Our little first graders will soon be introduced to the two sounds of “c” and “g”. Those two consonants are a bit tricky as they make different sounds depending upon the letter that follows in the word. We typically teach students that the “hard” sounds of “c” and “g” occur most often, but they do need to know when these letters make the “soft” sound. We tell the students that when the letter “c” is followed by the letters i, e or y, the “c” makes the /s/ sound just like in the words “city”, “cent” and “icy”.
The letter “g” is similar. When the “g” is followed by an i, e or y it makes the /j/ sound as in “gem”, “gist” or “gym”. Visuals often help students to remember phonics rules. You may find these posters helpful when you are teaching this rule. When you click the link below, you’ll be able to download 6 posters!
To download these posters, just click the following link or the picture below: FREE Hard and Soft C & G Poster Sets
We often reinforce and re-teach phonics rules during small group instruction/intervention. Tent cards often come in handy. If you’d like, download this file and just fold the card in half. It’s perfect for your small group instruction table.
To download this tent card, just click the following link: Hard and Soft G and C Tent Card
I created this activity just for my first grade friends. The sorting activity is great for small group instruction when introducing the concept. It also has a self checking feature which makes it ideal for added practice in literacy centers. When you download this activity you will receive two sorting mats and 69 colorful cards containing words and pictures with the hard and soft “c” and “g”.
The Make, Take & Teach Sort and Hard “C” and “G” Sorting Activities is available through my online Teachers Pay Teachers store or through the Make, Take & Teach website.
When teaching phonics and spelling rules, it’s very important the student apply the rules right away in text. Unfortunately, there aren’t too many books available that target this specific skill, but I did find a few. You may want to check out these books on Amazon.
Cindy, Cedric, and the Circus, Cat and Dog at the Circus and Giant Giraffes
Hope you find the freebies helpful.
