Push the Letter-Sounds
Using Magnetic Letters to Practice Early Decoding
Stage of Literacy Development:
Stage 0: Foundation for LiteracyStage 1: Beginning Literacy
Ages:
3-7
Grade Range:
PreK K 1stFood Groups:
Primary:
Letter-Sounds & Phonics, Phonemic Awareness
Activity Description
Preparation:
1. Choose several letter-sounds you would like to focus on
a. A short vowel and several consonants are usually appropriate, such as s, t, p, i, n
2. Decide on several short words that contain your chosen sounds
a. For example, sit, pit, pin, tip, tin
3. Gather one set of magnetic letters for each student
4. Obtain metal surfaces for each student
Implementation:
1. Introduce the activity
a. Review the idea that the letters that we see in words represent the sounds that we hear in
spoken words
b. Explain that we will be “pushing” the letters in words and saying each sound to help us
figure out words
2. Review the letter-sounds that you will be using in the activity
3. Model the activity
a. Show students the first word on the metal surface
• Remind students not to give the word away if they already know it
b. Sound out, and push, each individual letter
c. Blend the sounds together to say the word
4. Practice the activity with the students
a. Ask students to use their magnets to create the same word
b. Have students practice pushing each letter while saying the corresponding sound
c. Have students blend the sounds together to make a word
5. Repeat this process for the remaining words, providing support as necessary
Adaptations For
English Language Learners/ESL:
- Isolate and exaggerate the pronunciation of each phoneme
- Accompany words with pictures
- Provide materials and explain activity beforehand
LD/Reading & Writing Difficulties:
- Model an extra word to ensure understanding
- Do extra review of the letter-sounds you will use in the activity in advance
Differentiated Instruction:
- Allow students to work in pairs/small groups
Related References
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 Push the Letter-Sounds: Using Magnetic Letters to Practice Early Decoding is to improve students decoding ability by having them push magnetic letters to help them say each letter-sound in a word and blend the sounds together.
What You Need
Prep Time:
20 minutes
- Choose several letter-sounds to focus on
- Decide on a few words that contain your chosen letter-sounds
- Gather a set of magnetic letters and a magnetic surface for each student
Task Time:
15-20 minutes
-Teacher reviews letter-sounds
- Teacher models pushing magnetic letters to represent the sounds in a word
- Students practice pushing sounds in words
Materials Required:
Teacher:
- Magnetic letters
- Magnetic surface
Students:
- Magnetic letters
- Magnetic surface
What You Do
Teacher Role:
Modeling:
- during the demonstration of the activity
Facilitator:
- during the activity
Student Grouping:
Whole class:
- throughout the activity
Assessment Ideas:
- Make anecdotal notes about which students are having difficulty
- Assess students individually by having them push the sounds and blend a word you have made out of magnetic letters
Quick Tips
Activity Extensions:
- Invite students to make and read new words with their set of letters
- Turn this into an independent center where students can use magnetic letters to create and read words
Additional Comments:
- This activity can be adjusted to be more of a phonemic awareness activity by having students hear words orally and push letters to represent the sounds they hear in the words. If students do not know all of the letter-sounds in given words, you can use blank markers to represent those sounds.
- This activity works best when teaching CVC words, but it could be used to teach other letter-sound correspondences. If you choose words where sounds are represented by more than one letter (such as /sh/ or /ch/), be prepared to explain this.
