is directed to the characteristics and abilities that are responsible for playing in a new position.

Moving to a new position may also affect the player's offensive or defensive performance and ability to perform special moves. For example, you want to reclassify a winger as a full-back. To complete the transfer to this position, you need to develop the effectiveness of the game in defense. Do you want to move the player closer to the attack? The execution of special moves needs to be improved so that the player can pass defenders.

It will be easier for young players to retrain, and veterans can be transferred to positions where their key characteristics are better preserved.

The development and retraining of players is also possible for pupils of the club's academy. In the academy, young players are constantly in good shape and their development is even.

While development plans are used to improve player performance over the long term, the new active training system is responsible for the overall readiness of your squad for matches through a new player level modifier - playing tone. We will talk more about the game tone below.

The active training system introduces the concept of a training day, which can be assigned to any day except match days.

• Each training day includes 3 separate sessions designed for specific exercises and specific players.
• Each training session, depending on its type, can involve several players - in total, up to 15 players can participate in a training day.
• Each training session consists of various drills and situations to improve various aspects of the game: defense, passing, dribbling, shooting or set pieces.
• A practice day will always be filled with the right practices and players from your current roster, but you can edit and customize practice days yourself.
• Changing your current lineup will allow you to instantly update your training selection and players for the training day, so you can train a whole new group of players (such as your reserves), as long as you still have unused training sessions, of course.

Let's talk about it in more detail:

• Depending on the selected difficulty level, a training day will consume some of the players' fitness. The more difficult the training exercise, the more physical form it consumes, however, the increase in playing tone will be significant.
• The maximum training tone can be achieved by getting the highest score for the training performed or calculated in the simulation. The fitness consumption will remain the same regardless of the results of the training.
• Of course, difficult workouts require more skill to get a high score. Here you have a choice: play it safe and do a simple workout with a guaranteed good score to get the maximum tone at this level, or take a chance, choose a difficult exercise and try to get a high score and even more tone?

• The distribution of tone also depends on the number of players participating in the training. The more players who participate in the practice, the more players will improve their playing tone as a result of the successful completion of the drill. However, with fewer participants in the training, each player will receive more tone.
• The grade you get for completing a particular exercise depends on the number of points you have scored.
• When calculating an exercise in a simulation, you will always get the highest score you got by playing that exercise. By default, when calculating the results of a training exercise that you have not played, you will receive a D grade.

Tone is a brand new indicator of a player's match readiness. A player with a high tone has increased basic stats and is better in matches.

The tone value is between 0 and 100.

• Tone 50 means that the player has an average game tone. Such a player will have neither buffs nor penalties to the values ​​of the main characteristics. So 50 is the base tone value.
• Tone in the range of 50-100 means that the player's tone is above average and his stats will be boosted. Maximum tone (100) gives the maximum increase in characteristics.
• A tone value in the range 0-50 means that the player's tone is below average and his characteristics will be lowered. The minimum tone (0) will result in the maximum reduction in stats.

Let's look at the effect of tone on the example of an attacker. Here is an example of increasing the characteristics of a player with a tone of 100:

• Position selection +4
• Completion +5
• Possession +3
• Impact force +3

Please note that OVR and stats are not definitive in this material.

If the tone reaches zero, the attacker's skills will be reduced:

• Position selection -4
• Completion -5
• Ball control -3
• Impact force -3

A player status indicator system has been added to the team management, which displays important information about the player and allows you to make more informed decisions. In addition to the age and development of the player, now his overall rating is affected by 3 more elements:

• Tonus
• Mood
• Playing in one's own position

In addition, a tone icon has appeared next to the tune icon. It will help to highlight the players who are in the best shape before the match.

Scheduling allows you to monitor the activities of the players on each day of the season in order to raise their playing tone and manage their fitness and mood.

In the long run, balancing fitness, attitude, and tone is paramount, and this process creates a new dimension of player management in Career Mode.

You can now define 3 types of daily activities with clearly defined goals each:

• Training day - as described in the training section, the main emphasis here is on increasing game tone due to physical. form and mood (if the tone rises too often). Physical deterioration. form is directly related to training activity, while mentality... let's just say no player is happy to work seven days a week, and if he trains too often, his mentality deteriorates.
• Recovery Day - these days are needed to restore the physical condition of your players, but during the recovery period the tone is lost most quickly.
• Days of rest - less physical recovery, but less tone, and slightly improved mood.

