Guess Who?
Introducing Letter-Sound Correspondences
Stage of Literacy Development:
Stage 0: Foundation for LiteracyStage 1: Beginning Literacy
Ages:
4-6
Grade Range:
PreK K 1stFood Groups:
Primary:
Letter-Sounds & Phonics, Phonemic Awareness
Activity Description
Preparation:
1. Choose letters or digraphs that correspond with phonemes found at the beginnings of students’ names
a. For example, “ai” in Aidan, “c” in Carlos, “e” in Emily, “ch” in Charlie
2. Write out these letter-sounds on individual index cards
Implementation:
1. Show students a card with a letter-sound and say its name as well as the sound associated with it
a. For digraphs, explain that this is a special letter pattern that makes one sound
2. Identify a student in the circle that has a name starting with the selected letter
a. Say the student’s name and identify the first sound and then repeat the letter-sound on the card
3. Select another letter-sound and ask the students what sound is associated with the letter
a. Verbalize the associated sound in an exaggerated way if necessary
4. Ask students to identify a classmate that has a name that begins with the target sound
5. Repeat the activity for all the sounds you have chosen
Adaptations For
English Language Learners/ESL:
- Provide sufficient time for the students to process the question
- Before beginning the lesson, review the letters and sounds to be used in this particular lesson
LD/Reading & Writing Difficulties:
- Explain explicitly why a particular letter goes with a specific name
- Provide short and simple instructions
Cultural Appropriateness & Diversity:
- Highlight examples of names beginning with non-English letter-sound correspondences
Differentiated Instruction:
- Use think-pair-share so that students can work together to come up with the answer
Related References
Source: Adams, M., Foorman, B., Lundberg, I., Beeler, T. (1998). Phonemic awareness in young children.
Baltimore, MD: Brookes Publishing.
Evidence: Armbruster, B. B., Lehr, F., & Osborn, J. (2003). Phonics instruction. In Put reading first: The research building blocks for teaching children to read kindergarten through grade 3 (pp. 11-17). Jessup, MD: National Institute for Literacy.
Activity Objective
The goal of Guess Who?: Introducing Letter-Sound Correspondences is to familiarize students with letter-sound correspondences by having them identify classmates' names beginning with a chosen letter-sound.
What You Need
Prep Time:
20 minutes
- Write letter-sound correspondences on index cards to represent the first sound of students' names
Task Time:
10-20 minutes
- Teacher models activity
- Students take turns deciding which letter-sound cards are associated with the beginning sound in their classmates' names
Materials Required:
Teacher:
- Index cards with letter-sounds written on each card
What You Do
Teacher Role:
Modeling:
- during first example of the activity
Facilitator:
- while students are shown the letter-sound cards and are asked to match the card to the first sound in their classmates' names
Student Grouping:
Whole class:
- throughout the activity
Assessment Ideas:
- Observe what sounds are hard for students, and make sure to incorporate those sounds into other activities
Quick Tips
Activity Extensions:
- Do the activity in reverse by identifying a student's name and having the class choose the matching letter-sound card from several options
- Once students become familiar with the activity, hold up a letter card, without saying the letter name, and ask students to: say the letter name; the associated sound; and student names beginning with that sound
- Include other categories (for example, colours, shapes, animals) once all the students' names have been covered
- Repeat this activity using middle or final sounds
Additional Comments:
- Remember that not all sounds in English are represented by only one letter. It is important to teach common spelling patterns and digraphs that represent the first sound in some names, for example "er" in "Ernest", "sh" in "Shaniqua," "ah" in "Ahmed", and "qu" in "Quentin".
- Be aware that some names may not follow consistent English letter-sound patterns, for example: a. Vowel letters make more than one sound, for example, "a" may make a short sound in "Adeline" but a long sound in "Amy". Be sure to explain both possible sounds when introducing these cards. The letters c and g would be another example of letters that consistently make more than one sound. b. Some words have irregular spellings. For example, "Cheryl" and "Sean" both have the "sh" sound but do not follow the regular spelling pattern for "sh". You can use these to point out that there are often exceptions to a rule, and sometimes special spellings must be memorized. c. Some words follow letter-sound correspondences from a different language, like the /w/ sound in "Juan". This is a great opportunity to explain both the regular English letter-sound correspondence (we would normally use the letter w to represent the first sound in Juan) as well as to show that other languages use different letter-sounds.
- You may choose to use letter-sound cards beginning with a capital if you are representing the first sound in childrens names and wish to note the importance of capitalizing names, for example, "Sh" and "A".
