Focused Intervention Plan: Letter/Sound Correspondence

This project was initially started because of conversations I had last year with the Principal of my current school. She
and I had noticed that many times parent volunteers were aimless when they came to help at school, often listening
to a story at the back of the class while the teacher reads. Because of a desire to show parents how valuable they are
to us and to be intentional about how we were supporting our learners, the Focused Intervention Plans, or FIPs, were
born!

The idea behind FIPs is to create a parent-friendly set of resources that can be used by any volunteer without the
guidance of the classroom or Learning Support teacher. The learning, however, will still be a part of a cohesive plan
to help our students build up specific Early Reading skills.

This particular project is part of a larger initiative that will also include the following early reading skills:

Letter Recognition
Rhyming words.
Dividing sentences into words.
Dividing words into syllables.
Segmenting and blending onsets and rimes.
Identifying beginning, medial, and ending sounds in spoken words.
Segmenting and blending individual sounds (phonemes) in spoken words.
(Chard & Osborn, n.d.)

This package is also about utilizing the one-on-one, or small group, support that the students will receive to build
learners who understand how they are learning, not only what they are learning (Gonzalez-DeHass & Willems, 2016).
Therefore, the FIPs have been designed to include the students in the goal setting and to incorporate reflection and
accountability into the goal-setting process. Research supports combining the teaching of specific reading strategies
with the concepts of self-regulated learning, specifically to those students who are struggling with reading. This way,
students can learn to direct their own learning and develop the motivational and emotional control to initiate and
sustain learning tasks (Gonzalez-DeHass & Willems, 2016).

In this package you will find the following documents:

-Focused Intervention Plan for Letter/Sound Correspondence

-Letter/Sound Assessment Pages
-Student Tracking Page to aid in the ability to keep the remediation consistent, regardless of the volunteer utilizing
the FIP.
-Parent Communication Page that can be sent home to the students family so that the learning can be supported at
home.
-Roll a Letter, Feed the Dog, and Slides & Ladders - games used to review letter naming fluency.
-A links page that contains links to the other referenced resources in the FIP. These resources are available free but
are not able to be digitally linked or shared digitally due to the copyright.
-Next Steps
-References
 Focused Intervention Plan
Letter/Sound Correspondence

Getting Started:

Introduce yourself (if you are new to the student) and make a connection (i.e., Do you
have pets? Siblings?).
Tell the student that you are going to work on connecting letters and sounds so that
they will be able to be awesome readers.
Review goal set from previous meeting (recorded on tracking sheet). Keep reminding
the student of this goal. The self-set goal should be something the student can tell you.
Focus this time on the focus letters (as indicated on the tracking sheet).

Letter Review (Student to choose one option):

Follow the letters on the path with your finger/a car/a figurine, while you sing the
alphabet song.
Play Roll a Letter. The speed reading part isnt as important as simply reading the
letters. You could change the game by reading the letters in a silly voice or by reading
one letter under the number and crossing it off until all the letters have been crossed
off.
Play Feed the Dog. Students read the letters from the dog bones and feed the bone
to the dog.
Play Slides and Ladders. Instructions are on the page.
Letter/Sound Focus Activities (Student to complete one):
Use the focus letter sounds (see tracking page) and complete one activity to practice them.
Remind students of the goal they have chosen (same as in introduction).
1. Create the focus letters from playdough and, while building, see if you and the student
can generate as many words as you can that begin with that letter sound. Be careful,
we are practicing the short vowel sounds (i.e., e says eh not E). The generated
words dont have to be real words, the focus is on the letter sound.
2. Choose the beginning sound worksheet pages for the focus letters (or just one or two
of the focus letters). Have students say the name of the picture aloud and colour the
one that begins with the focus letter.
3. Choose the clip cards for the focus letter sounds. Students clip a clothespin to the
picture that begins with the same sound as the main picture.
4. Choose a mat that goes along with the focus letter sounds. Spread the picture squares
out on the table. Students should say the name of the pictures and sort them onto the
correct mat. (Note: There are individual bags for each letter but you should mix up the
pictures you provide for the students. Please return the correct pictures to the correct
bag when you clean up the game.)
5. Choose beginning sound sticks that correspond to your focus letter sounds. Put out the
picture circles on the table. Students should say the name of the pictures and sort
them onto the correct stick. (Note: There are individual bags for each letter but you
should mix up the pictures you provide for the students. Please return the correct
pictures to the correct bag when you clean up the game.)

