Strong foundational language skills begin with teaching letter sounds and recognition. 

Being able to identify the letters of the alphabet and the sounds they make sets the stage for English language fluency. It’s these phonological awareness-building blocks that equip your students with skills to decode words, develop a strong vocabulary, and establish a wealth of reading confidence.

With our Letter Sound Task Cards, students will identify the letter in the middle of the card, say its name, and repeat its sound. 

Play and Learn with Our Letter-Sound Correspondence Game!

This resource works best when used as a guided reading activity to practice letter-sound correspondences.

To play, shuffle the cards and lay them in a stack upside down in the middle of the playing area. The players will take turns flipping over the cards and saying the letter in the middle of the card and the sound the letter makes. Tap each picture while saying the beginning sound twice and then the word, e.g., /c/-/c/- cat.

It also works well as a whole-class practice activity by projecting each card on the screen and completing the activity together as a class. Why not have a special pointer for the “leader” to use. Call a student up to the front of the room to use the pointer and lead the class through the card. They will LOVE it!

How to Get More Letter Sound Practice out of This Resource

Work on letter-sound identification with your whole class and small reading group with more activities to extend this game even further. 

Gallery Walk (Scoot Activity)

Mix up the cards and hang all 26 around the room to have your students complete a gallery walk. Working either alone or in pairs, assign a task card to each and have them rotate around the cards (on your signal “Scoot!”), practicing their letter-sound recognition until they have completed each one.

Big Board Game

This game works best with your reading small group. Lay all the pieces out in one long line as if it were a human-sized board game. Divide students into 2 teams. Players take turns rolling a die and moving that number of spaces (the cards). When they land on a card, the student must identify the letter on the card and the sound that letter makes. If they are unable to provide an answer, they go back to their earlier position on the board. 

Swat! 

During small group instruction, create a grid of 5 cards on top of a table and give each student a fly swatter. Make the sound of one of the visible letter cards and have the students swat the letter card that matches the sound. The first student to swat it correctly sets the card aside in their own pile to keep score. The student with the most cards wins. 

Change the Difficulty Level if Needed

As an additional challenge, have the students name, write, and/or draw (depending on their comprehension level) another object that starts with the letter sound before moving on to a new card.

If students need a visual reminder of letter sounds, encourage them to use classroom posters to review consonant and vowel sounds.  

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. 

---

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

 

We’ve got a ton of alphabet and reading activities we know your students are going to love! Check these out:

[resource:77408]   [resource:4635973]   [resource:4655094]