Letter Sound Safari Slides 🍃🌿🌴
SOUND EXPLORERS
Level 1: Letter-Sound Correspondence
Letter Sound
Safari 🦁
Welcome, Explorer Cooper! Today we are hunting for letters and listening closely for their secret animal sounds.
🎒 Grab your binoculars! We are looking for: m, s, t, a, p
🦁
Meet Chief Safari Leo
"Listen closely to the wild sounds of the letter jungle!"
Let's start our expedition! Slide 1 of 5
SOUND EXPLORERS
Consonants: M & S
M m
🐒
Maya Monkey
Maya eats delicious jungle bananas and says:
Mouth Helper: Press lips firmly together. Make a humming sound in your nose!
S s
🐍
Sammy Snake
Sammy slithers through the long grass and says:
Mouth Helper: Touch teeth together. Blow air smoothly over your tongue!
Activity: Mimic the animals with your partner! Slide 2 of 5
SOUND EXPLORERS
Consonants: T & P
T t
🐅
Toby Tiger
Toby taps his toes gently to the jungle beat:
Mouth Helper: Touch your tongue to the roof of your mouth. Tap air out quickly!
P p
🦜
Polly Parrot
Polly pops wild berries and makes a popping sound:
Mouth Helper: Press lips together, then release a quiet puff of air!
Keep practicing! The letters are getting easier! Slide 3 of 5
SOUND EXPLORERS
Short Vowel: A
A a
Short "A" Sound
🐊
Allie Alligator
Allie opens her big mouth to eat an apple:
🍎 Action: Open wide like taking a bite of a yummy apple!
👅 Tip: Keep your tongue flat on the bottom of your mouth.
Now let's put our animal sounds together! Slide 4 of 5
SOUND EXPLORERS
Safari Blend-O-Matic
Let's Slide and Read! 🦁➡️🐯
m /m/
➔ Slide
a /a/
➔ Slide
t /t/
=
mat
s /s/
➔ Slide
a /a/
➔ Slide
p /p/
=
sap
Amazing job, Explorers! You are ready to start your worksheet! Slide 5 of 5
Letter Sound Safari Activity Sheet SOUND EXPLORERS • LEVEL 1
Letter Sound Safari 🦁
🎒🌿
Explorer:
Date:
✏️ Part 1: Safari Letter Trace
Trace each safari letter with your favorite pencil. Say the letter name and animal sound as you write!
Mm
m m m
🐒
Ss
s s s
🐍
Tt
t t t
🐅
Aa
a a a
🐊
Pp
p p p
🦜
🔍 Part 2: Safari Sound Match
Draw a straight line from the letter to the animal that starts with its sound!
m ⚫
s ⚫
t ⚫
p ⚫
⚫ 🐅 Tiger
⚫ 🦜 Parrot
⚫ 🐒 Monkey
⚫ 🐍 Snake
Sound Explorers • Level 1: Letter Sound Safari Page 1 of 2
SOUND EXPLORERS • LEVEL 1
Safari Word Builders 🗺️
🐆🧭
🧩 Part 3: Sound Sliders
Look at the safari picture. Say the word slowly. Then, find the missing beginning sound and trace the rest of the word!
🗺️
t m s
_ a p
Write word:
🛋️
s p m
_ a t
Write word:
🚰
m a t
_ a p
Write word:
👋
p s t
_ a t
Write word:
🏆
Expedition Complete!
You earned your Letter Safari Explorer badge!
CERTIFIED EXPLORER
Sound Explorers • Level 1: Letter Sound Safari Page 2 of 2
Letter Sound Safari Teacher Guide SOUND EXPLORERS • TEACHER COMPANION Lesson 1 of 3
Letter Sound Safari Guide
Focusing on initial sound correspondence for consonants m, s, t, p and short vowel a .
🎯 Lesson Objectives
✓ Identify the letter names and primary sounds of m, s, t, a, p .
