Hi Sara
I think it �s fine to teach phonics to very young kids - after all, it �s only making them aware of the sounds letters make. If the activities are fun, the kids will respond.
My students responded well to an activity where they had letter cards and picture cards. So maybe they �d have a, t, p, e and s ... and picture cards of an apple, a tiger, a pencil, an egg and the sun.
These can be used in so many ways ... matching games, pellminism, snap, guessing games. Just add more letters and pictures as they become more confident.
Another game is for each child to have 3-5 letter cards (the same set for everyone). The teacher says a word and the students hold up the letter which makes the beginning sound of that word. You can do the same thing to practise the 5 vowel sounds. Give them a, e, i, o and u ... then call out words such as hat, ten, sun, hot, sit ... and the students hold up the vowel that belongs in that word.
Lots of the games can be played with students responding to the teacher first, and then in pairs or small groups once they �ve got the hang of it.
In jolly phonics, the sounds are introuced in groups. Group 1 contains: s, a, t, i, p, n
Once the students know these six sounds, there are many simple words that can be sounded out. So you could give pairs of students a set of the six letters ... then call out words and see who can arrange their cards to spell them
"pat" p-a-t
"sit" s-i-t
"ant" a-n-t etc etc
Another very simple game - can be used as a fun finish to a lesson - the teacher writes a letter on the board and students raise their hand if they can say a word that begins with that sound. Allow 4 or 5 kids to answer, then change the letter ... and so on and so on.
Once you get started, you �ll find you think up all kinds of fun ways to practice letter sounds. Games, simple songs or tongue twisters, mime, chanting, brainstorming ...
... honestly, don �t be daunted by it. Just introduce 2 sounds per lesson to begin with, review the previously taught sounds each time (I really recommend lots of review - what seems simple to us, can be tough for young kids), keep it fairly short ... and the students will soon get the hang of that portion of the lesson.
There �s an activity pack on my site for the Dr. Seuss book �Green Eggs and Ham �. I made this to use with some students I �d been doing phonics with for three terms. They couldn �t understand it 100%, but they loved it. The book has only 50 words in it (maybe less?) and lots of rhyme and repetition. Perfect for lower levels. Here �s the link:
And here �s a board game I made to support my phonics activities. I used it as an end-of-term treat and the students went nuts for it.
Best of luck!
Brian
