I is another letter with two different sounds, the most obvious of which is the long I (ice, island). It is the short I sound, however, that most beginning readers encounter in simple text (is, it, in, big).The following game is useful for solidifying this sound, as well as reinforcing the ability to hear sounds in order.
With a set of magnetic alphabet letters and a cookie sheet, form the word "big". Say each SOUND as you slide the corresponding letter up, identify /i/ as the medial sound. Next, ask what would happen if the /b/ were replaced by /p/ (careful to always refer to the sound, not the letter name). Say the sounds in sequence as you push the letters upward on the cookie sheet. By changing one sound each time, you can create an endless chain of words, each containing the short /i/ sound (big-pig-wig-win-fin-in-it-hit-mit....).
the repetition of the short /i/ sound (coupled with the visual reinforcement of seeing the letter moved each time along with the sound) will solidify it in your child's mind. This technique is useful for drilling other letter sounds as well, and it's very effective for training a beginning reader's eyes and ears to hear and see the sequence of sounds in a word.
One day my teacher taught me
All about the letter O
It looks just like a donut,
A circle with a hole
We talked about the sounds it makes
In words like off and so
And then we tasted oats and
Onion rings and Oreos
That night I dreamed about a town
Where every single thing was round
And everything began with letter O
I met an octopus named Oscar
An owl named Ozzie, too
An orangutan named
Oliver O'Neal O'Shea McGoo
An ostrich named O'Leary
Was mayor of this town
And everywhere the air was filled
With quite the strangest sound
They hollered, "Ooooooooh"
They hollered, "Aaaaaaaah"
It was quite the strangest thing you ever saw
They hollered, "Aaaaaaaah"
They hollered, "Ooooooooh"
The sounds of O were all they seemed to know
Then suddenly I woke up
And there were Mom and Dad
I told them 'bout the Land of O
And the silly dream I'd had
They said, "While you were sleeping
You sat up right in bed
We heard your voice, you made a noise
And this is what you said
You hollered, "Ooooooooh"
You hollered, "Aaaaaaaah"
It was quite the strangest thing we ever saw
You hollered, "Aaaaaaaah"
You hollered, "Ooooooooh"
You scared us half to death, we didn't know
You were practicing the sounds of letter O"
