A Phonics Scavenger Hunt: A Quick Win For Phonics Instruction

Add A Phonics Scavenger Hunt To Your Lesson Plan Today!

What is the best way for students to learn to read certain phonics skills? By seeing them in text! One way to find them in a text is to have a phonics scavenger hunt. Phonics scavenger hunts are a fun way for students to look for their words within a text.

What Materials You Need

Pencil
Post-its
Magnifying glass… This one is just for fun, but anytime my students got to use their little magnifying glasses, the engagement level was ten times higher. You can find the ones I use here.

How To Do A Scavenger Hunt

After teaching your new phonics skill, make sure to brainstorm some different words with the phonics skill and write them on the board. Underline or circle the skill within each word. Then, have your students take their post-its and pencils to find the phonics skill in their books!

There’s a couple different ways to do this. You can:

Before the lesson, find books with the skill in it. Place all the books in a bin and distribute among your class to find the words.
Have students look at the books in their book tubs.
Have students pick different books from the classroom library. I personally like this one best because it gives students an opportunity to look at some fresh books that they haven’t ever seen or haven’t seen in awhile.

Your students will be looking for words with the particular phonics skill. When they find a word, they jot it down on a post-it and stick it to that page in their book. Then, they keep looking and writing down words until you say time is up.

Don’t Forget Share Time

Share time at the end of a lesson is so important, but it is one that is often overlooked! We usually run out of time and let it go, but we are losing valuable learning time when we skip it.

Bring your students back to your meeting area. Pick a few students to share their book and the word they found. If you are really strapped on time, have students share with a buddy.

Why It Works

Embedded phonics is a type of phonics instruction that focuses on teaching phonics in authentic contexts, such as within a text. It is important for our students to see their skills and words within texts. While this approach isn’t exactly embedded phonics, it mirrors the thought that students should see their skills within a text. Students are taking a hold of their learning with a phonics scavenger hunt by looking for the skills themselves.

Try It With These Cards

Here’s a new way to use our guided reading warm-up cards! If you are learning CVC words, hand each student one of the cards and they can find the words within texts, just like mentioned above! It’s a fun way to change up the phonics scavenger hunt.

If you want to see the guided reading warm-up card bundle, click here.