5 Center Activities for Practicing Phonological Awareness
Summary
TLDRIn this video, Alison, a literacy specialist from The Primary Pond, shares fun and effective phonological awareness activities for K-2 students. These activities help kids practice essential skills like rhyming, syllable segmentation, and sound identification through games such as rhyming clip cards, syllable puzzles, memory matching, and Kaboom. The activities can be done independently or with partners, and Alison emphasizes their adaptability to different phonological skills. She also offers a comprehensive resource pack on Teachers Pay Teachers for educators looking for ready-made phonological awareness centers.
Takeaways
- š Alison is a literacy specialist at The Primary Pond, sharing fun and effective phonological awareness activities.
- š Phonological awareness focuses on sounds in words, not letters. It includes skills like rhyming, clapping syllables, identifying first and last sounds, blending, and segmenting sounds.
- ā²ļø For kindergarten and first grade, 10-15 minutes daily should be dedicated to phonological awareness activities in whole group, small group, and individual practice.
- š¼ļø Activity 1: Rhyming clip cardsāstudents identify rhyming words by clipping or placing counters on the correct match, such as 'shoe' and 'glue'.
- š„ Activity 2: Syllable segmenting with puzzle piecesāstudents break words into syllables (e.g., 'pancakes') and blend them back together.
- š Activity 3: Memory gameāstudents match cards with the same initial sounds by saying words aloud (e.g., 'cat' and 'car').
- š Activity 4: Kaboomāa game where students identify sounds in words and risk losing cards when they draw a 'Kaboom' card, adding excitement.
- šæ Activity 5: Popcorn sorting for long vowelsāstudents match words based on vowel sounds, such as 'train' (long A) and 'cake'.
- š These activities are adaptable for different phonological awareness skills, including rhyming, syllables, and sounds.
- š Alison offers a Phonological Awareness Center bundle with over 120 activities for K-2 teachers, available on Teachers Pay Teachers.
Q & A
What is the main topic of Alison's video?
-The main topic of Alison's video is phonological awareness activities that are effective and fun for children to do independently or in centers.
What is phonological awareness according to Alison?
-Phonological awareness refers to the sounds in words and involves skills like rhyming, clapping syllables, identifying first and last sounds in words, blending sounds, and segmenting them.
What is the difference between phonological awareness and phonics as explained by Alison?
-Phonological awareness involves working with spoken words and pictures without letters, while phonics involves letters and the relationship between letters and sounds.
How much time should be spent on phonological awareness activities in a K-1 classroom?
-Alison suggests spending 10 to 15 minutes a day on phonological awareness activities in kindergarten and first grade classrooms.
What is the purpose of the rhyming clip cards activity?
-The rhyming clip cards activity helps children practice identifying words that rhyme by matching pictures of words that share the same ending sound.
How do two and three syllable segmenting eggs help with phonological awareness?
-Two and three syllable segmenting eggs help children practice syllable blending and segmenting by breaking words into syllables and then recombining them.
What is the memory game activity used for in Alison's video?
-The memory game activity is used for matching initial sounds. Children match pictures based on the first sound of the words they represent.
What is the 'Kaboom' game and how does it relate to phonological awareness?
-The 'Kaboom' game is a variation where children pick picture cards and say the initial sound. If they pull a 'Kaboom' card, they must return all collected cards, making the game ongoing and practicing initial sounds.
How does the popcorn say and sort activity help with long vowel sounds?
-The popcorn say and sort activity helps children practice identifying and matching long vowel sounds by sorting pictures based on the vowel sound they contain.
Where can the complete set of phonological awareness center activities be found?
-The complete set of phonological awareness center activities can be found in Alison's Teachers Pay Teachers store.
What is the benefit of having the activities organized by skill in Alison's Teachers Pay Teachers pack?
-Having the activities organized by skill allows teachers to differentiate instruction and provide targeted practice for specific phonological awareness skills that students need to work on.
Outlines
š Introduction and Purpose of the Video
Alison introduces herself as a literacy specialist and explains that the video will cover fun and effective phonological awareness activities. These activities can be done by children independently, especially for centers or individual work. She emphasizes the importance of subscribing to her channel to stay updated with new content about teaching literacy for K-2.
š£ļø Understanding Phonological Awareness
Alison explains phonological awareness, which focuses on recognizing and manipulating sounds in words without the use of letters (e.g., rhyming, clapping syllables, identifying sounds). She highlights the difference between phonological awareness and phonics, where phonics involves letters. Various skills are mentioned, such as identifying the first and last sounds, blending, and segmenting sounds.
ā³ Time Spent on Phonological Awareness
Alison asks viewers about the time they spend on phonological awareness in their classrooms, especially for K-1 students. She recommends allocating 10-15 minutes daily to phonological awareness in whole groups, small groups, and independent practice. For second graders and struggling readers, the practice time may vary depending on individual needs.
š² Rhyming Clip Cards Activity
The first activity Alison describes is 'rhyming clip cards.' Children look at a big picture (like a shoe) and then match it with one of three smaller pictures (like glue). They use a clothespin or counter to mark the rhyme. Alison mentions how the activity can be adapted for other phonological skills like identifying initial or ending sounds.
š„ Syllable Segmenting with Pancakes and Lemonade
Alison introduces a syllable segmenting activity using puzzles, where children blend and segment words like 'pancakes' and 'lemonade.' The goal is for kids to break the word into syllables and then put them together. She also suggests sorting activities where students classify words based on the number of syllables (e.g., two-syllable and three-syllable words).
š§ Memory Game for Initial Sounds
Alison presents a memory game where children match initial sounds. They turn over cards, say the names of the images, and identify whether they share the same beginning sound. She explains how this activity can be adapted for middle or ending sounds, as well as for counting syllables.
š„ Kaboom! Game for Phonological Practice
In the 'Kaboom!' game, children pull cards with pictures and identify the initial sound of the word (e.g., 'thermometer' for 'th'). If they pull a 'Kaboom' card, they lose their collected cards, making the game exciting and continuous. This game can be used to reinforce a variety of phonological skills.
šæ Popcorn Say and Sort for Long Vowel Sounds
The last activity is 'Popcorn Say and Sort,' where children match pictures (e.g., 'train' with 'cake') based on long vowel sounds. Alison uses a popcorn theme to make the activity engaging and notes that children can work alone or with a partner for corrective feedback.
š Phonological Awareness Center's Bundle and Differentiation
Alison explains that all the activities demonstrated come from her Phonological Awareness Center's bundle available on Teachers Pay Teachers. She emphasizes that the bundle contains over 120 activities organized by skill, making it easy for teachers to differentiate based on students' needs in small group or independent settings.
š Final Thoughts and Call to Action
Alison concludes by encouraging viewers to check out her phonological awareness pack, reminding them to subscribe, like the video, and ask any questions. She expresses hope that the ideas were helpful and looks forward to sharing more in future videos.
Mindmap
Keywords
š”Phonological Awareness
š”Rhyming
š”Syllable Blending and Segmenting
š”Independent Practice
š”Teachers Pay Teachers
š”Initial Sounds
š”Differentiation
š”Blending
š”Segmenting
š”Kaboom Game
Highlights
Introduction to phonological awareness activities that kids can do independently, such as for centers or independent work.
Explanation of phonological awareness, which includes skills like rhyming, syllable clapping, and sound identification, without involving letters.
Alison emphasizes the importance of dedicating 10-15 minutes per day to phonological awareness practice, particularly in kindergarten and first grade.
Activity 1: Rhyming clip cards, where kids match rhyming words using pictures and clothespins or counters.
Activity 2: Two- and three-syllable segmenting eggs, where kids blend and segment syllables using puzzle pieces representing words like 'pancakes' and 'lemonade.'
