“ As parents, the most important thing we can do is read to our children early and often.”

1. “As parents, the most important thing we can do is read to our children early and often.” -First Lady Laura Busch November 3, 2008 Presenter: MaryKay Proshek

2. At-risk first grade readers Poor readers at the end of first grade are at very significant risk for long term academic difficulty. Poor readers at the end of first grade are likely to require intensive instructional support to reach third grade reading outcomes.

3. Reading Research We also know… Children who do not acquire good phonemic decoding skills (phonics) in first grade tend to rely too much on guessing; they remain inaccurate in their reading and do not read independently. (Rayner, et al., 2001)

4. The Big Five5 Components of Reading • Phonemic Awareness • Phonics • Fluency • Vocabulary • Comprehension

5. Phonemic Awareness(a subcategory of phonological awareness) Phonemic awareness is… the understanding that the sounds of spoken language work together to make words. These sounds may be a single syllable sound as in the word “full”. Or they may be a single syllable sound in words with many syllables, like the words… ham–mer but—ter—cup Phonemic awareness and phonics are not the same thing. Why does my child need P.A.? Children need to be able to hear the separate sounds that make up words before they try to read or write them.

6. Activities used to teach Phonemic Awareness

7. Rhyming: Parent Talk • Does your rhyming word at the end of the sentence make sense? Why or why not? • How do you know that your words rhyme? • How are these two words alike? • What sound do you hear at the end of these two words: team and steam? • What part of the word makes the rhyme? • Say a word that sounds like pen (men, hen) • Which two words rhyme (say three words, such as cat, bat, fish)? Why ? Creating Strategic Readers, Valerie Ellery

8. On-the-Go Rhyming Game • Goal: • To show your child that rhyming words end in the same middle and ending sounds • What You Will Need: • Your child • Your imagination! • Let’s Go! • 1. As you are riding in your car or walking through your neighborhood, invite your child to play a rhyming game with you. • 2. Tell your child you are going to name something you see, and then say another word. S/he is to listen to the sounds and tell you if the two words rhyme. • 3. Example: Say, “tree, see.” Ask your child, “Do these words rhyme?” • 4. Then say, “tree, cap.” Ask your child, “Do these words rhyme?” • Let’s Go On! • 5. Say, “I see a house.” • 6. Then say, “house, horse” (you can choose any two words that don’t rhyme, but do sound similar) and “house, mouse” (use any two rhyming words). • 7. Then ask your child which word rhymes with house? horse or mouse? • 1

9. Go Rhyme Fishing Goal: (neon-colored cards) To help your child create new words that rhyme with a given word What You Will Need: Cards or pieces of paper with words on them (up to 27 cards or nine sets) Let’s Go! 1. Write rhyming words on the pieces of paper (i.e., fish, dish, wish, go , no, so, cat, bat, hat) 2. Shuffle and deal out four cards, leaving the extra cards in the “pond.” 3. Ask your child, “Do you have a word that rhymes with “go”? 4. S/he gives you all the cards that rhyme with “go.” If s/he doesn’t have the word — “go fish”! 5. Once a player collects three rhyming cards, it’s a set. 6. Continue until all the cards from the “pond” are gone 2

10. Rhyming Treasure Hunt • Sit close to your child, and read a rhyming poem out loud. • Then reread the poem, leaving off the last word of the line. Invite your child to supply the missing rhyming word. • Then make a list or “collection” of the rhyming words used in the book. • Finally, encourage your child to tell you other words that rhyme with the words on the list. Made-up “nonsense” words are okay here, as long as they rhyme. Look at and read these “treasures” whenever you have a few minutes together. (Big Book) 3

11. “I’m Going on Vacation” Goal: To help your child hear differences between sounds in speech and to produce words that rhyme with each other What You Will Need: • Time with your child Let’s Go! • Begin the game by saying, “I’m going on vacation, and I’m going to bring my hat. What will you bring?” 2. Your child should say, “I’m going on vacation, and I’m going to bring my hat and my cat (or any other object with a name that rhymes with your word). What will you bring?” 3. You will say, “I’m going on vacation, and I’m going to bring my hat, my cat, and my mat. What will you bring?” 4. Each person who takes a turn has to repeat the items that have already been said. New items must rhyme with the other items. 4

12. Alliteration is another word for tongue-twisters Read books, poems or tongue- twisters that have “alliteration”, like “Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. This is a great way to emphasize initial sounds in words.

