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Hearing the Sounds in Words

A 30-minute Kindergarten lesson on hearing separate sounds in spoken words, taught with no letters in the room at all.

Hearing the Sounds in Words is a free 30-minute Kindergarten English lesson plan for Common Core standard RF.K.2 — hear and play with the sounds inside spoken words, without any letters involved. It is timed across 5 sections, gives the exact wording to use where the wording carries the meaning, names 3 misconceptions with the teaching move that addresses each, and ends with an exit ticket and a printable worksheet with its answer key.

Grade:
Kindergarten
Length:
30 minutes
Standard:
RF.K.2

Kindergarten · Reading: Foundational Skills

RF.K.2

Demonstrate understanding of spoken words, syllables, and sounds (phonemes).

Objective

Students will be able to blend and segment the sounds in a three-sound spoken word, and hear when two words rhyme.

Students are successful when they can

  • Hears /s/ /u/ /n/ and says "sun."
  • Hears "map" and says /m/ /a/ /p/, pushing one counter per sound.
  • Says whether "cat" and "hat" rhyme, and gives a rhyme for "pig."

What you need

  • Three counters per child, in a row
  • A puppet that speaks only in separated sounds
  • No letter cards — see the note in the Teach section
  • The printable practice sheet linked at the end of this plan

The lesson

Warm-up — the puppet talks funny

5 min
  1. Introduce the puppet. Say it can only talk in bits. The puppet says: "Touch your /n/ /o/ /z/." Children work it out and touch their noses.
  2. Puppet: "Touch your /l/ /e/ /g/." "Pat your /h/ /e/ /d/." "Stand up and /h/ /o/ /p/."
  3. Keep each sound short and clipped: /m/ not "muh." An added "uh" makes blending much harder.

Teach — sounds are not letters

9 min
  1. Note for the teacher: no letters are shown today. This lesson is about the ear. A letter on the board makes children read instead of listen.
  2. Line up three counters. Say "sun" slowly, pushing one counter forward for each sound: /s/ /u/ /n/. Then sweep your finger under all three and say "sun" fast.
  3. Do "map" the same way: /m/ /a/ /p/, then sweep and say "map."
  4. Now "ship." Push three counters: /sh/ /i/ /p/. Ask: "How many sounds?" Fish for three. Say: "Sh is one sound, even though it is a big one."
  5. Rhyme: say "cat, hat." Ask: "Do they sound the same at the end?" Yes, -at. Say "cat, cup." No. Say "cat, hat, mat, ___?" Let them add a rhyme; accept nonsense words like "zat," which prove they hear the ending.
  6. Ask for the first sound: "What is the first sound in sun?" Fish for /s/, not "ess."
“I am stretching the word out like a piece of elastic. One push for every sound. Now I snap it back together: sun.”

Guided practice — blend and break

8 min
  1. Blend: the puppet says /d/ /o/ /g/, /f/ /i/ /sh/, /b/ /e/ /d/, /r/ /u/ /g/. Children say the word together. Check faces, not just the chorus.
  2. Break: you say a word whole; children push a counter for each sound and say them: "pin," "top," "web," "chin."
  3. Rhyme: say a pair; thumbs up if it rhymes, down if not: "log, dog" (up), "sun, sat" (down), "pen, ten" (up), "bug, bag" (down).
  4. Ask four children individually to break one word each. Note who adds an "uh" or skips the middle sound.
“Push and say. One push, one sound.”

Independent practice

6 min
  1. Read each picture name on the sheet aloud: "This is a sun. How many sounds?"
  2. Children color one box per sound, then circle the picture that rhymes with the given word.
  3. Walk round and say the word again for anyone stuck; never spell it.

Close

2 min
  1. The puppet says: "Line up if your name starts with /m/." Then /s/, /t/, /a/.
  2. Use this to line the class up for the next lesson.

What goes wrong, and why

Each of these is a reasoning error rather than carelessness. The fix addresses the reasoning.

Blends /s/ /u/ /n/ as "suh-un" or "sun-uh."

Why: Teachers and apps often add "uh" to stop sounds, so the child blends what they heard, extra vowels and all.

