Phoneme Segmenting Fluency
FSF - Phonemic Awareness Phoneme Segmenting
The purpose of this activity is for students to practice segmenting words into separate phonemes with automaticity.

Assemble a stack of about ten cards with words for students to segment. Include simple CVC words but also words with letter combinations (e.g., "ship"), initial and final blends ("trap", "lamp"), and more than one syllable ("pencil").
Warm Up
Download your own printable word cards


Now let's play a game. We're going to try to go through this stack of cards as fast as we can. I'm not going to show you the card; I'm just going to read the word fast, and you have to repeat it slowly. So if I say "rock" you say "rrroook." Let's see how fast we can go.

My turn first. The first word is "mat." (Students) "mmmaaat."

Now I'm going to show you a different way to play. We're going to read the word on the card, and then say each sound in the word.

My turn. The word is "fit."

"fit"... /f/.../i/.../t/









Continue through the stack.


Next, model taking the top card of the stack, reading the word, and segmenting it after a pause. Continue through the stack.


Do you think you can go faster than I did? (Or, if students are still mastering the skill:) Do you think you can go through the stack without making a mistake?)

Say this word slowly and then say each sound in the word.

If Correct: Great.

If Incorrect: The word on the card is _____. Repeat after me. The first sound in the word is /__/. Repeat after me. The next sound is /__/. Repeat after me.

Do you think you can go faster?

Say this word slowly and then say each sound in the word.


Call on a single student in the group and read the first word. If the student is incorrect, correct him, have him repeat your answer, and move to the next card. Praise correct answers.
Select the next student, shuffle the stack, and repeat until all students in the group have worked through it.


Okay, now let's go faster.

Say this word and then say each sound in the word.

If Correct: Good work.

If Incorrect: The word on the card is _____. Repeat after me. The first sound in the word is /__/. Repeat after me. The next sound is /__/. Repeat after me.

Shuffle the stack of cards and repeat with students in the same order, but encouraging them to go faster.
If time and focus allow, shuffle and repeat at an even faster pace. For students who struggle, give them help and make a note in an Activity Log.