Supporting School-Entry Reading Readiness
through Kindergarten-Wide Phonological
Awareness Instruction: Pilot Investigation,
2016-2017
RESEARCH MANUAL
A manual of support materials for educators teaching phonological
awareness to preschool-aged children
CORRESPONDENCE TO:
Dr Karyn Carson (karyn.carson@flinders.edu.au)
Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia
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Contents
Contents
2
Program Rationale
3
Program Structure
4
Important Teaching Points
6
Section One: Structured Phonological Awareness Activities
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a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
i.
j.
Week One
Week Two
Week Three
Week Four
Week Five
Week Six
Week Seven
Week Eight
Week Nine
Week Ten
Section Two: Informal Play-Based Phonological Awareness Strategies
a. Week-by-Week Specific Strategies
b. General Daily Strategies
References
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22
27
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36
40
44
49
55
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58
60
All Rights Reserved (2016). As this manual is currently part
of a research project, it cannot be used or adapted without
the written permission of the corresponding author.
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Program Rationale
Raising reading achievement is a high-stakes priority for developed nations around the globe.
In South Australia up to one in five children in Year 1 struggle to read at an age appropriate level
placing them at risk for academic underachievement, social disadvantage, and vocational
limitations (SA Strategic Plan, 2015).
Several skills including vocabulary, reading fluency, comprehension strategies, and lettersound knowledge, play a complex role in the acquisition of skilled reading; however, one skill
plays a critical and predictive role in the early stages of learning to read in which the alphabetic
code must first be deciphered: phonological awareness. Phonological awareness (PA) refers to a
conscious ability to manipulate the sound structure of spoken words at the syllable, rhyme and
individual sound (i.e., phoneme) level. Specifically, awareness of individual sounds is considered
to be a powerful predictor of later reading outcomes (Gillon, 2015; Phillips et al., 2008). Metaanalysis studies demonstrate that PA primarily at the sound-level (as opposed to rhyme and
syllable levels) alongside letter-knowledge provides the most predictive insight into how well
children will learn to read and spell in the first two years of formal schooling (National Reading
Panel, 2000). Indeed, research demonstrates that early measures of PA can help forecast risk for
reading difficulties more precisely than educational measures of intelligence, vocabulary
knowledge, listening comprehension, and socio-economic status (Carson, Boustead, & Gillon,
2014; Lundberg, Olofsson, & Wall, 1980; MacDonald & Cornwell, 1995; Torgesen et al., 1994).
A majority of research on PA instruction has been conducted in either one-to-one or small
group contexts outside of everyday educational environments by researchers as opposed to
teachers (e.g., Justice et al., 2010; McIntosh et al., 2007). Of those studies that have evaluated
kindergarten-wide PA instruction, few if any, have specifically focused on the development of
sound-level knowledge or on providing instruction with enough frequency to ensure reading
improvements are durable to time. This important gap will be addressed in the current project
by investigating the effect of kindergarten-wide sound-focused, high-intensity, educator-delivered PA
instruction on school-entry reading readiness, and will include on-site coaching in strategies to
support both structured and incidental PA learning opportunities.
Research demonstrates that short-duration and high-frequency instruction in PA can produce
positive results for children in their first year of schooling (Carson, Gillon & Boustead, 2013). It
is plausible that the same can be achieved prior to school-entry. Supporting a trajectory towards
school-entry reading success through the incorporation of structured and unstructured PA
instruction at the whole-kindergarten level may help reduce the prevalence of up to one in five
South Australian children failing to read at an age appropriate level by the end of Year 1 (SA
Strategic Plan, 2015), as well as international priorities aimed at raising reading achievement for
both vulnerable and typically developing children in the early years.
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Program Structure
This kindergarten-wide PA program is based upon classroom PA activities used as part of the
study ‘Classroom Phonological Awareness Instruction and Literacy Outcomes in the First Year
of School’ (Carson, et al., 2013). The activities include a high priority focus on sound-level skills,
in addition to linking this knowledge to early reading development. Specific activities will
include: rhyme oddity, sound discrimination, initial sound identification, final sound identification, early
sound segmentation and blending, and knowledge about letter names and sounds.
Kindergartens participating in the professional development phase of the research study (i.e.,
experimental kindergartens in term 3 of 2016, and control kindergartens in term 4 of 2016) will be
encouraged to engage children in up to 2-hours of PA instruction per week of the term across
structured and unstructured activities. This means that educators will be encouraged to conduct
four 15- to 20- minute structured PA activities (i.e., 2 x 15-minute shared story book readings and
2 x 15-minute structured group activities) and up to 40-minutes across the week (i.e., up to 15minutes per day of attendance) using unstructured PA strategies (i.e., if your name starts with
/s/ you can get your morning tea).
Three levels of professional development will be offered, including:
1) A meeting with the lead researcher to discuss program theory and structure.
2) An instruction manual and teaching log outlining goals, program content, suggested
activity dialogue, and premade resources.
3) Approximately 30-60 minutes per week of on-site coaching and support from a qualified
research assistant to ensure any questions are answered efficiently.
Table 1. Program Structure by Week
Week
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Phonological Awareness Focus
Pre-Assessment
Rhyme Awareness
Rhyme Awareness
Sound Discrimination
Initial Sound Identification
Initial Sound Identification
Initial and Final Sound Identification
Final Sound Identification
Final Sound Identification
Sound Blending and Segmentation
Sound Blending and Segmentation
Post-Assessment
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Table 2. Weekly Sessions Flexible to the Days & Times Children Attend Kindergarten
Goal Weekly Session Framework
Structured
Unstructured
2 x 15-minute large group 2 x 15-minute
Up to 40-minutes of unstructured
storybook reading using
structured large
PA and print knowledge stimulation
print referencing
group activities
strategies during play divided across
strategies
the week
An approximate total of 2-hours per week
Up to 1-hour of onsite support and coaching per week
Session 1
Group
Storybook
Reading
Print
Referencing
Strategies
15- to 20minutes
Example:
Week 3 – Sound Discrimination
Session 2
Session 3
Session 4
Sound Puppet
Activity
Group
Storybook
Reading
Do /p/ and /p/
sound the same?
Print Referencing
Strategies
15- to 20minutes
15- to 20minutes
Strategies
During Play
Monkey Tree
Activity
Do /poid/ and
/pud/ sound the
same?
15- to 20minutes
‘Oh you’ve
found a
truck. Truck
starts with
the /t/
sound’.
Up to 40minutes
across the
week
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Important Teaching Points
A number of important teaching points need to be consider both prior to and during
implementation of this phonological awareness program. These are outlined below:





Engage children in preschool activities that promote understanding of concepts such as
first, beginning, last, final, same and different, in addition to activities that highlight to
children to difference between a sound, a letter, and a word. Activities that support
understanding of number concepts up to four is ideal.
Pronunciation of individual sounds during identification, segmenting and blending
activities should be articulated as the target sounds only without the addition of a
vowel. For example, ‘b’ as opposed to ‘buh’, ‘p’ as opposed to ‘puh’.
When pronouncing individual sounds, particularly in phoneme blending and
segmentation activities, ensure you wait at least 1-2 seconds between articulating each
sound.
As we are dealing with sounds, remember to blend or segment words based on the
number of sounds in the spoken word as opposed to the number of letters that are used
to spell that word. Remember to segment initial and final consonant clusters (e.g., slip is
‘s-l-i-p’). The number of sounds in each target word throughout the activities in this
manual are indicated by separating them with a hyphen (i.e., ‘-‘) and by putting silent
letters in brackets. For example, there are three sounds in the word ‘lamb’, ‘l-a-m(b)’.
Feedback examples are provided throughout the activities in this manual. It is
important to provide explicit feedback that lets the children become aware of what
responses are correct or incorrect and why so that they can learn accordingly.
Adjusting Difficulty Levels Within Activities
Preschool children are likely to have varying abilities of PA and as such it is important to adjust
the level of task difficulty within an activity to meet individual learner needs. The table below
illustrates how a target word in any activity can be adjusted to meet different abilities.
Easier
Harder
Word
Examples
sun
Rhyme
Awareness
What word
rhymes with
‘sun’?
Initial Sound
Identification
What is the first
sound in ‘sun’?
Final Sound
Identification
What is the last
sound in ‘sun’?
duck
Do ‘duck’
and ‘muck’
rhyme?
What is the first
sound you hear in
the word ‘duck’?
Tell me the last
sound in the word
‘duck’.
star
Do ‘star’ and
‘duck’
rhyme?
Tell me the first
sound in the word
‘star’.
What is the last
sound you hear in
the word ‘star’?
Sound Blending
Sound Segmenting
Guess what word
I am saying: ‘s-un’.
How many sounds
do you hear in the
word ‘sun’? Say
them with me.
Tell me how many
sounds you hear in
the word ‘duck’.
I am going to say
a word, you need
to guess what I
am saying: ‘d-uck’.
Guess what word
I am saying: ‘s-tar’.
How many sounds
do you hear in the
word ‘star’? Say
them with me.
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SECTION ONE:
STRUCTURED
PHONOLOGICAL
AWARENESS
ACTIVITIES
o Shared storybook reading & sound-to-print
referencing strategies
o Phonological awareness large group activities
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Weekly Session Support Plans
Week 1: Rhyme Awareness (+ Assessment)
Goal: To help children identify words that rhyme
Explanation for children: Begin each structured activity with an explanation of rhyming words.
For example: ‘Rhyming words sound the same at the end of the word. ‘Cat’ and ‘bat’ rhyme, they sound
a bit the same. ‘Fun’ and ‘sun’ rhyme, they sound a bit the same. ‘Cat’ and ‘fun’ do not rhyme, they do
not sound a bit the same. Can you think of any words that rhyme? Can you make up a word that rhymes
with your name?’
1. Shared Storybook Reading: Llama, Llama Red Pajama
Frequency: 2 x 15-20 minutes in week 1
Explanation: During shared storybook reading time, you are encouraged to use the focus print
referencing strategy profiled in the table below while reading the book, ‘Llama, Llama, Red
Pajama’ or a similar rhyming book from your kindergarten library. Additional print referencing
strategies that can be used are illustrated in the table below.
You are encouraged to use the focus print referencing strategy for this week at least every
second to third page. This can be integrated with the use of the additional print referencing
strategies (e.g., on one page you simply track the print while you read, and then on the next
page you may request that the children identify if two words rhyme). The print referencing
strategies can be used with greater frequency if the children are showing a high level of interest,
awareness, and engagement with rhyming words and print.
Table 1. Sound-to-Print Referencing Strategies Focusing on Rhyme Awareness
Sound-to-Print Referencing Strategies
Book: Llama, Llama Red Pajama
Focus Strategy: Drawing children’s attention to words that rhyme
Examples: You can draw on any words that rhyme while reading the story. The
following are simply a list of examples.
Print Commenting
‘Llama’ and ‘pajama’ sound the same at the end, they rhyme.
This word says ‘soon’ and this word says ‘tune’, they sound
the same at the end, they rhyme.
Rhyme Questioning
This word says ‘drink’ and this word says ‘sink’. Do ‘drink’
and ‘sink’ rhyme?
This word says ‘pout’ and this word says ‘tizzy’. Do ‘pout’
and ‘tizzy’ rhyme?
Rhyme Requesting
Can you think of a word that rhymes with: Mama? Run?
Sleep?
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Additional Print Referencing Strategies (from Justice & Ezell, 2004)
Non-verbal Strategies
Examples
o Pointing to letters and words
Adult points to narrative print or print
embedded in illustrations
o Print tracking
Adult tracks the print while reading the
narrative
Verbal Strategies
Examples
o Print Questioning
Do you know this letter? What do you think this
says?
o Print Requesting
Show me where the O is. Help me read these
words.
o Print Commenting
That’s an A. This says, “Get out!”
2. Large Group Rhyming Activities: Bingo & Remove the Rhyme
Frequency: 2 x 15-20 minutes in week 1
Explanation: Each activity option below (i.e., Rhyme Matching Bingo and Remove the Rhyme
Stories) includes two games. Select two games from the activity options below (e.g., this could
be one Bingo Game and one Remove the Rhyme Story game or two Bingo Games or two
Remove the Rhyme Stories). Resources for each activity are provided in the packs that
accompany this manual.
A. Rhyme Matching Bingo
 For this game you will need the Rhyme Matching Bingo Game 1 (A3 board and
associated bingo cards), the Rhyme Matching Bingo Game 2 (A3 board and
associated bingo cards), blue tac and a whiteboard (optional as this game can be
played on the floor).

