The ability to blend letter sounds is a crucial skill students need to help them decode unfamiliar words. 

Because recognizing letter patterns and putting together their sounds with ease is what builds confident, fluent readers. 

In our Find It! board game, students will focus specifically on identifying S consonant blends by decoding the words as pictures. 

Students Learn Their Initial S Blends with Our Find It! Board Game

This resource can be used as a reading center activity, with your guided reading group, or as a full class activity (see below) to practice decoding and spelling words with S consonant blends:

• st

• sk

• sm

• sp

• sn

• sw

• sc

 

To play, students will choose an S blend card, identify the consonant blend, and move their game piece to the first picture that starts with the matching blend.

More S Blend Activities + Scaffolding & Extension Tips

This game makes for the perfect fast finisher activity to keep your students engaged in learning while they play. There are also other ways to use this game to teach initial S blends with your whole class! 

Invite students to use a visual reminder such as a beginning sounds anchor chart or an alphabet chart to sound out words they may struggle with. 

Write the Room (Scoot Activity)

Hang sheets of chart paper around the room and write the S consonant blend at the top of each one. Individually, or with a partner, have students rotate around the room adding one word that begins with the blend. Project the game board for reference, if needed. Words may be used only once.

Initial Sounds Practice

Change the difficulty level for your guided small group by removing the letter cards. Instead, students will roll a die or spin the included spinner and move that number of spaces on the board. When they land on a space, they must be able to tell you which letter blend the word starts with to stay there—or they go back to the space they were in. The first one to the end of the board wins! 

Yes, And…

As an additional challenge, have students name another object that starts with the letter sound before moving to the new space.

Sentence Practice

Have students keep a pencil and paper nearby. After they move to a space, have the student write the word in a sentence on their paper. If students aren’t comfortable with writing sentences, just writing the word down will be great practice for sounding out words. 

Check out 10 helpful scaffolding strategies here! 

Easily Prepare This Resource for Your Students

Print the task cards on cardstock for added durability and longevity. Place all game parts in a folder or large envelope for easy access.

Before You Download

Use the drop-down icon on the Download button to choose between the PDF or Google Slides version of this resource. 

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This resource was created by Lindsey Phillips, a teacher in Michigan and a Teach Starter Collaborator. 

 

Why stop here when there are plenty more reading games and activities we know your students will love! Check these out: