Elision is the ability to say a word without one of its parts. For example: “Say cupcake without cup.” The answer is “cake.” Teachers, reading specialists and speech-language pathologists use the word elision when they talk about phonological awareness, the set of listening skills that help children learn to read.
If you saw the word on a school report or a screening, or you simply want new ideas for literacy centers, this guide explains it in plain words.
Elision in Plain Words
The word has more than one meaning. In everyday speech and poetry, elision means leaving out a sound when we talk, like saying “fish ’n’ chips” or using a contraction such as “don’t.” In early reading, elision is a skill children practice: hearing a word, taking away a part and saying what is left.
Elision is done out loud. Children do not need to know letters to practice it, which makes it a good fit for PreK.
Why Elision Matters for Learning to Read
To read and spell, children need to notice that words are made of smaller sound parts: syllables, first sounds and last sounds. Elision asks them to hold a word in memory, find one part and take it away. That kind of sound play supports blending sounds to read words and breaking words apart to spell them.
Elision also appears in reading assessments. For example, the CTOPP-2, a test that specialists use, has an elision subtest: the child says a word, then says it again without a given sound.
Elision Steps From Easy to Hard
Children usually master elision in this order. Move to the next step only when the current one feels easy.
- Compound words: “Say sunflower without sun.” (flower) “Say rainbow without bow.” (rain)
- Syllables: “Say pumpkin without pump.” (kin) “Say monkey without key.” (mon)
- First sound: “Say mat without /m/.” (at) “Say seat without /s/.” (eat)
- Last sound: “Say seat without /t/.” (sea) “Say cart without /t/.” (car)
- A sound in a blend: “Say stop without /s/.” (top) “Say slip without /l/.” (sip) This step usually comes in 1st grade.
Some answers are nonsense words, such as “mon.” That is fine: children are listening for sounds, not meaning.
Easy Elision Games for PreK and Kindergarten
Disappearing words
Say a compound word with a hand motion for each part: one hand for “cup,” the other for “cake.” Hide one hand behind your back and ask, “What is left?”
Picture cards
Show a picture of a cupcake, rainbow or snowman. Cover half of the card with your hand while you say the word without that part. Children love seeing the word “disappear.”
The name game
Use children’s names gently: “Say Sam without /s/.” (am) Ask each child first, and skip a name if the child does not like the game. The free Random Name Picker makes turn-taking fair.
Jump and drop
Children jump once for each syllable of a word, then jump again with one syllable missing: “pump-kin, now without pump... kin!”
Seasonal word lists
Use words that fit the season: pancake, popcorn, cupcake, snowman, football, rainbow, sunflower, starfish, mailbox, toothbrush. In fall, try scarecrow (without scare: crow) and acorn (without the first sound: corn).
Tips for Teaching Elision
- Keep sessions short: three to five minutes, a few times a week.
- Model first (“I do”), practice together (“we do”), then let children try (“you do”).
- Use two blocks for the two parts of a word, and take one away as you say the word without it.
- Say the whole word again before asking for the part that is left.
- Mix easy and hard items so every child has success.
When Children Find It Hard
Elision is one of the harder phonological awareness skills, so it is normal for preschoolers to need time. Practice rhyming and clapping syllables first. If a Kindergartner still finds syllable games very hard later in the year, talk with the classroom teacher or a reading specialist. One score is only one piece of the picture.
From Sounds to Letters
When children can play with sounds out loud, connect them to letters. “Mat without /m/: which letter did we take away?” Point to the matching letter on your alphabet posters; these alphabet poster routines show how. The Halloween alphabet posters work well this month, and the free Name Tracing Worksheets help children link the sounds in their names to the letters they write.
You will find more ideas in our literacy activities.
