Sound Wall Teaching Tip #1 - Teach Each Sound Directly
A completed sound wall (especially with word cards) can be overwhelming for students. I like the idea of covering most of the posters with a “lock” picture, then revealing the phonemes as they are directly taught. Even after revealing the poster, you can cover some of the graphemes until they are taught. For example, when teaching /f/, start with the grapheme F, but save PH for later.
Sound Wall Teaching Tip #2 - Refer To The Sound Wall Often
The more often we can get our students studying and referring to the sound wall, the better! Each time you discuss phonemes, refer to the sound wall and anchor pictures. Draw attention to articulation gestures, or use small mirrors to explore and discuss what the lips, tongue, and teeth are doing for each phoneme.
Draw attention to how air is flowing – can you feel air coming out if your hand is in front of your mouth? Or, touch your throat – is there vibration when you make the sound?
Sound Wall Teaching Tip #3 - About The Schwa
The most common phoneme is called a schwa. It is similar to a short ŭ or /uh/ sound, and it often replaces the vowel sound in the unstressed syllable of a word.
For example, the short ă in balloon is often pronounced as a schwa, like /buh-LOON/.
When teaching phonemes, it’s very important to not add the schwa sound (/uh/) to the end of consonant sounds.
For example, teach the letter sound for T as a quick /t/ sound, not a longer /tuh/ sound with a schwa attached.
Grab a complete set of sound wall posters that has everything you need to set up a sound wall, including all phoneme and grapheme cards for vowels and consonants, mouth articulation cards, and header signs. CLICK HERE to see more pictures!
More Ideas for your Sound Wall Lessons!
This simple Roll & Read is perfect for independent reading practice to reinforce the sound wall graphemes, phonics spelling patterns and simple sentences! The best part is that it also practices core math skills with every roll!
Click the image to see all the choices!
Looking for free resources for your classroom? Try these:
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Looking for Seasonal or SEL resources? Click HERE to see lots of no-prep printables!
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