Activity 3: Memory game for initial sound matching, where kids flip cards and match pictures with the same beginning sounds.
Memory game variation: Instead of just matching initial sounds, it can be adapted to focus on middle or ending sounds or syllable counting.
Activity 4: Kaboom game, where kids draw cards and practice initial digraph sounds, with the risk of drawing a 'Kaboom' card and losing their collected cards.
Kaboom adds excitement and keeps the game going indefinitely, with kids continually practicing sounds while anticipating the Kaboom card.
Activity 5: Popcorn Say and Sort, where kids sort picture cards by long vowel sounds (e.g., matching 'train' with 'cake' for long 'A' sound).
Emphasis on using partners in games like Popcorn Say and Sort for corrective feedback, helping students learn together.
These activities are adaptable to different phonological awareness skills, making them flexible for diverse classroom needs.
Alison highlights that her Phonological Awareness Centers bundle includes over 120 activities, organized by skill to help with differentiation.
The resource bundle is tailored for K-2, with easy-to-use materials that can be printed for small groups or independent centers.
Final call to action: Alison encourages viewers to check out the Phonological Awareness Centers bundle on Teachers Pay Teachers for ready-made resources.
Transcripts
Alison: Hey, I'm Alison from LearningĀ Ā
At The Primary Pond. I'm a literacy specialistĀ and in this video, I'm going to share with youĀ Ā
some effective, but also super fun phonologicalĀ awareness activities and these are things thatĀ Ā
the kids can actually do on their own, like forĀ centers or independent work. Before we dive in,Ā Ā
make sure that you're subscribed to my channelĀ and make sure that you've hit the little bell soĀ Ā
that you're notified every time I post a brandĀ new video about teaching literacy in K2. Ā
Alison: So these, as I said, are going toĀ Ā
be phonological awareness activities, phonologicalĀ awareness as you may already know, refers to theĀ Ā
sounds in words. So when we're practicingĀ phonological awareness with kids we're usingĀ Ā
words spoken aloud, we may be using pictures asĀ you're going to see in some of these activities,Ā Ā
but there's actually no letters involved. WhenĀ we put letters in there that becomes phonic. SoĀ Ā
phonological awareness would include skills likeĀ rhyming, being able to clap at the syllables in aĀ Ā
word, being able to identify the first soundĀ in a word last sound in a word, being ableĀ Ā
to blend sounds together segment all of thoseĀ skills. And there's more than that, those areĀ Ā
just some examples. So that is what we are goingĀ to be practicing in all of these activities. Ā
Alison: Quick question for you to answer inĀ Ā
the comments. How long are you able to spend eachĀ day on phonological awareness in your classroom?Ā Ā
Now, ideally, especially in kindergarten and firstĀ grade, phonological awareness should be workedĀ Ā
on in a whole group setting, in a small groupĀ setting and then even practiced individually orĀ Ā
practiced independently rather, which is exactlyĀ what these activities are going to help with.Ā Ā
Now, in second grade and up, especially withĀ struggling readers, the amount of phonologicalĀ Ā
awareness practice that your kids will need willĀ really vary. But K-1 definitely want to spend likeĀ Ā
10 to 15 minutes a day. Alison: Ā
Okay. So let's go ahead and get into theseĀ activities, there for different skills andĀ Ā
all of these resources come from my PhonologicalĀ Awareness Center's bundle that I have on TeachersĀ Ā
Pay Teachers, but the ideas are really flexibleĀ and you can create your own or kind of adapt themĀ Ā
if you don't have these centers. Alison: Ā
All right. So activity number one is rhyming clipĀ cards. Now these are pretty simple. Hopefully youĀ Ā
can see this, I'll hold it up to the camera.Ā You're going to have like a big picture,Ā Ā
