Once children have learnt to hear initial sounds, they need to then hear middle and final sounds. Some children have difficulty hearing final sounds. This may be because they have poor phonological awareness. These children may also have indistinct speech. But these children can still learn to read and write, and we can help their speech as well. What is needed is a fun way to help the child to do something that is intrinsically boring - lots of practice hearing the final sound. I designed this game to do just that, to help one of my pupils. He loved it, even though he is ten! He took it home and the whole family played it, which made him feel less 'behind'. Better still - he is now hearing the final sound of words easily. It worked better than a hundred worksheets, as his writing is not good, having poor pencil control too due to low muscle tone. Final Sounds Games PackTo make the final sounds gameChoose either black and white (for economy or to use the colouring of the sheets while talking about the sounds as an added activity) or colour. Choose a baseboard: either Build a Castle or Race Track. Print as many baseboards as you have players. I suggest an adult with a child initially, but once the child is confident then more players could be invited to play. Four would be a good maximum number. Print and cut up the picture cards with the ending sounds you wish to practice. Print the sound cards also (with the flag). You will need 1 sound for each player. To play:Talk about each of the picture cards ending with sounds you have chosen to practice in this game with your pupil before starting the game. Talk about the beginning sound and the ending sound. Tell your child that in this game we will be listening for the sound at the end of each word.
Hopefully, your pupil will have had much fun playing these game and will want to repeat them using different sounds! Speech therapyThe game can also be used within speech therapy to help children distinguish between sounds which are produced in a like manner: k/g; p/b; t/d. Many children have difficulty with sounds that are produced using the same part of the mouth/voice/tongue. If this is true of your pupil then I suggest that you start by playing the game with two sounds which are not at all similar. Once the child can confidently hear the final sound of a word, then the game can be played with sounds which are similar to help the child’s speech development and the ability to carefully discriminate between like sounds. Find the Final Sounds Game Pack on TPT here for a small price.Teaching the oo sound When you see two 'o's together we do not say 'o o', but rather we make one sound: 'oo' as in moon. For many of us they actually make two new sounds. Listen to these words and hear the sound made by the letters 'oo'. If your dialect pronounces these words with the same 'oo' sound, you do not need to teach two sounds, only one and your task will be easier! Many of us will make a different sound for 'oo' as we say these two words. look moon So we have 'oo' in 'look' that sounds like the first part of the word cuckoo. And we have 'oo' in 'moon' that sounds like the second part of the word: cuckoo. I always use flashcards that are reviewed daily to teach phonics. It is a time honoured method that always produces exceptional results, enabling pupils to easily store the new sounds into their long-term memory for the quick recall so necessary for fluent reading and spelling. You can find a flashcard for the 'oo' sound in our pack of Reading Made Simple Flashcards, ready for printing. I suggest laminating your flashcards for durability. See how to use them here (scroll down the page). When I introduce the flashcard 'oo' I teach children to say 'oo-oo' as if they were saying 'cu-koo'. Listen to this demonstrated on the video below. Note: If this approach confuses your child (especially if they have a special need), then teach as above, as this makes the child aware that 'oo' can stand for two different sounds, but when the child sounds out I have them say 'oo' as in moon. So if the child sounds 'l oo k' (luke), we make a joke about it and I say, " We do not say 'Luke' at the bird, do we? What do we say?" "Yes, we say look." Then I remind the child that 'oo' sometimes makes the sound as in 'cuck'. They soon understand. Make sure that you teach your child to both blend sound to read oo words, and separate them apart (segment) to spell them. As always, encourage them to 'Sound-it-out'! A sample 'oo' Phonic lesson |
Teaching ck words
'ck' is easy as both letters make the sme sound, but we only say the sound once.
'CK' could be taught as a CVCC word, but I prefer to teach it separately as it is quite difficult for a child to grasp. This is because many words end in a 'k' sound, and one has to learn the rule as to when to use 'ck' and when to have a 'k' on its own.
The rule is simple: always use 'ck' after a short vowel. So, only when you hear the sounds: ack, eck, ick, ock or uck.
Phonic sounds are taught more completely and successfully using flashcards which are reviewed daily. Have the child repeat these sounds every time they see the 'ck' flashcard.
- Show the 'ck' flashcard and say "ack, eck, ick, ock, uck.
See our sample lesson here:
Tip: Do expect your pupils try to use 'ck' at the end of any word ending with a 'k' sound, for example, look, week, etc....
Solution: Gently correct and explain that we only use 'ck' when we hear the sounds: ack, eck, ick, ock and uck. They soon understand.
For more help, words to use, a dictation and reading books, please see our FREE phonic programme for all ages and abilities (including special needs): Reading Made Simple.
Phonic ck games are of much help.
A spring phonics game to help children
spring ahead in reading
as they tackle words with more than one syllable.
How to play the Spring Phonics Game
Having printed the Spring Phonics Game and cut out the pictures and the words, the words are put into a feely bag (or small box, face down) and the pictures laid face up on the table . Players have a counter each and take it in turns to move their 'frog' one stone at a time towards the pond - unless they have picked a 'Miss a turn' card. On each move the player takes a word card from the feely bag and reads it. The player should then match the word to a picture card. Correctly read words can be kept, while incorrectly read cards must be returned to the bag. Help can be given to match the words to the correct pictures.
Play continues until someone reaches the pond first. At this point, players count how many pictures they have correctly read and the winner is the one with the most.