Instructions: Place the A3 laminated board on a whiteboard or similar so that all
children can see the rhyming pictures. Name all the pictures on the A3
laminated board. Present the bingo cards to the children one at a time. Name
the picture on the bingo card and ask the children which word on the A3
laminated board rhymes with that picture. Invite children to have turns at
sticking each bingo card onto the associated rhyming picture on the bingo board.

Example: Explain that everyone is going to play a bingo game. A bingo game is
a matching game where we will look at some pictures and see if they match our
bingo board. Show the children the bingo board and name each of the six
pictures. After naming each picture on the bingo board engage in a dialogue
similar to the following:
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



Teacher: Oh look, we have found a ‘snail’. Can you say the word ‘snail’
with me?
Teacher and children: ‘Snail’.
Teacher: Let’s see what picture on our bingo board rhymes with ‘snail’ –
sounds like ‘snail’ at the end. ‘Snail’ and ‘sand’ (holding image of ‘snail’
beside image of ‘sand’ on the bingo board), no they don’t rhyme. ‘Snail’
and ‘tail’ (holding image of ‘snail’ beside image of ‘tail’ on the bingo
board), yes they rhyme. They rhyme because the sound the same at the
end; listen carefully, ‘snail’, ‘tail’ – can you hear they both have ‘ail’ at the
end. Let’s do another one.
Words:
 Rhyme Matching Bingo Game 1: Snail-Tail; Fan-Man; Hand-Sand; BatMat; Gate-Plate; Bed-Head.
 Rhyme Matching Bingo Game 2: Hen-Ten; Chin-Pin; King-Ring; KiteKnight; Row-Mow; Crow-Snow
B. Remove the Rhyme Stories
 For this game you will need the Remove the Rhyme Stories (Park Story and Birthday
Story), a white or black board, a white or black board pen, and an eraser.

Instructions: Select a Remove the Rhyme Story and draw the associated pictures
on the white or black board. Name each part of the picture you have drawn.
Then, as you read the story, encourage the children to identify the words in the
story that rhyme with parts of the picture. Invite children to erase the parts of
the picture that rhyme with the words in the story.

Example: Using the ‘Park Story’ draw a tree, swing, girl, sun and flower on a
whiteboard/blackboard or large piece of paper. Name each image for the
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children. Explain to the children that you are going to read a story, and that
when the children hear a word that rhymes with one of the images on the board,
that image will be rubbed off. Then engage in a dialogue similar to the
following:






Teacher: If you like the SEA, remove the TREE; SEA and TREE, they
rhyme, they sound the same at the end. Say these words with me.
Teacher and children: ‘SEA’, ‘TREE’.
Teacher: Who would like to come up and remove/rub out the TREE.
Teacher: Let’s all SING to remove the SWING; SING and SWING, they
rhyme, they sound the same at the end. Say these words with me.
Teacher and children: ‘SING’, ‘SWING’.
Teacher: Who would like to come up and remove/rub out the SWING.
Begin to increase the difficulty level




Teacher: If you think the park is FUN, remove the ______ (wait for
children to respond). FUN and SUN, they rhyme, they sound the same at
the end. Say these words with me.
Teacher and children: ‘FUN’, ‘SUN’, can you hear how these words sound
the same at the end? Who would like to come up and remove/rub out
the SUN.
Continue in a similar fashion to the above until the story is completed.
Words:
 Park Story: Sea-Tree; Sing-Swing; Fun-Sun; Whirl-Girl; Shower-Flower
 Birthday Story: Shake-Cake; Spoons-Balloons; Sandals-Candles; PleasantPresent; Cat-Hat; Dreamer-Streamer; Blink-Drink
Acknowledgment: The concept of removing the rhyme comes from the book, Phonemic Awareness:
Playing with sounds to strengthen beginning reading skills (pp. 102-104), by J Fitzpatrick (1997) and
published by Creative Teaching Press. The specific stories in this manual were written by the lead
researcher on this project.
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Week 2: Rhyme Awareness
Goal: To help children identify words that do and do not rhyme
Explanation for children: Begin each structured activity with an explanation of rhyming words.
For example: ‘Rhyming words sound the same at the end of the word. ‘Cat’ and ‘bat’ rhyme, they sound
a bit the same. ‘Fun’ and ‘sun’ rhyme, they sound a bit the same. ‘Cat’ and ‘fun’ do not rhyme, they do
not sound a bit the same. Last week we learnt about words that rhyme. This week we will learn
about words that rhyme and words that do not rhyme.
1. Shared Storybook Reading: Chicka Chicka Boom Boom
Frequency: 2 x 15-20 minutes in week 2
Explanation: During shared storybook reading time, you are encouraged to use the focus print
referencing strategy profiled in the table below while reading the book, ‘Chicka Chicka Boom
Boom’, or a similar book from your kindergarten library. Additional print referencing strategies
that can be used are illustrated in the table below.
You are encouraged to use the focus print referencing strategy for this week at least every
second to third page. This can be integrated with the use of the additional print referencing
strategies (e.g., on one page you simply track the print while you read, and then on the next
page you may request the children identify if two words rhyme). The print referencing
strategies can be used with greater frequency if the children are showing a high level of interest,
awareness, and engagement with rhyming words and print.
Table 2. Sound-to-Print Referencing Strategies Focusing on Rhyme Matching and Oddity
Sound-to-Print Referencing Strategies
Book: Chicka Chicka Boom Boom
Focus Strategy: Drawing children’s attention to words that rhyme and do not rhyme
Examples: You can draw on any words that rhyme or do not rhyme while reading the
story. The following are a list of examples.
Print Commenting
‘Whee’ and ‘tree’ sound the same at the end, they rhyme.
This word says ‘boom’ and this word says ‘tree’, they do not
sound the same at the end, they do not rhyme.
Rhyme Questioning
This word says ‘flee’ and this word says ‘tree’. Do ‘flee’ and
‘tree’ rhyme?
This word says ’toe’ and this word says ‘up’. Do ‘toe’ and
‘up’ rhyme?
Rhyme Requesting
Can you think of a word that rhymes with: Boom? Cry?
Looped?
Additional Print Referencing Strategies (from Justice & Ezell, 2004)
Non-verbal Strategies
Examples
o Pointing to letters and words
Adult points to narrative print or print
embedded in illustrations
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o Print tracking
Verbal Strategies
o Print Questioning
o Print Requesting
o Print Commenting
Adult tracks the print while reading the
narrative
Examples
Do you know this letter? What do you think this
says?
Show me where the O is. Help me read these
words.
That’s an A. This says, “Get out!”
2. Large Group Rhyming Activities: Matching, Oddity, &
Creating the Rhyme
Frequency: 2 x 15-20 minutes in week 2
Explanation: Each activity option below (i.e., Rhyme Matching and Oddity and Create the Rhyme
Stories) includes two games. For the Rhyme Matching and Oddity start with the double-image
cards and progress to the triple image cards if the double-image cards appear too easy for the
children. Resources for each activity are provided in the packs that accompany this manual.
A. Rhyme Matching and Oddity
o For this game you will need the Rhyme Matching Cards (double-image cards) and Rhyme
Oddity Cards (triple image cards), a whiteboard marker, and an eraser.
o
Instructions: Tell the children that you are going to show them some pictures and
would like their help to work out if the pictures are rhyming words or not. Explain
that for words that rhyme you want the children to do a ‘thumbs up’ (and say
‘ding’) and for words that do not rhyme you want the children to ‘cross their arms’
(and say ‘eerrr’).
Rhyme Matching Cards: Do these words rhyme?
Mix up the Rhyme Matching Oddity Cards (double-image cards) so that rhyming and
non-rhyming pairs are presented randomly. Hold up the Rhyme Matching Oddity
Cards one at a time so that all children can see the two pictures on each card. Name
the two pictures, then ask the children if the two words rhyme (e.g., Do X and X
rhyme?). Put ticks or crosses in the small boxes below each picture to indicate if the
words did or did not rhyme. Provide feedback as required to highlight the parts of
the two words that rhyme or do not rhyme (e.g., ‘Snail’ and ‘tail’ rhyme because they
both end with ‘ail’. Say these words with me, ‘snAIL’, ‘tAIL’).
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Example:
 Teacher: This picture shows ‘row’ because the man is rowing the boat. This
picture shows ‘mow’ because the woman is mowing the lawn’. Do the words
‘row’ and ‘mow’ rhyme, sound the same at the end?
 Children: ‘Ding’ (with thumbs up).
 Teacher Feedback: Yes, ‘row’ and ‘mow’ rhyme because the sound the same
at the end. Listen carefully, ‘rOW’, ‘mOW’.
For children who answer with ‘errr’ (crossed arms), ensure they listen to the
teacher feedback above. The rhyming components of the two words could be
made more salient by seeing if ‘row’ and ‘mow’ rhyme with the child’s name and
highlighting the differences in sounds (if the child’s name rhymes with ‘row’ and
‘mow’, then choose the child’s last name or a friend’s name).
Rhyme Oddity Cards: What word does not rhyme?
Progress to the Rhyme Matching Oddity Cards (triple-image cards) to increase the
difficulty level. As with the Rhyme Matching Oddity (double-image cards), name all
three pictures and then ask the children which word does not rhyme. Put ticks or
crosses in the small boxes below each picture to indicate which words do rhyme and
which word do not rhyme. Provide feedback as required to highlight which words
share rhyming units compared to the word that does not (e.g., ‘Snail’ and ‘tail’
rhyme because they both end with ‘ail’. Say these words with me, ‘snAIL’, ‘tAIL’.
‘Fan’ does not rhyme with ‘snail’ and ‘tail’ because it ends with ‘AN’).
o
Example:
o Teacher: This is a ‘snail’, a ‘tail’, and a ‘fan’. One of these words does not
rhyme, doesn’t sound like the rest. Listen carefully, which word does not
rhyme, doesn’t sound the same: ‘snail’, ‘tail’, ‘fan’?
o Children: ‘Fan’ (correct response)
o Teacher Feedback: ‘Fan’ does not rhyme, it doesn’t sound like ‘snail’ or ‘tail’.
Listen carefully, ‘snAIL’, ‘tAIL’, ‘fAN’.
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o
Words:
 Rhyme Matching Cards (double-image cards):
 Rhyming Cards: Snail-Tail; Hand-Sand; Gate-Plate; Hen-Ten; King-Ring;
Row-Mow
 Non-Rhyming Cards: Fan-Bat; Man-Kite; Mat-Pin; Bed-Chin; HeadCrow; Knight-Snow
 Rhyme Matching Oddity Cards (triple-image cards):
 Word that does not rhyme is underlined
 Snail, Tail, Fan
 Run, Hand, Sand
 Bat, Mat, Gate
 Hen, Ten, Chin
 Pin, King, Ring
 Kite, Knight, Row
 Mow, Toes, Snow
 Cot, Pot, Hose
 Nose, Rose, Sun
B. Create the Rhyme Stories
 For this game you will need the Create the Rhyme Stories (Robot Story and Luck
Dragon Story), a white or black board, a white or black board pen, and an eraser.

Instructions: Select a Creating the Rhyme Story. As you read the story, encourage
the children to identify the words in the story that rhyme. Then draw the picture
on the white or black board that rhymes. You can also invite children to have a
turn at drawing the rhyming picture on the white or black board if time allows.
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
Example: Using the ‘Robot Story’, explain to the children that when children
hear a word that rhymes, they can have turns at drawing that rhyming word on
the board.
 Teacher: Our robot lives on a FARM, better give him one ARM. FARM
and ARM, they rhyme, they sound the same at the end. Say these words
with me.
 Teacher and children: ‘FARM’, ‘ARM’.
 Teacher: Who would like to come up and draw an ARM for us?
 Teacher: He likes to play in BANDS, better give him two HANDS.
BANDS and HANDS, they rhyme, they sound the same at the end. Say
these words with me.
 Teacher and children: ‘BANDS’, ‘HANDS’.
 Teacher: Who would like to come up and draw some HANDS for us?
Begin to increase the difficulty level





Teacher: he likes to run a mile, better give him a great big _____ (wait and
see if the children can fill in the gap. If not, then provide the word for
them). MILE and SMILE, they rhyme, they sound the same at the end.
Say these words with me.
Teacher and children: ‘MILE’, ‘SMILE’.
Teacher: Who would like to come up and draw a big ‘SMILE’.
Continue in a similar fashion to the above until the story is completed.
Words:
 Robot Story: farm-arm; bands-hands; mile-smile; night-light; charm-arm; spyeye; hose-nose; beg-leg; cry-eye; smart-heart.
 Luck Dragon Story: sings-wings; toddy-body; frail-tail; fed-head; eggs-legs;
charm-arm; sky-eye; calm-arm; purr-fur; fly-eye; sigh-bye bye.
Acknowledgment: The concept of creating the rhyme comes from the book, Phonemic Awareness: Playing
with sounds to strengthen beginning reading skills, by J Fitzpatrick (1997) and published by Creative
Teaching Press. The specific stories in this manual were written by the lead researcher on this project.
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Week 3: Sound Discrimination
Goal: To help children identify speech sounds that are the same and different and speech
sound similarities and differences within spoken words.
Explanation for children: Begin each structured activity with an explanation of sounds in
words, and how speech sounds are different to environmental sounds. For example: ‘When we
talk we use speech sounds to make our words. Words can have a lot of different speech sounds in them.
For example, the word ‘cat’ has three sounds ‘c-a-t’. These sounds are different to other sounds like
animal sounds, or the sound of a fire alarm or police car. This week we are going to listen for sounds and
work out if the sounds we hear are the same or different. Sometimes the sounds might be by themselves or
they might be hiding in the words we hear and say’.
1. Shared Storybook Reading: Peekaboo A to Z
Frequency: 2 x 15-20 minutes in week 3
Explanation: During shared storybook reading time, you are encouraged to use the focus print
referencing strategy profiled in the table below while reading the book, ‘Peekaboo A to Z’, or a
similar book from your kindergarten library. Additional print referencing strategies that can be
used are illustrated in the table below.
You are encouraged to use the focus print referencing strategy for this week at least every
second to third page. This can be integrated with the use of the additional print referencing
strategies (e.g., on one page you simply track the print while you read, and then on the next
page you may comment about different sounds on the page). The print referencing strategies
can be used with greater frequency if the children are showing a high level of interest,
awareness, and engagement with rhyming words and print.
Table 3. Sound-to-Print Referencing Strategies Focusing on Sound Discrimination
Sound-to-Print Referencing Strategies
Book: Peekaboo A to Z
Focus Strategy: Drawing children’s attention to speech sounds
Examples: You can draw children’s attention to any speech sounds in the story. The
following are a list of examples.
Sound-Print Commenting
This is the letter ‘b’ – it makes a /b/ sound.
This is the letter ‘d’ – it makes a /d/ sound.
/b/ and /d/ are different sounds – listen carefully, /b/, /d/.
Sound-Print Questioning
What sound do you hear at the start of ‘camel’?
What letter or letters can make the ‘c’ sound at the start of
‘camel’?
The letter ‘n’ says /n/ and the letter ‘p’ says /p/. Are these
sounds the same or different?
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Sound to Print Requesting
Tell me a speech sound that is different from /p/.
Tell me two speech sounds that are the same.
Additional Print Referencing Strategies (from Justice & Ezell, 2004)
Non-verbal Strategies
Examples
o Pointing to letters and words
Adult points to narrative print or print
embedded in illustrations
o Print tracking
Adult tracks the print while reading the
narrative
Verbal Strategies
Examples
o Print Questioning
Do you know this letter? What do you think this
says?
o Print Requesting
Show me where the O is. Help me read these
words.
o Print Commenting
That’s an A. This says, “Get out!”
2. Large Group Rhyming Activities: Sound & Word
Discrimination
Frequency: 2 x 15-20 minutes in week 3
Explanation: Each activity option below (i.e., Sound Puppet and Monkey Tree) includes sound or
word lists of increasing difficulty. For the Sound Puppet activity start with List A or List B under
the ‘Easier’ column. If the children are ready for increased difficulty, then progress to List A
and B under the ‘Harder’ column. You can also select items from the ‘Harder’ column to
challenge students who are demonstrating strength in this area, and then select items from the
‘Easier’ column for children who are showing emerging skills in this area.
For the Monkey Tree activity, a similar approach can be employed whereby the Real Word Lists
can be used first followed by the Non-Word Lists. Resources for each activity are provided in
the packs that accompany this manual.
A. Sound Puppet
o For this game you will need the Sound Discrimination Chart, sound puppet, white or
black board, white or black board pen, and an eraser.
o
Instructions: Tell the children that the Sound Puppet is going to give you two sounds
(i.e., puppet whisper into the teacher’s ear), and then you will tell the children what
those two sounds were. Then it is the children’s job to work out if those sounds are
the same or different. Explain that for sounds that are the same you want the
children to do a ‘thumbs up’ (and say ‘ding’) and for sounds that are different you
want the children to ‘cross their arms’ (and say ‘eerrrr’).
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o
Example:
 Teacher: Sound puppet is going to give me two sounds to tell you. These
sounds will be speech sounds - the sounds we hear in words. They won’t be
other sounds we hear like a cat meowing, or a door knocking. These are
special sounds we say with our mouth when we talk.
 Teacher: Listen carefully (as the sound puppet is close to the teacher’s ear).
‘p (wait at least 1-2 seconds between sounds) – p’. Are the sounds the same
or different? Remember to use your ‘thumbs up’ or ‘crossed arms’.
 Children: ‘Ding’ (with thumbs up) (correct response).
 Teacher: ‘p – p’ are the same sounds. Listen carefully, ‘p - p’. Let’s take a
look at the letter that makes the /p/ sound [write the letter p on the board or
a piece of paper]. This is the letter ‘p’, it makes the /p/ sound. When we
hear a word like ‘pop’ or ‘pat’, we can write it down on paper using the letter
p.
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B. Monkey Tree
o For this game you will need the Monkey Tree Real and Non-Real Word Chart, Monkey
character, yellow and blue-yellow banana tokens, white or black board, and blue-tac.
o
Instructions: Put the Monkey character on a white or black board. Tell the children
that Monkey likes words that sound the same. The words could be real words or
made-up words, as long as they sound the same. Tell the children that you will say
two words and they need to decide if the words are the same or different (the
children can use the ‘thumbs up’ and ‘cross your arm’ actions if they wish). If the
words are the same, Monkey will get two yellow bananas, but if the words are
different Monkey will get a yellow and a blue banana. Invite children up to stick the
banana tokens on Monkey.
o
Start with the Real Words in either list A or B, then move onto the Non-Word Lists if
you think the children require a greater challenge.
o
Example:
 Teacher: This is our friend Monkey (point to the large Monkey character).
Monkey likes words that sound the same. He doesn’t like words that do not
sound the same. I am going to say two words. We need to work out if those
two words are the same or different. If the words are the same we will do a
‘thumbs up’ and then give Monkey two yellow bananas. If the words are
different we will ‘cross our arms’ and then give Monkey a yellow and blue
banana. Ready?
 Teacher: ‘cat (wait 1-2 seconds between words) – cot’. Are the sounds the
same or different? Remember to use your ‘thumbs up’ or ‘crossed arms’.
 Children: ‘errr’ (with arms crossed) (correct response).
 Teacher: ‘cat – cot’ are different words. Listen carefully, ‘cat’ – ‘cot’. The
middle sound is different, ‘cat’ – ‘cot’. Let’s write these two words on the
board (write words on the board) – see ‘cat’ has an /a/ sound and ‘cot’ has
an /o/ sound in the middle. Let’s try the next one.
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Week 4: Initial Sound Identification
Goal: To help children identify the first sound in a spoken word and to link this to print.
Explanation for children: Begin each structured activity with an explanation about listening for
the first sound in a word. For example: ‘This week we are going to listen for the first sound in words.
The first sound is the one at the start; the sound at the beginning. If we say the word ‘Cat’, I can hear a
‘C’ at the very start ….’Cat’. Say your own name and tell me what is the first sound you hear in your
name?
1. Shared Storybook Reading: Did you take the ‘B’ from my
_ook?
Frequency: 2 x 15-20 minutes in week 4
Explanation: During shared storybook reading time, you are encouraged to use the focus print
referencing strategy profiled in the table below while reading the book, ‘Did you take the B from
my _ook?’, or a similar book from your kindergarten library. Additional print referencing
strategies that can be used are illustrated in the table below.
You are encouraged to use the focus print referencing strategy for this week at least every
second to third page. This can be integrated with the use of the additional print referencing
strategies. The print referencing strategies can be used with greater frequency if the children
are showing a high level of interest, awareness, and engagement with rhyming words and print.
Table 4. Sound-to-Print Referencing Strategies focusing on Initial Sound Identification
Sound-to-Print Referencing Strategies
Book: Did you take the B from my _ook?
Focus Strategy: Drawing children’s attention to the first sound in words
Examples: You can use any words in the story to draw children’s attention to the first
sound in different words. The following are a list of examples.
Print Commenting
‘This is the letter ‘B’, it says /b/’.
‘This word says ‘cold’, it starts with a /c/ sound, the letter
‘C’ makes a /c/ sound.
Initial Sound Questioning
What is the first sound in the word ‘love’?
What first sound is missing from this word: _ed (point to the
‘_ed in the book and to the picture of a bed)
Initial Sound Requesting
Show me the first letter in the word ‘size’. What sound does
this letter make?
What other words start with the /b/ sound?
Additional Print Referencing Strategies (from Justice & Ezell, 2004)
Non-verbal Strategies
Examples
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o Pointing to letters and words
o Print tracking
Verbal Strategies
o Print Questioning
o Print Requesting
o Print Commenting
Adult points to narrative print or print
embedded in illustrations
Adult tracks the print while reading the
narrative
Examples
Do you know this letter? What do you think this
says?
Show me where the O is. Help me read these
words.
That’s an A. This says, “Get out!”
2. Large Group Rhyming Activities: Identifying the first sound
Frequency: 2 x 15-20 minutes in week 4
Explanation: Each activity option below (i.e., Sound Animal Characters and Initial Sound-Letter
Matching) targets awareness of the first sound in spoken words and links this knowledge to
print. Resources for each activity are provided in the packs that accompany this manual.
A. Sound Animal Characters
o
For this game you will need the Sound Animal Characters: Magpie and Koala, Initial Sound
Identity Cards for /m/ and /k/, white or black board, and blue-tac.
o
Instructions: Introduce a Sound Animal Character (e.g., Magpie or Koala) to the children
and stick onto the white or black board. Tell the children that the selected Sound Animal
Character has a favourite sound; the sound that their name starts with (e.g., /m/ for
Magpie and /k/ for Koala). Tell the children that they are going to find out which
pictures the Sound Animal Character will like the best because the picture will start with
the same sound as the character’s name.
o
Select a mixture of Initial Sound Identity Cards for /m/ and /k/ (approximately 10 cards, so
five of each). Show and name one Sound Identity Card at a time, and ask the children to
indicate if the selected Sound Animal Character will like that particular card (e.g., Magpie
will like Initial Sound Identity Cards that start with the/m/ sound, and Koala will like
Initial Sound Identity Cards that start with the /k/ sound).
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Example:







