Wonderful Worm’s Sound

About the Sound

Wonderful Worm’s sound is an early sound that is heard in babble and then appears early in the speech of a child too. Wonderful Worm’s sound is used at the start of many question words (when, where, what, why, which).  We don’t pronounce it on the end of a word (e.g “low”.) 

In Old English pronuniciation and also still today in Standard Scottish English, the /w/ sound is pronounced with an /h/ sound in front of it when saying words that start with wh. That is, witch vs which (“hwich“).

When it develops

 This sound develops in words by the time a child is 2.5 years. 

How it is made

 Really this sound is the same as saying “oooo” with little round lips.  The sound is then “released” on to the vowel sound that comes next in the word. 

Tips to Help 

Try making small round lips like Wonderful Worm. 

About the Letter

The lower-case letter used in this set is the non-cursive letter w. It is similar in shape to Wonderful Worm’s body. 

It looks a lot like like an upside down letter m or two v letters joined together. 

The letter’s name is pronounced “double u”.  For this reason, some children can get confused and think that the letter represents a “duh” sound. (“duh” for “double”).  Believe me, I have heard this many, many times. 

Activities

The Colour-In

1. Learners can be shown how to form the letter, starting at the star. If there are two possible ways the writer could head with their pencil (or crayon), they should head towards the smaller star next.  Try and give consistent instructions when you show a child how to form the letter.   E.g. “Here’s how we do the letter w. Down, up, down, up”.  2. Children can practise again and again within the outline. Using different colours can make it more fun. Encourage children to say the SOUND as they trace the letter.  3. Together look at the pictures, name each and LISTEN for the first sound of each word. It will begin with the target sound. 4. You can point to the first letter in each word. Name the letter. 

Picture Cards

Each picture begins with the target sound. You can print these out and make cards or just look at them on a device.

1) Cards can be used for  these for a range of games such as SNAP, BINGO or MEMORY.

2) Start a double-spread page in a scrapbook for each sound. Paste in the colour-in (above), practise writing the letter and cut out and paste the pictures on the pages.

3) Combine them with another set from a different sound and do a SORTING ACTIVITY.

4)Make a poster for each sound and paste on the corresponding pictures.

Find the Letter 

View the download on a digital device and point to the target letters or print out and circle/ underline the letters.  Try and encourage scanning of left to right of each line while looking for letters. Start by saying “Let’s look for all the w letters”. When you find them, say the sound as you point/circle/underline.