Building Words.... Building a Reader

As kindergarten approaches, it is time for us to start thinking about reading. Abby already has a solid foundation that she has gained from preschool, story time, and watching programs like Word World. So naturally, it is time build on that and teach her how to put sounds together to create words and get her started as an independent reader.

I put together two categories of cards: beginning sounds & base words, each in separate colors so they are easy to distinguish.

Starting with the basics, we take one base word at a time, then go through the beginning sounds to form words.

Not only is this a great way to teach reading and spelling, it is also an easy way to introduce rhyming words. The activities can be as simple as putting words together, or it can be expanded to include writing the words on paper.

{Sample Words}

In a Word document I created a page with three columns typing the lists below in an easy-to-read font (I used Comic Sans MS, 72 font size). This size is perfect because it is large enough to see easily, but small enough to lay out on a single surface area. The most time-consuming part of the project was cutting out the individual pieces.

Beginning Sounds (yellow)

a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
k
l
m
n
o
p
q
r
s
t
u
v
w
x
y
z
sh
ch
th
sp
cl
sm
fl
br
sn
fr
dr
qu
pr
sk
kn
tr
gr
sw
an
pl
st

Base Words (red)

Short a:
ack
all
am
an
and
ap
at
ar

Short e:
ed
ell
en
est
et

Short i:
ick
ig
ill
in
ing
ink
ip
it

Short o:
ock
og
op
ot
ook
ool

Short u:
uck
ug
un
ut

Long a:
ail
ain
ake
ay

Long e:
eat
ee
eep
eet

Long i:
ice
ide
ine
ite
ive
y

Long o:
oat
old
one
ose
ow