LEARN NC

K–12 teaching and learning · from the UNC School of Education

Phonics fun

Kid Pix Deluxe software is needed for this lesson. Using this program, students will decode and blend one-syllable short-vowel words and words ending with silent "e" to match pictures with words as well as to spell names of pictures.

A lesson plan for grade 1 English Language Arts

By Jo Voigt

Learn more

  • Between the Lions A website companion to the popular PBS kids' show contains stories, interactive games, activities, and audio and video clips that foster literacy and demonstrate the joys of reading. Targeted at children who are four to seven years old.

Related pages

  • Magic E: Decoding/encoding with CVC & CVCE: Students will participate in two activities involving the consonant-vowel-consonant-silent e (CVCE) pattern: a decoding activity involving attaching a clothes pin with the letter e printed on it to consonant-vowel-consonant words (CVC) and sounding the new CVCE words; and an encoding activity involving dictation of CVC and CVCE words from the first activity which students are to write using auditory and tactile strategies. These activities require that students have prior knowledge of consonant and long and short vowel sounds as well as blending of these sounds in CVC pattern words.
  • The long and short of it!: This lesson will assist students in recognizing and discriminating short and long vowel sounds.
  • Vowel, consonant, vowel your way to better reading: This is a lesson for Secondary Special Education Teachers who teach exceptional children who are reading at the second grade level. Students will learn decoding patterns using vowels and consonants to divide words into syllables in order to sound out the word.

Related topics

Help

Please read our disclaimer for lesson plans.

Legal

The text of this page is copyright ©2008. See terms of use. Images and other media may be licensed separately; see captions for more information and read the fine print.

Learning outcomes

Students will:

  • blend, segment, decode, and spell short vowel words.
  • blend, segment, decode, and spell words with silent “e” on the end.

Teacher planning

Materials needed

Templates for student activities:

  • Phonicsfun in JPG and BMP formats
  • Phonicsfun1 in JPG and BMP formats
  • Magicema in JPG and BMP formats
  • Magicesp in JPG and BMP formats

Time required for lesson

20 minutes

Technology resources

  • Computer
  • Kid Pix Deluxe software

Pre-activities

  • Students will need to have knowledge of Kid Pix Deluxe software.
  • Students will need to have had phonics instruction in blending consonants, consonant blends, diagraphs, and short vowels to complete two phonics fun templates
  • To complete the two silent “e” templates, the students should have had instruction in decoding words ending with silent “e.”

Activities

  1. To begin the lesson, show the Phonicsfun template (available in JPG or BMP format) and demonstrate to the students how to use the truck button in Kid Pix Deluxe. They will use the smallest square to drag the word up to the corresponding picture. This may be tricky for some students, especially if use of Kid Pix has been limited.
  2. Then show the phonicsfun1 template (available in JPG or BMP format) and explain how to use the typewriter key to type in the correct spelling of the picture.
  3. After you’ve finished the demonstration, have the students complete the lesson template Phonicsfun. Check their work if time allows. Otherwise, have the students save their completed lesson template or they may print it.
  4. If students have successfully completed the matching, they are ready to segment sounds to spell short vowel words. The students will use the typewriter keys to type in the names of the pictures on the lesson template phonicsfun1. Once again, you may choose to check work as the students complete the template or have the students save or print the lesson.
  5. To practice using the silent “e” at the end of a word, have the students complete the lesson template magicema (available in JPG or BMP format) to match words with pictures just as they did in the short vowel practice. You may check their work, or have the students save or print for later teacher review.
  6. If the students can decode and match words to pictures, then they are ready to segment sounds and spell words with silent “e” on the end. They can type the names of the pictures with silent “e” at the end of a word in the magicesp template (available in JPG or BMP format).

Assessment

Check work as students complete each section or have students save their responses to be checked later. You may also allow students to print responses.

Acceptable:

  • Completion of the matching templates with at least 10 of 12 correct.
  • Completion of the spelling templates with at least 10/12 correct.

Comments

This computer activity is a fun alternative to the basic paper-and-pen task often completed by first-grade students for practice in decoding and spelling one-syllable words.

North Carolina curriculum alignment

English Language Arts (2004)

Grade 1

  • Goal 1: The learner will develop and apply enabling strategies and skills to read and write.
    • Objective 1.01: Develop phonemic awareness and demonstrate knowledge of alphabetic principle:
      • count syllables in a word.
      • blend the phonemes of one-syllable words.
      • segment the phonemes of one-syllable words.
      • change the beginning, middle, and ending sounds to produce new words.
      • create and state a series of rhyming words that may include consonant blends (e.g., flag, brag).
    • Objective 1.02: Demonstrate decoding and word recognition strategies and skills:
      • generate the sounds from all the letters and appropriate letter patterns which should include consonant blends and long and short vowel patterns.
      • use phonics knowledge of sound-letter relationships to decode regular one-syllable words when reading words and text.
      • recognize many high frequency and/or common irregularly spelled words in text (e.g., have said, where, two).
      • read compound words and contractions.
      • read inflectional forms (e.g., -s, -ed, -ing) and root words (e.g., looks, looked, looking).
      • read appropriate word families.

  • Common Core State Standards

    • English Language Arts (2010)

      • Reading: Foundational Skills

        • Grade 1
          • 1.RFS.2 Demonstrate understanding of spoken words, syllables, and sounds (phonemes). 1.RFS.2.1 Distinguish long from short vowel sounds in spoken single-syllable words. 1.RFS.2.2 Orally produce single-syllable words by blending sounds (phonemes), including...
          • 1.RFS.3 Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words. 1.RFS.3.1 Know the spelling-sound correspondences for common consonant digraphs (two letters that represent one sound). 1.RFS.3.2 Decode regularly spelled one-syllable words....