TM
Rhymes
Sounds
Na
me
s
TM
The Sound Around Box engages children with fun, hands-on literacy activities. Use it with small or large groups
to encourage language and learning. The box holds surprises and gives teachers easy ways to teach letters,
rhyming, syllables, and more.
Sound Around Box
Take a look at the box and the pieces it contains:
• BoxFeatures magnetic and dry-erase side panels
• Picture Tiles (42)Promote memory, phonological awareness, and oral language
• Color Tiles (8)
Work with simple sound and syllable activities
• Activity Plates (6)Identify the activity being used
• Word PlateDisplays a word written by the teacher
• Magnetic PiecesPromote alphabet knowledge and develop letter-sound association
for Capitals (13)
Activities
Get started using the 10 activities in this booklet. They will help your children develop alphabet knowledge, cognitive skills,
phonological awareness, sensory motor skills, oral language, and social/emotional skills. The Sound Around Box invites you
to create your own activities. You can share your favorites through our website — www.hwtears.com/getsetforschool.
Continue the fun and learning with these activity extensions.
Look What We’re Learning
We’re learning letters, rhyming, word parts, and more! See the bottom of each activity for the specific skills.
© 2011 Get Set for School
Explore
Names
Sounds
Rhymes
Sylla bles
Memory
Words
6 Activity Plates
© 2011 Get Set for School
1 Word Plate
13 Magnetic Pieces for Capitals
Sound Around Box
42 Picture Tiles & 8 Color Tiles
(See inside back cover for complete list)
Sound Chant
Activity
Children make sounds while chanting together.
What sound does it make? Let's say it in our chant.
Get Star ted:
•Children take turns pulling objects out of the box.
•Lead the chant for each object.
I'm the teacher and I know
Cows say, “Mooo!” Ready, go!
Children say, “Mooo!”
•Continue with other objects in the box.
•After all objects have been used, pass one
to each child in the circle.
•Go around the circle. Take turns saying:
I am [child’s name] and I know
Cows say, “Mooo!” Ready, go!
Classmates say, “Mooo!”
Choose objects that are associated with sounds, e.g., animals,
cars, airplanes. Place them in the box.
Explore
Look What We’re Learning Phonological Awareness
Social/Emotional
Social/Emotional
Listen to a sound and name object that makes the sound
Cooperate with other children
Take turns with peers
© 2011 Get Set for School
Use picture books about musical instruments, animals,
or machines. Children pair up and play school,
taking turns being the teacher. The “teacher” points
to an object and leads the chant.
What’s Missing?
Activity
Children practice memory skills by noticing what picture
has been removed from the scene.
Get Star ted:
Place the Memory Activity Plate on the box. Draw grass, clouds,
and a tree using a dry-erase marker. Select 3 picture tiles
showing objects that could be found in the scene, e.g., log,
rainbow, and frog.
Memory
Let’s try to remember some pictures.
•Show each tile and place it on the box.
This is a log. The log is on the grass.
This is a rainbow. The rainbow is in the sky.
This is the frog. The frog is under the tree.
•Ask children, Where is the log?
Where is the rainbow?
Where is the frog?
•Children answer with a sentence describing the
location of each object.
•Have children close their eyes. Remove one picture.
•What’s missing? Yes, the log is missing.
•Repeat with the other pictures, one at a time.
Explore
© 2011 Get Set for School
Extend the search to areas of the classroom.
Ask three children to place new objects into that area.
When children close their eyes, remove an object.
See if they can tell what’s missing.
Look What We’re Learning Cognitive
Recall a list of items from memory
Oral Language
Respond to simple questions: Where?
Oral Language
Tell about observations with words
Oral Language
Speak in complete sentences
Social/Emotional Take turns with peers
Find the Rhyme
Activity
Children find the two words that rhyme in a group
of three.
Get Star ted:
Place the Rhymes Activity Plate on the side of the box.
Prepare a row of 3 tiles beneath it: two words that rhyme
and one that does not. Choose from these tiles that rhyme:
• bee, key
• yak, black
• cat, hat
• green, queen
• pan, van
• log, frog, dog
• jar, car
• two, blue
Which two pictures in the row rhyme?
•Words that rhyme have the same
ending sounds—cat, hat, . . . jar, car, . . .
two, blue.
•Point to these pictures and say the words:
bee, log, key. Which words rhyme?
•Point to bee and log. Bee, log—do they have the
same ending sounds? No. Bee and log
do not rhyme.
•Point to bee and key. Bee, key—do they have the
same ending sounds? Yes. Bee and key rhyme.
Explore
Place picture tiles on the floor. Children sort them
according to their rhymes. Children add their own
rhymes to the pattern, e.g., pan, van, ran, can,
tan, fan, Dan.
