Segmenting Words into Phonemes

A strong ability to orally segment whole words into individual sounds (or phonemes) helps children later on when they begin to decode words in text.

Alphabet Center Pocket Chart

Try It!

Using picture cards in a pocket chart as prompts, children in a literacy center recite the words for the pictures and orally segment the words into their individual phonemes

• Alphabet Books: Starter Set
• Word Families & Rhyming Pocket Chart
• Story Starter Picture Cubes
• Phonemic Awareness Reading Rods®
• Magnetic Picture Tiles

C-V-C Words

After children learn the letters and their sounds, they can learn to build simple words. The first word-building pattern students learn is C-V-C (consonant-vowel-consonant). In C-V-C words, the vowels are always short.

Let's Tackle the ABCs™

Inflatable Alphabet Blocks

Try It!

A teacher models building simple C-V-C words using alphabet blocks. Then, she has children practice building the word using various alphabet manipulatives.

Other Segmenting Words into Phonemes Materials:

• Soft Magnetic Learning Letters
• Funny Phonics™ Puzzle Cards: 2-Letter Word Endings
• Funny Phonics™ Puzzle Cards: Short Vowels
• Match & Spell 3-Letter Word Puzzle Cards

Long Vowel Word Families

Teaching word families is an effective technique for helping children see and hear both short vowel and long vowel patterns in words.

Fold-Up Flash Cards: Word Families

Try It!

Using flashcards to explore long vowel patterns, a child makes a new word by changing a word's onset

Informally Assessing Vocabulary

Vocabulary contributes greatly to comprehension, so informal vocabulary assessment is important. The following activity is from Everyday Assessment with Reading Rods®.

Everyday Assessment with Reading Rods®

Word Building Reading Rods®

Try It!

A child groups several words by meaning and explains why he grouped the words the way he did. A teacher then assesses his work.

• Sentence Building Reading Rods®
• Magnetic Alphabet Tiles
• Overhead Simple Sentences Tiles

Questioning & Predicting

Good readers ask themselves questions as they read and find answers within the text. This process helps children develop a deep understanding of the material they are learning.

Question Word Cube

Reading Rods® Readers:Word Families Starter Set

Try It!

While reading a book, a child pauses from time to time to roll question word cubes. He then asks himself (and answers) the questions he rolls.

Commas

Commas tell readers when to pause while reading aloud, contributing to fluency and comprehension.

Sentence Building Magnetic Tiles

Try It!

Using magnetic word tiles, children build a sentence with a comma and read the sentence aloud. Then, they remove the comma and try to re-read the sentence.

• Reading Rods® Sentences Building Kit
• Overhead Sentence Building Tiles
• Writing Journals, Set of 10

Anatomy of Paragraph

The first sentence of a paragraph is usually the topic sentence, which states the main idea. In most cases, every paragraph also has two or more supporting sentences, followed by a concluding sentence.

Hamburger Sequencing Pocket Chart

Try It!

A class goes on a nature walk and writes sentences on sentence strips to describe the experience. Then, students arrange the sentences into a logical paragraph.

• Writing Journals, Set of 10
• Improving Student Writing: Paragraphs
• Find It, Write It, Read It™ : Paragraphs
• Demonstration Tabletop Pocket Chart
• Extra-Wide Pocket Chart

Building a Simple Sentence

The color-coded Reading Rods® system teaches the simple sentence formula: 1 green rod (noun or pronoun) + 1 yellow rod (verb) + end punctuation. All other rods add more information to the simple sentence.

Simple Sentences Reading Rods®

Try It!

A child connects one green noun rod and one yellow rod, and adds a period to create a sentence. Then, she adds an adverb rod.

• Reading Rods® Simple Sentences Classroom Kit
• Simple Sentences Pocket Chart Cards
• Parts of Speech Cubes