Page 17 - Six_Bricks_Activity_Mats_Teacher_Guide

In what useful ways can you use the Letter Sound Bricks mat in class?

Matching letter to letter / grapheme to grapheme: For example, teacher says “red brick,”
children pick up a red brick; teacher says “p”, holds up a letter p and children must find and
place a red brick on /p/. They are hearing the sound, seeing its grapheme in the teachers
hand and then finding the matching letter on their own A3 mat. This is simple matching,
but at the same time they are associating and making phoneme/grapheme linkage and
exercising visual memory skills.

Use the interactive whiteboard software tool to correct and reinforce e.g. “I will now place a
red brick on p.” Continue for other sounds.

Matching known sounds to letters: For example, once children should know their first six
sounds, teacher says “green brick on t.” The children can orally repeat the sound and then
place a green brick on it. Teacher can glance around the tables to see who is correct, and
who may be having a little difficulty with discriminating sounds.

Match and sing: For example, yellow brick, call out a sound e.g. a, the children brick the
sound and perhaps sing the associated sound song and do actions. This further reinforces
the grapheme phoneme association.

As children sing, make and repeat sounds while placing bricks on their letter-sound mat,
they are embedding their letter/sound or grapheme/phoneme correspondences into long-
term memory.

Reinforcement activities
Once the children have learned the first 6 sounds, the mat can be used for all matter of
reinforcement activities.
• For example, teacher says: “Place a yellow brick on a, place a green brick on n, place a
dark blue brick on s, place a red brick on t, place an orange brick on i, place a light blue
brick on p.”

• Teacher uses the Six Bricks interactive whiteboard software tool to place the bricks
virtually onto the sounds. Children can then self-correct as we proceed.
• Additionally, children can play and mark the sounds in groups, each taking turns at being
the caller or the player.
• Alternatively, allow a child to make the call e.g. Mary places a yellow brick on a and calls
a. As children call, the teacher circulates and checks for accuracy.

Teaching point
Six Bricks and the Letter Sound Bricks mat are a very efficient way to provide lots of

active practice to the children with associating letters and sounds. Through short practice
sessions across the school day, children build letter-sound knowledge and develop their
oral blending skills.

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16-06-2021 21:37:40
Six Bricks Activity Mats Teacher Guide.indd 17
Six Bricks Activity Mats Teacher Guide.indd 17 16-06-2021 21:37:40