Create a series of pictures of simple CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) words, such as cat, hen, pin, hot and hut. Play a game to help them identify the sounds with the picture. For example, hold the card in front of you without showing the picture. Segment the sounds of the picture: C \'k\ - A \a\ - T \t\. If the student identifies the picture from the sounds, he or she gets the card. Once your student can auditorily blend the sounds as you say them, let them take a turn, using the pictures, to segment the sounds to you.
Create vowel cards -- A,E,I,O and U. With the picture cards you made for the previous activity, help the student sort the pictures into the appropriate vowel's pile. For example, the card for A might have cards for man, pan, cat and so forth. The card for E would have cards such as hen, pen and pet; for O, words such as hot, mom and box; and for U, words such as cub, bug and cup. You should have at least five words for each vowel sound.
Create printed word cards to match your picture cards created earlier. With the printed word cards, you can play a variety of games to help your student learn to associate the printed word with the real object. For example, students can play the match game. Shuffle all of the cards. Lay both printed words and matching pictures out on a table face up. Have the student match the correct printed word to the corresponding picture.
Next, try the memory game. Shuffle the cards, lay them face down on the table. Take turns flipping over two cards at a time in an attempt to match the word and accompanying picture. This exercise both helps the student with sight identification of the correct word as a real object and helps him or her develop position memorization skills. Other games, such as "Go Fish," can also be modified to help with this level of ability.
After your student has mastered the CVC words, move on to consonant blends associating them with short vowels. A consonant blend is made up of two consonants that blend together, but you can hear each individual sound, such as "bl," "gr," and "sk." After the basic concept is presented, examples of blends at the beginning and ending of words can be used. Digraphs -- two consonants that blended together make one sound, like wh, ch and sh -- can also be taught in association with short vowels. The object is to help students be able to hear short vowels in their various contexts. All of these activities can be recreated for use with more advanced concepts.