[cabst90]

Also, a Japanese game called shiritori is good for beginning and ending sounds and vocabulary building. One person starts by saying a word (the teacher). The next person must stay a word that starts with the sound at the end of the first word. This continues until someone cannot think of a word. Japanese is completely phonetic and there are no silent vowels. So it can be confusing for my students when the come across a word like make. If I am teaching phonics, I tell them to use the sounds (the next person must say a word that starts with the 'K' sound.) If I am working on vocabulary building with older students who should know how to spell, I tell them to pay attention to the last letter of the word.