13. Say and Clap Goal: To help your child learn to notice the number of syllables in a word What You Will Need: • Time with your child Let’s Go! 1. Read each word. 2. Have your child clap once for each syllable in the word. cat [cat] (1 clap) sing [sing] (1 clap) baby [ba/by] (2 claps) silly [sil/ly] (2 claps) puppy [pup/py] (2 claps) water [wa/ter] (2 claps) 5

14. Phoneme Isolation Children recognize individual sounds. What is the first sound in van? /v/

15. Phoneme Identity Children recognize the same sounds in different words. What sound is the same in fix, fall, and fun? /f/

16. Isolating and Identifying Phonemes: Parent Talk • Listen for the sound you hear at the beginning of this word. mat • What other words start the same as the word mat? • What sound do you hear at the end of the word mat? • Where do you hear the /a/ sound in the word? mat

17. Isolating and Identifying Phonemes: Parent Talk cont. • What is the difference between a sound and the letter? /a/ a • How do you make that sound? • Is the sound /ā/ in the word playtime closer to the beginning or end of the word? Creating Strategic Readers, Valerie Ellery

18. Same Sound Goal: (Initial Sound Worksheet) To help your child learn that several words can begin with the same sound. What You Will Need: Pencil or pen Let’s Go! 1. Name the first picture in each row. 2. Look at the other two pictures in the same row. Which one has the same beginning sound? Circle it. Let’s Go On! 3. Place plastic letters (w, d, s, k, and d) on a table. Cut apart the pictures and have your child sort them under the correct letter. 6

19. Ending Sounds Goal: To help your child learn to focus on the sound s/he hears at the end of words What You Will Need: Time with your child Let’s Go! 1. Say each word to your child. 2. Ask your child to tell you the sound (not the letter) each word ends with. jam harp foot hill ink ox town egg Let’s Go On! 3. Choose five words from a book you are reading. Say each word. Say the sound that you hear at the end of each word. 7

20. Matching Beginnings and Ends Goal: To help your child hear and match beginning and ending sounds in words What You Will Need: Pencil or pen and paper A stack of picture cards Let’s Go! 1. Say the name of what is on each picture card with your child. Make sure s/he can find the beginning and ending sounds of each picture. 2. Then show your child how to match the pictures, using the beginning sound of one picture, and the ending sound of another. Example: “[b]ook” matches “tu[b]”, and “[p]ig” matches “to[p].” 3. Now have your child match all the pictures this way. When s/he is done, help your child write out the words in each pair and read them back to you. Some beginning and ending matches: bat/crib,doll/road,duck/sled,dog/lid,desk/bed,game/bug, girl/log, goat/rug, hat/fish, key/brick, kite/stick, king/sock, tire/boat, milk/ham, nut/pen, nest/sun, pie/map, pin/mop, moon/rim, sock/grapes, soap/lips, toes/cat, tie/hat, mouse/gum ( picture cards/blue post it) 8

21. Hunting for Letter Sounds Goal: To help your child hear individual sounds in words and recognize letters that represent those sounds What You Will Need: Pencils or markers A page from a newspaper, magazine, newsletter, recipe, etc. Let’s Go! 1. Give your child a page of the newspaper or whatever text you have chosen. Then have your child circle all words s/he can find that begin with the ___ sound. Example: Find all the words that have the same beginning sound as the word “dog.” Do one or two together to get your child started. 2. After your child has completed this game, go through the paper with her/him and have her/him read the words to you. 3. Ask your child to think of five other words that have the same sound as you are working on. Have your child write them down and draw a picture to go with… 9

22. Phoneme Categorization Children recognize the word in a set of three or four words that has the “odd” sound. Which word doesn’t belong? bus bun rug

23. Sound Spy Goal: To help your child identify the beginning, middle and ending sounds in words What You Will Need: Time with your child Let’s Go! • Invite your child to play “Sound Spy” with you. S/he will be a “spy” who has to find matching sounds at the beginning of words. 2. Now, think of two words that begin with the same sounds and one word that begins with a different sound. Example: mat, sit, mop 3. Say the words and have the child say them with you. 4. Then say, “I hear two words that begin with the same sound. Can you ‘Sound spy?’” (Your child may need a lot of help at first.) Let’s Go On! 5. Try the same game, but this time match middle or ending sounds. This is harder, but with practice, your child should be able to “Sound Spy” in no time! 10

24. Phoneme Blending Children listen to a sequence of separately spoken phonemes, and then combine the phonemes to form a word. What word is /b/ /i/ /g/?

