About this activity
Twelve hunting tasks for a target sound: find three things in this room that start with /s/; find three that start with /r/; find something that ends with /k/; find something with your sound in the middle; find two things in your backpack; look out the window and name three; find the longest word in the room with your sound; name five things at home, from memory. The room supplies the words, which is what makes this different from a deck.
How to use it in a session
Let the student choose the words. That is the whole point — a target word the student found is produced with more attention than one handed to them, and searching for it requires them to run through their own vocabulary listening for the sound. The from-memory card at the end is the hardest and the most useful, since it removes the room entirely. Twelve minutes covers several hunts.
What to listen for
Listen for word selection revealing perception. A student who offers a word without the target sound is not hearing it, which is more informative than a mispronunciation. Notice the medial and final tasks, which are much harder than the initial ones — students hunt for initial sounds naturally and have to be pushed to hear the other positions.
Carrying it home
A sound hunt needs no materials and works in any room, car or shop. Naming three things with the child's sound while waiting for something is a real practice session that takes a minute.
Questions
- Which sound does this target?
- Whichever the student is working on. Several cards name specific sounds and the rest say your sound, so the board runs for a whole mixed group at once.
- Do I need an account?
- No, all twelve tasks are free to use.
- What ages is it for?
- Kindergarten through third grade, and older students enjoy the harder positions.