What's The First Sound?

Learning Goals: Phonemic Awareness, Teacher-Directed, Letter-Sound Correspondance, Group Activity

On a smartboard (or whiteboard) several blocks of color are shown, and underneath is a photo of a thing that starts with the focus letter.

Students share the name of the object, and the letter-sound associated with the first letter.

Educator and students collaboratively make a list of words that start with the focus letter (e.g., E).

Students then practice writing the letter E.

Letter-Sound Correspondance can be extended by showing pictures of things that start with that letter, but make a different sound (for example, Elf and Eraser)
Smartboard with pre-created photos, or whiteboard with printed photos

Writing material for students to write letters after game.
The educator has prepared the game and determined the rules and steps of how to play the game.

The students had little influence on how the game was played.

The mystery aspect of blocking the photo of the object prior to showing it and asking students to identify it makes it an exciting guessing game for students.

Implementation