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Phoneme Detective Workshop

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Phoneme Detective Workshop

Bodhi, Talia-Mae and Matilda are recording sounds on a rainforest walk. Help them investigate how spoken sounds work in words. A phoneme is one distinct speech sound; one sound can be spelled with one or several letters. Say each word aloud as you work.

Sound or spelling?

Keep the difference in mind: phonemes are sounds, while graphemes are letters or letter groups used to spell them.

1.Matilda hears the word “ship”. Which spelling represents the first phoneme /sh/?
  • s
  • h
  • sh
  • i
2.Talia-Mae says “thin” and “then”. The first phoneme in each word is spelled th. Are the first sounds in the two words the same or different? Explain briefly.
3.Bodhi hears “stream” beside a creek. How many phonemes are in stream? Remember that the letters s and t each represent a separate sound here.

Follow the sound clues

Listen for each sound, not just the number of letters on the page.

4.A bird call makes Bodhi think of “chirp”. How many phonemes are in chirp? The letters ch spell one sound.
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
5.The group writes “rain” in its notebook. How many phonemes are in rain, and which letters spell the final phoneme?
6.Matilda changes the first phoneme in “clap” from /k/ to /f/. What new word does she make?
7.Talia-Mae changes the final phoneme in “leaf” from /f/ to /v/. What new word does she make?

Crack the rainforest code

Some phonemes have more than one possible spelling. Use the clues to explain your choices.

8.The words “night” and “kite” both contain the long /igh/ vowel sound. In which word is that sound spelled igh?
  • night
  • kite
  • both words
  • neither word
9.Bodhi spots two spellings for the /ee/ phoneme in “green” and “leaf”. Write the spelling used in each word.
10.A note says, “The word ‘knock’ has five phonemes because it has five letters.” Is the note correct? Give the phoneme count and explain why.
11.Choose one rainforest-related word: “fern”, “bird”, or “creek”. Write its phonemes between slashes, then explain how its spelling may make the sound count tricky.

2 printable pages

  • Phoneme Detective Workshop, page 1 of 2: Sound or spelling?, Follow the sound clues

    Page 1

  • Phoneme Detective Workshop, page 2 of 2: Crack the rainforest code

    Page 2

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