Tips for playing the Spring Phonics Game
Only use one or two 'Miss a turn' cards. That 'winning' feeling will help the child to think 'I can do this' and be willing to play again and again, each time improving his/her ability to read the words. Don't worry if the pupil begins to recognise the words without sounding them out - but dont let him/her guess!
For more confident readers, use more 'Miss a turn' cards, and give less help. This will challenge the child to work harder to collect picture cards and not make mistakes.
In both cases, always comiserate with losers, and say 'It's only a game. Shall we play again and you might win?'
Let's look at the Spring Phonics Games words:
f r o g b u d s n e s t e g g s
blo ssom cat kins
Now look at these spring words:
daff o dil cr o cus t u lip
Bluebells chicks frogspawn
fl ow er s butt er fly
A first reader that your child can read for him/her self once this game has been played
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Make sure your pupil has been introduced to the necessary phonics sounds before playing this game
My Spring Phonics Game is suggested for those readers who have completed Stage 7 of Reading Made Simple.
So that you can work out if this Spring Phonics Game is appropriate for your child, I have listed the words contained in the game, with their phonics sounds marked, below:
nest
eggs frog bud blossom catkins |
Tulip
Crocus Daffodil |
chicks
Bluebells Primrose frogspawn tadpole |
flowers
butterfly |
The Spring Phonics Game...
and easy to play - like all of our games!
Click the picture to download!
If you like our games, please tell us and your friends!
If something is wrong, tell us before you tell your friends!
'ie' - Eye-EE
'ur' = You Are
'er' = EE ARE
This phonic ir/ur/er game helps spelling no end!
ur
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er
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ir
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Hop to the Pond Game
This game is suitable for children at Stage 5 of Letters and Sounds who have learnt 'ch', 'sh' and 'ay' already.
How to play:
The pupil takes a letter card (ur/er/ir) from the feely bag and then has to select a picture from the pool of picture cards that pictures a word from the chosen family .
The pupil will then have to see if it is correct by checking against the Word Bank Card. The teacher can help with this.
If correct, the picture card is taken and put by the player. If not it is returned to the table, face up.
The winner has the most picture cards once one player has reached the pond.
Full instructions are given in this FREE download (see below).
You will need:
2 counters
A feely bag, or small box to put the letter cards in.
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Playing Tips:
- Remind the pupil that 'er' most usually occurs at the end of a word: it's that sound that we make at the end of words such as 'jump - er'. Help the pupil to speak 'posh' and sound the 'er' correctly.
- Talk about the words represented by the pictures before you start to play the game. If you are not sure, check with the Word Bank first, by finding the picture for each word as it is read.
- If the pupil chooses the wrong word for a sound, refer to the Word Bank Card and reinforce the correct spelling.
- Have fun! As the pupil's mind will be taken up with the game - s/he will forget the learning that is taking place quietly underneath!
- Afetr the game, ask the pupil to say the word for each picture and tell you which family it belongs to. E.g. bird - 'ir'.
Other resources you might find helpful:
A printer to print your game
Card to print it on
Alaminator to protect it and make it last longer
Afolder to keep all the pieces safe.
If you like our games, please tell us others and us!
Download your FREE game by clicking on the picture.
magic 'e' silent 'e' split digraph:a-e powerful 'e'
Reaching the stage of learning powerful 'e' words is often a momentous point in phonics learning. It is an area that will need a lot of practice in the coming days.
What are powerful/silent 'e' words?
What is it doing?
Let's look a little closer.
Powerful/silent 'e' has the power to change the vowel to say its name rather than its sound.
can cane
rid ride
hop hope
tub tube
a e i o u
Introducing powerful/silent 'e' to pupils
Then I ask how we might spell a word like 'gate' and how we can make the 'a' sound like the name of the letter rather than the sound.
Pupils sometimes offer ideas, like 'ay'. I explain that we could write 'ay' in the word 'gate', but we will not have spelled it correctly. So we put 'ay' aside.
Sometimes an older pupil might say 'Put an 'e' on the end Miss'. However I am never fooled, but always test to see how much s/he know about the usage of pwerful 'e'.
I write the letter 'a' on a white board. I then show the pupil how putting an 'e' with it helps the 'a' to stand for its name rather than its sound.
a ae
name game rake cake wave gate
a ae
e ee
i ie
o oe
u ue
tree meet green
If the player takes an 'a' out of the bag, then s/he can use it to complete a word on his/her card. The word must be read, and then it can be put to one side and the game continues.
We laugh about the nonsense words we make with powerful/silent 'e'
plote nime
This is not the same as giving exercises in reading non-words, just to pass a test.
By doing this I help the pupil to gain a deeper understanding of when powerful 'e' is needed and what it does in words.
A FREE powerful/silent 'e' game for a-e
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I like to use this game soon after introducing a pupil to powerful 'e'.
- Just download the file, print the game pages on card and cut the cards out.
- Find a feely bag to put the letter cards in.
- I like to laminate my games to make them last longer.
- Have a plastic folder ready to store your game in.
Download your FREE Powerful/silent a-e game here
Welcome
Hello, I'm Lilibette, qualified teacher (B.Ed Hons). I have taught phonics in mainstream education, followed by have home-educated my two sons to 18, and am now a private tutor.
Reading Made Simple (a completely free systematic phonic reading programme) and Sound-it-out are the results!
I aim to bring advice and resources aimed at enabling parents and teachers to EASILY teach phonics effectively. That is: to help children become life-long readers, forming a bedrock on which all further education can be built. My mother helps to draw the pictures and between us we have many years experience of teaching KS1, special needs and ESL. We hope you enjoy browsing our site!
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