Teacher: This is our friend ‘Magpie’. ‘Magpie’ likes words that start with
the /m/ sound. Say the /m/ sound with me.
Teacher and children: /m/
Teacher: I have some pictures. Some of these pictures start with the /m/
sound – they are pictures that ‘Magpie’ would like to keep. Some of these
pictures start with another sound – they are pictures that ‘Magpie’ does
not want to keep. Let’s begin.
Teacher: Here is a ‘man’ (holding up picture). What is the first sound you
hear in the word ‘man’?
Children: ‘m’ (correct response).
Teacher Feedback: ‘Man’ starts with the /m/sound – can you hear the
/m/ sound at the start of ‘man’? Let’s write the letter that makes
Monkey’s favourite /m/ sound on the board – the letter ‘m’.
NB: for Koala explain that both the letters ‘k’ and ‘c’ can make the /k/
sound.
Magpie
man
mat
mouse
mop
mow
map
magic
melt
magazine
mail
Koala
key
king
carrot
cake
kite
kangaroo
crow
car
kayak
cave
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B. Initial Sound-Letter Matching
o
For this game you will need the Initial Sound Identity Cards for /m/ and /k/, and the Letter
Cards for ‘m’, ‘k’ and ‘c’. A white or black board and blue tac are optional as this activity
could be carried out on the floor.
o
Instructions: Select a mixture of Initial Sound Identity Cards for /m/ and /k/ (approximately
10, so five from each sound set; you can use more cards or introduce three sounds if you
think your children are ready for increased difficulty). Introduce the letter cards for ‘m’,
‘k’ and ‘c’ explaining that these are letters that make the sounds /m/ and /k/. Explain
that you are going to show the children one picture card at a time, and that they need to
name the picture, say the first sound in the picture’s name, and then identify if that
picture goes with the letter ‘m’ or ‘k’ (or ‘c’).
o
Example:






Teacher: This is the letter ‘m’, this is the letter ‘k’, and this is the letter ‘c’ (placing
letter cards on the floor). The letter ‘m’ makes the /m/ sound. The letter ‘k’ and
the letter ‘c’ makes the /k/ sound. I am going to show you some pictures that
start with the /m/ sound or the /k/ sound. We need to work out which pictures
start with the /m/ sound and go with the letter ‘m’ and which pictures start with
the /k/ sound and go with the letter ‘k’ or the letter ‘c’. Ready?
Teacher: Here is a ‘mop’. What is the first sound in the word ‘Mop’?
Children: /m/ (correct response).
Teacher Feedback: /m/ is the first sound in the word ‘Mop’. Listen carefully,
‘M-op’. Say it with me, ‘M – op’. What letter makes the /m/ sound? The letter
‘m’ or the letter ‘k’ (or ‘c’).
Children: ‘m’ (correct response).
Teacher Feedback: The letter ‘m’ makes the /m/ sound, so we will put the
picture of the ‘mop’ with the letter ‘m’.
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M
man
mat
mouse
mop
mow
map
magic
melt
magazine
mail
m k
K
key
king
carrot
cake
kite
kangaroo
crow
car
kayak
cave
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Week 5: Initial Sound Identification
Goal: To help children identify the first sound in a spoken word and to link this to print.
Explanation for children: Begin each structured activity with an explanation about listening for
the first sound in a word. For example: ‘This week we are going to listen for the first sound in words.
The first sound is the one at the start; the sound at the beginning. If we say the word ‘Cat’, I can hear a
‘C’ at the very start ….’Cat’. Say your own name and tell me what is the first sound you hear in your
name?
1. Shared Storybook Reading: Spot’s First Walk
Frequency: 2 x 15-20 minutes in week 5
Explanation: During shared storybook reading time, you are encouraged to use the focus print
referencing strategy profiled in the table below while reading the book, ‘Spot’s First Walk’, or a
similar book from your kindergarten library. Additional print referencing strategies that can be
used are illustrated in the table below.
You are encouraged to use the focus print referencing strategy for this week at least every
second to third page. This can be integrated with the use of the additional print referencing
strategies. The print referencing strategies can be used with greater frequency if the children
are showing a high level of interest, awareness, and engagement with rhyming words and print.
Table 5. Sound-to-Print Referencing Strategies Focusing on Initial Sound Identification
Sound-to-Print Referencing Strategies
Book: Spot’s First Walk
Focus Strategy: Drawing children’s attention to the first sound in words
Examples: You can use any words in the story to draw children’s attention to the first
sound in different words. The following are a list of examples.
Print Commenting
‘This is the letter ‘B’, it says /b/’.
‘This word says ‘walk’, it starts with a /w/ sound, the letter
‘w’ makes a /w/ sound.
Initial Sound Questioning
This is the word ‘Spot’. What is the first sound you hear in
the word ‘Spot’?
What is the first sound in the word ‘funny’?
Initial Sound Requesting
Show me the first letter in the word ‘drink’’. What sound
does this letter make?
What other words start with the /s/ sound?
Additional Print Referencing Strategies (from Justice & Ezell, 2004)
Non-verbal Strategies
Examples
o Pointing to letters and words
Adult points to narrative print or print
embedded in illustrations
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o Print tracking
Verbal Strategies
o Print Questioning
o Print Requesting
o Print Commenting
Adult tracks the print while reading the
narrative
Examples
Do you know this letter? What do you think this
says?
Show me where the O is. Help me read these
words.
That’s an A. This says, “Get out!”
2. Large Group Rhyming Activities: Identifying the first sound
Frequency: 2 x 15-20 minutes in week 5
Explanation: Each activity option below (i.e., Sound Animal Characters and Initial Sound-Letter
Matching) targets awareness of the first sound in spoken words and links this knowledge to
print. Resources for each activity are provided in the packs that accompany this manual.
A. Sound Animal Characters
o
For this game you will need the Sound Animal Characters: Bilby and Wombat, Initial Sound
Identity Cards for /b/ and /w/, white or black board, and blue-tac.
o
Instructions: Introduce a Sound Animal Character (e.g., Bilby or Wombat) to the children
and stick onto the white or black board. Tell the children that the selected Sound Animal
Character has a favourite sound; the sound that their name starts with (e.g., /b/ for Bilby
and /w/ for Wombat). Tell the children that they are going to find out which pictures
the Sound Animal Character will like the best because the picture will start with the same
sound as the character’s name.
Select a mixture of Initial Sound Identity Cards for /b/ and /w/ (approximately 10 cards, so
five of each). Show and name one Sound Identity Card at a time, and ask the children to
indicate if the selected Sound Animal Character would like that particular card (e.g., Bilby
will like Initial Sound Identity Cards that start with the/b/ sound, and Wombat will like
Initial Sound Identity Cards that start with the /w/ sound).
Example:



Teacher: This is our friend ‘Bilby’. ‘Bilby’ likes words that start with the
/b/ sound. Say the /b/ sound with me.
Teacher and children: /b/
Teacher: I have some pictures. Some of these pictures start with the /b/
sound – they are pictures that ‘Bilby’ would like to keep. Some of these
pictures start with another sound – they are pictures that ‘Bilby’ does not
want to keep. Let’s begin.
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




Teacher: Here is a ‘bear’. What sound do you hear at the start of ‘bear’?
Children: /b/ (correct response).
Teacher: Good listening! Will Bilby like to keep the picture of ‘bear’?
Children: Yes
Teacher Feedback: ‘Bear’ starts with the /b/sound – can you hear the /b/
sound at the start of ‘bear’? Let’s write the letter that makes Bilby’s
favourite /b/ sound on the board – the letter ‘b’.
Wombat
Bilby
whale
wand
worm
wheel
wall
wing
walk
wash
water
watch
bear
bird
boat
book
bath
bone
boy
box
baby
bag
B. Initial Sound-Letter Matching
o
For this game you will need the Initial Sound Identity Cards for /b/ and /w/, and the Letter
Cards for ‘b’ and ‘w’. A white or black board and blue tac are optional as this activity
could be carried out on the floor.
o
Instructions: Select a mixture of Initial Sound Identity Cards for /b/ and /w/ (approximately
10, so five from each sound set; you can use more cards or introduce three sounds if you
think your children are ready for increased difficulty). Introduce the letter cards for ‘b’
and ‘w’ explaining that these are letters that make the sounds /b/ and /w/. Explain
that you are going to show the children one picture card at a time, and that they need to
name the picture, say the first sound in the picture’s name, and then identify if that
picture goes with the letter ‘b’ or ‘w’.
o
Example:

Teacher: This is the letter ‘b’ and this is the letter ‘w’ (placing letter cards on the
floor). The letter ‘b’ makes the /b/ sound. The letter ‘w’ makes the /w/ sound.
I am going to show you some pictures that start with the /b/ sound or the /w/
sound. We need to work out which pictures start with the /b/ sound and goes
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with the letter ‘b’ and which pictures start with the /w/ sound and go with the
letter ‘w’. Ready?
Teacher: Here is a ‘bird’. What is the first sound in the word ‘Bird’?
Children: /b/ (correct response).
Teacher Feedback: /b/ is the first sound in the word ‘Bird’. Listen carefully, ‘Bird’. Say it with me, ‘B – ird’. What letter makes the /b? sound? The letter ‘b’ or
the letter ‘w’.
Children: ‘b’ (correct response).
Teacher Feedback: The letter ‘b’ makes the /b/ sound, so we will put the picture
of the ‘bird’ with the letter ‘b’.