25. Blending Phonemes: Parent Talk • Try to listen to the sounds I say and put them together to make a word. • What word do you form when you blend these sounds together? • How does hearing the onset (beginning sound(s)) and then the rime (the vowel to the end of the word) help you to form the word? st eakh at Creating Strategic Readers, Valerie Ellery

26. Phoneme Segmentation Children are to identify the sounds heard in a word. What sounds do you hear in the worddog?

27. Segmenting Phonemes: Parent Talk • How many sounds do you hear in the word tree? • How many counters did you place inside your egg carton/on your placemat? Try to push away a counter for each sound you hear in the word tree. • What is the difference between the word sip and the word lip?

28. Segmenting Phonemes: Parent Talk • What sounds do you hear in the word plate? • How does stretching out the word help you? /p/ /l/ /a/ /t/ silent e • Try to say the word slowly to hear the individual sounds in the word.

29. Segmenting Phonemes/Syllables: Parent Talk • Say the word yesterday. Feel the number of parts you hear in the word (feel jaw movement). yes ter day • How many syllables do you hear in the word? clap or tap

30. Phonemic Awareness instruction is most effective when: Instruction is focused on one or two PA skills rather than a multi-skilled approach. Blending and segmentingare the most powerful PA skills.

31. Phoneme Deletion Children recognize the word that remains when a phoneme is removed from another word. Say smile, take off the /s/. What word do you have?

32. Phoneme Addition Children make a new word by adding a phoneme to an existing word. What word do you have if you add /s/ to the beginning of park?

33. PhonemeSubstitution Children substitute the beginning, middle, and ending sounds in words. What is the beginning sound in pig? What rhymes with pig and starts with /d/?

34. A Mind Reader Goal: To help your child use words in a sentence that make sense and to break words apart to look for features like blends or vowel teams (two vowels together). What You Will Need: • Pencil or pen • Piece of paper that has the “magic word” on it Let’s Go! 1. Tell your child that s/he is going to be a mind reader. 2. Think of a sentence in your head. Say the sentence out loud, leaving out one word. Write the missing word on a piece of paper. Flip it over and don’t show it to your child. 3. Say your sentence out loud: “It was so cold outside that my body was ___________.” 4. Have your child give you words that would fit in the sentence (example: freezing, cold, shaking, etc.). 5. Give some clues by saying, “My word starts with a blend.” Or “The word I’m thinking of has two vowels together.” This would toss out the word “shaking,” leaving the answer: freezing. 6. Have your child flip the paper over and see your word (freezing). 11

35. Grab Bag Goal: (word family cards in bowl) To help your child hear individual sounds within word families What You Will Need: • Six small pieces of paper about 2"x2" in size • Small paper bag or bowl • Paper and pencil for recording score • List of word families (see appendix) Let’s Go! 1. On four of the small pieces of paper write down four word families, such as -at, -an, -all, and -ap. On one of the other small pieces of paper write “Lose a Turn,” and on the other one write “Choose Again.” Put the six pieces of paper into the small paper bag or bowl. 2. Shake up the bag and take out one piece of paper. Have your child read what the paper says. If it is a word family, your child needs to come up with a word for that family and write it on a piece of paper. Example: For -at, your child could write “cat.” 3. Now you take a turn. If you or your child cannot think of a word or if you pick “Lose a Turn,” the small piece of paper is placed back in the bag and then it is the next person’s turn. 4. If you or your child pick “Choose Again,” you get another try. 5. When all the word family cards are gone, the game is over. The person who records the most words at the end of the game is the winner. 6. Put all the papers back in the bag and play again. Let’s Go On! 7. Instead of using word families, you can use vowel patterns, beginning sounds, or blends. Ask your teacher for ideas. 12

36. Phonics Phonics instruction helps students learn the relationship between the letters of written language and the sounds of spoken language. National Reading Panel Put Reading First

37. Why does my child need this skill? Children need to be taught the sounds individual printed letters and groups of letters make. Knowing the relationships between letters and sounds helps children to recognize familiar words accurately and automatically, and “decode” new words.

