Lessons & Classroom Games for Teachers
When learning to be a preschool teacher I found the literature for teaching children how to read was overwhelming. I was able to read from 3 years of age, yet I didn't understand how to teach it and I'd never heard of a phonogram! I wanted a concise, practical version of 'how to read' for my own classes. This may not be everyone's preferred way and some may even disagree with elements of it, but it works perfectly for me! I hope you find parts that work for you too. This is for the parents who want the basics, but if you want a more extensive version there are many great resources online.
1. Phonics! This means when you teach your child the alphabet, instead of saying AY BEE SEE DEE...for a, b, c, d...you say Ah, buh, cuh, duh. Some references online talk about cutting the Ah sound as short as possible so you are not teaching your child ahhh buhhh cuhhh. I really wanted to emphasize the general sound of the phonics, because when people said 'c' for 'cat', I still felt confused! (All the letter sounds are reasonably self explanatory, but when teaching the 'x' sound, say ksss.) So take 26 pieces of paper and write out each letter of the alphabet. Take one at a time, in no particular order. As your child sits beside you, you trace the letter and sound it out. Ask them to do the same. Then ask them if they can think of a word with beginning with that sound. You can suggest some and if they confuse 'k' and 'c' sounds, don't worry, they are just beginning!
2. In order to 'test' that the child knows their letters, take 3 random letters from your pages and remind them of the sounds. Then mix them up in a row in front of you. You then say 'Show me x, Now show me y, Now show me z.', referring to the relevant letters you have in front of you. Don't be harsh on them if they get it wrong, simply say the correct letter with a smile and move along. Then, take each of the letters you have selected, one at a time, and say 'What sound is this?' When they get each letter of the alphabet correct you know they have learned their letters. They may sometimes forget, but they are well on their way to learning to read!
3. Once they are comfortable with their letters, you can go to your computer and print out some words in a large font. For now, use 2 or 3 letter phonic words. When I first heard this, I was terribly confused and had to rack my brains to list them out - for example, 'cat', 'rub',' bun' are phonetic words, but 'was' is not phonetic! (If 'was' was spelled phonetically, it would be woz). So here's a small list to get you started: in, at, dog, bog, log, pen, pan, pin, bin, pat, rat, sat, mat, tin, run, ran, dad, hop, gap, jog, kin, lip, mom, pop, rex, sob, tip, van, wet, zip.
As you sit with them to read, ask them to sound out the first letter, then the second letter, then the third letter, then put them together and slowly say the word. As you read it together, go with your instinct for when to help or not. It's more important that the child feels encouraged to try, rather than to get everything right. If they feel they won't be judged for getting it wrong, they will be open and willing to try more often, rather than shy away in fear of your disapproval.
4. Next come some phonograms: You can make a small booklet with these phonograms. For 'ee', print 'ee' on the front of the booklet, then on each page of your booklet, write a different word with the 'ee' sound in it: bee, see, beep, feet, green and weep. Staple these small snippets of paper together and you have your phonogram booklet! Here is a small list of some of the phonograms to get you started: ai...ay...ar...au...aw...ch...ci...ck...dge...ea...ear...ed...ee...ear...ei...eigh...ew...ey...ng...
5. You can write your own simple short stories. First do some with the small phonetic words for them to sound out. Then you can choose a phonogram like 'aw' and make up a story using mostly that sound. The story only has to be a few sentences long and you can include your own pictures!
6. Here are some of the most common words in English language. Learn these and your child will skip through these words easily and effortlessly while reading. Write these words in large print, repeat them to your child and together take the time to go over a few each day.
The, of, to, and, a, in, is, it, you, that, he, was, for, on, are, with, as, I, his, they, be, at, one, have, this, from, or, had, by, but, some, what, there.
This is a very basic guide for those who feel swamped by information on phonics and teaching your child to read. There are many great resources online: free preschool worksheets you can download, Montessori materials and lessons, as well as educational tools that can be purchased online such as Jolly Phonics.
Wishing you a joyful day of teaching and reading!
