Syllable Suitcase
Foundations for Phonemic Awareness
Stage of Literacy Development:
Stage 0: Foundation for LiteracyStage 1: Beginning Literacy
Ages:
3-6
Grade Range:
PreK K 1stFood Groups:
Primary: Phonemic Awareness
Transcript
Teacher: One idea for an extension activity we have a suitcase here and you can tell the children that youre going to pack your own suitcase for summer vacation. So when you open the suitcase. What we have divided into four different compartments. So theres one syllable, two syllables, three syllables, and four syllables. Based on some of the vocabulary from the book, we have some visuals here and you can start off with just having the visuals in a pile or perhaps in a little bag where the children can pick out one of the pictures and then you can incorporate your phonological awareness by selecting the picture. And then having the children say the word, break it up, and then blend it together and then together you can select where the picture goes. So puz/zle would go in the compartment where there are two syllables.
Related References
Phillips, B. M., Clancy-Menchetti, J. & Lonigan, C. J. (2008) Successful phonological awareness instruction with preschool children: Lessons from the Classroom. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 28, 3-17. Reading Rockets Print Awareness: Guidelines for Instruction http://www.readingrockets.org/article/print-awareness-guidelines-instruction
Activity Objective
The goal of Syllable Suitcase: Foundations for Phonemic Awareness is to provide students with follow-up practice in breaking words into syllables after the teacher has taught the whole-class lesson Phonological Awareness Read Aloud: Practicing Phonological Skills. The Syllable Suitcase activity requires students, working alone or in pairs, to look at a number of pictures, clap the syllables in the words they represent and decide whether they have one, two, three, or four syllables. The students then stick the pictures into a syllable suitcase, a folder that is laminated and has Velcro patches where the images can be placed into the appropriate numbered section of the suitcase.
Quick Tips
Additional Comments:
-It is important to ensure that the students know the intended names of the pictures. For example, if the intended word is cat, it is important that the students dont name it kitten since these two words have different numbers of syllables and it may appear that the student has the item wrong when in fact they are correct but named it differently from the intended one-syllable word. -To avoid this type of confusion, say the names of the pictures and have the students repeat the words aloud so you are sure they know what the image depicts. Alternatively, after they have completed the activity, ask the students to clap each of the items the have placed into the suitcase so that you will know what they called each picture and whether they correctly counted the syllables of the words they used. -Using realistic images or photos can be helpful since it is not always clear what is being depicted by some stylized images. -Instead of pictures of things, this activity could be done using photos of the children in the class and having the students clap the names of each student and place their photo into the appropriate section of the suitcase.