✓ Demonstrate proper mouth-formation for each sound.
✓ Blend initial consonants with short "a" VC/CVC patterns.
📦 Materials Needed
▪ Letter Sound Safari Slides
▪ Student Activity Sheets (1 per pupil)
▪ Colored pencils or crayons
▪ Safari Hat / Binoculars (Optional mascot prop)
⏱️ Lesson Pacing & Script
10m
Jungle Intro & Warm-up (Slides 1-2)
Introduce Maya Monkey and Sammy Snake. Model mouth formation."Say /m/ like Maya when she sees bananas. Feel your lips squeeze. Now make Sammy's /s/."
15m
Vowel Power & Blending (Slides 3-5)
Introduce Allie Alligator's wide short /a/ . Guide student finger-slides from initial consonant to vowel:"Put your finger on the letter. Slide it to Allie's /a/. Let's read: m...a...t! Mat!"
20m
Independent Exploration (Worksheet)
Distribute the Letter Sound Safari Activity Sheet . Monitor letter trace path (top-down stroke). Walk around to check if student "switches on" vocal cords for /m/ but keeps /p/ unvoiced.
💡 Professional Facilitation Insights
Common Misconception: Unvoicing /p/ and /t/ Make sure students are not adding a "schwa" sound (e.g. saying "puh" instead of a clean, short "/p/"). Keep the sound soft and quiet.
Differentiated Support (Cooper's Profile) If Cooper struggles to blend m-a-t, start with simple 2-sound VC pairs like "am" or "at". Physically slide a toy car across the cards to illustrate continuity.
Sound Explorers Guide • Level 1 Safari Page 1 of 1
Word Builders Slides 🛠️🪵📐
SOUND EXPLORERS
Level 2: CVC Word Blending
Word
Builders 🧱
Welcome back, Explorer Cooper! Grab your hammer and toolbelt. Today, we are putting our animal letter blocks together to build words!
🪵 We will build words in the -at and -ap families!
👷🦁
Chief Builder Leo
"Let's click these letters together like building blocks!"
Ready to layout our bricks? Let's go! Slide 1 of 5
SOUND EXPLORERS
The -at Word Family
-at
Word Family
Add a starting block to change the word!
🐱
cat
/c/ - /at/ = cat
🛋️
mat
/m/ - /at/ = mat
🧘
sat
/s/ - /at/ = sat
Activity: Say each word and stretch the vowel sound! Slide 2 of 5
SOUND EXPLORERS
The -ap Word Family
-ap
Word Family
Add a starting block to change the word!
🗺️
map
/m/ - /ap/ = map
🚰
tap
/t/ - /ap/ = tap
🪵💧
sap
/s/ - /ap/ = sap
Activity: Point and tap each letter out! Slide 3 of 5
SOUND EXPLORERS
Blueprint: Finger Tapping
Tapping Tool 🖐️
How do we build words on our hand? We tap each letter sound to our thumb, then sweep our finger across to blend them!
1 Index Finger: Tap first sound /m/
2 Middle Finger: Tap second sound /a/
3 Ring Finger: Tap third sound /p/
BLUEPRINT ID: CVC-88
🖐️
/m/
Index
/a/
Middle
/p/
Ring
➔ "MAP"
*Sweep hand across body when reading CVC!
Let's play the Word Bridge Challenge! Slide 4 of 5
SOUND EXPLORERS
Bridge Challenge
Help Leo Cross the River! 🦁💧🌳
Read each letter step on the bridge to safely cross the swamp!
🦁 Start
➔
Word Builders Worksheet SOUND EXPLORERS • LEVEL 2
Word Builders Workshop 🛠️
👷📐
Explorer:
Date:
🖐️ Part 1: Tap and Match
Tap out the sounds of each word with your fingers. Draw a line from the word block to the matching builder picture!
m a p ⚫
m a t ⚫
t a p ⚫
s a t ⚫
⚫
🛋️ mat
⚫
🚰 tap
⚫
🧘 sat
⚫
🗺️ map
Sound Explorers • Level 2: Word Builders Page 1 of 2
SOUND EXPLORERS • LEVEL 2
Word Brick Builders 🧱
🛠️🎒
🧱 Part 2: Building Block Letters
Find the missing vowel or consonant block to build each word. Write the final word on the lines!
