Reading Letter Recognition
Strategy: Elkonin Boxes
Appropriate Grade Level: K-3rd Grade
Procedures/Steps:
- Each student gets their own sound box.
- Then you give the child a word, ex. Cat, and put one letter in each box.
- The student then points to each sound as they say it, or can place the letter in the box as
they say it.
C
A
T
Comments and/or Tips:

This is a good way for students to say, hear, and see the letter sounds at the same time.

This is a hands on activity that gives children a chance to not only make words but
also break them up into individual phonemes.

* Elkonin Boxes can be helpful to students when they are reading a text with
unfamiliar words. If they cannot figure out how to pronounce a word, they could try
to use this strategy to sound out the word.
Source:
Al Otaiba, S., Smartt, S., M. (2003). Summer sound camp: involving parents in early literacy
intervention for children with speech and language delays. Teaching Exceptional
Children, 35(3), 30-34.