Unit 6: Teaching Letter-Sound Associations

1. Unit 6: Teaching Letter-Sound Associations Barriers to Learning Letter-Sounds Teaching Letter-Sounds

2. “…teaching children all the letters of the alphabet is not easy, particularly when they come to school knowing few of them.” National Reading Panel

3. Letters Are Abstract Shapes Letters are abstract shapes that convey no meaning to the uninitiated. A B C D E F G H d f y D l F G v

4. H h Letters Are Abstract Shapes “...There are 52 capital and lower-case letter shapes, names, and sounds to learn.” H h Shape: aich Name: /h/ Sound: National Reading Panel

5. B “bee” P “pee” D T “dee” “tee” Letter-Names May Sound Alike

6. What is this?

7. What is this? b d q p

8. Letter-Shapes Are Often Similar h n u m b d p q V W M l i j The shapes of many letters are similar, and, therefore, easily confused with one another.

9. Letter Forms Are Often Different A a a G g g D d E e Eachletter has two or more forms that may look very different.

10. Unvoiced and Voiced Letter-Sounds Quiet Sisters /p/ /b/ Noisy Sisters /t/ /d/ /f/ /v/ /k/ /g/ /ch/ /j/ /s/ /z/ /th/ /th/ 7 pairs of letter-sounds differ only in that 1 is unvoiced and 1 is voiced.

11. Letter-Sounds In Letter-Names Letter-names that begin with the letter-sound: b - “bee” k - “kay” t - “tee” Letter-names that end with the letter-sound f - “eff” l - “ell” x - “ex” Letter-names not containing the letter-sound: c - “see” h - “aich”

12. Activity: Sounds in Letter-names: Add all of the consonants to the chart.

13. Sounds In Letter-Names Letter-names that begin with the letter-sound: b d j k p t v z (c, g) Letter-names that end with the letter-sound: f l m n r s x Letter-names not containing the letter -sound: c g h q w y

14. f D l Barriers To Alphabet Learning Letters are abstract. Shapes for different letters are similar. