Join me for a fun, Christmas-themed phonics class! In this one-time class, learners will practice their knowledge of letter sounds by identifying beginning sounds in words and using correct letter formation in handwriting for the corresponding letter. This class is basically a beginner’s introduction to segmentation, a key aspect of writing! Segmentation involves hearing, identifying, and separating each phoneme in a word. An example of this would be if I said the word “dog.” To segment, or separate, this word, the student should be able to hear and identify each phoneme (individual sound) in the word, “d-o-g.” Knowledge of letters and letter sounds will help learners connect those sounds they hear to a physical letter written on paper. Through this, children are able to put their spoken words into writing! This class is a beginner version of segmentation, introducing this skill by practicing just isolating the beginning sound in a word. 

 In this class, students will join me for a guessing game of Christmas-themed words! The specific Christmas-themed words used in this class will be "Santa, hat, candy cane, lights, and reindeer."  Learners will guess each word based on clues given by the teacher, practice saying the word aloud, and identify the beginning sound in the word. From there, we will identify the corresponding letter to that beginning sound and practice using correct formation of the letter in handwriting. For the best experience, students in this class should have some prior knowledge of letters and sounds.  However, all learners are welcome to join in our Christmas fun! 

**Discussion of the Christmas words and their meaning will be brief and presented with a general description of each word. Any extra "fun" discussion will be guided by students and unbiasedly moderated by the teacher (keeping each student's perspective of Christmas their own!).  We will move quickly from guessing the mystery word to the phonemic awareness and phonics portion for each word. 

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  Christmas/Holiday--Handwriting--Beginning Sounds--Letters/Alphabet--Letter Sounds--Phonics--Preschool--Kindergarten--Reading--Writing