Wrap Up (complete all):

1. Remind students that they were working hard today to learn the sounds that letters
make to help them become better readers.
2. Talk about what they think they did well and whether they have accomplished their
goal.
3. Together with the student, set a new goal to work on before the next meeting. Record
goal on tracking page.
4. If parent communication page has not been sent home for this skill, send one home
today and notify the classroom teacher. Make sure to note that you sent one home on
the tracking page.
 Assessment Documents
Give the student the letter page. You can help students track the letters by pointing if
you wish. Complete the letter recognition first, then go back and ask the students the
sound each letter makes.
Please record student letter/sound recognition using this assessment tracking page. The
left cell is used for letter recognition (if needed), the right for the sound identification of
the letter. Mark a correct answer with a checkmark and a wrong or no answer with an X.
If you are not assessing letter recognition, leave the left cell blank.

Student Name: _____________________________

D W Q R

T H J A

E Y P U

S F G I

K M O L

X C B N

Z V

Total Letter Sound: ___/26

 Letter Page for Students

D W Q R
T H J A
E Y P U
S F G I
K M O L
X C B N
Z Y
 Letter Sounds Tracking Page for _________________

Focus Letter
Date Progress Made Student Goal
Sounds
-Confident with s sound I want to practice a, t, and m every night so
July 22/17 s, a, t, m
-a, t, m need more work that I know them next time!
I want to tell my teacher every morning the
July 24/17 a, t, m, i -a confident
sounds that a, t, m, and i make.
-student was confident in all previous I want to celebrate my learning and go tell
July 27/17 n, b, g, t
sounds Mrs. Vestering in the office!
Date: ______________________

Dear Parent/Guardian,

Today your child, ______________________, worked with a

volunteer on the skill of _________________________________________. We practiced the skill

using fun games. They decided that their goal for learning this skill was going to be:

___________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________

Please join us in supporting your childs learning by playing these games (or others like them) at

home.

Create the focus letters from playdough and, while building, see if you and your child can
generate as many words as you can that begin with that letter sound. Be careful, we are
practicing the short vowel sounds (i.e., e says eh not E). The generated words dont have
to be real words, the focus is on the letter sound.
Go on a letter sound hunt. Find as many objects as you can around your home that begin with
the focus letter sounds. Feel free to vary this by hoping to objects, driving cars to objects,
throwing a soft ball at objects, etc.
You, as the parent/guardian, put 5 or 6 objects into a plastic bag. Your child can pull them out
and decide which of the objects begin with the focus letter sound.
If you have the game Scrabble or Bananagrams at home, pick out all of the letters where your
child is already confident, or almost confident, with the sound. Together, build a tower with
the letters. Before putting on a new piece, your child must give the sound of the letter they
see.
There are also some great online resources at www.abcya.com, www.pbskids.org, or
www.starfall.com. Feel free to browse these online.

Thank you for partnering with us in your childs learning! If you have any questions, please do not
hesitate to contact your childs teacher or one of the Learning Support Teachers.

Evelyn Harrison Learning Team

519-452-8180
Name: ______________________________________________________________________

Roll a Letter
Roll a dice. Speed read the letters in that row.

a B c d e F
g h I J k L
M n O P q r
s T u v X Y
Z e R o T n
w Q p A z C
Name: ______________________________________________________________________

Roll a Letter
Roll a dice. Speed read the letters in that row.

s p m T f E
M R N X u j
N n I z D A
o Y t L g S
T i x b h d
a Q W k P c
Name: ______________________________________________________________________

Roll a Letter
Roll a dice. Speed read the letters in that row.

j i b R e O
C L D n K s
q M F t B X
u n y A l k
W T L H w J
z p g v d a
Name: ______________________________________________________________________

Roll a Letter
Roll a dice. Speed read the letters in that row.

R B c m F X
n h I d e k
t n y J k R
A T O L q Q
H E w v Z Y
v c R o T g
Name: ______________________________________________________________________

Roll a Letter
Roll a dice. Speed read the letters in that row.

D b G y P r
l f j c k N
U O e S m t
t c Q W H A
K V a k i h
B q z N j x
 Feed
the Dog
D a b u p W A p m
N

H o p w R b N q v
c

j k v e E f X z B
D

U Z s a A y E g N
p
O r b m N w Q o c
j

M n n M m N m N n
M

K c b y u I q R b N

y e E c M z l L K d
X Z T U E M O P J
D

B d B D d B B d d D

n u I e r t y m x z

S o O A a s S P p
B
L k y c v b m N W
S S

X Y E T P N O J K
S

J i i j I J i j J I

P u e r f F E e J S
 _____ _______ ________ _______ _______ ______ _____ ______ ______

