THE FLOOR: Phonemic Awareness Block Challenge

• One-inch cubes are perfect.
• Use four or five different colors.
• You'll need three or four blocks of each color.
• Play these at a table, or on the floor.

Learn to pronounce the sounds correctly.

Can your child play 'What's New? First or Last?' Lists 1 thru 6? Then let's play:

What Changed? One to Three Sounds

1. Ask your child to show you, with blocks, a one-to-three sound word. (Nonsense words are fine!) For example:

• You say ‘shoe’ -- and the child lines up two different colored blocks
• (sh-oe = 2 sounds, shown by 2 blocks)

2. Then add or take away a sound; or change one of the sounds. For example:

• You could say “If this [block arrangement ] is ‘shoe,’ show me ‘show.’”
• (You changed the second sound: sh-oe --> sh-ow.)

• Or instead, you could say “If this is ‘shoe,’ show me ‘loo’”
• (You changed the first sound: sh-oe --> l-oo.)

• Or you could say, “If this is ‘shoe,’ show me ‘shoop.’
• (You added a sound at the end: sh-oe --> sh-oo-p.)

• Or you could say, “If this is ‘shoe,’ show me ‘oo.’
• (You took away the first sound: shoe --> oo.)

3. The child changes the block pattern -- adds, takes away, or changes one of the blocks-- to show which sound has been added, removed, or changed.

You say . . .	Child places block:
so	s - o:                          2 blocks
If that says 'so' show me 'no'	n - o:            changes 1st block
If that says 'no' show me 'noze'	n - o - ze:       adds a 3rd block
If that says 'noze' show me 'nize'	n - i - ze: changes middle block
If that says 'nize' show me 'nime'	n - i - me :   changes 3rd block
If that says 'nime' show me 'lime'	l - i - me:      changes 1st block
If that says 'lime' show me 'shime'	sh - i - me :   changes 1st block

HINT: S-t-r-e-t-ch the ‘stretchy’ sounds at first to help your child learn the game: “Sh-h-h-h-o-o-o-o --> Sh-h-h-h-o-o-o-o-p.”

More on this topic: The Reading Treehouse -> THE FLOOR: Phonemic Awareness