Phonics

How Many Words? - Using a familiar word, have students find as many words as they can using only the letters in the word. Ex. Given helicopter, students may find words such as he, help, cop, top, ripe, etc.

Word Building - Using a pocket chart, begin with a vowel and consonant such as a and t. Have students say each sound and then blend them. On the next row place another a and t and then add a b at the beginning. Have students say each sound and then blend them together. Continue this method with as many other letters as possible.

Elkonin Boxes - A student is given a chip with a letter on it. When a word is given, the student will segment the word and place the chip in the appropriate box that corresponds to the initial, middle or final sound. For instance, a student has the letter t written on a chip and when the word "sat" is given, the child places the chip in the final box. Students can also use this strategy when blending words.

Word Slide - Have students stick out their arm and pat their shoulder for the first sound in the word and continue down their arm patting each sound of the word. Then have them pat their arm saying each sound. Finally, have students slide their hand down their arm blending all of the sounds to say the word. This can be used when early readers are sounding out words while reading.

Nonsense Words - Have students read nonsense or pseudo words. This strategy supports students in practicing their decoding skills of unfamiliar words.