Build Syllabication Skills With Santa’s Help!

Santa Season is here; you know what that means: it will take some serious work to keep your students engaged and learning in your classroom each day.  But no worries! The teacher team here at Teach Starter has been hard at work creating new and fun Christmas-themed resources that will grab your students’ attention and keep it!

Santa’s Syllable Literacy Center is an interactive way to help your students build the skills needed to decode multi-syllable words. 

Instructions for Your New Christmas Phonics Activity

1. Lay the four header cards in a row on a flat surface.
2. Divide the word cards evenly between players.
3. Player 1 reads aloud a word, claps its syllables, and sorts it into the correct column. Player 2 goes next.
4. Play continues until all cards have been sorted.
5. Players use the answer key to check their answers.

You can also use this resource as a memory game for two players; students will shuffle the picture cards and lay them all face down. Each player takes their turn by flipping two cards at a time until either finds two words with the same number of syllables (e.g., bus and clock) and sets the pair aside to keep score.

• See It, Say It, Spell It

Use the cards to show students how breaking words down into their syllables can help them as they learn to spell. Choose three cards, one for each number of syllables, and project them on your smartboard. Working together as a class, sound out the words a syllable at a time and ask students what letters they hear. Write the words on the board as the students match the sounds to the letters.

• Dividing Words Into Syllables for Everyone

Fast finishers can take this activity further by sorting the picture cards and putting them in alphabetical order. You can also ask them to think of more words they know with 1, 2, or 3 syllables. Ask them to draw pictures of those words and write the number of syllables each has below the drawing.

If your students have trouble identifying each word’s syllables, show them how to clap it out. This makes sounding out words fun (they love to make noise!). Plus, students engage multiple senses while working on their phonological awareness.

Easily Prepare This Christmas Reading Activity

Print the sorting headers and cards on cardstock for added durability and longevity. Place all game parts in a folder or large envelope for easy access.

You’re just a click away from getting your new resources! Use the dropdown arrow on the Download button to select the Editable Google Slides resource file or the quick-print PDF version.

This resource was created by Lisamarie Del Valle, a teacher in Florida and Teach Starter Collaborator.

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