👋
p a ?
Write word here:
🪵💧
? a p
Write word here:
🧢
c ? p
Write word here:
🧘
s ? t
Write word here:
🏆
Master Builder Badge
You built 4 brand new words from scratch today!
MASTER BUILDER
Sound Explorers • Level 2: Word Builders Page 2 of 2
Word Builders Teacher Guide SOUND EXPLORERS • TEACHER COMPANION Lesson 2 of 3
Word Builders Teacher Guide
Focusing on CVC blending and segmenting in the -at and -ap word families.
🎯 Lesson Objectives
✓ Segment 3-sound CVC words into individual phonemes.
✓ Blend consonants with rimes -at and -ap to decode words.
✓ Accurately map sounds to spelling blocks (graphemes).
📦 Materials Needed
▪ Word Builders Slides
▪ Student Worksheet Pack
▪ Three color blocks per student
▪ Personal dry-erase boards
🧱 Core Drill: Word Chains & Dictation
Use word chains to build automaticity. Ask students to make a single sound change to map spelling structures:
🔗 Word Chain sequence: mat ➔ sat ➔ pat ➔ map ➔ tap ➔ sap
Ask: "If this word is mat , what letter block do I swap to make sat ?"
📝 Dictation Drill:
1. Word: "map" ➔ "We use a map on safari."Word: "pat" ➔ "Pat Allie on the back."
Check: Did they write lowercase p extending below the baseline?
⏱️ Pacing Plan
10m
Warm-up: Rapid letter-sound flashcards. Focus on vowel /a/ mouth extension.
15m
Direct Instruction: Use finger-tapping blueprint (Slide 4). Tap left-to-right.
20m
Guided / Independent: Complete page 1 of student worksheet together, then page 2 independently.
💡 Key Facilitation Guidelines
Continuous Blending Early readers may pause too long between sounds (e.g., "/m/ ... /a/ ... /t/"). Encourage continuous voicing: "mmaaaat" to make blending the final word easier.
Targeted Support (Cooper) Cooper will benefit from using physical tokens (like coins or plastic blocks) to tap before writing. Drag a finger under the letters to signify the slide.
Sound Explorers Guide • Level 2 Builders Page 1 of 1
Sight Word Stars Slides SOUND EXPLORERS
Level 3: Sight Word Recognition
Sight Word
Stars ⭐️
Welcome to the Night Safari, Cooper! The stars are shining bright, and each one holds a magic "star word" to help us read sentences!
🔥 Gather 'round the campfire! Tonight we learn: the, a, is, see
⛺️🦁🔥
Camper Leo
"These star words show up everywhere we look!"
Let's illuminate our first words! Slide 1 of 5
SOUND EXPLORERS
The Glowing Words
⭐️
the
"Look at the monkey!"
High-Frequency Word
⭐️
a
"I see a tiger!"
High-Frequency Word
⭐️
is
"Sammy is a snake."
High-Frequency Word
⭐️
see
"We see stars!"
High-Frequency Word
Read them like lightning! the... a... is... see! Slide 2 of 5
SOUND EXPLORERS
Heart Word Strategy
What is a Heart Word? ❤️
Some words have letters that do not play by our phonics rules. We call these Heart Words !
We code them with hearts above the tricky parts to remind our brains to memorize those special sounds!
🎯 Heart Word "the":
The "th" says /th/ like we expect, but the "e" says /uh/ (schwa)! That's the heart part.
❤️
the❤️
"The letter e says /uh/ here!"
