Free Printable Back to School CVC Word Building Mat

Teaching CVC Words in Kindergarten:

EARLY READING SKILLS

USING PICTURE CARDS ALONG WITH A CVC WORDS LIST CAN HELP CHILDREN BUILD AND READ WORDS.

One of the first steps in reading is identifying letter sounds and segmenting them together to create a word.

Physically using word mats, letter tiles, and a dry erase marker puts a hands on spin to this fun back to school themed activity.

I would introduce this activity in a whole group and practice it together several times. The building mat can also be used during guided reading, small group instruction, or remediation. Let your child have fun with the activity by exploring and making up words without always having a structured activity.

Working with a small group of students, or one-on-one will help practice short vowel sounds and allow you to check for student understanding.

This super cute back to school activity includes a ton of CVC picture cards with different word families for students to read. Kids can get overwhelmed seeing all of the cards at once, so it might be helpful to create smaller sets of word card stacks. Use words with the same vowel, rhyming words, beginning consonants, or other spelling word patterns you are working on.

Your children will also practice phonological awareness (sounds) by saying the words and stretching them out.

Phonics for Kindergarteners

KINDERGARTEN SPELLING AND READING

KINDERGARTENERS GAIN CONFIDENCE WHEN THEY CAN SUCESSFULLY DECODE WORDS.

Decoding is when a child can apply their knowledge of letters and sounds to pronounce written words. Identifying CVC words can help children quickly patterns in words.

Why Is Decoding Important?

Being able to decode can lead to easily reading high frequency words and spelling. This also builds a strong foundation for moving on to word families, blends, long vowels, and digraphs.

Reading Skills Gained From Building Words

Word Families: It’s easier to teach children about the similarities in word families when they can visualize and play with letters. Your students can sort between word families such as ‘in’ ‘at’ and ‘op’.

Invented Spelling: Kids love making lists and writing letters when they start to dabble with invented spelling. Building words can encourage early writing and spelling skills.

Improves Vocabulary: With the vast amount of images and CVC words included in the activity, children can begin to identify new meanings and concepts of the picture cards.

Encourages Blending: After children find the letter for each sound, they begin to practice blending those sounds back together to from words. This is a very important skill when it comes to decoding words later on!

How To Use The Back To School CVC Word Building Activity

BUILDING WORDS WITH KINDERGARTENERS

SOME OF THE IMAGES MAY BE CONFUSING TO OUR KIDDOS. MAKE SURE TO GO OVER EACH PICTURE THAT YOU ARE USING WITH THEM SO THEY CAN EASILY FIGURE OUT THE WORD.

All you need to do is print one word building mat for each student onto white card stock and laminate them.

Print, cut, and laminate the back to school picture cards.

Children will draw a card and name it.

Then, they can place it in the box at the top of the word building mat.

If you want students to use manipulatives for each sound, they can slide a counter into the box while saying each sound in the word before matching the sounds to letters.

If you want them to spell the word with letters, they can say each sound and place the corresponding letters in the box.

Finally, students will copy the letters onto the lines at the bottom of the page.

Erase, repeat!

Extend the Activity:

Word BINGO!

After completing the initial activity, pull the CVC word with picture card and have them place a button or another small object on a pre-made BINGO card. They should match the image that you show them to a CVC word that is written.

Eliminate Letter Tiles

Students who become fluent word builders could skip the letter tiles and just write each word.

Where is the Rhyme?

Play a game with only the back to school cards! Students can sort through pictures of words that sound the same at the end.

More CVC Word Activities You’ll Love:

• Bubblegum Theme CVC Word Building Mats
• Summer Theme CVC Word Building Mats
• Rainy Day Theme CVC Word Building Mats

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