B
bear
bird
boat
book
bath
bone
boy
box
baby
bag
W
b w
whale
wand
worm
wheel
wall
wing
walk
wash
water
watch
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Week 6: Initial and Final Sound Identification
Goal: To help children identify the first and final sound in a spoken word and to link this to
print.
Explanation for children: Begin each structured activity with an explanation about listening for
the first and final sound in a word. For example: ‘Last week we listened for the first sound in words.
This week we are also going to listen for the final or last sound in different words. The final or last sound
is the one you hear at the end of a word. If we say the word, ‘caT’, I can hear a ‘T’ at the very end
…..’caT’. Say your own name and tell me what is the final or last sound you hear in your name?
1. Shared Storybook Reading: Spot Goes on Holiday
Frequency: 2 x 15-20 minutes in week 6
Explanation: During shared storybook reading time, you are encouraged to use the focus print
referencing strategy profiled in the table below while reading the book, ‘Spot Goes on Holiday’’,
or a similar book from your kindergarten library. Additional print referencing strategies that
can be used are illustrated in the table below.
You are encouraged to use the focus print referencing strategy for this week at least every
second to third page. This can be integrated with the use of the additional print referencing
strategies. The print referencing strategies can be used with greater frequency if the children
are showing a high level of interest, awareness, and engagement with rhyming words and print.
Table 6. Sound-to-Print Referencing Strategies focusing on Initial and Final Sound Identification
Sound-to-Print Referencing Strategies
Book: Spot Goes on Holiday
Focus Strategy: Drawing children’s attention to the first sound in words
Examples: You can use any words in the story to draw children’s attention to the first
or final sound in different words. The following are a list of examples.
Print Commenting
‘This is the letter ‘B’, it says /b/’.
‘This word says ‘walk’, it starts with a /w/ sound, the letter
‘w’ makes a /w/ sound.
‘This word says ‘dad’, it starts and ends with the /d/ sound.
The letter ‘d’ says /d/.
Initial & Final Sound
This is the word ‘Spot’. What is the first sound you hear in
Questioning
the word ‘Spot’? What is the final/last sound you hear in
the word ‘Spot’?
What is the first sound in the word ‘funny’?
What is the final/last sound in the word ‘nap?’
Initial & Final Sound
Show me the first letter in the word ‘ball’’. What sound does
Requesting
this letter make?
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Show me the final/last sound in the word ‘towel’. What
sound does this letter make?
What other words start with the /s/ sound?
What other words end with the /t/ sound?
Additional Print Referencing Strategies (from Justice & Ezell, 2004)
Non-verbal Strategies
Examples
o Pointing to letters and words
Adult points to narrative print or print
embedded in illustrations
o Print tracking
Adult tracks the print while reading the
narrative
Verbal Strategies
Examples
o Print Questioning
Do you know this letter? What do you think this
says?
o Print Requesting
Show me where the O is. Help me read these
words.
o Print Commenting
That’s an A. This says, “Get out!”
2. Large Group Rhyming Activities: Identifying the first & final
sound
Frequency: 2 x 15-20 minutes in week 6
Explanation: The Sound Animal Characters and Initial Sound Oddity activities target awareness of
the first sound in spoken words with the Sound Animal Characters being the easier of the two
activities. If from Weeks 4 and 5, it appears that the children have a strong understanding of
initial sounds, then start this week with the Initial Sound Oddity activity. If children are still
mastering the identification of the first sound in spoken words, then start this week with the
Sound Animal Character activities. The second large group activity for this week is the Final
Sound-Letter Matching activity which targets awareness of the final sounds in spoken words.
Resources for each activity are provided in the packs that accompany this manual.
A. Sound Animal Characters
o For this game you will need the Sound Animal Characters: Snake and Possum, Initial Sound
Identity Cards for /s/ and /p/, white or black board, and blue-tac.
o
Instructions: Introduce a Sound Animal Character (e.g., Snake or Possum) to the children
and stick onto the white or black board. Tell the children that the selected Sound Animal
Character has a favourite sound; the sound that their name starts with (e.g., /s/ for
Snake and /p/ for Possum). Tell the children that they are going to find out which
pictures the Sound Animal Character will like the best because the picture will start with
the same sound as the character’s name.
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Select a mixture of Initial Sound Identity Cards for /s/ and /p/ (approximately 10 cards, so
five of each). Show and name one Initial Sound Card at a time, and ask the children to
indicate if the selected Sound Animal Character would like that particular card (e.g., Snake
will like Initial Sound Identity Cards that start with the/s/ sound, and Possum will like
Initial Sound Identity Cards that start with the /p/ sound).
Example:






Teacher: This is our friend ‘Snake’. ‘Snake’ likes words that start with the
/s/ sound. Say the /s/ sound with me.
Teacher and children: /s/
Teacher: I have some pictures. Some of these pictures start with the /s/
sound – they are pictures that ‘Snake’ would like to keep. Some of these
pictures start with another sound – they are pictures that ‘Snake’ does not
want to keep. Let’s begin.
Teacher: Here is a ‘pot’ (holding up picture). What sound do you hear at
the start of ‘pot’?
Children: ‘s’ (incorrect response).
Teacher: Nice trying. ‘Pot’ starts with a /p/ sound, listen carefully, ‘Pot’.
Because ‘pot’ doesn’t start with the /s/ sound we will not give Snake the
‘pot’. But before we put ‘pot’ away, let’s write the letter that makes the
/p/ sound on the board – the letter ‘p’.
Snake
Possum
soap
sun
sand
sing
swim
star
spoon
socks
snail
scissors
pear
parrot
pig
pond
pot
pie
pencil
pizza
peacock
parachute
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B. Final Sound-Letter Matching
o
For this game you will need the Final Sound Identity Cards for /n/ and /g/, and the Letter
Cards for ‘n’ and ‘g’. A white or black board and blue tac are optional as this activity
could be carried out on the floor.
o
Instructions: Select a mixture of Final Sound Identity Cards for /n/ and /g/ (approximately
10, so five from each sound set; you can use more cards or introduce three sounds if you
think your children are ready for increased difficulty). Introduce the letter cards for ‘n’
and ‘g’ explaining that these are letters that make the sounds /n/ and /g/. Explain that
you are going to show the children one picture card at a time, and that they need to
name the picture, say the last/final sound in the picture’s name, and then identify if that
picture goes with the letter ‘n’ or ‘g’ as the last/final sound.
o
Example:
o
o
o
o
o
o
Teacher: This is the letter ‘n’ and this is the letter ‘g’ (placing letter cards on the
floor). The letter ‘n’ makes the /n/ sound. The letter ‘g’ makes the /g/ sound. I
am going to show you some pictures that end with the /n/ sound or the /g/
sound. We need to work out which pictures end with the /n/ sound and goes
with the letter ‘n’ and which pictures end with the /g/ sound and go with the
letter ‘g’. Ready?
Teacher: Here is a ‘horn’. What is the last sound in the word ‘horN’?
Children: /n/ (correct response).
Teacher Feedback: /n/ is the last sound in the word ‘horN’. Listen carefully,
‘hor-N’. Say it with me, ‘hor-N’. What letter makes the /n/? sound? The letter
‘n’ or the letter ‘g’.
Children: ‘n’ (correct response).
Teacher Feedback: The letter ‘n’ makes the /n/ sound, so we will put the picture
of the ‘horn’ with the letter ‘n’.
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N
man
horn
fan
dolphin
lion
train
chin
sun
rain
run
G
n g
frog
flag
log
jug
rug
pig
dig
dog
bag
hug
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Week 7: Final Sound Identification
Goal: To help children identify the final sound in a spoken word and to link this to print.
Explanation for children: Begin each structured activity with an explanation about listening for
the final sound in a word. For example: ‘Last week we listened for the first and final sounds in words.
This week we are just listening for the final or last sound in different words. The final or last sound is the
one you hear at the end of a word. If we say the word, ‘caT’, I can hear a ‘T’ at the very end …..’caT’.
Say your own name and tell me what is the final or last sound you hear in your name?
1. Shared Storybook Reading: What’s in my lunchbox?
Frequency: 2 x 15-20 minutes in week 7
Explanation: During shared storybook reading time, you are encouraged to use the focus print
referencing strategy profiled in the table below while reading the book, ‘What’s in my
lunchbox?’’, or a similar book from your kindergarten library. Additional print referencing
strategies that can also be used are illustrated in the table below.
You are encouraged to use the focus print referencing strategy for this week at least every
second to third page. This can be integrated with the use of the additional print referencing
strategies. The print referencing strategies can be used with greater frequency if the children are
showing a high level of interest, awareness, and engagement with rhyming words and print.
Table 7. Sound-to-Print Referencing Strategies Focusing on Final Sound Identification
Sound-to-Print Referencing Strategies
Book: What’s in my lunchbox?
Focus Strategy: Drawing children’s attention to the final sound in words
Examples: You can use any words in the story to draw children’s attention to the final
sound in different words. The following are a list of examples.
Print Commenting
‘This is the letter ‘B’, it says /b/’.
‘This word says ‘find’, it ends with the /d/ sound. The letter
‘d’ says /d/.’
‘This word says ‘not’, it ends with the /t/ sound. The letter
‘t’ says /t/’.
Final Sound Questioning
This is the word ‘dinosaur’. What is the final/last sound you
hear in the word ‘dinosaur’?
What is the final/last sound in the word ‘apple’?
Final Sound-to-Print
Show me the final/last letter in the word ‘egg’. What sound
Requesting
does this letter make?
What other words end with the /g/ sound?
Additional Print Referencing Strategies (from Justice & Ezell, 2004)
Non-verbal Strategies
Examples
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o Pointing to letters and words
o Print tracking
Verbal Strategies
o Print Questioning
o Print Requesting
o Print Commenting
Adult points to narrative print or print
embedded in illustrations
Adult tracks the print while reading the
narrative
Examples
Do you know this letter? What do you think this
says?
Show me where the O is. Help me read these
words.
That’s an A. This says, “Get out!”
2. Large Group Rhyming Activities: Identifying the final sound
Frequency: 2 x 15-20 minutes in week 7
Explanation: The Final Sound-Letter Matching and Final Sound Bingo activities target awareness
of the final sounds in spoken words. Resources for each activity are provided in the packs that
accompany this manual.
A. Final Sound-Letter Matching
o For this game you will need the Final Sound Identity Cards for /s/ and /k/, and the Letter
Cards for ‘s’ and ‘k’. A white or black board and blue tac are optional as this activity
could be carried out on the floor.
o
Instructions: Select a mixture of Final Sound Identity Cards for /s/ and /k/ (approximately
10, so five from each sound set; you can use more cards or introduce three sounds if you
think your children are ready for increased difficulty). Name each picture for the
children, and then introduce the letter cards for ‘s’ and ‘k’ explaining that these are
letters that make the sounds /s/ and /k/. Explain that you are going to show the
children one picture card at a time, and that they need to name the picture, say the
last/final sound in the picture’s name, and then identify if the picture goes with the
letter ‘s’ or ‘k’ as the last/final sound.
o
Example:
Teacher: This is the letter ‘s’ and this is the letter ‘k’ (placing letter cards on the
floor). The letter ‘s’ makes the /s/ sound. The letter ‘k’ makes the /k/ sound. I
am going to show you some pictures that end with the /s/ sound or the /k/
sound. We need to work out what pictures end with the /s/ sound and goes
with the letter ‘s’ and what pictures end with the /k/ sound and go with the
letter ‘k’. Ready?
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
Teacher: Here is a ‘mouse’. What is the last sound in the word ‘mouS(e)’?
Children: /s/ (correct response).
Teacher Feedback: /s/ is the last sound in the word ‘mouS(e)’. Listen carefully,
‘mou-S(e)’. Say it with me, ‘mou-S(e)’. What letter makes the /s/? sound? The
letter ‘s’ or the letter ‘k’.
Children: ‘s’ (correct response).
Teacher Feedback: The letter ‘s’ makes the /s/ sound, so we will put the picture
of the ‘mouse’ with the letter ‘s’.





