Fun with Phonics

One of the most popular games in our classroom is “Headbands,” where students guess the picture on their head by asking their partner for clues. We gave this beloved game a phonics twist, and it quickly became a favorite literacy activity! In our version, one student wears a sentence strip on their head without seeing it. Their partner reads the sentence aloud, and the student writes what they hear on their whiteboard. After checking their work together, they switch roles.

Not only was this a big hit with the kids, but it also gave them a fun way to work in pairs and practice essential skills. We were able to easily differentiate the activity—some students worked on sentences with blends and digraphs, while others focused on CVC words. As they played, students strengthened their phoneme-grapheme matching, spelling of sight words, and their listening and turn-taking skills.

Since it worked so well, we’ve added it as an independent station in our literacy rotations. It’s also incredibly adaptable—you could use it to reinforce a variety of skills in other subject areas too, not just phonics!