In an effort to teach basic phonics skills without overwhelming the students, focus on just one letter each day. Show the letter and make the letter sound. Throughout the day, have students look around the classroom to see if they can find the letter on the wall. They can also tell the teacher when they find an object that starts with that sound. You can also incorporate your other activities to fit the letter of the day. For example, make a mask on the "Letter M Day."
Have pictures of many different items and have students sort them based on the sound. To make this easy, have a group of cards that start with two different letters. Students simply have to separate the cards into two separate piles. You can also have students match the pictures with the letter that they start with. As students become more advanced, you can have them sort into word families--instead of "cat" matching with "cup" and "car," it matches with "hat" and "bat."
Small toys that feature letters--such as letter magnets or interconnecting tiles--can help students gain phonics awareness. By reading the words that the students create--even those that aren't real--you can help to show that every letter makes a sound. More advanced students will be able to create their own words, especially if they have a guide to follow. Encourage students to find the letters to spell their own names.
You should read at least one book to your students every day. Involve students in the process by allowing them to choose the books that you read. After reading the book, have a brief discussion about it to check the students' comprehension of the story. If it's a book that you frequently read, you can ask the students, "What happens next?" before you turn the page or you can intentionally make mistakes. For example, if you're reading the "Three Little Pigs" story, you could say, "Along comes the big bad shark" to see if the students catch your mistake.
Students should learn that they have their own stories to tell as well. Work with each student individually to write down a story that she wants to tell. After you have all of the students' stories, you can create small books with them and allow students to illustrate the books. You can also work on making a classroom book--students come up with the story together and then each student can illustrate one page of the book.