Virtual Lesson Example: Building Phonological Awareness With Elkonin Boxes

This activity was developed by Michelle Silvia, reading coach at Robert F. Kennedy Elementary School in Providence, Rhode Island. This lesson illustrates the use of Elkonin boxes in a virtual setting and includes three variations. Elkonin boxes are an instructional method used to build phonological awareness by segmenting words into individual sounds or phonemes. Elkonin boxes are commonly used in the early elementary grades or with students who need additional phonics interventions. This lesson includes a tip sheet as well as PowerPoint templates that can be used to support the use of Elkonin boxes in virtual settings by allowing the student to click and drag a "token" on the screen. The examples illustrate variations for use with tokens, letter tiles, and word building

These lessons were developed as part of a National Center on Intensive Intervention Community of Practice with educators focused on implementing intervention virtually during Spring 2020 in response to COVID-19. Participating educators represented Colorado, Oregon, Rhode Island, Texas, and Washington. These activities were developed by practitioners and are intended to showcase example strategies that educators have used to deliver intervention in a virtual environment during the pandemic. Please note that NCII does not endorse specific intervention programs. As such, any programs noted in these documents are used for illustrative purposes only, or as potential resources for source materials (e.g., sample text, graphic organizers).

The Robert F. Kennedy Elementary School is one of twenty-two elementary schools in Providence Public Schools, the largest urban school district in Rhode Island. Kennedy Elementary has an enrollment of 502 students – 18% have IEPs, 30% are multilingual, and 26% are chronically absent. Kennedy Elementary’s distance learning approach provides student engagement and support through clear, consistent communication and professional learning tools and systems.