Sound Safari

Little levels (ages 4 to 6)

1. First sounds Which picture starts with S, B, M, P, F, H?
2. Last sounds Which picture ends with T, G, S, N, P?
3. Clap the beats Tap the drum once per syllable: cat, apple, elephant, banana.
4. Middle sounds Which word has A, E, I, O or U in the middle?
5. Same or different? Do cat and cup start with the same sound? Yes or no.

Big levels (ages 7 to 9)

1. Blends FR, ST, CR, FL, DR, SN, TR, PL: find the word with the blend.
2. Digraphs Sort ship, chair, thumb, whale by SH, CH, TH, WH.
3. Vowel teams AI, OA, EE, OO, EA: pick the team that spells rain, boat, feet.
4. Magic e Cap to cape, kit to kite, cub to cube: tap the long-vowel picture.
5. Bossy r Sort car, corn, bird and purse by AR, OR, IR, UR.

The big ideas

• Words are made of sounds. Cat is three sounds: c, a, t. Hearing the first, last and middle sound of a word is called phonemic awareness, and it is the strongest predictor of learning to read.

• Long words have beats. Syllables are the beats you clap: el-e-phant has three. Breaking a long word into beats makes it easy to read and spell one piece at a time.

• Some sounds are teams. In a blend like FR you can hear both letters. In a digraph like SH, two letters make one new sound. Vowel teams like AI and OA make one long vowel sound.

• Magic e changes the vowel. An e on the end is silent but makes the vowel say its name: cap becomes cape, kit becomes kite. It is one of the most useful spelling patterns.

• R is bossy. A vowel followed by r changes its sound: car, corn, bird, purse. IR and UR sound the same, so those spellings have to be remembered.

Try it at home

1. I spy with sounds Play I spy with first sounds instead of letters: I spy something that starts with mmm. Then try last sounds.
2. Clap the names Clap the beats in everyone's name at the table. Who has the most? Try food words: ba-na-na, spa-ghet-ti.
3. Magic e hunt Write cap, kit, cub, tub, pin on paper and keep a small e card. Slide the e onto the end of each word and read the new word together.
4. Blend sprint Say a blend like FR and take turns naming words that start with it: frog, fruit, friend, Friday. Switch to ST, then CR.

Ask after playing

• What sound does your name end with?
• How many beats are in your favorite animal's name?
• Can you turn hop into hope with a magic e? What else can you change?