Now let's put our star words into sentences! Slide 3 of 5
SOUND EXPLORERS
Guided Trail Reading
Let's Read on the Night Safari! 🔦🦁
1 I see a mat.
🛋️
2 The cat is on the mat.
🐱🛋️
3 See the big map.
🗺️
Cooper, read these sentences out loud to get your campfire badge! Slide 4 of 5
SOUND EXPLORERS
Flash Challenge
Sight Word Star Flash! ⚡⭐️
Let's see how fast you can spot and say the star words when Campfire Chief Leo points to them!
Sight Word Stars Activity SOUND EXPLORERS • LEVEL 3
Sight Word Stars ⭐️
✨⛺️
Explorer:
Date:
✏️ Part 1: Color & Trace the Star Words
Read each star word, trace it carefully, and then write it on your own in the empty boxes!
Star Word 1 ⭐
the
the the
Star Word 2 ⭐
is
is is
Star Word 3 ⭐
see
see see
Star Word 4 ⭐
a
a a
🔎 Part 2: Find the Star Words
Color in the star word circles below to light up the night camp!
the mat see tap is a pat
Sound Explorers • Level 3: Sight Word Stars Page 1 of 2
SOUND EXPLORERS • LEVEL 3
Safari Story Time 📖
📚🏕️
🔦 Part 3: Read and Write Safari Sentences
Read each decodable sentence aloud. Circle the sight words (the, a, is, see) and trace the CVC words. Then rewrite the sentence below on the blank lines!
Sentence 1 🐱🛋️
The cat is on the mat.
Write sentence here:
Sentence 2 👀🗺️
I see a map.
Write sentence here:
Sentence 3 🦁🪵💧
See the sap.
Write sentence here:
⭐️
Star Reader Badge
You read three whole safari stories today!
CAMPFIRE STAR
Sound Explorers • Level 3: Sight Word Stars Page 2 of 2
Sight Word Stars Teacher Guide SOUND EXPLORERS • TEACHER COMPANION Lesson 3 of 3
Sight Word Stars Teacher Guide
Teaching early high-frequency words the, a, is, see using orthographic mapping and heart-word strategies.
🎯 Lesson Objectives
✓ Identify and read the sight words the, a, is, see with automaticity.
✓ Apply orthographic mapping to separate decodable sounds from heart parts.
✓ Decode structured sentences integrating short "a" CVC words.
📦 Materials Needed
▪ Sight Word Stars Slides
▪ Student Activity Sheets (1 per pupil)
▪ Red markers (for marking heart parts)
▪ Glow sticks or star stickers (Optional)
❤️ Heart Word Analysis
Rather than rote memorization, guide students to analyze high-frequency words using orthographic mapping:
⭐️ Word 1: "the"
• Regular Part: th says /th/ (voiced tongue-tip).Heart Part: e says /uh/ (schwa).
Script: "We draw a heart over the 'e' because it plays a funny trick!"
⭐️ Word 2: "is"
• Regular Part: i says short /i/.Heart Part: s says /z/ (voiced).
Script: "The 's' sounds like a buzzing bee /z/ here. Keep that in your heart!"
⏱️ Pacing Plan
10m
Warm-up: Quick-fire review of Lesson 2 CVC words (map, sat, tap, mat) using finger-tapping.
15m
Direct Instruction: Teach 'Heart Parts' on Slides 2-3. Trace words in the air with index fingers.
20m
Guided Story Reading: Project Slide 4. Point to each word. Have students track left-to-right on their own sheets.
💡 Key Facilitation Guidelines
Avoid Letter-by-Letter Reciting Do not let students say "t-h-e" to decode. Instead, teach them to see the whole unit: "the" representing the concept. Use flashcards with rapid automaticity.
Targeted Support (Cooper) Cooper will benefit from tracing sight words in a salt tray or on sandpaper cards while saying the sounds aloud. This tactical feed strengthens muscle memory.
Sound Explorers Guide • Level 3 Sight Words Page 1 of 1