_____ _______ ________ _______ _______ ______ _____ ______ ______

_____ _______ ________ _______ _______ ______ _____ ______ ______

_____ _______ ________ _______ _______ ______ _____ ______ ______


 SLIDES AND LADDERS
Upper Case Letters
Directions: Roll a die. Move your marker that many spaces. Name the letter.
If you are correct, you can stay. If you are not correct, move back. If you land
on a ladder, climb up. If you land on a slide, slide down. The first one to the end
is the winner! KLaw 2011

28 27 26 25

END P D M F
20 21 22 23 24

J R U B L
19 18 17 16 15

A H W F I
10 11 12 13 14

B N X T Z
9 8 7 6 5

E Y C V Q
1 2 3 4

START G O K S
 SLIDES AND LADDERS
Lower Case Letters
Directions: Roll a die. Move your marker that many spaces. Name the letter.
If you are correct, you can stay. If you are not correct, move back. If you land
on a ladder, climb up. If you land on a slide, slide down. The first one to the end
is the winner. KLaw 2011

28 27 26 25

END n s j p
20 21 22 23 24

b v m l g
19 18 17 16 15

h q d z a
10 11 12 13 14

m u x d y
9 8 7 6 5

c f s r o
1 2 3 4

START k w i t
 Links to Resources

Beginning Sound Colouring Pages - These are pages that students can use to
practice identifying the beginning sounds in words. Each page is a large letter contains
pictures inside the letter. The student will name the picture and determine whether that
picture begins with the sound of that letter or not.
http://www.themeasuredmom.com/free-beginning-sounds-coloring-pages/

Letter Sound Clip Cards - Each card has a picture of something and three letter
underneath. The student is to choose the letter that corresponds to the beginning sound
of the picture.
http://www.themeasuredmom.com/52-free-cards-for-teaching-letter-sounds/

Beginning Sound Mats - This file contains a mat for every consonant and images that
begin with a consonant sound. The student sorts the pictures onto the mats according
to the beginning sound of the picture.
http://www.themeasuredmom.com/free-sorting-mats-for-learning-consonant-sounds/

Beginning Sound Sticks - Similar to the Sound mats, the stick will have a letter at the
top and places to adhere pictures that begin with the corresponding sound. Students will
have to sort through pictures to determine which pictures belong with which sticks.
http://www.pre-kpages.com/beginning-sound-sticks/
 Next Steps

As I was wrapping up this project, it was clear to me that this project is only the beginning of the
development of these resources. It was important to me to include my projected next steps as a way of
keeping myself accountable for moving forward, much like the Monitoring Document that was created
for this project.

In addition to developing a specific FIP for all of the early reading skills mentioned in the Introduction,
some other goals for this project include:
Recording the student pre-assessment, mid-remediation, and post-remediation so that the
students will be able to see and hear the progress they are making. There are some forms
through the School Board that will need to be completed and signed in order to obtain
permission for this kind of tracking.
Setting up an area of my classroom where these FIPS and their corresponding materials can be
easily stored and accessed. I am thinking something similar to a library shelf where materials are
coded by skill.
I want to gather feedback from parents and other volunteers who are using the FIPs. I am
interested to learn more how how they perceive the accessibility and clarity. I would also be
interested in hearing their ideas, as well as those of my colleagues, for other skills to target.
In addition to other skills, perhaps I can focus on similar skills but make the tasks geared more
for Junior/Intermediate learners. Maybe these older students struggling with skills could help
me build the FIPs for the early reading skills mentioned in the Introduction and could develop
their own skills through developing the plans.

I am looking forward to starting strong in September and utilizing the momentum from this project to
keep me going and working on the next skills.
 References

Chard, D., & Osborn, J. Phonics and Word Recognition Instruction in Early Reading Programs: Guidelines
for Accessibility. Reading Rockets. Retrieved 7 August 2017, from
http://www.readingrockets.org/article/phonics-and-word-recognition-instruction-early-reading-progra
ms-guidelines-accessibility

Geiger, A. (2017). The Measured Mom - Tools for Teaching. Retrieved 7 August 2017, from
http://www.themeasuredmom.com/

Gonzalez-DeHass, A., & Willems, P. (2016). Nurturing Self-Regulated Learners: Teacher, Peer, and
Parental Support of Strategy Instruction. The Educational Forum, 80(3), 294-309.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00131725.2016.1173751

Levin, V. (2013). Beginning Sound Paint Sticks. Retrieved from

http://www.pre-kpages.com/beginning-sound-sticks/

Moore, A. Feed the Dog (pp. 3-9). Retrieved from

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Feed-the-Dog-Letter-Naming-and-Letter-Naming-Fluenc
y-802976

Qualkinbush, T. Clarksville, TN. Retrieved from

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Roll-a-Letter-228420

Slides and Ladders. (2011). Loganville, Georgia. Retrieved from

http://firstgradealacarte.blogspot.ca/2011/07/did-you-win.html