Photo Cards (Pink Series)

This set of isolated picture cards, for the Montessori pink series, focuses on CVC words. These photo cards are versatile and can support a range of early language activities.

Preparation:

Print your chosen cards on heavy card stock for durability, or standard computer paper if you intend to laminate them later. Cut the cards to separate them and use a corner punch to round out any sharp corners. Laminate the cards (optional). Position the cards in an accessible place alongside any materials a child will need to complete a prepared work (i.e. segment coins, movable alphabet, magnetic letters, stamps, pencils, paper, etc.).

General Note on the Montessori Pink Reading Series:

Once a child can confidently identify all 26 letter sounds, they are ready to begin work with the Montessori Pink Reading Series. In Montessori, children first learn to build or write words before learning to read. This approach, known as encoding before decoding, lays the foundation for reading by helping children understand how sounds come together to form words and by supporting them in developing the key reading skills of separating and blending sounds.

Main Activity (Using the Photo Cards with a Wooden or Card Movable Alphabet):

Make sure the child has been introduced to / is familiar with the movable alphabet material before beginning this work.

1. Lay a single card on the child's work mat next to the movable alphabet.
2. Ask the child to name the picture: "Do you know what this is?" If they don't respond or respond with a different name, name the picture card for them: "This is a cat."
3. Ask the child what sound they hear first when you say the word (i.e. "What is the first sound you hear when I say Cat?"). You may choose to emphasise the sound you are asking the child to hear.
4. Once the child has selected and placed the initial letter, ask them what sound they hear next (i.e. "What is the next sound you hear when I say cAt?").
5. Once the child has selected and placed the middle letter, ask them what sound they hear last (i.e. "What is the last sound you hear when I say caT?"). At this stage, don't read back the finished word.
6. Place a second photo card underneath the first and repeat the steps above. Initially, repeat the process until 3-5 photo cards are spelt on the mat. The number of photo cards worked through will grow as a child's stamina and appetite for this work increase.

At this early stage, the key learning for children to know is that words are made of sounds, and those sounds correspond to letters. You can invite the child to read the words back, but do not worry or correct any misspellings. Once the child is familiar with this work, provide the control cards and allow the child to check their spelling.

Other Activity Ideas:

• Segmenting Sounds: Use the photo cards in this set with coins or cubes to help the child practice segmenting sounds (a pictorial example of this activity can be seen in one of the thumbnails).
• Sorting by Sound: Select two to three letters and a series of photo cards; ask the child to sort the pictures by beginning or ending sound. While this would be considered a pre-pink series exercise, it can be used at any time to reinforce phonemic mastery.
• Writing: As an activity extension, children often enjoy writing a list of the words they've spelt with the movable alphabet. Confident word-builders may eventually progress to using the photo cards with paper and a pencil - bypassing word building with a movable alphabet.
• Stamping: Letter stamping can be a very satisfying way of word building, especially for children who have been quick to master encoding and decoding but are still working on letter formation.
• Magnetic Letters: If you have a magnetic letter set, a child would be able to cycle through nearly every photo card one by one (for as long as the activity holds their interest). You could use a small baking sheet with magnetic letters for an on-the-go activity; you could add magnetic strips to the back of the photo cards or place a single circle magnet over the 'hole-punch' guide to hold the 'in-use' card in place. However, tape or tack might be more suitable than magnets for the photo card, depending on a child's age / proximity to a younger sibling.
• Matching Word Cards: Word cards that correspond to every photo are included with this resource. When children are ready, they can progress to reading the word cards and matching the words to the photo cards. The word cards are the same size as the photo cards, so they can be used for a face-down pairs game when children are able to confidently read words in the pink series.
• Sensorial Step: Adding a sensorial (or motor) step may help resistant or struggling learners. A simple way to add engagement when using this resource is to have the child 'reveal' or 'retrieve' a photo card before spelling it. I have written two separate blog posts outlining activity ideas for engaging children when using three-part cards; many of the activity ideas can be easily adapted for use with the photo cards in this resource. “20 Ways to Use Movement with Three-Part Cards for Struggling Language Learners”, “20 Ways to Integrate Fine Motor and Sensorial Work with Three-Part Cards for Struggling Language Learners”

Further Product Details:

Inside this product, you will receive a zip file that contains 6 PDFs - one for each vowel, as well as an alternate PDF for the vowel 'o'. Please note that the alternate version of the 'o' cards features a different photo depiction for 'top', but are otherwise the same.

Each CVC vowel group (a,e,i,o,u) file contains:
✱1 page of 12 photo cards
✱2 pages of control cards (red and blue letters / black letters)
✱2 pages of word cards (red and blue letters / black letters)
✱1 page of 12 photo cards - adjusted to fit a hole punching guide at the top for easy prep for those using book ring storage systems

Cards measure approximately 6.5cm by 6.5cm, and examples of each included page type can be seen in the thumbnails.

✱ Full list of included words: (a) yak, tag, fan, tap, bag, can, van, cat, hat, jam, map, pan. (e) pen, red, ten, vet, den, web, bed, hen, jet, leg, net, peg. (i) yak, dig, pig, rip, six, tin, zip, bib, pin, bin, fig, kid, kit. (o) cog, cot, dog, fox, log, mop, pod, pot, top, rod, box, cob. (u) tub, rug, nut, mud, jug, cup, cub, bus, bun, bud, cut, bug.

✱ Please be aware that no physical product will be sent to you in the post; this is a digital file.

If you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to reach out. If you would like to share the activity in action or how you've prepared / arranged the resource, I would love to see! You can leave a review with your pictures or email me on the contact page.

✱ This printable is for personal use only. Products sold by 'Happy Monti' may not be resold, amended or shared without written permission directly from me, the shop's owner. Thank you!