To practice blending sounds together to make words:

• Fill a bag with toys or items from around the house.

• Say the sounds to 1 thing in the bag without showing item to the child.

• Child guesses what you have by putting the sounds together.

• Child can hold item after guessing.

​

Variation if too difficult:

• Put 3 items in front of child.

• Say the sounds of one of the items.

• Child chooses the correct item

​

Watch a What's In My Bag? Video

To practice segmenting or breaking words apart into sounds:

• Use pictures or real items.

• Say a word

• Then push a lego, coin, bean, etc. into a box for each individual sound
  
  Watch a video on Elkonin boxes

To practice identifying the first sound in a word:

• Say a word

• Child bounces ball and says the 1st sound multiple times

• Child then says the rest of the word
  
  Watch a video of beginning sound basketball

ADULT:

• Draw 3 boxes to represent each sound in the word.

• Draw an arrow that points to the first box.

• Say a 3-sound word (LIST OF WORDS AT THE END OF THE VIDEO) and ask your child, "What's that first sound?"

You: Say cat. 

Child: cat 

You: What's that first sound? 

Child: /c/​

ADULT:

• Draw 3 boxes to represent each sound in the word.

• Draw an arrow that points to the middle box. 

• Say a 3-sound word (LIST OF WORDS AT THE END OF THE VIDEO) and ask your child, "What's that middle sound?"

You: Say cat. 

Child: cat 

You: What's that middle sound? 

Child: /a/

ADULT:

• Draw 3 boxes to represent each sound in the word.

• Draw an arrow that points to the last box.

• Say a 3-sound word (LIST OF WORDS AT THE END OF THE VIDEO) and ask your child, "What's that last sound?"

You: Say cat. 

Child: cat 

You: What's that last sound? 

Child: /t/

ADULT:

• Draw 2 boxes to represent each smaller word inside of the compound word.

• Draw an arrow that points to the first box. 

• Say a compound word (LIST OF WORDS AT THE END OF THE VIDEO) and say to your child, "Tell me that first word."

You: Classroom. Tell me that first word. 

Child: Class!

ADULT:

• Draw 2 boxes to represent each smaller word inside of the compound word.

• Draw an arrow that points to the last box.

• Say a compound word (LIST OF WORDS AT THE END OF THE VIDEO) and say to your child, "Tell me that last word."

You: Classroom. Tell me that last word. 

You: room!

Reading expert Linda Farrell helps kindergartener Autumn learn to blend two parts of a syllable (onset and rime). Watch how Ms. Farrell gives Autumn explicit practice with onset and rime — a core phonological awareness skill that helps kids recognize and blend sound chunks within syllables. This video is part of the reading Rockets special series, Looking at Reading Interventions.

Watch additional episodes and download the accompanying Professional Development Guides here: https://www.readingrockets.org/shows/reading-interventions

ADULT:

• Choose words with three sounds.

• Explain to the child that you will sound out the word.

• When adult says the first sound, the child touches the floor.

• When adult says the second sound, children touch their tummy.

• When the adult says the third sound, children put their hands up to the sky.

• Then they say the whole word and clap above their head.