Phoneme segmenting and blending activities are important for your little reader! This post is all about easy activities to do phoneme segmenting and blending activities right at home.
Let’s discuss phonemic awareness first. Then, take a look at the 7 activity ideas that are outlined below.
Phoneme Segmenting and blending
Why is Phonemic Awareness Important?
Phonemic awareness helps children recognize the individual sounds (phonemes) in words. This is important because the ability to blend sounds is crucial during reading while the ability to segment sounds is crucial in spelling. For phonics instruction to be effective, a solid foundation in the principles of phonemic awareness is critical.
Why is Blending and Segmenting Important?
Blending is a crucial skill in reading. When children are able to blend sounds together, they will be able to sound out words while they read. Segmenting, on the other hand, is a fundamental skill for spelling. When children are able to break down a word into the corresponding sounds, they are more effective spellers.
PHONEME Blending Activities
1. Compound Word Clap
The teacher will say the two parts of a compound word (i.e. lunch and box for lunchbox). Children will repeat the two parts. With a prompt to blend it, then children will clap the two parts together and say the final compound word. This can also be helpful when blending words with two syllables.
Teacher: Ready? Lunch.*pause* Box.
Student: Lunch. *pause* Box.
Teacher: Blend it!
Student: *clap hands together* lunchbox!
2. Name Game
This is a great activity to do during transition periods! To practice blending, first select a student. Break up the child’s name accordingly. For example, /M/..olly. The rest of the class will blend the name together.
3. Guess the Animal
In this game, you will break up the name of an animal. The children have to guess the animal.
Teacher: My animal is a… /h/… orse!
Students: A horse!
4. Duck, Duck, Goose
In this modified game of Duck, Duck, Goose, children will sit in a circle. The teacher will provide the student (“the chaser”) with a word. The chaser will either segment the word into syllables or phonemes by tapping the other children in the circle.
For example, the teacher provides the word “wish” and directs the chaser to break the word into phonemes. The chaser will tap a child and say one phoneme.
/w/… *shoulder tap*
/i/….*shoulder tap*
/sh/…*shoulder tap*
Wish! final shoulder tap and then the chase begins!
Phoneme Segmenting: ORAL Activities
5. Count the Sounds
Students will need a printable of an Elkonin box and three counters. They will count the sounds in the word that the teacher says out loud. The teacher will read aloud a VC (vowel-consonant) or CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) word. After hearing the word, students will then slide their counters into the box for each sound they hear.
6. What’s the Same?
In this no-prep game, students will analyze three different words provided by the teacher and then say what sound is the same in all three words. For example, the teacher will say “bone, joke, toad.” The children will respond with /oa/.
7. Picture Count and Sort
There are countless printable activities that will target oral segmenting. My favorite activity can be easily made for your students. After printing out a variety of images, have your students divide their paper in half. Write the numbers ‘2’ and ‘3’ on each column. Students will look at the image and count the sounds. Then, they will cut and paste the images onto the appropriate column.
Need More Help?
Children who have weak phonemic awareness skills may require a more intensive, evidence-based curriculum.
If you are looking for more structured programs, please consider the following:
Phoneme segmenting and blending are essential skills for children to master in order to become proficient readers. In this post, we discussed 7 easy and free activities that parents and educators can use to help children practice these skills at home and in the classroom.
