Initial sound activities show children that words contain phonemes and introduces how phonemes sound and feel when spoken in isolation.
Initial Sounds Activities
Teaching Tip
Use pencil to give visual clue to where beginning and final phonemes are. For example: sound out man, whilst pointing to the end of a pencil and arch across to the tip as you say the last sound (remember to do this back to front if demonstrating facing the group).
Initial Sounds Activities
Tune: Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes.
Child chooses and initial phoneme sound
Sing song changing initial sounds to the chosen phoneme.
Beds and boulders, bees and bows
Bees and bows, bees and bows
Beds and boulders, bees and bows
Name Alliteration
Children create wonderful descriptive words starting with the same phoneme as their name e.g. Amazing Alex, Adorable Alice, Wonderful William. These can be charted or used to label self portraits – chant daily to reinforce the concept of alliteration.
Initial Sound Song
Tune “Old McDonald had a farm”
What’s the Sound that starts these words?
Ball, beach and bounce.
(Wait for a response …)
/b/ is the sound that starts these words.
With a /b/, /b/, here and a /b/, /b/ there,
Here a/b/, there a /b/, everywhere a/b/, /b/.
/b/ is the sound that starts these words:
ball, beach and bounce.
I Have a Song
Tune: Someone’s in the kitchen with Dina
I have a song that we can sing
I have a song that we can sing
I have a song that we can sing
It goes something like this:
Fe-fi-fiddley-I-o
Fe-fi-fiddley-I-o-o-o-o
Fe-fi-fiddley-I-ooooo
Now try it with the /z/ sound
Ze-zi-ziddley-I-o
Ze-zi-ziddley-I-o-o-o-o
Ze-zi-ziddley-I-ooooo
Now try it with the /y/ sound
Initial Phoneme Rap
A is for Adam , apple and Ann
B is for Barry, berry and ban
C is for Connie, cabbage and cog
D is for David, dinner and dog
E is for Erin, egg and excite
Going Shopping
Requirements: set picture cards for things bought at the supermarket (e.g. biscuits, butter, bread, cornflakes, currants, cakes, pickles, prunes).
Give a child a basket, who then goes shopping. The shopper says “ Who has something that begins with / / naming a phoneme. Each child who has cards beginning with that sound holds them up and as the ‘shopper” comes to them, says the name of their item and puts it in the basket.
I went on a trip
Identify an initial phoneme e.g. /a/. Begin the game by saying “I went on a trip and I took an apple”. Next child must say “I went on a trip and I took a…..(child must choose something that begins with /a/ (animal, ant, anchor)
Variations:
• Can be cumulative
• Can use final or medial phoneme
• Don’t identify the phoneme prior to playing
I Spy
I spy with my little eye something that starts with / /. Children guess the object that starts with that sound.
What’s in a Name?
Select a sound of the day such as /d/. Throughout the day say students’ names with that sound in place of the initial sound in their name. John will be called Don, Sally will be Dally.
Personal Tongue Twisters
Extend Name Alliteration activity by creating tongue twisters such as “Wise Wendy went windsurfing on Wednesday” Blonde Bianca bought bright blue boxers from Bunbury.
Initial Sound Clap
Ask children when they hear a word with a different initial phoneme. E.g. can, camp, cold, tug, catch- children clap on tug.
Recognition and Production of Final Phonemes
Initial sound activities show children that words contain phonemes and introduces how phonemes sound and feel when spoken in isolation.
Final Phoneme Activities
Can You say?
Tune: Happy Birthday
Can you say the last sound?
Can you say the last sound?
It’s the last sound in …………..
Can you say the last sound?
Suggested words: rabbit, yellow, extra, happen, tablet, blackboard, footpath, pencil, into, frighten, chimney (two syllable words)
Final Sound Song
Tune: “Old McDonald Had a Farm”
What’s the Sound at the end of these words?
Bed, seed, and mad?
(wait for a response …)
/d/ is the sound at the end of these words:
Bed, seed, and mad.
With an /d/, /d/, here and an /d/, /d/ there
Here an /d/, there an /d/, everywhere an /d/, /d/
/d/ is the sound that ends these words:
Bed, seed and mad.
Last Sound Last
Ask children to listen to the following set of words: house, bus, mess. Point out that all these words end with the same sound. This sound is /s/. Tell children that you want them to listen carefully to each set of words you say. They are to then tell you what the last sound is in these words. Finish the activity by having children state other words that end with the sound.
Use these and other word sets: fun, pen, moon, top, cup, soap, pig, leg, bug and sack, rock, lick.
Secret Sound
Say three words. Children are to listen carefully and say the sound that is the same in all words. For example: teeth, bean, feet – correct response is /ee/. Make sure the target sound is in the same position (initial, medial or final) in all words.
Sun, sick, send tell, tan, top ship, shark, shoe
Game, pain, late soap, road, note sight, ride, life
Team, game, home cab, web, robe doll, well, hill.
Medial and Final Phoneme Activities
Beginning Middle or End?
Tell students that you are going to say a list of words. All the words contains /s/. Some words have /s/ at the beginning, some in the middle and some at the end. If students hear the /s/ sound at the beginning of the word they put the counter in the first box, if they hear the /s/ sound in the middle, they put the counter in the middle box and if they hear the /s/ sound at the end of the word they place the counter in the last box.
List; /s/ set, sock, bus, miss, mess, ask, safe, kiss, soup.
/p/ pack, mop, apple, hope, open, tap, pen, keep
/m/ man, moon, ham, some, room, ham, made, seem, amp
/d/ dog, duck, pad, door, toad, read, dig, rod, idle.
Credit to Jane Sheils & Yvonne Sawyers
Abbots Phonics 