learn to read

How can we make reading a game? 

If you’ve ever sat down with a child to practice reading you know how hard it can be to keep them engaged, especially if they are younger. It can make for lots of frustration for both the adult and child. We also know that kids need to read and in order to read they need to practice. So, what can we do to make it easier and more fun for all parties?…Games!

Regulation

Before we dive into games, I do want to mention regulation. Before kids can learn in any form we need to ensure they are regulated. I could write an entire blog post and more on regulation, but I will keep this simple so we can get to the games. We want to ensure kids are emotionally and sensory regulated. This means they are in the optimal emotional state to learn, and their sensory input is balanced (not too much light, noise, etc.). If a child has just had a big meltdown they are still processing, still feel upset from falling down, are still mad they didn’t get what they wanted for dinner, etc. they are not in a place to learn, games or not. If they are overstimulated by the light, noises, need to get energy out, etc. they need sensory regulation before they can learn. So, if you are trying all the fun games and it’s still not working, consider their regulation. All kids are unique, their regulation will depend on a variety of factors, remember their needs will be different than your own and than other children too. 

Games

OK, onto the fun part, games!! My favorite way to play games for reading is to either make something up from scratch that fits the skill and learning environment, ex: write words on post-it notes to read, post them all over the house, and find them/read them, or to use a game the child is already familiar with and find a way to tie in their current learnings. My phonics board games are a great way to play a traditional board game while also getting some reading and spelling practice. You can find them here. Here are some more of my favorite reading games you can play: 

Connect 4

Connect 4 is a classic game that my students always love to play. Here are a few ways you can mix it up to make it a reading game too:

  • Write the letters (just a few at a time) on each chip and practice saying the name and sound when you come across it 
  • Write the phonics patterns you are practicing, for example “ar/or” and write a word with that pattern on that chip
  • Write words with the phonics pattern you are practicing and read them as you play. (ie if you’re practicing “ar/or” write words like “corn” “born” “star” “car” on the chips. 
  • Write the sight words you are practicing 

Memory/Matching

Memory is a great game to practice reading skills! You can use memory cards you already have and just put a post it note on each one or you can cut up your own. Teachers Pay Teachers also have some great memory/matching games already made. Here is a memory/matching game I like to use for rhyming practice. Much like the suggestions for connect 4 above you can use letters (matching upper and lowercase is a great memory game), phonics patterns, and sight words. 

Chalk and Water Balloons

This one is always a big hit! It requires a bit more prep/planning than the other games, but is highly engaging if you have a more reluctant reader. Write the letters or words (sight words or words with the phonics patterns you’re practicing) with chalk on the ground outside. Fill up some water balloons and read the words then throw a water balloon at them. Once they’ve read all the words, they can have a good old fashioned water balloon fight. 

Hopscotch

Create a hopscotch game with the letters or words you are currently practicing. This is great for when kids need extra practice to really solidify a skill. Go through the game several times until they are fluently reading each word. 

Relay Race

Write the letter or words you are practicing on a post-it note or index card. Go outside and create a relay race. Each time they complete a lap they should read the word on the index card. This game is great for kids who really need to move while they’re learning. Remember, learning does not have to take place sitting down! You can mix it up by doing movements other than running to the other end too, have them crawl, skip, crab walk, walk backwards, etc. to keep things interesting. 

There are so many more options than this as well. Next time you are playing a game, think of a way you could tie reading into it. Sometimes it’s easier than you think. I am all for simple but engaging ways to learn. Think of what your child or student already loves to play and find a way to tie reading into it!

By admin, ago

What is the best way to teach the letter sounds? 

It can be tricky to know exactly how and when to start teaching the letter sounds. The “when” is not as important as the “how.” You can start teaching the letter names and sounds as young as 2 years old, basically once kids begin speaking. However, it’s not necessary to start that early either. It is a very personal choice for each family. Some kids will be more eager than others, some kids will catch on really quickly, others may need some more time. You know your child best. A good rule of thumb is to aim for kids to know at least half the letters upon entering Kindergarten.

The How 

The how of teaching the letter sounds is the most important part here. There are proven ways to teach the letters that we know result in the best retention. We want to start with knowledge of the letter names. We want to teach letter sounds at the same time or after we teach the letter names. For more info on this, check out last week’s blog post. We also want to start with just teaching one sound per letter. There are letters that make multiple sounds and letter sounds may change based on where the letter is in a word or other letters surrounding it. This is too much information when we are first starting letter sounds. So, we begin with one sound per letter and then we build onto that later. The goal is to begin reading CVC (consonant/vowel/consonant) words first so this is all the info we initially need to teach. 

