Jj is for Jottings 82. Analysing Consonant Sounds: 5 Activities.
In the previous post on analysing sounds, I said I’d give some activities for analysing sounds – in this case consonant sounds at the beginnings and ends of words. You can use the activities for sounds at the beginning of words, and then repeat for the end consonants. Remember that, in these early stages, the words need to be very simple – CV (consonant-vowel) eg. “toe”or CVC, eg. “bit”. When choosing words, remember that one letter doesn’t always equal one sound. Click on that phrase if you need further information on that – it’s very important. I have divided the 5 activities for analysing consonant sounds into two areas – Listening and Producing.
LISTENING.
- Say pairs of words, asking the child to say whether they begin with the same sound – Yes or No. Example: same-sun; bag-fish; jam-come.
- Put pictures or objects on the table in front of the child. You say the first sound of one, the child points to the object. Objects are probably easier. You can quickly collect toys like a car, a ball, a bear etc., and household objects such as soap, fork, knife ( “knife” has 5 letters but still 3 sounds).
PRODUCING.
- Have the child finish a sentence, using the clues of the context of the sentence and the first sound of the missing word. Example: “The boy rode his b___.” You could leave out more than one word when this becomes easy, or make the missing word less predictable. For example “The boy rode his bike along the p___ (path)” is less predictable than the first example.
- Use the same objects or pictures as in #2 above, but this time you point to an object and the child says the first sound. Or you could put the objects in a bag and have the child draw one out like a lucky dip – more fun that way.
REPEAT THESE ACTIVITIES FOR SOUNDS ON THE ENDS OF WORDS, and add:
- Draw a picture of a train with an engine and two carriages (or use a toy). It is best if the last carriage really looks like the end of the train. Now you can combine the beginning and end using the objects from #2 and #4 above. Feel free to change the objects to keep it more interesting. Have the child tell you the first sound as he points to the engine of the train, and the last sound as he points to the last carriage.
Spring is here – a good time to share the book with your children. Any time is a good time, actually!
In subsequent posts we will talk about vowels and consonant clusters/blends.
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