First Sound Detectives - Foundation

Build first-sound listening through a coherent week of picture-based, teacher-read learning. Children begin by hearing a whole word and its start, compare and sort sounds, identify an odd start, create a sound pair or phrase and transfer learning to fresh pictures.

The five flexible 35–45 minute lessons include explicit scripts, guided practice, substantial child practice, differentiation, EAL/D and AAC access, observation guidance and closure. Adults consistently name pictures before responses. No letter-reading or written-answer prerequisite is built into the sound tasks.

What's included

• 44-page Unit Plan PDF: one contents page, two teacher guide/naming-key pages, ten lesson-plan/support pages and 31 resource pages.
• 22-slide native editable teaching PPTX.
• 22-slide native editable quiz PPTX with ten question/answer-feedback pairs, cover and closing.
• Three colour displays and two model pages.
• 24 picture cards on four colour sheets; two picture-anchor sorting mats.
• Two guided comparison/odd-start sheets.
• Sound Trail cooperative game board and rules/challenge page.
• Two oral creation mats and one reference/share mat.
• Five black-and-white worksheets with five matched keys or possible models.
• Fresh-picture oral assessment, observation form and three-stage rubric.
• 88-page watermarked Preview PDF and separate clean contents JPG.

Learning focus

Hear first phonemes in spoken words; compare same and different starts; sort around picture anchors; identify a different first sound; generate sound pairs and short oral alliterative phrases; explain or show a listening clue.

Classroom use

Whole-class explicit teaching, small-group or partner rotations, oral retrieval and individual observation. Children may speak, point, draw, select pictures or use AAC. Adults can name, read, cut and scribe. The final task distinguishes recognition from learner generation and records support actually used.

Formats and answers

PDF Unit Plan: 44 pages.

PPTX Presentation: 22 slides.

PPTX Quiz: 22 slides, including ten question/answer-feedback pairs.

Combined teaching count: 88 pages/slides.

PDF Preview: 88 watermarked pages repeating the teaching content.

JPG Table of Contents: one separate clean reference image.

Native teaching/question/feedback text is editable. Illustrated PDF resource pages are fixed.

Five worksheet keys/models are included. Fixed choices have checked keys; phrase/reflection models acknowledge many valid responses.

Teacher benefits

Consistent adult picture naming keeps sound decisions separate from vocabulary familiarity. The oral and AAC response choices avoid a written-answer prerequisite. Teacher observation separates recognition, generation, reasoning and prompting.

Digital product and licence

Digital files only; no physical item. Resource files may not be resold or redistributed.