When scheduling, you can either make changes from day to day, or create a schedule for the days before the match, after the match and the rest of the days between matches for two weeks in advance.

If micromanagement isn't your forte, that's okay - schedules can be adjusted at any time during the season, and you can make key changes without having to schedule players to train, rest and recover every day.

Monthly calendar will retain the usual functionality (viewing the next months and calculating until the desired date), but now it will also reflect the training activity set in the schedule. Here you can also adjust schedules throughout the season. If you want to make deeper changes, go to the weekly schedule to plan your daily activities.

The modern transfer market has changed a lot in recent years and we wanted to reflect this in the game. Here are 3 improvements made in this area:

• Loan to Buy - Instead of making a risky direct transfer, you can now first loan the player you want and buy him out when and if he meets your expectations.
• AI player exchange offers - Player swap has been around for quite some time in career mode, but so far the AI ​​has favored good old player transfers in exchange for money. The AI ​​will now make player swap offers. When you want to buy a player, you may also be offered a trade for one of your players.
• Contract renewal improvements - AI-controlled clubs will be able to renew contracts based on the rating of players in the team, and top players will become free agents less often. Of course, this will happen from time to time, as the best players will not always agree to a contract extension.

Introducing

We're constantly introducing new gameplay features, so it's becoming increasingly important to let players know how Career Mode works. This year, we're taking the first step in that direction by educating players about the goals of each system in the game and how it helps them play better.

Tournament themed extended user interface

In previous versions of the game, we consistently introduced new interface elements, designing it in the theme of the tournament in which the player takes part. In FIFA 21, we've taken this idea further and now all screens in Career Mode will be designed in the style of the tournament you're playing in to create the right atmosphere for the upcoming match.

Below are the tournaments, in the style of which the interface will be designed:

• English Premier League (England)
• Ligue 1 (France)
• Bundesliga (Germany)
• LaLiga (Spain)
• MLS (USA and Canada)
• UEFA Champions League
• UEFA Europa League
• CONMEBOL Libertadores
• CONMEBOL Sudamericana

Impact of press conference responses on mood

The system of influence of press conference responses on the entire team has been changed. Now your responses in the post-match press conferences will only affect the mood of the players who took part in the match. In pre-match press conferences, only the mood of the players who can take part in the match will be affected.

Player Mood and Form

You mentioned in the feedback that it is too easy to keep the whole squad in good mood, so we have added an extra layer to the player mood system. Now the type of answers most suitable for the player will depend on the player's score in the previous match and the player's current form. A player who has shown a low level of play in the previous match will receive a larger bonus to the mood in case of choosing a motivating answer, while praise will have the greatest impact on players who have shown a good game.

Ready-made youth academy

Now, at the very beginning of managing a club, you no longer have to create a youth academy yourself. The club will already have a youth scout, and several players will be trained in the academy. Their number depends on the Youth Development rating, in addition, there is a chance that one of the young players will show the potential of a world-class star.

A talented player in your academy

If you pre-order* or purchase the Champions or Ultimate edition of FIFA 21, you will receive a talented player for your youth academy. When creating a career save, one player with great potential will be waiting for you in the youth academy. This player will have the citizenship of the country your club represents, and journalists will mention in their news stories about this player's success that he is a local guy who grew up close to the club he now plays for.

Online connection is required to check if you are eligible to receive a Talented Young Player for the Academy at the start of Career Mode. After making the initial settings, you can continue the game without connecting to the network, as it has always been.

New Owner Team Acquisition Setup

When setting up a new Career Mode save, you will have the option to set the budget that the team will receive as a result of its new owner purchase. You can give your team a 500 million transfer fee or start with almost nothing - choose the option that suits you best.

Rigidity of negotiations

Some of you have always loved the opportunity to create an all-star team without any restrictions, while others felt that such freedom of transfers destroys realism and only spoils the impression of the game. Instead of choosing one of these approaches, we decided to give you the opportunity to choose how to customize your career.

• Strict negotiation means that:
  • Clubs will not negotiate with their main rivals or competitors.
  • Players will not be interested in moving to a weaker league or club, or to a club with which they or their team has a feud.
  • Players with the One Club Player talent will not be interested in changing clubs.
  • You will not be able to make offers to players who have been signed by a club for less than a year.

