MRU Literacy


Word Play: Phonics & Word Building

Phonics instruction helps students to understand the relationship between letters and the sounds of those letters. Based on the Scope and Sequence and your assessments, decide on a phonics concept that is appropriate for your student such as:

  • Letter sounds

  • Short vowels and CVC words

  • CVCe words

  • Vowel teams (ea, oe, ue, ...)

  • Affixes (tion, sion)

Do some concrete word building or letter recognition activities with letter cards, tiles, or white boards.

Key Resources

The following resources will help to guide your teaching and sequence of concepts:

Tip: Try these Lit Kit Activities


Kindergarten Letter and Sound Recognition

  • BINGO Blast - letter recognition

  • I Spy

  • I'm Thinking of a Word

  • Elkonin Boxes

Grade 1+ Word Play

  • Rolling Endings

  • Alpha Scramblers

  • Don't Cross Me

  • Don't Double Cross Me

  • Onset and Rime

Teaching Strategy Examples

  • This video shows a teacher and a group of grade 1 students using Elkonin boxes and then magnetic letters to first segment phonemes and then link letters to each of the sounds.

Watch how this teacher invites students to

        • Say the word

        • Tap it: Tap each sound in the word

        • Map it: Move one counter for each sound in the word

        • Graph it: Write the letters they hear in the word.

  • Switch It: Follow the model in this video link (6:57) where the teacher models Switch It. Select a group of words and practice word building with a set of about 5-10 words.

Switch It

Video Demonstration

11 Switch It.mp4

Making Words

Video Demonstration: Watch Kipling (grade 4) use playdough and other manipulatives to build nonsense words.


10 Letter sounds and making words.mp4

  • Blending with a white board

Tip:

  • You can find word lists and other activities appropriate to your student's phonics level in this Word Play Resources Google document.

  • Try to keep the pace of phonics activities brisk and fun!