Phonics activities are not just for young students-they’re for older students too. Every year I have a couple students who need a little {sometimes a lot} of extra work on phonics. This can be quite a challenge, because that isn’t something I teach in a whole group lesson. This instruction is completed in reading group whose emphasis is phonics {and sight words if needed}. In this post, I’ll share some of the phonics activities and resources I use to teach phonics to upper elementary students.
Phonics Activities – Interactive Notebooks
You can use the phonics activities as a follow-up to your reading lesson. I have students complete a page in their phonics interactive notebook. This offers extra reinforcement for students who need extra support. I like using it after I’ve taught a lesson in students’ reading group, because my students need this additional practice. There are two free weeks in the preview, so you can check it out and see if it works for your students. There are two spelling patterns for students to study each week. This gives students consistent and predictable practice. Yet, prevents students from becoming bored by completing the same phonics activities each week.
Upper elementary students rarely need help with short vowels. Instead, they usually need the extra instruction with long vowels, so that’s where this unit begins. Week 1 starts with long a by itself and a consonant e. Students complete a sort where they glue words with specific word patterns underneath the correct flap. Sorts make great phonics activities!
In the second activity of the week, students use the phonetic rule to spell the words shown on the picture correctly.
In one of following phonics activities, students write the word in a sentence underneath the flap. The word should be spelled correctly. These are all short activities, because they follow my phonics lesson, and I want them to be short and sweet, to give students time for independent reading.
On the fourth day of the first week, students cut out the perimeter of each shape and fold on the dotted lines to make an accordion. Glue the tabs down. Students spell the picture and write one letter on each circle.
On the last day of week 1, students should write examples of words which use the studied spelling pattern underneath each tab. I encourage students to walk around the room to look for examples of that spelling pattern.
The phonics activities continue to the second week where students continue working on the long a sound, and I add ai and ay to their phonics notebooks. In the first activity, students cut out the individual letters to build the words represented with the pictures. Students should then write the word.
The following day, students should write words within the same word family underneath each flap that is glued in their notebooks.
In the third day of week 2, students fill in the missing letters on the front and use the word in a sentence underneath each flap. It’s important to have students apply what they’ve learned in their phonics activities.
On the fourth day, students cut out the perimeter and glue the middle section only of their foldable. They cut on the dotted lines to create flaps, and then they cut out and glue pictures on the appropriate column. Students should write the word underneath the picture.
In the last activity for week 2, students should write a word that uses the same spelling pattern on each flower petal.
The phonics activities are organized into weeks, where each week focuses on two different phonetic patterns. I’ll pick and choose lessons to review what I’ve previously taught in my guided reading group. I’m excited to see the results of these new strategies, because I think they’ll make a huge impact on my students! You can find the phonics resource here! If you’d like to read more about how I incorporate these phonics activities into my guided reading groups, check out this post!
