Level 2: Monster Puppets
Parts of a Word: Connections to Print
Level 2 Activities help develop an “ear” for individual sounds within a spoken word. By playing with the sounds in a word, children discover that a word can be broken into “sound units”; words to syllables, syllables to beginnings (onsets) & endings (rimes), and beginnings (onsets) & endings (rimes) to individual sounds (phonemes).
They then begin to explore the blending of sounds (phonemes) together to form spoken words. This skill is referred to as oral synthesis or decoding, and is one of the key foundational literacy skills for reading. Activities with the alphabet image include connecting the sound to letters, referred to as phonics.
Early Literacy Foundational Skills
Syllable Splitting
listen, detect, & count syllables (beats) within a word
listen & detect similar sounds at the beginning (onset) of a word
listen & detect similar sounds at the ending (rime) of a word
Sound (Phoneme) Splitting & Blending
listen & detect individual sounds (phonemes) in a word
Monster Puppets
GOALS: phoneme blending & matching sounds to letters
Materials:
small paper bags
glue
crayons or markers
craft supplies (construction paper, yarn, wiggly eyes)
alphabet letter cards
Preparation:
Create paper bag monster puppets. Decorate the bottom of the paper bag with a “monster” face. Glue one letter sound on the front of each puppet, being sure to use all 26 alphabet letters.
Directions:
Select a two-letter word - see examples below.
Say the word slowly, so each sound may be heard.
Have the child select the two “monster” puppets that represent the two sounds.
Once the child has the correct “monster” puppets, have the chid say each sound (in order of the word) slowly holding up the proper “monster” puppet as each sound is made.
Next, have the child pronounce the word a bit quicker. With each repeating, bring the puppets closer together.
Repeat Steps 2 through 5 with a new two-letter word.
Common two-letter words:
an, as, at, be, he, hi, if, in, is, it, me, on, or, so, up, we
CHALLENGE:
Use three-letter words:
Common three-letter words:
and, bad, but, can, car, cat, dog, had, hen, him, jet, log, mad, man, old, pal, pet, pig, sun, ten, vet
Use four-letter words:
Common four-letter words:
band, bank, card, cast, club, cost, drop, farm, frog, hand, help, kind, land, link, list, plan, self, send, tent
Create “monster” puppets with consonant digraphs (EX: ch, sh, th) and vowel digraphs (EX: ai, ea, ee) making sure that each sound (not each letter) has its own “monster” puppet.
HELPFUL TIPS:
Always model first until the child is comfortable with this activity.
Begin with short two-letter words.
Use short vowel words.
Use words that all the letters used may be heard.
If there are consonant digraphs (EX: ch, sh, th) use ONE card for the ONE sound.
When using vowel digraphs (EX: ai, ea, ee) use ONE card for the ONE sound.