Routine · Letters
Quick letter-sound drill
Flash known letters for their sounds at a brisk pace, with fast fixes.
- Time
- 2 to 3 minutes
- Skill
- Letters
- In a session plan
- Review
When to use it
Daily while the student is learning single letters, and any time a known sound is slow or shaky.
Materials
- Letter cards for every sound taught so far
Steps
Shown with example words: sound /m/.
Get ready
Shuffle the cards for letters already taught. Put any trouble letters in twice.
We do
Show the first two cards and say the sounds with the student to set the pace.
You do
Show each card for about a second. The student says the sound. Keep moving.
Student: Says each sound quickly.
Put any missed card back three or four cards deeper so it comes up again soon.
Check
End with the missed cards one more time. Make a note of any still missed.
If the student...
Says a wrong sound, or waits more than a few seconds.
Say the correct sound right away, have the student repeat it, and slide the card back into the deck a few cards later.
Say: This says /m/. Say it. I will show it to you again soon.
Tips
- Keep it short and quick. A drill that drags turns into guessing.
- In a group, have the group answer, then show one card to each student in turn so you hear everyone.
Example words
- Sound
- /m/
Original routines written by Literacy Trail. In the app, every routine is filled with your student's lesson.
Related routines
- Letter sound with a picture keywordLink a letter to its sound through a picture word that begins with that sound.4 to 7 minutes · New lesson
- Sound card reviewShow the sound cards taught so far, quickly, so every known spelling stays automatic.2 to 4 minutes · Review
- Word sort by patternSort word cards into groups by their spelling pattern and tell what each group shares.4 to 7 minutes · Review
- Heart word review deckFlash the student's heart word cards, old and new, until each one is read on sight.2 to 3 minutes · Review, Heart words
Have this routine filled in for every lesson
In Literacy Trail, the session plan picks a routine for each block and fills it with the words, sounds and sentence from your student's lesson. Every plan starts with a 15-day free trial.