What Do You Hear?

Building academic language

Word

• Explain that you'll play a movement game to practice listening for letter sounds. Tape up 4-6 large pre-written letters (e.g. P, G, B, L ) on different walls of the classroom.
• Hold up an image (such as a ball) and ask the class to say the word aloud and identify the beginning sound /bb/ and letter B along with you. Then have them move to touch the wall the letter B is taped.
• Repeat this for additional words saying things like, "Pup--what letter makes the ending sound?"

Sentence

• Ask students to share with a partner 2-3 words using the same beginning sound as the beginning sound in their name.
• Provide sentence frames for students to use when sharing: "My name is __ __ __ __ and __ __ __ __ starts with the same sound."
• Have students draw or write their words on a paper.

Discourse

• Have students share their words (or drawings) with a peer. Encourage students to identify as many similar sounds as possible with their partner. Have students determine if the word shares the same sound in the beginning or ending.