Mayflower Syllable Sails

In Pre-K, our themes are simply a vehicle to deliver content. I try to work in phonological awareness activities to tie in with whatever theme we are learning about. We talk a lot about syllables, counting and clapping them as we are group reading, writing or learning new vocabulary.  I made this Mayflower ship and as we learned a new vocabulary word for our Thanksgiving theme, we clapped out the syllables and added the word to the sail number of the appropriate number of syllables.

This started as a large group activity, but after a few days, the kids really started to listen to stories, trying to add words to the list. This really got them thinking independently and they would often contribute words they thought of. I think this year, I'm going to try to make a tree for the holiday season that serves the same purpose!