S
bus
shorts
dress
house
mouse
chips
Bingo
socks
octopus
nurse
kiss
K
s
k
hook
book
walk
lock
truck
rock
kayak
neck
milk
duck
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B. Final Sound Bingo
 For this game you will need the Final Sound Identification Bingo Game 1 (A3 board and
associated bingo cards), the Final Sound Identification Bingo Game 2 (A3 board and
associated bingo cards), blue tac and a white board structure.

Instructions: Place the A3 laminated board on a white board or similar so that all
children can see the bingo pictures. Name all the pictures on the A3 laminated board.
One-by-one, select and name the pictures on each bingo card. With each bingo card, ask
the children to identify what word on the A3 laminated board ends with the same sound
as the picture on the bingo card. Invite children to have turns at sticking each bingo
card onto the associated picture on the A3 board.

Example: Explain that everyone is going to play a bingo game. A bingo game is a
matching game where we will look at some pictures and see if they match our bingo
board. Show the children the bingo board and name each of the six pictures. After
naming each picture on the bingo board engaging in a dialogue similar to the following:








Teacher: Oh look, we have found a ‘hook’. Can you say the word ‘hook’
with me?
Teacher and children: ‘hooK’.
Teacher: Let’s see what picture on our bingo board end with the same
last/final sound as ‘hooK’. ‘HooK’ and ‘man’ (holding image of ‘hook’
beside image of ‘man’ on the bingo board) – do they end with the same
last sound?
Children: ‘eeerrr’ (with arms crossed) (correct response).
Teacher: ‘HooK’ and ‘maN’ do not end with the same last sound.
Teacher: ‘HooK’ and ‘walK’ (holding image of ‘hook’ beside image of
‘walk’ on the bingo board) – do they end with the same last sound?
Children: ‘ding (with thumbs up) (correct response).
Teacher: Yes, they end with the same last sound - /k/. Listen carefully,
‘hooK’, ‘walK’.
Words:


Final Sound Identification Bingo Game 1: man-horn; mat- melt; mouse-dance;
hook-walk; hand-bird; chip-soap
Final Sound Identification Bingo Game 2: glasses-cheese; mail-wheel; shelf-leaf;
crab-bib; fish-brush; king-wing
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Week 8: Final Sound Identification
Goal: To help children identify the final sound in a spoken word and to link this to print.
Explanations for children: Begin each structured activity with an explanation about listening
for the final sound in a word. For example: ‘Last week we listened for the final sounds in words.
This week we will continue to listen for the final sound in different words. The final or last sound is the
one you hear at the end of a word. If we say the word, ‘caT’, I can hear a ‘T’ at the very end …..’caT’.
Say your own name and tell me what is the final or last sound you hear in your name?
1. Shared Storybook Reading: Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do
you see?
Frequency: 2 x 15-20 minutes in week 8
Explanation: During shared storybook reading time, you are encouraged to use the focus print
referencing strategy profiled in the table below while reading the book, ‘Brown Bear, Brown Bear,
what do you see?’, or a similar book from your kindergarten library. Additional print referencing
strategies that can be used are illustrated in the table below.
You are encouraged to use the focus print referencing strategy for this week at least every
second to third page. This can be integrated with the use of the additional print referencing
strategies. The print referencing strategies can be used with greater frequency if the children are
showing a high level of interest, awareness, and engagement with rhyming words and print.
Table 8. Sound-to-Print Referencing Strategies Focusing on Final Sound Identification
Sound-to-Print Referencing Strategies
Book: Brown Bear, Brown Bear, what do you see?
Focus Strategy: Drawing children’s attention to the final sound in words
Examples: You can use any words in the story to draw children’s attention to the final
sound in different words. The following are a list of examples.
Print Commenting
‘This is the letter ‘B’, it says /b/’.
‘This word says ‘find’, it ends with the /d/ sound. The letter
‘d’ says /d/.’
‘This word says ‘frog’, it ends with the /g/ sound. The letter
‘g’ says /g/’.
Final Sound Questioning
This is the word ‘dog’. What is the final/last sound you hear
in the word ‘dog’?
What is the final/last sound in the word ‘sheep’?
Final Sound-to-Print
Show me the final/last letter in the word ‘bird’. What sound
Requesting
does this letter make?
What other words end with the /n/ sound?
Additional Print Referencing Strategies (from Justice & Ezell, 2004)
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Non-verbal Strategies
o Pointing to letters and words
o Print tracking
Verbal Strategies
o Print Questioning
o Print Requesting
o Print Commenting
Examples
Adult points to narrative print or print
embedded in illustrations
Adult tracks the print while reading the
narrative
Examples
Do you know this letter? What do you think this
says?
Show me where the O is. Help me read these
words.
That’s an A. This says, “Get out!”
2. Large Group Rhyming Activities: Identifying the final sound
Frequency: 2 x 15-20 minutes in week 8
Explanation: The Final Sound Matching and Final Sound Oddity activities target awareness of the
final sounds in spoken words. Resources for each activity are provided in the packs that
accompany this manual.
A. Final Sound Matching and Final Sound Oddity
o For this game you will need the Final Sound Matching Cards (double-image cards) and the
Final Sound Oddity Cards (triple image cards), a whiteboard marker, and an eraser.
o
Instructions: Tell the children that you are going to show them some pictures and
would like their help to work out if the pictures end with the same final/last sound or
not. Explain that for words that have the same last/final sound you want the children to
do a ‘thumbs up’ (and say ‘ding’) and for words that do not have the same final/last
sound you want the children to ‘cross their arms (and say ‘errr’).
Final Sound Matching Cards: Do these words end with the same final/last sound?
Hold up the Final Sound Matching Cards (double-image cards) one at a time so that all
children can see the two pictures on each card. Name the two pictures, then ask the
children if the two words end with the same final/last sound (e.g., Do X and X end
with the same sound?). Put ticks or crosses in the small boxes below the pictures to
indicate if the pictures did or did not end with the same final/last. Provide feedback
as required to highlight the final/last sound in the words presented (e.g., ‘pond’ and
‘sand’ both end with the /d/ sound. Say these words with me, ‘ponD’, ‘sanD’).
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Example:



Teacher: This is a ‘pond’ and this is some ‘sand’. Do ‘ponD’ and ‘sanD’ end
with the same last/final sound?
Children: ‘Ding’ (with thumbs up) (correct response).
Teacher Feedback: Yes, ‘ponD’ and ‘sanD’ end with the same last/final
sound. Listen carefully, ‘ponD’, ‘sanD’.
For children who answer with ‘errr’ (crossed arms), ensure they listen to the
teacher feedback above. The final sounds of the two words could be made more
salient by seeing if ‘pond’ and ‘sand’ end with the same sound that a child is
familiar with (e.g., their first or last name, the names of family or friends,
favourite toys or movie).
Final Sound Oddity: What word does not end with the same final/last sound as the
rest? What word ends with a different last sound? Progress to the Final Sound
Oddity Cards (triple-image cards) across the week to increase difficulty level for the
children. As with the Final Sound Matching Cards (double-image cards), name all three
pictures and then ask the children what word does not end with the same final/last
sound as the other pictures. Put ticks or crosses in the small boxes below the
pictures to indicate what pictures did or did not end with the same final/last sound.
Provide feedback as required to highlight the final/last sound in the words
presented.
Example: leaf, giraffe, lamb
o
o
o
Words:


Teacher: This is a ‘leaF’, a ‘giraFF(e)’, and a ‘laM(b)’. One of these words
does not end with the same last/final sound as the rest. Listen carefully,
what word does not end with the same last sound: ‘leaF’, ‘giraFF(e)’, ‘laM(b)?
Children: ‘LaM(b)’ (correct response).
Teacher Feedback: ‘LaM(b)’ ends with the /m/ sound. Listen carefully,
‘laM(b) (write the letter ‘m’ on the board/piece of paper). ‘LeaF’ and
giraFF(e) end with the /f/ sound (write the letter ‘f’ on the board/piece of
paper). Let’s do another one.
Final Sound Matching Cards (double-image cards):
 Different Final Sounds: Man-mat; mouse-hook; hand-mop; yam-frog;
horn-melt; house-book; cat-map; swim-flag; fan-hat; box-walk
 Same Final Sounds: dolphin-lion; heart-boat; grapes-dance; lock-peacock;
pond-sand; chop-soap; gym-drum; rug-pig; train-chin; foot-goat
Final Sound Oddity (triple-image cards):
 Word that does not have the same final/last sound is underlined
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









Glasses, cheese, needle
Shovel, shelf, snail
Leaf, giraffe, lamb
Fish, web, crab
Dish, wash, king
Sing, watch, ring
Witch, cave, glove
Nose, toes, shell
Giraffe, nail, calf
Laugh, crab, comb
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Week 9: Sound Blending & Segmentation
Goal: To help children break apart and put together individual sounds in simple words & to
link this knowledge to print.
Explanations for children: Begin each structured activity with an explanation about how the
sounds in words can be pulled apart and put back together again. For example, ‘Over the last
few weeks we have listened to the first and last sounds in words. This week we are going to practice
pulling all the sounds apart in words and putting them all back together again.
1. Shared Storybook Reading: Old McDonald’s things that go
Frequency: 2 x 15-20 minutes in week 9
Explanation: During shared storybook reading time, you are encouraged to use the focus print
referencing strategy profiled in the table below while reading the book, ‘Old McDonald’s things
that go’, or a similar book from your kindergarten library. Additional print referencing strategies
that can be used are illustrated in the table below.
You are encouraged to use the focus print referencing strategy for this week at least every
second to third page. This can be integrated with the use of the additional print referencing
strategies. The print referencing strategies can be used with greater frequency if the children are
showing a high level of interest, awareness, and engagement with rhyming words and print.
Table 9. Sound-to-Print Referencing Strategies Focusing on Sound Segmentation & Blending
Sound-to-Print Referencing Strategies
Book: Old McDonald things that go
Focus Strategy: Drawing children’s attention to how words can be pulled apart into
individual sounds and put back together again.
Examples: You can use any words in the story to draw children’s attention to how
words can be broken down into individual sounds and then put back together again.
The following are a list of examples.
Print Commenting
‘This word says ‘farm’. I can say all the sounds in the word
farm one-by-one, ‘f-ar-m’ (pointing to each letter as each
sound is spoken)’.
‘Look at this word (pointing to the word ‘go’), I can say each
sound in the word one at a time, ‘g-o’, I said ‘go’, ‘g-o’.
Sound Blending Questioning
I am going to say all the sounds in one of the words on this
page. Guess what word I am saying, ‘s-w-i-sh’.
Sound Segmenting
This word says ‘swish’. Can you say each of the sounds in
Questioning
the word ‘swish’ one at a time? Let’s try.
Sound Segmenting &
Help me point to each letter as we make the sounds in the
Blending-to-Print Requesting
word ‘swoosh’.
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Additional Print Referencing Strategies (from Justice & Ezell, 2004)
Non-verbal Strategies
Examples
o Pointing to letters and words
Adult points to narrative print or print
embedded in illustrations
o Print tracking
Adult tracks the print while reading the
narrative
Verbal Strategies
Examples
o Print Questioning
Do you know this letter? What do you think this
says?
o Print Requesting
Show me where the O is. Help me read these
words.
o Print Commenting
That’s an A. This says, “Get out!”
2. Large Group Rhyming Activities: Sound segmentation and
blending
Frequency: 2 x 15-20 minutes in week 9
Explanation: The Drawing Sound Blending and Singing Sound Blending activities target
awareness of how words can be broken into individual sounds in words. Resources for each
activity are provided in the packs that accompany this manual.
A. Drawing Sound Blending
o For this game you will need the Drawing Sound Blending Picture Stories (Dragon and
Farmer), a white board or black board, a white or black board pen, and an eraser.
 Instructions: Select a Drawing Sound blending Picture Story and tell the children
you need their help to draw the dragon or a farmer. Explain that we need to
blend or put together the sounds so we know what parts to draw on the
dragon/farmer. Say each word in the story, sound-by-sound and then
encourage the children to blend those sounds together to identify the part of the
picture that needs to be drawn. You can then invite children up to draw parts of
the picture.

