Are you looking for ways to help your students practice phonemic awareness in a fun and engaging way? Reading is a key skill and having a strong knowledge of phonemic awareness can help immensely. To that end, phonemic awareness activities like Elkonin Boxes can be just the thing to get your students excited about reading.
Sound Box Elkonin Boxes Work Pages
Sound box work pages give your students something visual to work with as they learn to recognize and blend the sounds in words. Students will use the boxes to break up the word into individual sounds and try to put the sounds back together again. Elkonin Boxes are great to use when learning new words and practicing reading and segmenting words.
Using Elkonin Boxes
Using the boxes can be very helpful in teaching your students to understand and recognize the sounds in words. The template consists of three to five boxes (depending on the length of the word) with one letter in each box. The teacher chooses a word for the students and then breaks it up into individual sounds, placing each sound in its own box. Throughout this exercise, the teacher models how to sound out the word.
Elkonin Boxes Printables
You can provide your students with Elkonin Boxes printables to help them get comfortable with the activity. Printables, such as those shown here, can provide your students with the opportunity to practice the activity in a more independent format. This allows them to have a number of attempts at breaking a word down, rather than just one. It also helps to reinforce their understanding of the activity.
Elkonin Box Workmats- Blank (2, 3, 4 & 5 boxes)
When using the Elkonin Box Workmats, the teacher first has to choose a word and decide how many boxes it should be broken into. The teacher then writes a letter in each box and models the process to the students. The student then breaks down the word into individual sounds, speaking out loud and filling in the Elkonin Box. The student is encouraged to persevere if they make an error.
Elkonin boxes - The Measured Mom
Elkonin Boxes Worksheets can help to bring the classroom to life. This particular set of worksheets contains words that can be broken down into individual phonemes. You can also find a set with words that are broken down into two-to-four syllables, making it ideal for introducing the concept of syllables. There’s also a worksheet with a selection of three-letter words to help your students become more familiar with breaking down and blending letters.
