Phonics Centers in Spanish

Description of each Phonics Center Component

Lectura Para Niños Phonics Center –  For components #001-004, it is recommended that the phonics centers are played auditorily first before students see the picture cards.  This will develop their phonological awareness.

Item #001:  Tema 1:  Phonics Center: Initial Sound Picture Cards A-Z

Contains 30 pages of picture cards The teacher chooses the picture pages for the letter of the week she is working with.  The teacher then uses a pocket chart in the front of the class to help the children with beginning sound discrimination.   To reinforce this skill, there is also a parent component for this at home where the parent can play the same game with black and white copies for the child.  The teacher can begin with 2 picture pages and ask the child, which picture begins with __ sound.  As the child increases in their ability to discriminate beginning sounds, the teacher can practice with more initial sound picture cards.

Example from Item #001 [ pdf 2.3 MB]

Item #002:  Tema 1:  Phonics Center: A-Z Letter/Syllable of the Week

Contains 30 pages of letter/syllable picture cards.  Cut and store in envelopes writing the letter name on the outside of each envelope.  This is similar to the Initial Sound Picture Card Phonics Center, but is intended for use with your document camera or for small group instruction.  The teacher chooses the picture pages for the letter/syllable of the week she is working with.  The teacher then uses the document camera or a mini pocket chart for their small group to help the children with beginning sound/syllable discrimination.   The teacher can use this game for beginning sound discrimination or beginning syllables.  Every consonant page will have two picture cards that will begin with each initial syllable of the week; for example ma:  mamá, mariposa    
me:  mesa, melón        mi:  micrófono, mitón        mo:  mono, mosca         mu:  muñeca, muletas  

• Listening:  Teacher practices saying specific words from the phonics center, student says beginning sound or syllable. 
• Manipulating sounds:  Teacher says a word from the phonics center; student matches the picture to beginning letter sound.   Practice with one to three letters to distinguish letter/sound correspondence. 
• Manipulating Syllables:  Teacher says a word from the phonics center, student matches picture card to the beginning syllable. Each letter has two picture cards to match each beginning syllable

Phonics Center A-Z Letters Example - #002 [ pdf 2.4 MB]

Item #003:   Phonics Center: Beginning Level:   4-6 sound words 

Contains 43 pages of sequentially taught word/picture cards.  In themes 2-10, each theme teaches 2-3 new letters making 4-6 sound words beginning with two syllable words progressing to three syllable words.  In theme 1, you have an overview of the letters and beginning syllables.  In theme 2-10, the students will focus on blending and segmenting words into sounds and syllables both auditorily and visually.

• Theme 2,  (Reviews:  A, E, I, O, U) – focuses on words with new consonants M, S, P
• Theme 3,  (Reviews:  A, E, I, O, U, M, S, P) – focuses on words with new consonants T, C, N
• Each theme 2-10 teaches 2-3 new letters, while reviewing letters from previous themes. 
• Listening & Segmenting:  Teacher practices saying specific words from an individual envelope, student segments the word into syllables, then into individual sounds. 
• Listening & Blending syllables:  Teacher practices saying specific syllables from an individual envelope, student blends the word. 
• Listening & Blending sounds:  Teacher practices saying specific sounds from an individual envelope, student blends the word. 
• Say it: move it with specific controlled letters from each theme & reviewing letters from previous themes.  The student sees the picture card, arranges the letters from left to right.  Students forms the syllables in the words first, then practices saying each sound touching each letter as they read.  Student does a bottom sweep of the word from left to right repeating the blended word. 
• Students are set up for success only having a certain number of letters in front of them; i.e., masa has only four letters in their envelope.  There are only so many ways to rearrange the word to eliminate frustration. 
• Auditory Processing Cards:  At end of each theme, students practice making words from a larger group of letters; i.e., Teacher has a set of all the words from that theme with 8-16 letters for those who have mastered the words from the theme.  