*There is one letter that is an exception to this rule, the X. The X is special because it actually makes two sounds on it’s own, /k/ /s/. We want to teach that this letter makes two sounds back to back right away.*

How to introduce the letter sounds

We want to tie the letter sounds back to the letter name. So, we show a child the letter (T, for example). We have them say the name, keyword, and then sound, “T, tiger, /t/.” It’s important to use both the name and sound. Letter names are the only stable part of a letter, the sounds change so the letter name is like an anchor in our brain to be able to learn multiple sound patterns. 

Ensuring we are saying the sounds correctly

When first introducing the sounds it’s important  to note the mouth formation so we can ensure kids are pronouncing it properly. It is a hard habit to break if students begin pronouncing the sounds incorrectly. You can have them look at your mouth while they say it, and look in a mirror when they say it to be sure it matches. My letter/sound cards have a deck with the mouth formation included! 

Another common occurrence when teaching the sounds is adding what we call the schwa onto the sound of a letter. The schwa is basically a lazy vowel sound, /uh/. For example, when we teach the letter B we might say the sound it spells is /buh/ we want to cut off the /uh/ and just say /b/. If we add the /uh/ onto the end students struggle later on to blend and segment words because they are saying an extra sound. So, they might spell ‘bed’ like this, ‘bued’ because they are hearing an extra sound on the end of the b. I used to do this all the time early in my career and even catch myself still doing it occasionally. So, be careful! It is easy to forget. 

How often and how to practice

We want to practice letter sounds over and over again until they are mastered! I usually teach about 3 letter sounds at a time, but this is very personal to each child. Some kids may be able to learn 5 letter sounds at a time, and others may do better with 1 sound at a time. Neither of these are better than the other, the important thing is they are learning. Consistency is key here! If you introduce a letter sound you need to keep practicing it daily going forward, just 5-10 minutes per day is enough! The important thing is consistency.

Making it multisensory (using more than one sense while practicing it) will also help with retaining the sounds more quickly. So, writing the letter in sand and then saying the sound, coming up with a motion to match the sound, or playing a game of hopscotch with the letters where you have to say the sound land on are all great ways to make it multi-sensory. Multi-sensory also means more fun!! One of my favorite activities is to say the letter sound and then have the child write it. When they can do this we know they are really making the connection between the letter and the sound! Try to take games or activities you already do regularly and incorporate the sounds into them. Simple is almost always better. It doesn’t have to be a huge burden to plan! 

By admin, ago

What is the best way to teach letter names? 

Most kids enter Kindergarten knowing the majority of the letter names and some sounds. Kids are expected to know all the letter names and sounds by the end of kindergarten. This can be a lot of information to teach, especially if you wait until Kindergarten to begin teaching it. There are 26 letters, both capital and lowercase plus their sounds! We also know that students use the letter sounds to actually “sound out” the words. So, many families and schools put a more intensive focus on the sounds. The sounds are very important!  Kids must know them to read AND it is still imperative that kids learn the letter names too. 

Why are the letter names so important if we don’t use them to sound out words? 

We know the 2 biggest predictors of reading success are strong phonemic awareness skills and letter identification. While we do use the sounds to blend together to make words, we also have many different spelling patterns. Just knowing the letter sounds can be enough to start reading in kindergarten, but as more complex spelling patterns arise kids will need the letter names as well.  In certain situations a letter may make one sound while in another situation it may make another sound or even be silent. The only stable part of a letter is the name. We learn by attaching new information to things we already know. If we know the letter name we can better manipulate it when it is not making the original sound we learned. So, learning the letter’s names is important. I teach the letter name and sound together most of the time. For some kids, if this feels like too much information I will do letter names first and then letter sounds. 

What is the best way to teach letter names? 

The BEST way to teach letter names is by using a multi-sensory approach! Multi-sensory means we involve more than one of our senses while learning. It causes more neurons to fire in different pathways of our brains, making it more likely to be retained. This means we should show the letter on paper or a flashcard to kids, but also give them other ways to interact with the letter. You can make the letter with play-dough and trace it, you can write it in a tray of rice, you can write it with chalk, you can paint the letter, you can cut out pieces of paper and glue them together to make the letter. While you do this, use an Orton-Gillingham technique called SOS (Simultaneous Oral Spelling). This means that while the kid is writing the letter they should also be saying the letter name at the same time. If you have all of these senses involved it will be much more likely to retain the information. 

What order should I teach the letters in? 

