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Joy Allcock's Sound Hunt Card for /t/ is a structured literacy resource designed to engage every student and elevate teacher knowledge—and it's backed by independent research demonstrating it works in diverse classrooms.
It's not just evidence-based, it's evidence-proven.
In just 10 minutes before your writing block, this high-impact activity will activate writing and reading for all students.
"The most engaging and effective early literacy instruction taps into children's natural curiosity, encourages them to play with language and provides structured learning opportunities that allow them to discover the alphabetic code for themselves in a way that makes sense to them."
Sound Hunts are more than just a fun activity—they're a proven method for building the foundational skills that support reading and writing. The reverse side of every Sound Hunt offers easy, ready-made activities, including sound hunts, word decoding, and vocabulary building.
Perfect for whole classes, small groups, or one-on-one support, Sound Hunts spark curiosity and boost reading and writing confidence.
Here's what makes them so effective:
This month's Sound Hunt stars the /t/ sound, featuring a tiger as the animal mnemonic and the decodable sentence:
"Look for a tap and a cap."
Use the sentence to model decoding, then invite students to explore the busy picture. Can they find the tiger, a rabbit or a tortoise? What else can they hear and see that includes the /t/ sound at the beginning, inside, or end of a word?
Sound Hunt /t/ offers a fun, focused way to help students tune into sounds in spoken words and make critical connections to written language.
Correct pronunciation matters—especially when teaching beginning readers. The /t/ sound is a quick, clean puff of air (not "tuh" or "tee"). Listening to and practising the correct pronunciation helps students map sounds to letters accurately.
Listen to the /t/ sound and explore more sounds in our complete pronunciation guide.
Sound Hunt /t/ is part of The Code Is the Key: Year 1
and is ideal
for providing different levels of learning support.
Read Unlocking Literacy for Every Child
for RTI alignment.
What other /t/ words can your students share with the class? How many different ways did they discover for writing the /t/ sound?
Through Sound Hunts, students learn how the alphabetic code works which empowers their writing and gives them confidence to write the words they can say.
Read how Lauren Latimer from NLA Consulting used Sound Hunts to engage reluctant writers across year levels.
BlogCode-Ed Sound Hunts are grounded in the principles of structured literacy and the Science of Reading, and build core reading and writing subskills through:
The Code-Ed approach is supported by independent research demonstrating measurable gains in reading and spelling achievement.
Learn moreInvite students into the playful world of Sound Poem /ī/ — Five White Mice. Through catchy verse and focused long-/i/ word discovery, learners build phonological awareness, deepen vocabulary, and strengthen speech-to-sound-to-print connections in just minutes a day.