Example: Explain to the children that together they are going to draw a ‘Dragon’.
But there is a trick! Each part of the dragon that needs to be drawn will be said
in a special way – a long stretched out way! Children need to guess what word
you have said so that they can draw that part of the dragon.


Teacher: First of all we need to give our dragon a great big ‘h-ea-d’ (wait
at least 1-2 seconds between each sound). What word did I say?
Children: head (correct response).
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
Teacher Feedback: I said, ‘head’, ‘h-ea-d’. Can you hear how the sounds
make the word ‘h-ea-d’ – ‘head’? Who wants to come up and draw a
head for our dragon?
Note: for children showing difficulties ask them what sounds they hear at the
start or end of the word as illustrated below:





Teacher: Now let’s give him a round ‘b-o-d-y’ (wait at least 1-2 seconds
between each sound). What word did I say?
Children: no response.
Teacher: Let’s try again, ‘b-o-d-y’.
Children: no response
Teacher: I am saying the word ‘body’. Listen carefully, ‘b-o-d-y’ – ‘body’.
What is the first sound you hear in the word ‘body’? What is the last
sound in the word ‘body’? What other words start with the /b/ sound?
Can you think of any words that rhyme with the word ‘body’?
Continue with the remainder of the Dragon story in a similar fashion
adjusting level of difficulty based on the children’s responses.
Note: Children could also come up with some words for the Dragon before
the activity starts which could be written or drawn as a list on the board.
Children could then be encouraged to work out what word/picture on this
list is being segmented by the educator.

Words:
 Dragon Story: h-ea-d, b-o-d-y, l-e-g-s, s-m-i-l(e), ar-m-s, eye-s, n-o-se, m-ou-th,
t-ee-th, h-a-n-d-s, f-ee-t, t-ai-l
 Farmer Story: t-u-mm-y, n-e-ck, h-ea-d, l-e-g-s, ar-m, b-oo-t-s, ar-m, h-a-n-d-s,
h-a-t, s-m-i-l(e), n-o-s(e), eye-s
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B. Singing Sound Blending and Segmentation
This week we will use this singing activity as a sound blending activity

For this game you will need the Old McDonald Song Cards (i.e., image of a farmer
and associated cards) and the Sound Bus (i.e., image of the bus and associated cards), a
white or black board, and an eraser.

Instructions: Old McDonald - Tell the children that Old McDonald needs help
working out what animals are on his farm. Explain to the children that everyone
is going to sing, ‘Old McDonald had a farm, e-i, e-i, o, and on that farm he had a ……’,
and at the end of the sentence you will select a picture from a hat (or similar
object) and then say each sound in the picture’s name one-by-one. The children
need to guess what word you are saying. Once the children have guessed the
word, one child can come up to the board and stick the picture beside Old
McDonald.

Instructions: Sound Bus – Tell the children that the Bus needs help working out
what items are going to board the bus. Explain that you will select a picture
from a hat (or similar object) and then say each sound in the picture’s name oneby-one. The children need to guess what word you are saying. Once the
children have guessed the word, one child can come up to the board and stick
the picture beside the Bus.

Example: Explain to the children that everyone is going to sing Old McDonald
Had a Farm, but that some of the animal names are broken! You need the
children’s help to put the sounds together so that each animal on the farm has a
name.
 Teacher: Old McDonald has a farm, e-i-e-i-o, and on that farm he had a:
d-u-ck (wait at least 1-2 seconds between each sound). What did he
have?
 Children: Duck (correct response).
 Teacher Feedback: Great listening, say the sounds with me: ‘d-u-ck’
(encourage the children to say each sound with you – you may like to use
your fingers to indicate sounds). Let’s keep going.
Note: for children showing difficulties ask them what sounds they hear at the
start or end of the word as illustrated below:


Teacher: Old McDonald has a farm, e-i-e-i-o, and on that farm he had a:
‘sh-ee-p’ (wait at least 1-2 seconds between each sound). What did he
have?
Children: incorrect response
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

Teacher Feedback: Listen carefully: ‘sh-ee-p’. ‘Sheep’, I said ‘sheep’, ‘shee-p’. Your turn.
Teacher and children: ‘sh-ee-p’.
Continue with the remainder of the Old McDonald words in a similar fashion
adjusting level of difficulty based on the children’s responses.

Words:
 Old McDonald: d-u-ck, c-ow, h-e-n, h-or-s(e), sh-ee-p, c-a-t, d-o-g, p-i-g, g-oat, l-a-m(b)
 Sound-Bus: z-oo, sh-oe, c-ar, b-ye, k-ey, p-ear, h-a-t, f-a-n, m-ou-s(e), b-oo-t, bu-s, b-e-d, f-i-sh, m-ou-th
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Week 10: Sound Blending & Segmentation
Goal: To help children break apart and put together individual sounds in simple words & to
link this knowledge to print.
Explanations for children: Begin each structured activity with an explanation about how the
sounds in words can be pulled apart and put back together again. For example, This week we are
going to practice pulling all the sounds apart in words and putting them all back together again.
1. Shared Storybook Reading: Where’s Spot?
Frequency: 2 x 15-20 minutes in week 10
Explanation: During shared storybook reading time, you are encouraged to use the focus print
referencing strategy profiled in the table below while reading the book, ‘Where’s Spot? or a
similar book from your kindergarten library. Additional print referencing strategies that can
also be used are illustrated in the table below.
You are encouraged to use the focus print referencing strategy for this week at least every
second to third page. This can be integrated with the use of the additional print referencing
strategies. The print referencing strategies can be used with greater frequency if the children are
showing a high level of interest, awareness, and engagement with rhyming words and print.
Table 10. Sound-to-Print Referencing Strategies Focusing on Sound Segmentation & Blending
Sound-to-Print Referencing Strategies
Book: Where’s Spot?
Focus Strategy: Drawing children’s attention to how words can be pulled apart into
individual sounds and put back together again.
Examples: You can use any words in the story to draw children’s attention to how
words can be broken down into individual sounds and then put back together again.
The following are a list of examples.
Print Commenting
‘This word says ‘spot’. I can say all the sounds in the word
‘spot’ one-by-one, s-p-o-t (pointing to each letter as each
sound is spoken)’.
‘Look at this word (pointing to the word ‘bed’), I can say
each sound in the word one at a time, ‘b-e-d’, I said ‘bed’, ‘be-d’.
Sound Blending Questioning
I am going to say all the sounds in one of the words on this
page. Guess what word I am saying, ‘c-l-o-ck’.
Sound Segmenting
This word says ‘door’. Can you say each of the sounds in the
Questioning
word ‘d-oor’ one at a time? Let’s try.
Sound Segmenting &
Help me point to each letter as we make the sounds in the
Blending-to-Print Requesting
word ‘rug’.
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Additional Print Referencing Strategies (from Justice & Ezell, 2004)
Non-verbal Strategies
Examples
o Pointing to letters and words
Adult points to narrative print or print
embedded in illustrations
o Print tracking
Adult tracks the print while reading the
narrative
Verbal Strategies
Examples
o Print Questioning
Do you know this letter? What do you think this
says?
o Print Requesting
Show me where the O is. Help me read these
words.
o Print Commenting
That’s an A. This says, “Get out!”
2. Large Group Rhyming Activities: Sound segmentation and
blending
Frequency: 2 x 15-20 minutes in week 10
Explanation: The Singing Sound Segmentation and Sound Segmentation Chart activities target
awareness of how words can be broken into individual sounds. Resources for each activity are
provided in the packs that accompany this manual.
A. Singing Sound Blending and Segmentation
This week we will use this singing activity as a sound segmenting activity
o
For this game you will need the Old McDonald Song Cards (i.e., image of a farmer and
associated cards) and the Sound Bus (i.e., image of the bus and associated cards), a white or
black board, and an eraser.

Instructions: Old McDonald – Tell the children that Old McDonald needs help
working out what animals are on his farm. Explain to the children that everyone
is going to sing, ‘Old McDonald had a farm, e-i, e-i, o, and on that farm he had a ……’,
and at the end of the sentence you will select a picture from a hat (or similar
object) to show the children. The children need to name the picture and then
say each sound in the word one-by-one with the teacher (i.e., this part is
different to the week 9 version of this activity). Once the children have said
each sound in the word, one child can come up to the board and stick the picture
beside Old McDonald.
Instructions: Sound Bus – Tell the children that the Bus needs help working out
what items are going to board the bus. Explain to the children that you will
select a picture from a hat (or similar object) to show the children. The children
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
need to name the picture and then say each sound in the word one-by-one with
the teacher (i.e., this part is different to the week 9 version of this activity).
Once the children have said each sound in the word, one child can come up to
the board and stick the picture beside the Bus.

Example: Explain to the children that you are going to pull a picture out of a hat
(or similar) that needs to board the Sound Bus. But before putting the word on
the bus, the children need to say each sound in that word one-by-one.




