- word card farm
MA Standards:
Foundational Skills/RF.PK.MA.2.c: Identify the initial sound of a spoken word and, with guidance and support, generate several other words that have the same initial sound.
Foundational Skills/RF.PK.MA.3.a: Link an initial sound to a picture of an object that begins with that sound and, with guidance and support, to the corresponding printed letter (e.g., link the initial sound /b/ to a picture of a ball and, with support, to a printed or written ”B”).
Head Start Outcomes:
Literacy Knowledge/Phonological Awareness: Identifies and discriminates between sounds and phonemes in language, such as attention to beginning and ending sounds of words and recognition that different words begin or end with the same sound.
PreK Learning Guidelines:
English Language Arts/Reading and Literature 7: Develop familiarity with the forms of alphabet letters, awareness of print, and letter forms.
English Language Arts/Reading and Literature 8: Listen to, identify, and manipulate language sounds to develop auditory discrimination and phonemic awareness.
English Language Arts/Reading and Literature 9: Link letters with sounds in play activities.
Word Play: I’m Thinking of a Word #1
© Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Department of Early Education and Care (Jennifer Waddell photographer). All rights reserved.
ELA Focus Skills: Phonological Awareness (Beginning Sounds)
Play a guessing game with children to help them hear and identify the beginning letter sound /f/. Display and read the word card farm. Ask, What sound do you hear at the beginning of the word farm? Then tell children you are going to give them clues to help them identify the word you are thinking of.
- Say, I am thinking of a word that begins with the /f/ sound, like the word farm. They are part of your body. You walk on them. They rhyme with the word meet. What am I thinking of? /f/, /f/ . . . If children have difficulty answering, point to your feet. Acknowledge when children say the correct answer, Yes! F-f-f-feet.
- Repeat the same steps with the words fiesta, fence, farmhouse, fish, and farmer.
Adaptation: In groups with very young children, you may want to have pictures of your words on hand to hold up if children are struggling to find the word from your clues. You may also want to keep adding clues until they can answer.