like shoe, and then you've got three smallerĀ pictures and the kids are supposed to sayĀ Ā
the name of the big picture out loud,Ā shoe, and then they say crab, glue,Ā Ā
frog. So they're ideally supposed to name allĀ of the pictures out loud, and sometimes they canĀ Ā
help if they work with a partner. But so then whatĀ they would do is they would take a little clothesĀ Ā
pin and they would clip the glue because shoe andĀ glue rhyme. Okay. So very simple. They could alsoĀ Ā
just place a counter on it, if you don't haveĀ clothes pins or don't want them to use clothesĀ Ā
pins. You can adapt this game to work with manyĀ skills could be first sound, ending sound. ThatĀ Ā
Phonological Awareness Center's bundle that I haveĀ actually uses clip cards with multiple skills. Ā
Alison: All right. Next up,Ā Ā
we have two and three syllable segmenting eggs. SoĀ it's kind of hard to see if you're not looking atĀ Ā
it on the table, but you can see here that we haveĀ a stack of pancakes. And so kids would use this toĀ Ā
practice saying the syllables and then puttingĀ them back together. So blending and segmentingĀ Ā
syllables. So for pancakes, they would say panĀ and they would slide on the table cakes, or ratherĀ Ā
pan cakes.,I might have done thatĀ backwards and they'd say pancakes. Ā
Alison: Then we have,Ā Ā
this will probably be too hard to hold up, but weĀ have like lemonade. So they would say, le, mon,Ā Ā
ade and they'd be putting them together, lemonade.Ā So they segment the word and then they put theĀ Ā
syllables back together. Alison: Ā
So syllable blending and segmenting, they'reĀ basically just little puzzles. You would giveĀ Ā
them the pieces mixed up and then they're puttingĀ them together and working on their syllables. YouĀ Ā
would also even have them do kind of a sort whereĀ like lemonade have three syllables and pancakesĀ Ā
at two syllables, and so you'd have more of themĀ and the kids could put the eggs with two syllablesĀ Ā
here and the eggs with three syllables over there.Ā So, that is great for practicing syllables. Ā
Alison: Now let's move on to aĀ Ā
really simple game memory and you can play thisĀ with so many different skills, but the set thatĀ Ā
I have here is for matching initial sounds. SoĀ kids would just play like they would play memory,Ā Ā
cards go on the table. If you're ever printingĀ things off, by the way, and you feel like the kidsĀ Ā
can see through the other side, just take a crayonĀ or a colored pencil and have them kind of shadeĀ Ā
or you can do it yourself. But the kids are havingĀ the cards set out in rows on the table and thenĀ Ā
they turn over two cards. They must say the namesĀ of the pictures, that's important. So they sayĀ Ā
in this example, cat, car. And if they start withĀ the same sound, ca, which they should also say,Ā Ā
then they get to keep the match. If they pullĀ something like fan and cat, they still have toĀ Ā
say them out loud. Ideally they would sayĀ the first sound, fa and ca, and then theyĀ Ā
would put them back. So just a normal memoryĀ game, but they are matching initial sounds. Ā
Alison: Again, this is really flexible just like the otherĀ Ā
games. So you could make it be middle sounds orĀ ending sounds or number of syllables, maybe theyĀ Ā
clap the syllables and they match the number ofĀ syllables. So with memory, it's simple, but kidsĀ Ā
enjoy it and the possibilities are endless. Alison: Ā
Okay. Another fun game is Kaboom. This [inaudibleĀ 00:05:21] time says different names and you canĀ Ā
again play it with many different skills, butĀ what you need for this is you need picture cards.Ā Ā
Sometimes I'll just like actually fold the cardsĀ in half and I'll put them into some sort of jar,Ā Ā
container or bag that the kids can't see into.Ā So they would play in a small group and theĀ Ā
first player would pick a card and if it's aĀ picture card, they say the name of the picture,Ā Ā
like this is thermometer. And then in this versionĀ of the game, the kids are actually working onĀ Ā
