Oral Language Activity

Phoneme Level Activity

This phoneme level activity will consist of the students segmenting words
by their onset and rime and blending them together. The words students will use
are found in the book Stellaluna. The materials needed for this activity consists of
a board with a tree printed on it and a set of onset and rime cards with velcroe on
the back on them. Students will be given a set of cards that have the onsets and
rimes of different words. These letter combinations are color coded according to
their matching word part. The students will be directed to say whichever onset or
rime is in their hand, and then they will place the card on the tree. The onset will
be placed on the branch horizontal to the rime. This activity will allow the
students the opportunity to practice segmenting and blending one-syllable words.

Students must develop and establish their oral language through many
different processes. One of the ways students can fully develop their language is
through the understanding of phonemes. In order for students to understand the
nature of spoken and written words, students must develop an awareness of
phonemes. The first step of this awareness is comprehending the sounds of each
segment. Once the sounds are mastered, they can then connect the sounds to
the printed alphabet. Connecting letters and letter combinations to speech
sounds is known as the alphabetic principle. This principle is very important in
developing a childs oral language. The phoneme level activity that was created
for Kindergarteners using the book Stellaluna is a tool that can focus on both
parts of the alphabetic principle. When the students look at the separate cards
with the onsets and rimes, they will be able to recognize those word parts
separately. By grouping these letters together and sounding out the letter
combinations, students will be able to establish understanding of the sounds of
these letters. They will be able to recognize the letter for its name and also the
sound that it makes. Once the cards are placed on the tree, students will have
the opportunity to blend the onsets and rimes together. The tree provides a great
visual of how the letters make their own separate sound but can be blended
together. Once the letters are blended together, they will have gained an
understanding of the word as a whole. Not only does this phoneme activity
provide a better understanding of onset and rime in words, but it also will allow
for greater comprehension when reading the story. The words that are placed on
the tree are common words throughout the story. By recognizing these words

and having an understanding of how they sound, students will be able to read
those words with greater fluency during their reading.