Introduce Onset-rime Blending

Activity Type: Introduce

Activity Form: Game

Grade: K

Group Size: Small Group, Whole Class

Length: 5 minutes

Materials: A hand puppet--ours is called Mico

Goal: Given a spoken onset and rime, the student can blend them into a word ( /a/ + "bc" -> "abc" ).

What to do

Mico is having trouble speaking today and needs your help. Instead of saying a word like sit it comes out like this: sss-it. Hold the onset for about a second and don't pause between the onset and rime. Mmm-y. What's that Mico? Mmm-y. I don't understand. Can anyone help me translate? My! That's right. Mico was trying to say "my". "Mmm-y", "my".
Nnn-ame. What's that? Nnn-ame. Wait for students to blend. Continue with iii-s and Mmm-ico. "My name is Mico!" Got it. But we know your name is Mico, Mico. What's that you're saying?
Continue with C-an, yyy-ou, h-elp, mmm-e. Have Mico go over to specific students (those who are not taking part or are struggling to blend) so they help with the next word.
You can make up further sentences depending on the size of your group, until all students are demonstrating how to blend onset and rime. At the end, it can be fun to have Mico suddenly talk properly: "Can you help me? Hey, I can talk! Yay! Thanks everyone."
Make a note in an Activity Log for students who continue to have difficulties.