Printed worksheets help a child visualize the printed word. Print a worksheet with the letters of the alphabet on it, but have nine or 10 of the letters missing. Have the students write in the missing letters of the alphabet. Put together another worksheet of three-letter words -- "cat," "hat" and "rat" -- that are scrambled -- "tac," "aht" and "rta" -- and ask students to unscramble them to help them visualize sounds and words as they appear on paper.
Read a few short folk stories or fairy tales to your class. Divide the students into small groups and assign each group a story. Ask the group to retell the story to the class, either by narrating it or acting it out. Make sure to give each group rehearsal time before they perform in front of their classmates.
Copy pictures from the key scenes in a short storybook. Read the book to students without showing them the pictures. Spread out the pictures from the book on the floor and ask children to organize them sequentially. Once the story is in order, have students take turns retelling the scene that each picture depicts.
Give each student a set of movable letters (such as a magnetic alphabet set), a pencil and paper. Write a short, three-letter word on the board; read it aloud and sound it out for students. Ask students to first compose the word using their movable letters. Next, have them write the word on paper. Hearing the sounds of each letter while simultaneously touching it helps students understand how a letter sounds and visualize the shape of it, which makes writing the letter easier.
Lay out a collection of objects. Have each student name the object, write the name on a piece of paper, place the paper next to the object and repeat the word. When every object is named, scramble up the pieces of paper. Invite students to take turns trying to match the paper with the word to the correct object. When a student struggles, help him sound out the word. This exercise teaches kids to read using whole-word and phonetic strategies.