Phonemic Awareness: Elkonin Boxes for Segmenting Sounds

Elkonin boxes are an effective phonemic awareness activity that helps our little ones with segmenting sounds, which is an important pre-reading and pre-spelling skill! And two versions are included for differentiated practice!

The first version is a set of 52 cards that have a picture and the individual boxes for each phoneme underneath (traditional). A child says the name of the picture and then says the individual sounds of that word, while pushing a counter up into each box (thus segmenting the sounds). The second version is a set of 52 cards that have a picture (same pictures as version 1) and a rectangle underneath that does not have individual boxes. This second version is more difficult since students not only have to produce the phonemes but also have to decipher how many phonemes there are.

The cards contain pictures that have 2, 3, and 4 phonemes (8 cards with 2 phonemes, 28 cards with 3 phonemes, and 16 cards with 4 phonemes), and they contain a mixture of short vowel sounds, long vowel sounds, other vowel combinations, blends, and digraphs. Also included are Elkonin Boxes without a picture so that you can use your own words or pictures as well.

All the cards in both versions come in both color and black/white, and there are 4 cards on each page (pages can be hole-punched for a binder or cut apart as individual cards). It is recommended that the pages be printed on cardstock and/or laminated for durability.

This activity works well in small groups and one-on-one, and it requires small counters to push up into the boxes.

This resource is geared towards preschool through first grade, although can be used with any child who needs practice.

Please note that this is an instant digital download of one PDF file. You will not receive a physical product.

This resource includes:

- Directions for using Elkonin boxes (both versions)

- List of picture names on the cards

- Version 1 in color (52 cards)

- Version 2 in color (52 cards – same pictures as version 1)

- Plain cards (no pictures) in color with 2, 3, 4, and an unknown number of phonemes

- Version 1 in black/white

- Version 2 in black/white

- Plain cards (no pictures) in black/white with 2, 3, 4, and an unknown number of phonemes


Also check out my other phonemic awareness activities:

Rhyming Words Clip Cards: https://www.etsy.com/listing/1411172167/phonemic-awareness-rhyming-words-clip

Beginning Sounds Picture Sort and Syllable Sort: https://www.etsy.com/listing/1411148605/phonemic-awareness-beginning-sounds

Phonemic Awareness Games: https://www.etsy.com/listing/1396918848/phonemic-awareness-games-rhyming

OR grab all of these resources in a money-savings BUNDLE! : https://www.etsy.com/listing/1411196729/phonemic-awareness-activities-bundle

If you have questions or ideas for how I can improve my resources, feel free to message me. If you like this resource, please consider leaving positive feedback and following my store!

Thank you and happy teaching!

Erin Guge

© Erin Guge – All Rights Reserved
• This file is for PERSONAL USE ONLY; you may not create anything to sell or share based on this product.
• This product is for ONE USER ONLY; transfer to a third party is strictly prohibited. If others like this product, please send them to my Etsy store.
• Please note that this is a digital download. You will not receive a physical product.
• No refunds or exchanges are permitted for digital items.