Hi everyone! Can you tell my kids are at their grandparent’s house these past couple days based on the fact that I’m actually blogging? Ha! I have an actual folder called “to finish soon.” It is quite full and some files have been there for years. Well, today I finally finished one that I’m really excited about. I’ve blogged about sound boxes before (here) and I have them included in several of my phonics packs, but I wanted to make a big pack with all of them together.
Sound boxes can be used with or without letters. When I’m working on phonemic awareness with my students, I just focus on the sounds and not the letters. As my students begin phonics and learning to read and spell, I add in the corresponding letters. Sound boxes can strengthen both phonemic awareness skills and phonics skills.
Here is how you use them:
There are three formatting options. Two of them are in color. You can print out the color and keep it full page, like in the picture below. Then, stick it in a plastic sleeve and use a dry erase marker to write and then wipe off to use again. If you use this option, you could put them together in a binder or a three-pronged folder so they are all ready to use.
Another option is print the same page as above, but then cut each box individually and laminate to use as individual sound boxes. In the picture below, I also cut out the little visual helper as well. I also added a ring to it so I could keep all of that phonics skill together. You can use these as just an oral segmenting activity with manipulatives or you could also use a dry erase marker to write the corresponding letters.
The third option is a printable black-and-white page. This can be used as individual worksheets or can be bound into a workbook.
This pack includes 60 pages, each page with 6 sound boxes, totally over 300 sound boxes! The phonics skills included are:
You can find this pack HERE.
Want to learn about why sound boxes are so effective and important? Check out my post about orthographic mapping.
