You’ve probably heard that phonics instruction is at the heart of early reading. ‘Phonics’ isn’t just one thing. It’s a widely-used umbrella term. When people say the word ‘phonics’, they’re usually referring to phonological awareness, phonemic awareness, and phonics. So what’s the difference between these similar terms? There’s a bit of overlap, but essentially, phonological awareness and phonemic awareness refer to sound, while phonics refers to print.
Integrating phonics activities throughout the school day starts with hearing sounds. Knowledge of phonics is an essential component of reading instruction. As students are able to hear and manipulate the sounds of letters and words, they begin to gain lots of power over the reading process. Remember: HEARING sounds precedes the ability to WRITE sounds. Writing sounds is a much more sophisticated intellectual task than distinguishing one sound from another. But not to worry, the writing will come in due time!
These phonics activities can be used throughout the school day to help your K-2 learners hear the sounds, read the words, and write!
Read Alouds
My phonics pamphlets come with Story Time sections to get students practicing hearing the sounds and reading aloud. Start by reading the story time section to your students. Students will be looking for particular sight words, compound words, or other skilled level words as you read the story aloud.
Comprehension Questions
Answering comprehension questions about the read alouds you share with your students in the phonics pamphlets will help your learners go from hearing the words read aloud to reading the words and then writing them in context. Encourage your students to write in complete sentences using the words and sounds highlighted in the original text.
Sing a Song
Nursery rhymes are famous for a reason. Rhymes like “Humpty Dumpty” and “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” are great to use as transitions for getting into line. Singing is also a perfect part of a calendar activity or morning meeting. Singing rhymes helps with sound recognition and phonetic patterns that will get your students to hear the sounds!
Write the Room
Introduce a particular vowel sound and have your students find words that you place around the room with that vowel sound. The write the room segments included in the Phonics Pamphlets bundle. For example, your students may find words around the room with the “oo” sound like “cool” or “room”. You can hang up the printed words to find or label items in the room with the phonetic sound. Not only will students “hear” the sounds as they read them, they will read the labels, and eventually write them in their phonics pamphlet.
Phonics pamphlets are excellent for working on phonics instruction throughout the day. These pamphlets have many engaging options to keep students learning, using oral practice, fine motor skills, and creativity. Students will feel proud of themselves as they complete these phonics activities. It’s important that students have daily opportunities to apply what they’ve learned. They can do so by applying their new skills to the words, sentences, and stories included in these phonics pamphlets.
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