Routine · Phonological awareness
First and last sound
Listen to a spoken word and say its first sound, then its last sound.
- Time
- 2 to 4 minutes
- Skill
- Phonological awareness
- In a session plan
- Warm-up
When to use it
At the very start of phonics, or when a student names letters instead of sounds when asked what a word starts with.
Materials
- A list of short spoken words
- Optional: a mirror so the student can watch their mouth
Steps
Get ready
Say that today you are listening for the sound that starts a word and the sound that ends it.
I do
Say a word, then repeat the first sound alone, stretching or bouncing it.
Say: Mat. The first sound in mat is /m/. The last sound is /t/.
We do
Say the next word and answer together.
Say: Sit. First sound? Together.
Student: /s/.
You do
Give six words for first sounds, then six for last sounds. Pause after each so the student answers alone.
Student: Says one clean sound for each word.
Check
Mix the two: say a word and ask for either the first or the last sound.
If the student...
Says the letter name, such as em, instead of the sound.
Say that the name is right for spelling, but now you want the sound. Model it, say it together, and ask for the same word again.
Say: That is the letter name. The sound is /m/. Say /m/. Mat starts with which sound?
Gives the first sound when asked for the last.
Say the word slowly, tapping your arm from shoulder to hand, and stop on the last sound. Have the student tap and say it.
Tips
- Last sounds are harder than first sounds. Keep words short and end on easy ones like /s/ and /m/.
- In a group, use a quiet hand signal before everyone answers so quick students do not answer for the rest.
Original routines written by Literacy Trail. In the app, every routine is filled with your student's lesson.
Related routines
- Say it slow, say it fastBlend spoken sounds into a word, then break a spoken word back into its sounds.2 to 4 minutes · Warm-up
- Sound boxes with tokensPush one token into a box for each sound in a spoken word.3 to 5 minutes · Warm-up
- Clap the syllablesJoin spoken syllables into a word, then clap a word back into its syllables.2 to 4 minutes · Warm-up
- First sound plus the restJoin a first sound to the rest of a word, and split a word after its first sound.2 to 4 minutes · Warm-up
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.