My Sound Box

I realized I had been posting only math ideas so far, so I wanted to put some reading activities out there as well.  This activity supports initial sound fluency (or first sound fluency, if you are using DIBELS Next).  My sound box is an old Kleenex box.  I like Kleenex boxes because they are sturdy and often have a nice design on the outside.  You can also use a small gift bag and call it My Sound Bag.  The bag contains 26 items that represent the 26 initial phonemes.  I select items that easily fit in the box and hold up well over time.  Students take turns drawing items out of the box and naming the item and the sound that it begins with.  You can keep all 26 items in the box, you can remove some items if you only want to focus on 5-6 phonemes, or you can place several items with the same initial phoneme to demonstrate the same sound multiple times and ways.  Here are some idea for each letter:  A - ace playing card, acorn; B - button, deflated balloon, barrette, dry beans, building block, bracelet, bell, rubber ball; C - candy, crayon, comb, calculator, candy cane, cork, cardboard, matchbox car, candle, crystal, cotton ball; D - tiny doll, dice, dime, domino, dollar; E - eraser, plastic egg, envelope, earring; F - foil, folding paper fan, floss, mini flag, silk flower, baby fork, feather; G - glass, glow stick, golf ball, glue stick, something green; H - Barbie hat, heart, hay, small screw-in hook, lock of hair, handkerchief, small horn; I - plastic insect, silk ivy, invitation; J - jellybean, jack or joker playing card, jacks; K - kazoo, key, key chain, king playing card; L - lace, label, lock, lid, silk leaf, Lego, Christmas tree light bulb; M - marble, matches, small mirror, macaroni, magnet, magnifying glass, mail, map, marker; N - nail, nail file, napkin, necklace, nickel; O - something orange, origami crane, ornament, octagon; P - penny, pacifier, pretzel, pen, pearls, popsicle stick, pencil, puzzle piece, paintbrush, paper clip; Q - quarter, quilt square, queen playing card, Q-tip; R - rabbit's foot, ruler, ribbon, rock, ring, something red, rice, rubber band; S - starfish, shell, safety pin, shamrock, screw, sandpaper, stamp, paper snowflake, Barbie shoe, sample spoon, stick, stickers, straw, staples; T - toothpick, tweezers, old movie or concert ticket, matchbox truck, thread, thimble, twist tie, toothbrush; U - fancy drink umbrella; V - velvet, Valentine's card, silk vine; W - whistle, small wheel, wheat, wood, watch, something white; X - x-ray (I made my own mini x-ray with the clear plastic from a window envelope and a black sharpie marker); Y - yarn, something yellow, yo-yo; Z - zipper, Ziplock bag