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PSPKK123 October 16, 2016  •  47 Comments

Elkonin boxes

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Elkonin boxes are a wonderful tool to help kids learn phonological awareness!

elkonin-boxes

(This post contains affiliate links.)

Have you heard of Elkonin boxes? These simple tools help kids build phonological awareness by helping them divide words into their individual phonemes.

Some quick vocabulary review:

phonological awareness – the ability to hear differences in the ways words sound. If children have phonological awareness, they can identify beginning sounds, count syllables, and rhyme.

phonemes – the individual sounds within a word. For example, “rake” has four letters but only three sounds – /r/,/ā/,/k/.

Read it: 21 Games to Develop Phonological Awareness

Elkonin boxes help kids hear phonemes. They’re a fantastic way to develop an important pre-reading skill.

Here’s how they work!

elkonin-boxes-1

Print and cut apart the Elkonin boxes. (Laminate for durability if desired.) Then grab small manipulatives that are fun to use. We used these colorful glass gems.

Place a card in front of your child. Start with a simple one that has only two boxes.

‘Today we’re going to say the picture on each card and listen for the sounds in each word. We’re going to put one gem in a box each time we hear a sound. Let’s start with this first one. What picture do you see?”

“Bee.”

“Right. So when we say the word bee and separate it into its sounds, it sounds like this: /b/ /eee/.  I can put one gem here for /b/ and one gem here for /eee/.  Can you point to each gem as I say the sounds again?  /b/ /eeee/.”

elkonin-boxes-2

Continue the activity with the other words that have just two phonemes.  /b/ /ō/.

elkonin-boxes-4

Move to words with three phonemes if your child is ready.  /m/ /oo/ /n/

elkonin-boxes-3

Finish with the words that have four phonemes. Always remember that we’re counting the sounds we hear, not the letters we’d spell. Elkonin boxes are an oral activity. /k/ /l/ /o/ /k/

I pulled these cards out for my Four, who knows his letters very well (thanks to our letter of the week activities), understands concept of word (because of our work with voice to print cards), and is even starting to read simple sight word books.

But.

These were hard for him! It surprised me. He wasn’t able to isolate the sounds in each word, but he was willing to watch me do the activity and point to each sound as I named it. We’ll do the activity that way for now, and I think that one day soon he’ll be ready to try it himself.

Another way to use Elkonin boxes

  • Name the picture and a particular sound. For example, say the word “moon” and tell your child to show where he’d mark the sound “/n/”. He should put a gem in the last box on the card.

Read it: Hear beginning, middle, and ending sounds with these clip cards 

Grab your free cards below!

P.S. The download contains  cards with images AND with clip art (in both color and black and white). Make sure you mark the pages you want to print so you don’t waste ink.

  • p. 3-11 (real images)
  • p. 12-20 (color clip art)
  • p. 21-29 (black & white clip art)

Get your free Elkonin boxes!

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD

BUILD A STRONG READING FOUNDATION

Phonemic Awareness Games & Activities

$24.00

The research is in! Children with a strong foundation of phonemic awareness become better readers. Our bundle is your one-stop shop for teaching all levels of this important skill.

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Watch the member workshop!

In this 30-minute workshop from The Measured Mom Plus, members will …

  • Learn exactly what phonemic awareness is.
  • Get a comprehensive phonemic awareness assessment.
  • Get a variety of printables for teaching phoneme isolation, blending, segmentation, and manipulation.

Not a member yet? Learn more here.

Click here to watch

Free Reading Printables for Pre-K-3rd Grade

Join our email list and get this sample pack of time-saving resources from our membership site! You'll get phonemic awareness, phonics, and reading comprehension resources ... all free!

Filed Under: Reading, Pre-reading Tagged With: first grade, kindergarten, phonological awareness, Pre-K

You May Also Enjoy These Posts:

Reading comprehension passage in a book: PhilippinesSight word books set 25: OceanSpring voice-to-print pack
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Letter B Activities for 2-Year-Olds

Reader Interactions

47 Comments

  1. Karen Kerns

    October 16, 2016 at 3:02 pm

    I just wanted to thank you. We were talking about Elkonin boxes in our PLCs the other week and I wanted to add them to my guided reading. I’m so excited to try these with my kiddos!

    AND, I have your nursery rhyme packet – my kids LOVE it! Even my little boy who doesn’t speak English is enjoying the rhymes and learning new words. My kids are picking up so many important pre-reading skills! Thank you for all you do.