If negotiation is set to Free, all of the above restrictions do not apply and you can make any transfers. You no longer have to spend a season to get players who have recently transferred in real football.

Player Retirement

The player's career end logic has been changed so that the player will only announce their retirement in the last year of their current contract. This will allow to push back the term of retirement for star players-veterans. The retirement age for players has also been changed, moving closer to 40.

Personality of young and regenerated players

A bug related to assigning the wrong personality and psychology to young and regenerated players has been fixed. Due to this error, responses at press conferences, post-match interviews in conversations with players had an incorrect effect on the mood of the players.

Management Objectives

Management Objectives have been changed, their criteria have become clearer, especially in terms of brand promotion. Tasks related to match attendance and season ticket sales have been replaced with stages that are interesting and understandable to club fans. For example, reaching a certain number of wins in a season, a home winning streak, or an unbeaten away streak, etc. In addition, the young player game time requirement now extends over two seasons to give you more opportunities to meet it.

Transfer and Loan Negotiations

We have identified and fixed a number of issues that caused a player's transfer decision to be higher than intended during transfer negotiations. Here are some factors that influence transfer negotiations:

• The presence or absence of compensation in the contract.
• The presence or absence of other offers for a player or an already accepted offer from another club.
• Player status - whether the player is a free agent or is on a transfer or loan list by the club.
• Coincidence of the country represented by both clubs.
• Coincidence of the player's citizenship and the country represented by the club interested in acquiring the player.
• Buying club's overall rating and rating of the league in which it plays.
• Comparison of the player's overall rating and the buying club's overall league rating.
• Comparison of the duration of a player's current contact and the duration of a proposed contract.
• Lease duration in case of a lease.
• Duration of the player's stay in the current club. The more time the player is in the club, the higher the probability of a transfer.
• Differences between the player's role in the current club and the proposed role in the new club. This point is very important, as it often carries a lot of weight when making a decision to move. A player is more likely to accept a key role in a new club if he is a rotation player in the current club.
• Presence of the player's preferred position in the tactical scheme of the new club. For example, a CCM will not want to play for a club that plays in a 4-4-2 formation without a strong defensive midfield position.

All this information is summarized in the final value, on which the decision of the player to transfer or loan depends. This score will also determine what position the player will take when discussing the salary.

A number of changes have been made to the broadcast design to improve the realism and experience of the game. Here are some of these changes:

• Fully updated screen graphics for French Ligue 1 Uber Eats and Ligue 2 BKT 9 broadcasts0020
• Iconic Atmosphere - In FIFA 21, many clubs will have their own anthems, inspired by Liverpool's YNWA or Manchester City's or Real Madrid's anthems. These clubs include:
  • Chelsea
  • Borussia Dortmund
  • Milan
  • Atletico Madrid
• Goal music - music played after a goal in the home stadium. These clubs include:
  • Chelsea
  • Borussia Dortmund
  • "Inter"
• Stadium announcements in the language of the respective country - Now the game in stadiums around Europe is even more realistic and you can experience the local flavor with stadium announcements in the following languages:
  • French
  • Italian
  • German
  • Spanish
• New topics for commentators to discuss during matches:
  • your coaching debut
  • Coach of the Month Award Winner
  • Promising young player debut
  • achieving certain marks in matches played and won as a coach
  • return to the game of an important player who has recovered from injury
  • football player playing against his former club
• new performances for some clubs including Manchester City.
• new spectator design for some clubs.

Thank you for your feedback, suggestions and your support over the years. We're confident that FIFA 21's Career Mode is going to be a lot of fun, and we're looking forward to your experience.

Andrei Bucur, Alex Constantinescu and the FIFA Career Mode team.

—
For more FIFA insider material, visit the Pitch Notes page.

The FIFA 21 season starts on October 9th. Pre-order* or purchase the Champions or Ultimate edition of FIFA 21 and get your academy graduate in Career Mode.

Note: This article provides an overview of what the developers are working on in Career Mode in FIFA 21 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC. We are constantly looking for new opportunities to improve the game in FIFA, so parts of this article may become irrelevant when changes are made to ensure that every user can enjoy the game.

You can now pre-order* FIFA 21 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC.
*Conditions and restrictions apply. Read the details.

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