Mystery Words!

Purpose:  This activity helps learners develop their ability to sound out a word starting from the first sound in the word

Preparation Time:  5 minutes

Materials Needed:  vocabulary words written on index cards or spaced apart on a sheet of paper

One-on One Procedure:

1. Cover up the target word with a piece of paper or a blank index card, and hold it up or turn your camera so that the learner can see it.
2. Slide back the top paper so that the learner can see the first letter of the word (if the first letter is part of a digraph such as ch, th, sh, ea, wh, ph, etc., show the two letters that make up the sound).
3. Ask the learner to say the sound that the revealed letter/s make. Remind them to say the sound, not the name of the letter.
4. Ask the learner to guess what the word is based on the first sound. Remind them to guess words that start with the same sound.
5. If the learner guesses the word, ask them to sound out the rest of the word. As they say the sounds, slide back the top paper to show the letters that correspond with the sounds.
6. If the learner doesn’t guess the word, slide back the top paper to reveal the second sound in the word. Ask the learner to say the sound that the revealed letter makes.
7. Go back and repeat the first sound, then the second sound. Practice blending them together.
8. Ask the learner to guess what the word is based on the first two sounds blended together. Remind them to guess words that start with the first two sounds.
9. Continue sliding back the top paper, sounding out the newly revealed letter, blending all letter sounds together until the learner guesses the word or until the entire word is revealed and read.

Modification for a Group: For a larger group, follow the steps above but begin by asking the entire group to sound out and guess the word. After the first few words, begin calling on individual learners to sound out the words.  

Modification to a Sentence Level: Write a sentence and cover up a word in the sentence. Read the sentence together with the learner/s. Ask them to guess what the missing word is. Follow the directions about to reveal the letters of the covered word one at a time. After each letter is revealed, reread the sentence with the learner and encourage them to guess what the word is in the context of the sentence and with the phonics clues.  

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