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10 Easy Activities to Teach French Beginning Sounds

Every word begins with a single sound. Developing a strong foundation in phonological awareness involves recognizing and producing these sounds. We call them beginning sounds. It’s usually the first of the phonemic awareness skills you teach before moving on to all the individual phonemes found within a word.

However, there are a few lessons you’ll need to cover first, including syllable segmentation and rhyming. Once those foundational skills are in place, your students will be ready to tackle some French activities for beginning sounds.

Okay. So, what should you cover in your lessons? Try these French beginning sounds activities, integrating them into your everyday teaching.

French Beginning Sounds Activities

1. Matching Beginning Sound

One of the easiest ways to introduce French beginning sounds is through a matching activity. To set this up, create two sets of cards: one with letters representing different beginning sounds and another with pictures of objects or animals that start with those sounds. For example, you might have a card with the letter “M” and a card with a picture of a “mouton” (sheep).

2. Beginning Sound Bingo

Who doesn’t love a good game of bingo? Well, now it can be as educational as it is fun. Start by having your students create their own bingo cards. Each card will have pictures representing different beginning sounds, while the calling cards will feature the corresponding sounds.

After they’ve created their cards, play the game just like any other bingo game – calling out the sounds and having students mark the corresponding pictures. What makes this so great is that it isn’t a one-and-done. I keep all of the make-your-own-bingo activities, pulling them out when we have extra time. It’s a fun, hands-on approach to learning.

French beginning sounds bingo activity for phonological awareness.

3. Beginning Sound Books

Beginning sound books are another excellent resource for teaching French beginning sounds. Each book is dedicated to a specific sound and includes words that start with that sound. For instance, there might be a book focusing on “G dur” and another on “G doux.”

You’ll find three different versions: a larger teacher version for reading aloud and two mini versions for students to use.

Remember, it’s all about introducing a new sound or reinforcing a sound your students have been working on. So, always select the book that matches your current point in the curriculum.

Printable French beginning sounds books for phonological awareness.

4. Sort by Beginning Sound

Sorting activities are a fantastic way to get students thinking critically about sounds. For this activity, give students a set of picture cards or a collection of small objects. The task is to sort them by their beginning sounds.

Helpful tip: start with just a few sounds – two or three – to avoid overwhelming your students. Then, as their confidence builds, add in more sounds. You can perform this French beginning sounds activity either in small groups, as a class, or even just as an independent learning activity.

Matching picture cards for French beginning sounds activity.

5. Identifying the Beginning Sound in a Word

We never say beginning sounds alone – they come at the front of a word. Put your learning into context by having students identify the beginning sounds in a word. You say a word out loud, and students need to determine the first sound.

You can do this orally, with students calling out the sound, or as a written activity, where they write the sound on their whiteboards.

6. Sound Hunt

Sound hunt is precisely what it sounds like. You say a sound, and students must scour the classroom to find an object that begins with that sound. Call them back over to the carpet and let them present what they found. It’s a brilliant way to get students up, moving, and engaged.

7. Beginning Sound Centres

This French activity for beginning sounds is perfect for small, guided groups or as centre rotations with your students.

For beginning sounds, you can set up a series of centres focused on different activities:

  • What Doesn’t Go? Students identify which item doesn’t share the same beginning sound as the others.
  • Sorting by Beginning Sound. A repeat of the earlier sorting activity, but as a centre.
  • Board Game. A simple game where students move pieces around a board and identify beginning sounds.
  • Puzzles. Matching puzzles where pieces only fit if the beginning sound matches.
  • Roll and Say the First Sound. Students roll a die with different sounds on each side and say a word that starts with the rolled sound.
  • Bingo. The bingo game mentioned earlier but set up as a centre.
Centres to teach French beginning sounds with activities and games.

8. Letter Sound Charades

Reinforcement is the not-so-secret ingredient in learning. Letter sound charades is a fantastic French beginning sounds activity that reinforces your students’ understanding. However, this version has a slight twist.

Students should pick a sound and act out something that starts with that sound. If you want a slightly easier version, let the class know what the sound is first. But if you want to get more challenging, get the class to guess both the thing the student is acting out and the first sound.

9. Provide a Word

Last but not least, you can practice having students provide words that start with a specific sound. Here are two ideas:

  1. Have students provide a word that starts with the sound you give. For example, you say /m/, and your students say “mouton.”
  2. Have your students provide a word that starts with the same sound as a word you give. For example, if you say Cadeau, your students say koala. Notice that they’re not spelt the same. That’s okay – we’re not looking at spelling, just the phoneme (sound).

Final Thoughts

When introducing French beginning sounds, it’s essential to start with activities that require students to identify the first sound in a word. This is generally easier than asking them to provide a word with a specific first sound.

When they’ve mastered this first step, move on to more complex activities. Gradually, your students will build up a lexicon of beginning sounds that they can use as they parse out words.

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