Level 4: Friendship & Family Directory

Separation of Sound: Connections to Print

Level 4 Activities focus on the separation of sounds in a word. Children ready for this Level 4, have a good sense of focus sounds (phonemic awareness) and are ready to acoustically divide words into their individual focus sounds.

This skill is reverse of sound (phoneme) blending, where “sound units” are combined (Level 2). While separation of sounds (phoneme segmentation) appears to be a simple exercise, many children, even older ones, struggle with this skill. They may be able to identify isolated sounds (recognition), but cannot break a word into separate sound (phonemic) components.

Early Literacy Foundational Skills

• Sound (Phoneme) Counting

  • listen & detect the number of sounds (phonemes) in a word

• Sound (Phoneme) Segmentation

  • listen & detect individual sounds at the beginning of a word

  • listen & detect individual sounds at the ending of a word

  • listen & detect words that rhyme

Friendship & Family Directory

GOAL: sound (phoneme) segmentation, sound (phoneme) blending, & matching sounds (phonemes) to letters

Materials:

• unlined paper

• stapler OR binder OR paper rings

• marker

• photos of friends & family members

Directions for New Players - Days 1 & 2:

1. Have the child(ren), write one alphabet letter on separate pieces of paper.

   Challenge: Have the child(ren) put the alphabet pages in alphabetical order then staple together OR put in binder

2. Have the child(ren) select one photo and say the name of the person.

3. Focus on the beginning or initial sound of the name. Have one child(ren) find the page with the correct letter matching the beginning or initial sound. Then glue the photo onto the appropriate page.

   EX: Child selects the photo of grandma. The child says, “grandma”, then just the beginning or initial sound /g/. The child finds the page with ‘G, g’ and glues the photo of grandma onto the page.

4. Repeat steps #2 and #3 with a new photo.

5. When the child(ren) tires, stop and continue on Day 2.

Directions for Established Players - Days 3+:

Materials:

• The Friend & Family Directory from above

Directions for Established Players:

1. When all photos have been glued onto the appropriate alphabet page, select one page a day.

2. Have the child(ren) say one photo name slowly.

3. Next have the child(ren) identify the sounds (phonemes) as you write the corresponding letters underneath the photo.

4. Last have the child(ren) point to the letters, say each sound (phoneme). Finally have the child(ren) blend the letter sounds together as they move their finger from the first letter to the last letter.

   Challenge: Have the child write the letters as they say each sound.

HELPFUL TIPS:

• Always model first until the child is comfortable with this activity.

• Caution with names that begin or end with consonant digraphs (EX: ch, sh, th). Assist the child(ren) in these examples.

• Caution if using vowel digraphs (EX: ai, ea, ee). Assist the child(ren) in these examples.