Activity Description

Preparation:

1. Choose your “sound of the week” and determine the letter-sound correspondences you will teach
   1. For example, for the sound /p/ you will only teach the letter “p”, but for more advanced letter-sound correspondences like the sound /er/ you may wish to teach the letter combinations “er” “ir” and “ur”
   2. See Additional Comments for ideas
2. Gather picture cards
   1. Some should contain your chosen sound
3. Prepare the Sound of the Week chart
   1. Write the heading “Sound of the Week” on a piece of chart paper

Implementation:

1.  Introduce the new sound of the week
   1. Hold up a picture with an item that includes the sound of the week in its name
   2. Emphasize the sound of the week by saying the word slowly
      • For example: The long /e/ sound in the word “eagle”
   3. Have students say the word and the sound aloud
2. Ask students if they know what letter or letters are used to write that sound
   1. Record correct responses on the Sound of the Week Chart
   2. If necessary, explain that sometimes there are pairs of letters that make the sound of the week
      • For example: The vowel pairs “ee” and “ea” for the long e sound
3. Show students your 8-10 pictures
   1. Have the students name the item shown in the picture
   2. Have students determine if the item contains the sound of the week
4. If your sound of the week has multiple spellings, have students try to determine the correct column the picture should be placed in, based on the spelling of the word
   1. Record the name of the item below the picture and underline the sound with a different color maker
5. Continue the activity until all of the pictures have been posted

Adaptations For

English Language Learners/ESL:

- Pre-teach the sound of the week prior to the activity
- Isolate and exaggerate the sound of the week in isolation and in the word (point to mouth and tell students to look and say correct response)
- Use gestures or actions that correspond to the sound

LD/Reading & Writing Difficulties:

- Provide opportunities to practice saying and identifying the sounds in words
- Share the picture cards with the student prior to the activity
- Continue to review each new sound throughout the year during small group instruction or teacher-student conferences

Cultural Appropriateness & Diversity:

- Select pictures with which students are familiar

Differentiated Instruction:

- Encourage all students to participate by having them identify the sound in pairs

Related References

Evidence:
Levin, I., Shatil-Carmon, S. & Asif-Rave, O. (2006). Learning of letter names and sounds and their contribution to word recognition. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 93, 139-165.