Rhymes
© 2011 Get Set for School
Look What We’re Learning Phonological Awareness
Phonological Awareness
Social/Emotional
Social/Emotional
Vocabulary
Tell whether or not two spoken words rhyme
Produce a word that rhymes with a given word
Cooperate with other children
Work with others to solve problems
rhyme, ending sounds
Compound Word Hunt
Activity
Children name compound words and divide them
into parts.
We're going to find two little words inside
a big word.
Get Star ted:
•This is a cupcake. Cupcake is a big word
made of two little words. Do you hear
the little words in cupcake?
•Put up one color tile and say cup. Have children
repeat, “cup.”
•Put up the other color tile and say cake.
Have children repeat, “cake.”
•Say cupcake, touching each color tile as you say
each little word. Have children repeat, “cupcake.”
•Have several children come and say the word,
touching the color tiles for each little word.
•Repeat, having children pick other picture tiles from
the box and place and touch the color tiles.
Place the Syllables Activity Plate on the side of the box.
Set out 2 color tiles. Place 4 compound word picture tiles
in the box, e.g., backpack, cupcake, fishbowl, notebook.
Sylla bles
Explore
© 2011 Get Set for School
Repeat the activity with different compound word tiles:
mailbox, rainbow, and wheelchair. Have children clap
for each little word within the compound word.
Look What We’re Learning Phonological Awareness
Phonological Awareness
Oral Language
Social/Emotional
Break compound words apart
Create a compound word from two familiar words
Complete a task by following oral directions
Take turns with peers
Syllable Clapping
Activity
Children name pictures and clap the syllables
in each word.
Let’s name pictures and clap for each word part.
We call these parts syllables.
Get Star ted:
•Invite one child to pick a tile and place it on the box.
•Look, we have a guitar. I’m going to clap
syllables and say them: gui - tar.
•Invite children to clap and say them: gui - tar.
•How many syllables are in guitar? Let’s check.
Let’s clap the syllables again: gui - tar.
Yes, there are 2 syllables in guitar.
•Repeat for the other three tiles.
Place the Syllables Activity Plate on the side of the box.
Place 4 tiles for words with 2–3 syllables in the box:
igloo, umbrella, xylophone, purple.
Sylla bles
Explore
Have children take turns choosing classroom objects
and saying their names. Clap and say syllables.
© 2011 Get Set for School
Look What We’re Learning Phonological Awareness
Count the number of syllables in a word
Social/Emotional Take turns with peers
Vocabularysyllables
Fill the Box
Activity
Children learn to recognize capital letters with familiar
objects from home.
Let’s name each object in the box and see
if it starts with B.
Get Star ted:
•What’s in our Sound Around Box that
begins with B?
•Look, someone brought in a bear.
•Teacher prints BEAR on the Word Plate.
•Look, BEAR starts with B.
•Continue until all items in the box are presented.
Place items on the floor in front of the box.
•If an object in the box doesn’t start with the
highlighted letter, say its name and compare its
beginning letter to the letter on the side of the box.
Ask children to bring something from home that starts with
the letter B to place in the Sound Around Box. Identify a letter
to highlight, for example, B. Using the Magnetic Pieces
for Capitals, build B on the box.
Explore
Let children line up all items and say them aloud.
© 2011 Get Set for School
BE A R
Look What We’re Learning Alphabet Knowledge
Alphabet Knowledge
Position capitals right side up
Point to and name capital letters
Listen to the Beginning
Children name pictures and choose the two words
with the same beginning sound.
Get Star ted:
Place the Sounds Activity Plate on the side of the box.
Prepare a row of 3 tiles beneath it: two words with the same
beginning sound and one that begins with a different sound.
Choose from tiles that have the same beginning sound:
• book, bear
• cat, car
• door, duck
• hat, house
• kite, key
• pan, pig
• sock, sun
• two, turtle
Activity
Which two words begin with the same sound?
•Show 3 tiles, such as cat, car, and egg. Point to
the first one. This is a cat. Emphasize /k/.
•Say cat. What’s the beginning sound? Right. /k/.
Repeat for the other words.
•Which words begin with the same sound? Yes.
Cat and car begin with same sound, /k/.
Let's say those two words again: cat, [pause] car.
Egg begins with a different sound.
•Repeat with other groups of tiles.
Explore
Place several objects on a table. Have children name
the objects and place words that begin with /k/
in the box.
Sounds
© 2011 Get Set for School
Look What We’re Learning Phonological Awareness
Phonological Awareness
Phonological Awareness
Phonological Awareness
Vocabulary
Indicate when a certain sound or word is heard
Group similar sounds
Identify the first sound in a spoken word
Name words that start with the same sound
beginning sound
What Is in the Box?
Children speak in sentences to describe an object
hidden in the box.
Get Star ted:
Place a familiar object in the box, such as a teddy bear.
Activity
First I will look in the box. Then some friends will
look in the box and tell us about what they see.
Everyone else will try to guess.