It is not necessary for kids to learn in ABC order. They should know ABC order, but it is better to teach the names and sound out of order. We want to teach frequently occurring letters first so kids can start blending together words sooner. Kids should have a solid foundation of phonemic awareness when we start teaching letters.  Remember, your primary focus should be phonemic awareness before teaching letter names and sounds. If you are confused-go back to last week’s blog for more information! The first letters I teach are: T, A, P, H, K, E, R, M. These don’t have to be the letters you teach first, they are my preference for being able to sound out basic words, and tend to be sound kids can pronounce fairly easily. 

There is a lot of flexibility in the order and pace you teach letter names/sounds. Do what is best for the child in front of you. Some kids struggle with certain letters or sounds. It’s OK to leave it, learn some other ones, and then go back again later. Some kids can learn three letters per week and others can only learn one. The way to teach is the way they learn. Make it fun, make it multi-sensory, focus on letter sounds and names, and go at the kid’s pace! 

What resources should I use to teach my child the letters? 

I always start with flashcards that have: upper and lowercase letters, a key word picture, and a picture of the mouth formation. If you would like the cards I use you can get them here.  I gradually take away pieces as they progress. First, I get rid of the mouth picture, then the keyword picture. If you have a pack of cards at home to use that works too, just make sure the keyword picture actually has the proper letter sound (should be the short sound for vowels), for example, you might see owl for the letter o, but o represents the short /o/ sound, which is not at the start of the world owl. 

By admin, ago

What is phonemic awareness and how do we start to build it?

Phonemic awareness is the ability to hear, identify, and manipulate phonemes (sounds) auditorily. This means we are only using spoken words and sounds, not writing them on paper. Students must be able to manipulate the language and sounds before 

Phonemic awareness ability is one of the two biggest predictors of reading success. We know for kids to be able to read and spell, they must have phonemic awareness skills. We can start building these skills young, but how and where do we start? 

Once students have a good handle on phonological awareness (if you aren’t sure what this is or how to build it check out our previous blog post) we can start building phonemic awareness skills. Phonemic awareness is the ability to identify and manipulate sounds in spoken language. 

It’s important to practice these skills daily for about 5-10 minutes starting when students are in Pre-K or Kindergarten and through at least 2nd grade or until it is mastered.

Phonemic awareness skills from least to most challenging: isolation, blending, segmenting, addition/deletion, substitution. 

I find it is best to teach about 2 of these skills at a time, from bottom to top (easiest to hardest). These skills take time to develop, we cannot just teach these one time and move on. Within each of these categories there are varying degrees of challenge depending on the number of syllables and types of sounds in a word. For example, segmenting the sounds in the word “tap” vs the word “suspect” are very different. It is best to start with more simple words and move up the ladder, then go back and do it again with more challenging words. 

Let’s break down what each of these skills means: 

Phoneme Isolation: is the ability to identify specific phonemes (sounds) in words. For example, the first sound in “bed” is /b/, the middle sound is /e/, and the final sound is /d/. 

Blending: is the ability to hear the individual sounds in a word and put them together to make the word. For example, if a child hears the sounds are /b/ /a/ /d/ they can recognize it creates the word “bad.”

Segmenting: is the opposite of blending. It is the ability to hear all the sounds in a word and break them apart. So, we want children to be able to hear the word “bad” and break down the sounds into /b/ /a/ /d/. 

Phoneme Addition: is the ability to add a sound to a word or word part to create a new word. For example, if you say “rate” and you add the sound /g/ at the beginning it becomes “great.” 

Phoneme Deletion: is the ability to delete a sound from a word or word part. For example, if the word is “land” and you delete the /l/ sound it becomes “and.” 

Phoneme Substitution: is the ability to substitute one sound with another to create another word. For example, if you have the word “cake” and you change the /c/ sound to a /b/ sound it becomes the word “bake.” 

So, how do we begin to build these skills? One of my student’s favorite tools to build phonemic awareness is with the game i-spy! Here are some example questions you can use for each skill while playing i-spy. Remember to model first and then let the child do their own if they are confident. If you want some pre-made i-spy sheets for building phonemic awareness skills you can click here. You can also just play with a picture you find online or with objects in your house!

Phoneme Isolation: Example: “mop” “I spy something that starts with the sound /m/.” “I spy something that ends with the sound /p/.” “I spy something that has the middle sound /o/.”

Phoneme Blending/Segmenting: Example: “bat” “I spy something with the sounds /b/ /a/ /t/. 

Phoneme Addition: Example: “bath”  “I spy something with the word part /ath/ and put a /b/ first.” 

Phoneme Substitution: Example “cake” “I spy a lake, but change the /l/ to /c/.” 
For more information on how to build these skills or what to do if your child is struggling with these skills schedule a call with me!

By admin, ago