Phonics

Phonics

"I give each student a piece of paper with three connected boxes drawn on it. I say a letter sound and a word and ask students to place a plastic chip on the first, middle, or end box, depending on where they hear the target sound in the word. For example, say, ‘Where do you hear the /b/ sound in big?’ Students should place the chip in the first box."
– Shelly Straub, Transitional first-grade teacher, Tower City, Pennsylvania

"With the lights off, I shine a flashlight on a letter posted in the classroom—on Alphabet Cards, charts, classroom labels, and so on. I call on a student to tell me the letter that I am shining on and its sound. I allow my students to do the shining, too!"
– Shelly Straub, Transitional first-grade teacher, Tower City, Pennsylvania

"My kindergartners are very active, so we try to use their bodies to learn the letters and their sounds. I trace out a big letter on the floor and the kids have to stomp their feet as they walk the letter. This helps kids get the letter ‘into their bodies.’"
– Cherie Miot Abbanat, mother and teacher, Cambridge, Massachusetts