•Peek in the box. Say a sentence to describe
the object. It is brown.
•Does anyone know what is in the box?
Allow a few children to guess.
•Invite a child to peek in the box. Have the child
say a sentence about the object, for example,
“It is furry.” Assist child as needed.
•Continue until someone guesses what is in the box.
Explore
© 2011 Get Set for School
Choose a classroom object without telling what
it is. Describe the object with one sentence and
have children guess. Say other sentences to
describe the object until children guess what it is.
Have children repeat with other objects, allowing
the class to guess.
Look What We’re Learning Comprehension
Oral Language
Oral Language
Social/Emotional
Social/Emotional
Listen to gain and share information
Speak in complete sentences
Use words to describe an object
Take turns with peers
Work with others to solve problems
My Name Starts with...
Children identify the first letter in their names.
Get Star ted:
Make a letter on the blue side of the box using the
Magnetic Pieces for Capitals. Place the Names Activity Plate
on the long side of the box.
Na
me
s
Activity
Let’s say a letter and find names beginning
with that letter.
•Describe each step to introduce D.
This is a big line. This is a big curve. This is D. Write D in the air together.
(See www.hwtears.com/educators/classroomextras
for the Print Capital Letters formation chart.)
•Raise your hand if your name starts with D.
Write each D name on the side of the box.
Help children spell their names as you write.
•Read and count the D names together.
Explore
Children say names of friends or family members that
begin with the letter. Model writing those names.
© 2011 Get Set for School
Look What We’re Learning Alphabet Knowledge
Alphabet Knowledge
Sensory Motor
Recognize first name
Recognize and name letters in own first name
Use index finger to trace letters in the air
Name that Letter
Use this activity near the end of the Pre-K year.
Children name objects and their beginning sounds.
They connect the sounds to the letters that stand for them.
Get Star ted:
Choose a letter that has been taught previously.
Place objects in the box that start with that letter.
Activity
Let’s say some beginning sounds and make
the letters for those sounds.
•Show an item from the box. Say the item’s name
and its beginning sound, Ball . . . /b/.
•Have children repeat, “Ball . . . /b/”.
•What letter makes that sound?
•Invite a child to build the letter. Name each piece
as it is placed.
•Model air tracing and have children follow along.
(See www.hwtears.com/educators/classroomextras
for the Print Capital Letters formation chart.)
•Repeat with other items in the box.
Explore
© 2011 Get Set for School
Have children point to objects in the room that start
with the same sound.
Look What We’re Learning Phonological Awareness
Phonological Awareness
Alphabet Knowledge
Sensory Motor
Identify the first sound in a spoken word
Name words that start with the same sound
Name the sounds of given letters
Use index finger to trace letters in the air
Instructional Scope
Phonological Awareness
• Indicate when a certain sound or word is heard
• Listen to a sound and name object that makes
the sound
• Group similar sounds
• Tell whether two spoken words rhyme
• Produce a word that rhymes with a given word
• Name words that start with the same sound
• Break compound words apart
• Count the number of syllables in a word
• Create a compound word from two familiar words
• Identify the first sound in a spoken word
Alphabet Knowledge
• Point to and name capital letters
• Recognize first name
• Recognize and name letters in own first name
• Name the sounds of given letters
Oral Language
• Respond to simple questions: Where?
• Complete a task by following oral directions
• Tell about observations with words
• Speak in complete sentences
• Use words to describe an object
Social/Emotional Skills
• Cooperate with other children
• Take turns with peers
• Work with others to solve problems
Sensory Motor Skills
• Use index finger to trace letters in the air
Vocabulary
• Rhyme
• Beginning sound
• Syllables
• Ending sound
© 2011 Get Set for School
Comprehension
• Listen to gain and share information
Cognitive Skills
• Recall a list of items from memory
Glossary
compound word – a word made up of two smaller words
literacy – reading, writing, and speaking skills
memory – the ability to recall something from previous experience
phonological – related to speech sounds
rhyme – having the same ending sounds
syllable – a part of a word that includes a vowel sound
© 2011 Get Set for School
Picture & Color Tiles
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
alligator
backpack
bear
bee
black
blue
book
bus
car
cat
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
cupcake
dog
door
duck
egg
fishbowl
frog
green
guitar
hat
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
horse
house
igloo
jar
key
kite
log
mailbox
mouse
notebook
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
36.
37.
38.
39.
40.
orange
ox
pan
pig
purple
queen
rainbow
red
sock
sun
41.
42.
43.
44.
45.
46.
47.
48.
49.
50.
turtle
two
umbrella
van
wheelchair
white
xylophone
yak
yellow
zipper
301.263.2700 | www.hwtears.com
Visit hwtears.com/getsetforschool for more
home tips, free downloads, how-to videos,
games, and other resources.
© 2011 Get Set for School
Printed in China
HWT1353