   

Phonics Center Beginner Example 1 - #003 [ pdf 5.3 MB]

Phonics Center Beginner Example 2 - #003 [ pdf 5.3 MB]

Phonics Center Beginner Example 3 - #003 [ pdf 1.68 MB]

Item #004:   Phonics Center: Advanced Level:   4-7 sound words

Contains 49 pages of words focusing on words with syllable blends, diphthongs, and open and closed syllables.  It also has words with a combination of the previous.  The students will focus on blending and segmenting words into sounds and syllables both auditorily and visually.  This phonics center is designed for those students who have mastered the Making Words Beginning Level phonics center.

The following are the components to each section. 
1)  Words with Blends at the Beginning of the word
2)  Words with Blends in the Middle or End of the word
3)  Closed Blends at the Beginning of the word
4)  Closed Blends at the End of the word
5)  Closed Syllables at the Beginning of the word  (5 letters)
6)  Closed Syllables at the Beginning of the word  (7 letters)
7)  Closed Syllables in the Middle or End of the word  (5 letters)
8)  Closed Syllables in the Middle or End of the word  (7 letters)
9)  2 Closed Syllables in each word
10)  Diphthongs at the beginning of the word
11)  Closed Diphthongs at the beginning of the word
12)  Diphthongs in the Middle or End of the word
13)  Closed Diphthongs in the Middle or End of the word
14)  Words with Hiato
15)  Words with Diphthongs & Blends
16)  Words with Blends & Closed Syllables
17)  Words with Closed Syllables & Diphthongs

Phonics Center Advanced Example - #004 [ pdf 1.86 MB]

Item #005:  Picture Dictionary/Word Wall

Contains 1-3 pages of pictures and words for each letter of the alphabet. For each word, the syllables are color coded for students learning to divide syllables. The words chosen come from my core reading curriculum and words that my students have come up with that correlate with each letter sound.  We focus on one letter per week while we practice segmenting and blending them into syllables and individual sounds.

• Listening & Segmenting:  Teacher says specific words from the dictionary, students practice segmenting the word into syllables.
• Listening & Blending syllables: Teacher segments syllables from words in the dictionary, student practice blending the words. 

I have the dictionary pages stored in page protectors in a binder, one at each table. During writing time, if the students need a resource to write a word, they can look it up in the dictionary. I also have the dictionary pages up on the wall under each letter of the alphabet.  My students use it all the time for ideas when writing.

Picture Dictionary/Word Wall Example - #005 [ pdf 7.33 MB]

Storage of Materials

My reading coach stores her phonics center in filing cabinets in her literacy room so paras can pull the center they need for small group intervention or double dose instruction	I have 4 small groups going on during my 90 minute reading block, so I keep 4 sets of everything in tubs labeled for the particular theme.

To organize everything, I went and purchased 10 theme tubs to store and organize all of my cards.  I did this after losing many sets and having to reprint, laminate and cut.  It’s a good idea to organize up front.    In each theme tub on my shelf I have these items:

1.  Phonics Centers: Initial Sound Picture Cards A-Z: (Only the picture cards that go with the particular theme; i.e., I put the picture cards for M, P, and S, in my Theme 2 tub). 
2.  Phonics Center: A-Z Letter/Syllable of the Week :  (Only the picture cards that go with the particular theme; i.e., I put the picture & syllable cards for M, P, and S, in my Theme 2 tub). 
3.  Flash cards for each theme:  Biblioteca Fonéticas flash cards for each theme.
4.  Phonics Centers: Beginning Level:  only theme 2 words would go in the Theme 2 box.

Example in the Theme 1 tub:  There is no making words kit, only the letters A, E, I, O, U Letter phonics kit Initial Sound Picture Cards A-Z & Phonics Center: A-Z Letter/Syllable of the Week:  so pull the picture cards from these centers.

I have 4 sets of everything in each tub because I have 4 reading groups.  If you only have 2 reading groups, then you will only need 2 sets.

I like to have at least one extra set of everything because it happens…. people lose letters.  I also like to have that extra set for paras that come in and double dose.  When people double dose, they take them out of the room (sometimes tubs don’t come back). If there is a sub the next day, we don’t know where their reading tub is.  I always try to keep my reading tubs in my room just for that reason alone.