Students who learn beginning word sounds at a young age can develop into successful readers.
Beginning word sounds are the sounds that are formed by a single consonant letter at the beginning of words. Common beginning word sounds are formed by all single consonants in the alphabet because they only make one distinct sound. The vowels a, e, i, o, u, and y are not included in this category because they can make multiple sounds depending on how they are being used. Teaching kids these common beginning word sounds is a necessity to becoming a good reader because it helps them make a connection between written letters and the sounds that they make at the beginning of words.
Instructions
1. Collect pictures of single syllable words that start with every consonant in the alphabet. For example, a picture for the letter c could be a cat because cat begins with the letter c. Glue each picture on half of a note card and list two possible choices (one correct and one incorrect) for a beginning sound for each picture on the other half. For example, for the picture cat, the two choices could be k and c with c being the correct answer. Give each note card to the student and have him or her point to the correct beginning sound. Repeat this process until students can identify the correct sounds with little or no help.
2. Create a second set of picture note cards for all of the consonants using different pictures than the first. On the second set of note cards, list four possible choices for a beginning sound with only one being correct. Tell the student to say the word of each picture and point to the correct beginning sound of the four possible choices. Repeat as necessary until the students can identify the correct beginning sounds with little or no help.
3. Create a third set of picture note cards for all of the consonants using new pictures. On this set, do not include any choices for a beginning sound. Tell the student to state out loud what each picture is and then write the letter of the correct beginning sound on a separate piece of paper. Repeat this process until the student can successfully list all of the beginning sounds for each picture.
4. Review all of the note card steps for a few days every week and eventually only once a week until mastery of beginning sounds has been demonstrated.
Tips Warnings
Do not include pictures that begin with consonant digraphs such as th or ph because they form sounds that are different from their beginning consonants. Consonants digraphs should be taught after beginning word sounds have been mastered.
Laminate each set of note cards so that they can be used with multiple students over an extended length of time.
Use the clip art tool in Microsoft Word to collect the pictures that will be glued to the note cards.