Teacher: This is a picture of a ‘shoe’. The sounds in this word go (to the
tune of the wheels on the bus): sh-oe (say with the children waiting at
least 1-2 seconds between sounds – you can hold up fingers to represent
each sound as it is spoken).
Teacher Feedback: That’s right, say it with me again, ‘sh-oe’. Who wants
to come and put the ‘shoe’ on the Sound Bus?
Teacher: This is a picture of a ‘hat’. Let’s sing together, the sounds in the
word go: ‘h-a-t (say with the children waiting at least 1-2 seconds
between sounds – you can hold up fingers to represent each sound as it is
spoken).
Teacher Feedback: Good job, say it with me again, ‘h-a-t’. Who wants to
come and put the ‘hat’ on the Sound Bus? Let’s keep going!
Note: for children showing difficulties ask them what sounds they hear at the
start or end of the word as illustrated below:




Teacher: This is a picture of a ‘key’. Let’s sing together, the sounds in the
word go: ‘k-ey’ (say with the children waiting at least 1-2 seconds
between sounds – you can hold up fingers to represent each sound as it is
spoken).
Children: inconsistent or incorrect response.
Teacher Feedback: Listen carefully: ‘k-ey’. ‘K-ey’, I said ‘key’, ‘k-ey’.
Your turn.
Teacher and children: ‘k-ey’
Continue with the remainder of the Sound Bus words in a similar fashion
adjusting level of difficulty based on the children’s responses.
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
Words:
 Old McDonald: d-u-ck, c-ow, h-e-n, h-or-s(e), sh-ee-p, c-a-t, d-o-g, p-i-g, g-oat, l-a-m(b)
 Sound-Bus: z-oo, sh-oe, c-ar, b-ye, k-ey, p-ear, h-a-t, f-a-n, m-ou-s(e), b-oo-t, bu-s, b-e-d, f-i-sh, m-ou-th
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B. Sound Segmentation Chart
o For this game you will need the Sound Segmentation Chart, the Sound Segmentation Word
Lists, a white or black board, a whiteboard marker and an eraser.
o
Instructions: Select a Sound Segmentation Word List that is appropriate for the children in
your kindergarten (i.e., consonant-vowel (CV) words are easier than the consonantvowel-consonant (CVC) words. Put the picture cards for the selected word list into a
hat (or similar) and pull out a picture card and stick it to the center of the Sound
Segmentation Chart. Encourage the children to name the picture and as a group segment
the word into individual sounds. You may find that raising a finger for each sound that
is heard is a useful visual prompt for children. Once the children have said each sound
in the word, colour in a dot under the picture to indicate each sound that was spoken.
o
Example:
 Teacher: Here is a picture of a ‘zoo’. Let’s see how many sounds we hear in the
word ‘zoo’. Let’s try together – you can use your fingers to help you. Ready?
 Teacher and children: ‘z (wait at least 1-2 seconds between sounds) – oo’.
 Teacher Feedback: Great work, we made two sounds, ‘z-oo’. Let’s colour in two
circles for each sound we hear. Ready?
 Teacher and children: ‘Z-oo’. Let’s try another one.
Note: for children showing difficulties ask them what sounds they hear at the start or
end of the word as illustrated below:



Teacher: Here is a picture of a ‘fan’. Let’s see how many sounds we hear in the
word ‘fan’. Ready?
Teacher: ‘f-a-n’ (children produce inconsistent responses).
Teacher feedback: Nice trying. Listen to me say all the sounds I hear in the word
‘fan’, ‘f-a-n’, ‘fan’. You try with me – you can use a finger for each sound you
hear in the word ‘fan’. Let’s try together, ‘f-a-n’.
 What sound do you hear at the start of the word ‘fan’?
 What sound do you hear at the end of the word ‘fan’?
Continue with the remainder of the Sound Bus words in a similar fashion adjusting
level of difficulty based on the children’s responses.
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Sound Segmentation Word Lists
CV - Easier
Zoo
Shoe
Knee
Car
Core
Key
Two
Tie
Bar
Boo
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
CVC - Harder
Hat
Fan
Mouse
Coat
Comb
Boot
Bus
Cat
Bed
Bike
o
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SECTION TWO:
INFORMAL
PLAY-BASED
PHONOLOGICAL
AWARENESS
STRATEGIES
o Week-by-Week Specific Strategies
o General Daily Strategies
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Week-By-Week Specific Strategies
Informal play-based approaches to raising children’s awareness of the sound structure
of spoken words provides children with further practice and reinforcement of
developing phonological awareness knowledge on a day-to-day basis. This supports
knowledge acquired during more structured activities using shared storybook reading
and large group activity times.
Instructions: During every day play-based opportunities, attempt to draw children’s
attention to the sound structure of spoken words by linking what children are doing in
play with comments, questions, and requests about the sounds in words that map onto
their play. This can be achieved by focusing your comments on each key phonological
awareness area per week of the professional development program and using similar
‘Sound-to-Print’ referencing strategies outlined in each week of section 1 of this manual.
For example, in weeks 1 and 2 your comments can focus on drawing children’s
attention to rhyme, while in weeks 4 and 5 your comments can focus on highlighting
the initial sounds in words. Table 11 illustrates examples of different types of comments,
questions, and requests that can be used during informal play-based learning.
Time Allocation: Attempt to spend approximately 10-minutes a day using informal
play-based phonological awareness strategies. The goal is to achieve up to 40-minutes
of exposure to such strategies during play for children across the 10-week duration of
this program.
Table 11. Informal Strategies to Support Phonological Awareness Development During Play
Week Phonological
Awareness Focus
Rhyme Awareness
1
2
Rhyme Awareness
3
Sound
Discrimination
4
Initial Sound
Identification
Play-Based Examples
Painting:
‘You have painted a ‘cat’. ‘Cat’ can rhyme with ‘mat’, ‘hat’, pat’,
they all sound a bit the same. Can you think of a word that rhymes
with ‘cat’?
Sandpit:
‘You have a big pile of ‘sand’. The word ‘sand’ can rhyme with a lot
of other words like, ‘hand’, and ‘land’. Can you make up a word
that rhymes with ‘sand’?
Library corner:
‘I am going to say some of the sounds I see in this book. Tell me if
they are the same sounds: /p/-/p/.
Building blocks:
‘You have built a ‘tower’. ‘Tower’ starts with a /t/sound, listen
carefully, ‘t’ – ‘tower’. Can you think of any other words that start
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5
Initial Sound
Identification
6
Initial & Final
Sound Identification
7
Final Sound
Identification
8
Final Sound
Identification
9
Sound Blending &
Segmentation
10
Sound Blending &
Segmentation
with a /t/ sound? The letter ‘t’ makes the /t/ sound, I can make the
letter ‘t’ using these blocks.
Kitchen play:
‘You are mixing with a ‘spoon’. ‘Spoon’ starts with the /s/ sound’.
Do you know what letter makes the /s/ sound?
‘You have a piece of ‘corn’. What is the first sound you hear in the
word ‘corn’?
Tea party:
‘What a wonderful tea party. Would you like a cup? Cup starts
with the /c/ sound? What sound do you hear at the end of the word
‘cup’?
‘Here is a ‘bun’. What sound do you hear at the start of the word
‘bun’? What sound do you hear at the end of the word ‘bun’?
Trucks:
‘brrrrum, brrrrum goes the truck. What sound do you hear at the
end of the word ‘brrrrum’?
‘Oh look, here comes the ‘bus’. I hear the /s/ sound at the end of the
word ‘bus’, listen carefully, ‘buS’. Can you hear the /s/ sound at the
end of the word ‘bus’?
Outdoor play:
‘You are climbing, up, up, up, high. ‘Up’ ends with the /p/ sound,
listen carefully, ‘uP’. Can you hear the /p/ sound at the end of the
word ‘up’?
Water play:
‘Oh look, you have a watering ‘can’. I can hear a lot of sounds in
the word ‘can’, ‘c-a-n’. Three sounds, ‘c-a-n’. Can you say all the
sounds in the word ‘can’ with me? ‘C-a-n’. Nice job!’
‘You have a ‘boat’ and a ‘can’. Guess which one of these (point to
the boat and the can) I am saying, ‘b-oa-t’?
Play dough:
‘You have made a ‘snail’. The word ‘snail’ has a lot of sounds,
listen carefully, ‘s-n-ai-l’, four sounds. Let’s make a small ball of
playdough for each sound we hear in the word ‘snail’. ‘S-n-ai-l’
(making one small ball and point to each ball per sound).
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General Daily Strategies
Every day kindergarten routines and language-based activities can provide the basis for
supporting children’s awareness of sounds and how sounds in words relate to print.
The goal of any phonological awareness activity or strategy is to ensure children’s
awareness of the sound structure of spoken words is raised and knowledge of how such
a structure relates to early reading and spelling acquisition is emphasized. Examples of
how phonological awareness strategies can be assimilated into every day kindergarten
routines are provided below:
o Routines:
o When children arrive at kindergarten, encourage each child to identify the first
sound in their name (& identify this sound as a letter if the child has a name card
readily available or has their name written on their bag for example). Children
could also be encouraged to identify a word or made-up word that rhymes with
their name. To make the task harder, ask children to identify the final sound in
their name, or to segment the sounds in their name one-by-one.
o At morning tea time, let children go to wash their hands and select their food once
they have heard either a word that rhymes with their name, the first sound in
their name, the final sound in their name or their name segmented or blended (i.e.,
you can adjust the difficulty level based each individual child’s skill level). For
example, ‘if your name starts with a /k/ sound, you can go and wash your hands’,
‘if your name rhymes with mally’ you can go and wash your hands’, ‘guess whose
name I am saying, ‘j-o-(h)n’, yes I said ‘John’s’ name, John you can wash your
hands’.
o When sharing news or stories, encourage children to listen for the first sound in a
key word or words in the story. For example, if a child is talking about having a
new pet dog, you can ask the children ‘what is the first sound you hear in the
word dog’? ‘Can you think of a word that rhymes with dog?’
o General Kindergarten Strategies:
o Encouraging children to become increasingly aware of print in their
environment (e.g., signs, labels) by providing simple comments such as
“This is the letter ‘s’, ‘s’ says /s/” or making simple requests such as, ‘This
word says ‘stop’, what is the first sound you hear in the word ‘stop’? What letter
makes the /s/ sound?”
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o Drawing children’s attention to print on singing charts or in books by
pointing to the text, the title, the authors name, and the name of central
characters or words.
o When singing familiar nursery rhymes, encourage children to sing the
rhyming word that comes at the end of the sentence. For example,
“Hickory, dickory, dock, the mouse ran up the _____”.
o Encourage children to sort objects and toys by initial or final sound. For
example, when playing in the kitchen children could sort ‘spoon’, ‘soap’,
and ‘saucer’ into an ‘s’ pile and ‘can’, ‘carrot’ and ‘cup’ into a ‘c’ pile. The
corresponding letters could be written on a piece of paper to highlight the
link between speech and print.
o Children can be encouraged to find pictures in a book that start with the
same sounds or end with the same sounds. A similar activity can be
achieved using picture cards.
o Encouraging children to identify the sounds in their name (i.e., starting
with the first sound) and linking these to the corresponding letters.
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Key References
Carson, K.L., Gillon, G., & Boustead, T. (2013). Classroom phonological awareness
instruction and literacy outcomes in the first year of school. Language, Speech and Hearing
Services in Schools, 44(2) pp. 147-160.
Carson, K.L., Boustead, T. and Gillon, G. (2014). Predicting reading outcomes in the
classroom using a computer-based phonological awareness screening and monitoring
assessment (Com-PASMA) International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 552-561
Ehri, L. C., Nunes, S. R., Willows, D. M., Schuster, B. V., Yaghoub-Zadeh, Z., &
Shanahan, T. (2001). Phonemic awareness instruction helps children learn to read:
Evidence from the national reading panel's meta-analysis. Reading Research Quarterly,
36(3), 250–287.
Fitzpatrick, J. (1997). Phonemic awareness: Playing with sounds to strengthen beginning
reading skills. Cypress, CA: Creative Teaching Press.
Government of South Australia. (2015). SA Strategic Plan: Target 14 – Early Childhood &
Year 1 Literacy. Available at: http://saplan.org.au/targets/14-early-childhood-year-1literacy
Justice, L., & Ezell, H. (2004). Print Referencing: An Emergent Literacy Enhancement
Strategy and its Clinical Applications. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools,
35(2), 185-193.
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