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna Geiger

      October 18, 2016 at 12:00 pm

      I love that, Karen – perfect timing!! I’m so glad you got these in time to use them, and I’m THRILLED to hear that your students like my nursery rhyme pack!

      Reply to this comment
  2. funke abegunde

    October 17, 2016 at 2:26 am

    Funke from Nigeria

    Thank you Anna for sharing. I am a new subscriber, I feel at home already with your great ideas and the worm welcoming newsletter. I think your site will help me to assist some of my students that are strugling with their phnonological awareness and beginning reading skills. Continue the great work! I love it all.

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna Geiger

      October 18, 2016 at 12:00 pm

      Welcome, Funke, and I hope you find many helpful resources on my site! 🙂

      Reply to this comment
    • Tameka

      September 30, 2020 at 6:49 pm

      Hi there I have been a teacher for 22 years and recently I have been certified as a reading intervention teacher. I just want to say thanks for all your posts and activities. I live in the Caribbean and sometimes it’s hard to get resources

      Reply to this comment
      • Anna G

        October 1, 2020 at 5:16 pm

        We’re so glad you can use our printables, Tameka! 🙂

        Reply to this comment
  3. Louisa Tang

    October 17, 2016 at 3:37 am

    Can you please give the answers of all the elkonin box ?
    what are the phonemes of the following words?
    shoe ice fox egg web ant apple leaf snail vase deer glue chin globe toast broom lamp train dress truck bread.
    If there is no answers, I even don’t know the names of the pictures. Thanks for giving me the anwers so that I can learn
    Many thanks!

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna Geiger

      October 18, 2016 at 11:59 am

      It’s included now, Louisa!

      Reply to this comment
  4. Lynn Masson

    October 18, 2016 at 11:50 am

    Thank you for this, yes I know all about elkonin boxes from my Dyslexia Action training. Teaching English in France to young children, is exciting and this will be very useful.
    many thanks !!!

    Lynn

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna Geiger

      October 18, 2016 at 11:59 am

      Yay – so glad you can use these, Lynn!

      Reply to this comment
  5. ivi

    October 18, 2016 at 3:52 pm

    Wow Anna,
    I can use the Elkonin boxes for myself, too! As a non-native speaker, it seems very funny to use! And useful of course!
    Greetings from Italy!
    Ivonne

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna Geiger

      October 21, 2016 at 10:30 am

      That’s great, Ivi! 🙂

      Reply to this comment
  6. Yvonne Fawehinmi

    October 19, 2016 at 5:46 pm

    These are awesome. I just started using these with my 4 year old who was struggling with breaking down words by sound. First I laid out some of 2 and 3 sound cards and I said words one sound at a time and because she was able to see the pictures it clicked. She loves to do these. I will also use them for my 6 year old so she can write in the letters for spelling practice. I love all of your resources! We are also using your Weather Packet and it’s great.

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna Geiger

      October 21, 2016 at 9:22 am

      Yay! I’m so excited that these helped the concept click with your 4 year old! Thanks so much for sharing, Yvonne. 🙂

      Reply to this comment
  7. Rachel du Toit

    February 2, 2017 at 1:05 pm

    Thank you, all the way from Phokeng, South Africa, for your wonderful free resources. They are so engaging and just what I need!

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna Geiger

      February 2, 2017 at 2:35 pm

      I’m so glad to hear that, Rachel!

      Reply to this comment
  8. Nusrat

    April 26, 2017 at 9:25 am

    Hi Anna,

    Thanks a lot, your resources are a great help and of course interesting. Great work!! Continue sharing, thank you.

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna Geiger

      April 26, 2017 at 12:45 pm

      Thank you for the encouragement, Nusrat!

      Reply to this comment
  9. kanchan Sharma

    May 14, 2017 at 11:20 pm

    Thank you for the great work done in the field of early years. My teachers are so excited with a substantial addition to their resource bank. This caters to the differentiation in our classroom.

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna Geiger

      May 28, 2017 at 3:24 pm

      I’m so glad you can use this resource!

      Reply to this comment
  10. Kristine

    May 19, 2017 at 4:38 pm

    Thank you. I am a literacy coach and I love your resources

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna Geiger

      May 28, 2017 at 3:24 pm

      Thanks so much, Kristine!

