Phonological awareness skills are important in order to develop good reading and spelling skills. Having good phonological awareness skills means that a child is able to manipulate sounds and words, or “play” with sounds and words. For example, you might ask your child to break the word “cat” into individual sounds: “c-a-t.” Important: These skills deal with SOUNDS not letters. For example, /t/ represents the sound and not the letter name “tee.” You will not use any written or visual letters when working with phonological activities. These activities are done with listening and speaking only. Learning the letter names and their corresponding sounds is also very important but should be taught and practiced at a different time of the day. This resource will have a weekly activity for your to work on with your child/student(s). It will include a handout with information and guidance, as well as a video to help support you and the learner. CLICK THE WORDS "INFORMATION FOR PARENTS AND TEACHERS" TO GET STARTED (do not click on view description).

This video shows 1st graders using Phonemic Blending and Segmentation, an instructional practice in the K-2 Reading Foundations Skills Block that helps them understand letter-sound combinations and how that helps them read and spell words. Students first tap out the sounds in a word on their fingers, then blend the sounds together. Next, they review what each sound looks and feels like in the mouth (“articulatory gestures”). Finally, they analyze the oral and auditory connections in the word they began with. This instructional practice is used in both Kindergarten and 1st grade.

The Lethbridge Curriculum Developers Group Explore French Through Music website is a free, open access resource to support French language instruction with fun and interactive songs. Their are various materials provided on the website including songs, interactive activities, and cultural exploration. Activities are available for individuals to download for use in your class or use them as models for developing your own language materials.