Students examine the concepts of organization and classification. In this library skills lesson, students practice ordering and sorting skills by playing an interactive Internet game. Students then practice their classification skills in...

Start your alphabet study strong using these strategies combining pronunciation, recognition, letter sound, and word examples focused on the letter a. Scholars examine the letter shape and listen to you pronounce the /aaa/ sound. As you...

What sound does the letter t make? As scholars develop letter recognition, form sound associations with strategies like these. Explain the tongue movement in making the /t/ sound, asking learners to try it. Draw the t on the...

Use these inventive strategies to focus on the letter r, forming sound associations along with letter recognition. Explain the tongue movement in making the /r/ sound, asking learners to try it. Draw the r on the board and give...

Synthesize pronunciation, recognition, letter sound, and word examples as scholars learn all there is about the letter g. They examine the letter shape and listen to you pronounce the hard /g/ sound. As you explain how this sound is...

Do your emerging readers know that letters sometimes borrow the sounds of other letters? Explore the soft /c/ sound, explaining that c has borrowed the sound from s. After giving scholars some examples of words that begin...

Explore the ins and outs of the letter k using these strategies combining pronunciation, letter recognition, and initial phoneme examples. Scholars examine the letter shape and listen to you pronounce the /k/ sound. Use these tips to...

Do you c what I c? Use these strategies combining pronunciation, letter recognition, and initial phoneme examples to examine the letter c with kindergartners. Scholars examine the letter shape and listen to you pronounce the soft...

Everything your pre-readers need to know about the letter Q is right here; this strategy combines pronunciation, letter recognition, sound, and word examples. Scholars examine the letter shape and listen to you pronounce the /kwww/...

Young writers identify and generate words using the strategies of phonics on the Making Words computer program. Words are typed instead of having to use tiles or paper. Extension activities such as playing the memory game, drawing...

A simple activity for young readers, this introduces the idea of author purpose. Learners analyze various types of texts (newspaper articles, magazines, books, advertisements, etc.) and determine if the author's purpose for writing was...

Pupils sharpen their dictionary skills and their understanding of compound words in this plan. Tailor it to the grade level you teach by honing in on specific skills. For older learners, the plan suggests providing a word and having them...

Why is spelling important? Develop your class' spelling skills. They examine examples of homonyms, heteronyms, and creative spelling. They also photograph misspellings in the real world in order to discover the importance of spelling...

Need a sponge activity? This is a simple game-like activity that can be completed in 5 to 10 minutes and helps young learners practice question asking and reasoning skills. The teacher hides a common classroom object from the class and...

What is Mico trying to say? Use a puppet to make this final-phoneme activity more engaging for kindergartners. Using three picture cards at a time (included), they listen to him say a final sound. To which of the three images is he...

As your youngsters begin to recognize the letters of the alphabet and their correponsding sounds, there are some they will be more familiar with than others. Cement their letter associations using this quick strategy, shown here with the...

Scholars play high-frequency word baseball, pretending to be a pitcher and a batter. Players take turns choosing baseballs with high-frequency words printed on them. If they read the word correctly, they move to the next base until they...

Scholars examine newspaper articles and highlight two sight words to discover which appears more frequently. They then glue sight words onto paper to make flashcards before composing, writing, and creating picture representations of...

Here is an interesting take on the old timed-fluency activity. In pairs, learners work together to see how fast they can read two sets of high-frequency words. Peer one reads a word from his list; peer two works fast to find that word in...

Can you find the mittens? What about the reindeer—or Santa? Try an online Christmas-themed word search to add some festive language arts fun to the classroom this year.

The tart dart left a hard scar on the large shark. Here's an exercise designed to help readers develop the phonemic awareness skills needed to detect the vowel sounds in words. The exercise, the third in the series of 16 and...

A memory activity engages young learners in letter-sound correspondence. Pairs take turns examining two sets of cards lying face down. They flip one image card and one letter card, then name the initial sound. If the sounds match, pupils...

Master the sight words big, said, come, and in with a packet of helpful reading activities. Kids work on their reading skills with tracing pages and bingo activities, as well as flash cards, connect-the-dots, and a short word...

Reinforce literacy skills using a six-sided die that focuses on phonics and story starters. Scholars roll, and show what they know about blends, plots, and more!