initial diagram sounds so they would sayĀ thermometer, th, and then they keep the card. Ā
Alison: So then another student takes their turnĀ Ā
and they might pull whistle, wh, and they keepĀ that. But then if somebody pulls a Kaboom card,Ā Ā
then that person has to put all of the pictureĀ cards that they've collected back into the bag,Ā Ā
the box, wherever you have them pulling it from.Ā So this means that the game actually never endsĀ Ā
until time is up because the kids will inevitablyĀ always pull a Kaboom card because there are theĀ Ā
Kaboom cards in there. And so they're continuingĀ to practice and it's just a lot of fun becauseĀ Ā
they're nervous with anticipation about pulling aĀ Kaboom card and you can also have them see like,Ā Ā
oh, what's the greatest number of picture cards IĀ can collect before I pull a Kaboom card and haveĀ Ā
to put everything back. Alison: Ā
All right. Our last activity that I'm goingĀ to show you, again, this is very adaptable,Ā Ā
you can do it with different skills, but thisĀ one is popcorn say and sort for long vowels.Ā Ā
Now, I actually have these for all of the longĀ vowel sounds in that Phonological AwarenessĀ Ā
Center's pack that I have on Teachers PayĀ Teachers, but I just pulled two to show you.Ā Ā
So here we have sheep, has the same long vowelĀ sound as sheep. And here we have, it has the sameĀ Ā
long vowel sound as cake, so A and E. You couldĀ do all of the long vowels if you wanted to or youĀ Ā
could just focus on like two or three at a time.Ā But the kids have these little popcorn kernelĀ Ā
pictures because this is a popcorn tub. So ifĀ it's train, so they pick up the car they say trainĀ Ā
and then they say A, because they're listeningĀ for the vowel sound, and then they put it onĀ Ā
this one because train has the same long vowĀ sound as the word cake. But then if they pick upĀ Ā
this picture that says, eat, eat has the same vowĀ sound as sheep so they match it here. So they'reĀ Ā
like just putting popcorn on their littleĀ tub mats until all of the cards are gone. Ā
Alison: This is something whereĀ Ā
the kids can do it on their own, for sure, butĀ it's also nice to have them work with a partnerĀ Ā
because the partner can provide correctiveĀ feedback. Maybe they don't know what theĀ Ā
picture should be or they're not sure what theĀ vowel sound is, then a partner can help. Ā
Alison: So all of these activities are super engaging,Ā Ā
adaptable to any skill. And if you want all ofĀ these materials done for you and many, many more,Ā Ā
I actually have over 120 different centerĀ activities for practicing phonological awarenessĀ Ā
skills in that Teachers Pay Teachers pack thatĀ I was telling you about. So everything you seeĀ Ā
here and so much more. The nice thing about thisĀ pack is that I have it organized where it's byĀ Ā
skill. So it's like syllable segmenting, rhyming,Ā matching long vowel sounds, glued sounds, diffĀ Ā
sounds, so it gets a little bit more challenging.Ā It's really appropriate for kindergarten throughĀ Ā
second grade. But the nice thing is that you canĀ use that table of contents to pick like, oh, well,Ā Ā
these kids are working on this skill but theseĀ kids are working on that skill and then you justĀ Ā
print the pages or the resources that you need.Ā And whether it's in small group or things thatĀ Ā
the kids are doing independently, because theseĀ all work really well as independent centers,Ā Ā
then you can give the kids practice in exactly theĀ skills that they need to work on. So it's superĀ Ā
easy to differentiate that way. Alison: Ā
All right. So I will leave the link for thatĀ Phonological Awareness Center's pack for K-2.Ā Ā
Again, that's in my Teachers Pay Teachers store.Ā I'll leave the link for that with this video. AndĀ Ā
of course, let me know if you have any questions.Ā Thanks so much for watching. I hope these ideasĀ Ā
were helpful. Don't forget to hit the like button,Ā subscribe and I will see you in the next video.
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