Phonological Awareness Camp

Phonological awareness camp was a blast. Five days flew by and each day we focused on a different phonological awareness skill. Phonological awareness is such an important part of pre-reading. Playing with sounds and being able to manipulate sounds lays the foundation for reading.

First up was rhyming day where children had to both identify and produce rhyming pairs through different games and activities. A favourite activity from this day was when they had to create a monster using rhymes. The second day focused on syllables. The idea of syllables/beats in a word was introduced and children had to figure out how many syllables were in various words through various activities. We made a syllable caterpillar to help us count syllables. Next up was identifying beginning sounds in words on the third day. Children made a book with their beginning sound from their name. We also enjoyed smashing ice blocks to find objects and identifying what sound they started with. Day 4 was where we introduced the concept of blending sounds together to make a word. Different activities were done but a favourite was racing cars along to blend sounds together. The last day was the concept of segmenting words into their sounds. We all became kung fu masters and used movements to break up words.

Everyone involved had a great time and learned lots. They are all on their way to becoming successful readers! Parents were provided with handouts each day detailing the skill work on as well as ways to practice with their children.