38. Important Research Findings About Phonics • Phonics instruction can help all children learn to read • Phonics knowledge has a powerful effect on decoding ability • The reading process relies on a reader’s attention to each letter in a word.

39. Vowel Patterns • Closed (CVC, VC, VCC) • Open (CV) • Silent e (VCe) • Vowel digraphs • Vowel diphthongs • R-controlled • C+le

40. Closed Vowel Pattern • A syllable or word containing one vowel, ending with one or more consonants, in which the vowel is short. • Consistency of pattern: 86-89% words such as cat, lip, set

41. Open Vowel Pattern • A syllable or word ending with one vowel, in which the vowel is long. • Consistency of pattern: 77% Words such as go, hi, be

42. Silent e Pattern • A syllable ending in e, containing one consonant before the final e and one vowel before the consonant, in which the vowel is long. • Consistency of pattern is 81% Words such as ride, name, cute

43. R-controlled Pattern (Bossy r) A syllable or word containing a vowel followed by r, in which the vowel sound is altered by the r (car). Common r-controlled vowel patterns include ar (chart), er (fern), ir (girl), or (fork), andur (turn).

44. Vowel Digraph (talkers) • A syllable or word containing twoadjacent vowels, which the first vowel is long. • Consistency of pattern is 77% (only for ai, ea, ee, oa) words such as boat, seat, pail, cheek

45. Vowel Diphthong (Whiners) A syllable or word containing two adjacent vowels, in which the vowels produce a different sound (neither long or short). A vowel diphthong is a combination of two vowels that stand for a particular sound, such as ou in cloud, ow in now, oi in coin, and oy in toy.

46. C+le • This syllable pattern occurs in two-syllable words that end with a consonant followed by le. • The –le grabs the consonant before it, and that’s where the word is broken. Words such as bub-ble, puz-zle, ta-ble

47. Useful Patterns win-ter vc cv mo-tel v cv lem-on vc v Try: computer computer fantastic fantastic tonsillitis ton sillitis

48. Making Words A multilevel activity in which students are individually given some letters, and they use the letters to make words. Students begin with short words and continue with longer words until they use all the letters to make the “secret word.” After making words the students sort the words for patterns. (Show green file folders; demonstrate word)

49. Alphabet Hopscotch Goal: To help your child recognize letters and letter sounds What You Will Need: Several sheets of 8-1/2" x 11" plain paper • Crayons or markers Let’s Go! • Print each letter of the alphabet on a sheet of paper. Ask your child to help you decorate the letters with crayons or markers. 2. Choose ten letters and arrange them in a hopscotch pattern on the floor. 3. Play hopscotch, saying the names of the letters as you land on each square. 4. Play again, this time saying the sounds the letters make as you land on each square. 13

50. Match Goal: To help your child hear individual sounds in words and write them (large picture-word cards) What You Will Need: • A stack of picture cards • Pencil or pen and paper • A list of the sounds your child is learning Let’s Go! • Review the stack of picture cards with your child. Have your child say the name of each picture out loud. Shuffle the picture cards and give half to your child. Keep the other half for yourself. 2. Place the picture cards face down. Decide which sounds in the words should match for this round: beginning, middle or ending sounds. Example: If you are matching middle sounds, then pictures of a “f[i]sh” and a “p[i]g” would match. If you choose to match beginning sounds, then pictures of a “[t]ree” and a “[t]op” would match. 3. Flip over one card from each pile. Look at the pictures and say their names quietly. If their sounds match, the first player to shout “match” gets to keep both cards. 4. Both you and your child should explain why you called a match. You can talk about the sounds that match. Even better, write out the names of the two pictures and underline the match. 14