In Kindergarten we will be focusing on sounds in order to build up our understanding of the connection between speech and print. We will be using the KIDS LIPS pictures so that students understand HOW their mouths move when they say a sound. Where does your tongue go? Is your voice on or off? Do you know where the sound is coming from ? These conversations that we will have this year will help solidify these movements to memory so that when a child begins to write they are able to pull up the connection of speech to what they want to put down on paper.

Using a sound wall helps build up our students phonemic awareness which helps students learn the alphabetic code.

"Instruction in speech-sound awareness reduces and alleviates reading and spelling difficulties (Adams, Foorman, Lundberg, & Beeler, 1998; Gillon, 2004; NICHD, 2000; Rath, 2001). Teaching speech sounds explicitly and directly also accelerates learning of the alphabetic code. Therefore, classroom instruction for beginning readers should include phoneme awareness activities."