      Reply to this comment
  11. Janelle

    June 24, 2017 at 1:23 pm

    I love all your resources as you know.

    However I was wandering, do you break up the consonant blends? such a gl bl etc. bl can be counted as one sound.

    Thanks for the clarification

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna Geiger

      June 26, 2017 at 9:42 pm

      Hi Janelle,

      Consonant blends are two separate sounds. However, digraphs (sh, ch, th) are each a single sound.

      Reply to this comment
  12. Esma

    July 10, 2017 at 2:50 am

    Tank a lot.

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna Geiger

      July 10, 2017 at 3:15 pm

      You’re welcome, Esma!

      Reply to this comment
  13. Gerda Noël

    September 11, 2017 at 1:34 am

    very nice but we don’t talk Englisch at school.

    Reply to this comment
  14. Ral

    November 10, 2017 at 11:28 pm

    Great treasures here
    Thanks,
    Ral

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna G

      November 12, 2017 at 7:54 am

      You’re very welcome, Ral! I’m glad you like them!

      Reply to this comment
  15. Sarah

    September 28, 2018 at 9:17 am

    I love using these with my students. Thanks so much! Remember, x has two sounds /k/ and /s/ so it needs two boxes.

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna G

      October 5, 2018 at 7:09 pm

      Ah yes, sorry I missed that! I don’t plan to make edits to this free file at this time, so I suggest to anyone reading this that they set that card aside. 🙂

      Reply to this comment
  16. Vanessa

    February 5, 2019 at 12:04 pm

    Hello!!

    I am trying to download the free elkonin boxes by signing up but the site will not let me. If you could help out that would be great!

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna G

      February 5, 2019 at 12:07 pm

      What’s happening when you try, Vanessa? Feel free to send me an email! anna@themeasuredmom.com

      Reply to this comment
  17. Marissa

    February 28, 2019 at 9:44 am

    I have been trying to get the elkonin boxes but I guess the link is not working. I have put my email address down over and over again but still cannot get it. Would or could you please email them to me. I love all your resources and am excited to start using these boxes.

    Reply to this comment
    • Kate Dowling

      February 28, 2019 at 1:48 pm

      Hi Marissa!

      This is Kate, Anna’s assistant. Once you enter your email address, the file is sent to you immediately. If you haven’t checked your email, please go check it. Once you open the email, you will click on a blue link that says something like, “CLAIM YOUR OFFER.” Enjoy your elkonin boxes!

      Reply to this comment
  18. Su Lin

    March 28, 2019 at 5:39 pm

    Hi!

    Love your resources!! Just letting you know that there is an error with one of the items on the segmenting phonemes task. Fox has 4 phonemes, not 3.

    Fox – /f/, /o/, /k/, /s/.

    /x/ is not a phoneme.

    Thank you.

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna G

      March 28, 2019 at 7:06 pm

      Yes, thanks! I’m not sure how I missed that. For now I recommend that people don’t use that card, as I don’t know when I’ll be able to make the edit.

      Reply to this comment
  19. Mandi

    January 7, 2020 at 9:12 pm

    Hi! I am already a subscriber and I have tried to click the download button multiple times for the Elkonin boxes, but it isn’t working.

    Reply to this comment
    • Kate Dowling

      January 8, 2020 at 9:28 pm

      Hi Mandi!

      This is Kate, Anna’s assistant. Please disable your ad blocker for this site, and use Google Chrome for best viewing. Thanks so much!

      Reply to this comment
  20. Rebecca

    January 14, 2020 at 9:43 pm

    Wow, Measured Mom!!
    You are smart, wise, thoughtful, compassionate, and just doing the right thing! I’m a retired teacher starting a volunteer tutoring program and I instantly saw how purposeful you are. Thank you for all of this!!!

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna G

      January 18, 2020 at 9:00 am

      Thank you so much for your kind words, Rebecca!

      Reply to this comment
  21. Christina

    June 17, 2020 at 1:33 am

    The link on this page for the free elkonin printable download doesn’t work. I don’t have any issues accessing any of the other free printables on other pages. It is not an issue of ad blocker and I am using Google Chrome.

    Reply to this comment
    • Kate Dowling

      June 18, 2020 at 9:40 am

      Hi Christina!

      This is Kate, Anna’s assistant. I’m sorry you had trouble! I just tested the link on Firefox, and it worked perfectly. Please give it another try!

      Reply to this comment

Trackbacks

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