Reading is a central part of our daily lives. Simply put - it is non-verbal communication used to share messages and information with others. Through print we are entertained, seek and provide information, gain knowledge, share experiences, and express emotions. Phonics is the ability to match letters with sounds to read words. Fortunately, there are fun activities that you can do with your child to promote phonics!

1. http://reading2success.com
A site dedicated to parents

2. Print is Everywhere
Reading is a central part of our daily lives. Simply put - it is non-
verbal communication used to share messages and information with
others. Through print we are entertained, seek and provide
information, gain knowledge, share experiences, and express
emotions.
Print is found everywhere: books, signs, recipes, menus, labels,
advertisements, directions, contracts, internet, emails, texts, and
more. Toddlers and young children first communicate verbally by
speaking. They learn to imitate sounds heard to form words to
express their needs. Verbal communication is the basis for phonics
- the ability to match letters with sounds to read words. Fortunately,
there are fun activities that you can do with your child to promote
phonics!

3. Understanding Phonics
As children become readers, they need to understand and use the
relationship between letters and sounds to read words.
Letters are the symbols used in print to represent the sounds. Phonics requires
knowledge of letter recognition, sound recognition and their associations. This
means that children must recognize letters in words, and then produce their
corresponding sounds to read words.
– For example in the sign above:
• the word read has four letters represented by three sounds: /r/, /ea/, /d/
• the word to has two letters represented by two sounds /t/, & /o/
• the word reading has seven letters represented by five sounds /r/, /ea/,
/d/, /in/, /g/

4. Shuffle the cards in random order
and have your child say the name
of each letter. Next, have your
child produce the sound of each
letter.
As your child becomes more
skilled as a reader, he/she will need
to read words with letter patterns -
two letters combined to represent
one sound. Using flash cards have
him/her practice letter patterns
such as vowel pairs: /ea/, /ee/, /oa/,
/ai/, and digraphs: /sh/, /ch/, /th/,
and /wh/.
Letter Recognition and Sound Recognition Using a Set of
Alphabet Cards

5. Letter Sound Match
Select picture cards that begin with the 3
initial consonant sounds that are very
different such as: /b/, /s/, & /t/. Review the
cards before you have your child sort
them: bear, triangle, smile, spoon,
sunflower, spinner, sign, train, tree
If your child needs support ask, “What is
the first sound you hear in the word bear?
What letter makes the /b/ sound? Is it the
letter b, s, or t?
– Then have your child sort the pictures
according to their ending sounds.
– Activities of increasing difficulty
include sorting pictures according to
their medial sound represented by their
vowel pattern: /e/: seal, peas, read,
team, wheel; /o/: boat, coat, toad, road
OR according to their beginning
digraphs: cards: chair, cherries, shoe,
sheep, thread, three, wheat, whiskers.

6. Building Words
Create a set of boxes. Each box represents a
sound in the word. Place different magnetic
letters below the set of boxes. Black letters
represent consonants, and red letters
represent vowels.
– Dictate a cvc word - three letter word that
consists of two consonants and a vowel.
The vowel appears in the middle of the
consonants and makes the short vowel
sound. CVC words consist of the same
number of sounds and letters. Examples
include: cat, hat, sat, bat, pet, set, bet, tap,
cap, cab
– Next, have your child say the word slowly
pronouncing each sound heard: /c/, /a/, /t/.
– Ask your child to choose the correct letter
for each sound heard. Have him/her begin
building the word by placing the first
letter in the first box moving from left to
right. This will help to reinforce that the
letters need to be placed in the correct
order to build (make) the dictated word.

7. Extend the activity by
dictating words that
include vowel pairs
and/or digraphs. Words
consisting of vowels
pairs and digraphs (two
letters combined to
represent one sound)
will always have a
greater number of letters
compared to sounds.
Understanding Letter Patterns

8. Sounds said in the correct order produce
desired words, therefore the positioning of
letters is essential in building the corrects
words. Switching letters/sounds will change a
word.
Begin by displaying the magnetic letters that
are needed to build the dictated words. Next,
draw three or four boxes depending on the
number of sounds heard.
Switch Letters to Change the Word
Dictate the word cat and have your child listen
to the sounds and place their corresponding
letters in the correct order from left to right..
Next, ask your child to switch the letter c with
the letter that makes /h/ to build the word hat.
Continue by having your child replace the h
with the letters that make the /ch/ sound. Ask
your child to read the new word - chat.
Have your child change the word chat to chap.
Activities of increasing difficulty would
include longer words with more patterns.

9. .
Continue on the road to reading success
To reinforce these skills, select books for your child that highlight
the phonics patterns practiced in these activities. This will help
your child to strategically apply the skills learned to reading
words in books.
View Activity Videos
Visit http://reading2success.com
Sound Letter Change
http://youtu.be/22wDLFnQHO8
http://youtu.be/n-lUXDZEQTs