Fix: Model clipped or stretched sounds: "sss-uuu-nnn" runs together and blends itself. Avoid "buh" and "duh"; say the sound short.

Pushes two counters for "ship": /s/ /hip/, or says "sh" is two sounds.

Why: Children who know some letters count letters in their heads, and "sh" has two letters.

Fix: Keep letters out of this lesson entirely. Say: "Listen — sh is one sound, like a train going shhh." Count by sound only.

Says "sun" and "sock" rhyme.

Why: The child is listening to the start of the word, which is the part they have been asked about most.

Fix: Say rhyme pairs with the ending stretched: "c-AT, h-AT." Then ask: "Do sun and sock sound the same at the END?" Point to the end of your arm.

If they are not there yet

  • Blend two-sound words first: /a/ /t/, /u/ /p/, /i/ /n/.
  • Use continuous sounds that stretch (/m/, /s/, /f/, /l/) before stop sounds like /b/ and /t/.
  • Hold the child's hand to push the counters while saying the sounds together.

If they finish early

  • Segment four-sound words: "frog," "stop," "lamp."
  • Swap a sound: "Say cat. Now change /k/ to /h/." Then change the middle: "cat" to "cot."
  • Make a rhyme chain as long as possible: "pig, wig, dig, big, fig" and stop at the first nonsense word.

Exit ticket

Say the sounds in "map" and push a counter for each. Then: do "map" and "cap" rhyme?

What to look for: /m/ /a/ /p/ with three pushes, and yes. Two pushes means the middle vowel is lost; practice vowels by stretching them. "Muh-a-puh" means extra "uh" sounds. No to the rhyme means the child is listening to the start of words.

Printable practice for RF.K.2

Free to print and copy, answer key included. Each sheet can generate a fresh set of problems for a retake.

Questions about Hearing the Sounds in Words

How long does the Hearing the Sounds in Words lesson take?

30 minutes, split across 5 timed sections: warm-up 5 min, teach 9 min, guided practice 8 min, independent practice 6 min, close 2 min. The minutes are stated per section and add up to the stated length, so the plan can be cut or extended at a section boundary rather than abandoned halfway.

Which standard does Hearing the Sounds in Words teach?

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.K.2 — RF.K.2, Reading: Foundational Skills for Kindergarten: “Demonstrate understanding of spoken words, syllables, and sounds (phonemes).” In plain terms, hear and play with the sounds inside spoken words, without any letters involved.

What do I need to teach this lesson?

Three counters per child, in a row, a puppet that speaks only in separated sounds, no letter cards — see the note in the Teach section and the printable practice sheet linked at the end of this plan. Everything listed is either ordinary classroom equipment or a free printable from this site — there is nothing to buy and nothing to prepare beyond photocopying.

What mistakes should I expect in this lesson?

Three, each a reasoning error rather than carelessness: blends /s/ /u/ /n/ as "suh-un" or "sun-uh."; pushes two counters for "ship": /s/ /hip/, or says "sh" is two sounds and says "sun" and "sock" rhyme. The plan gives the thinking behind each one and the teaching move that addresses the thinking rather than the symptom.

How do I know whether the lesson worked?

The exit ticket asks: “Say the sounds in "map" and push a counter for each. Then: do "map" and "cap" rhyme?.” /m/ /a/ /p/ with three pushes, and yes. Two pushes means the middle vowel is lost; practice vowels by stretching them. "Muh-a-puh" means extra "uh" sounds. No to the rhyme means the child is listening to the start of words. That tells you whether the class needs a reteach or a thirty-second conversation before you plan tomorrow.

Is there a worksheet to go with Hearing the Sounds in Words?

Yes — 1 printable RF.K.2 worksheet, linked at the end of the plan and free like the rest of the site. Each one comes with an answer key and 25 versions, so the practice after the lesson can be a different paper on every desk.

Is Hearing the Sounds in Words free to use?

Yes. The plan, its printables and their answer keys are free to read, print and photocopy for your own class, with no account and no email capture. It was last reviewed on October 8, 2026. Please do not resell it or republish it as your own.

Last reviewed 2026-10-08. Aligned to RF.K.2 of the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts.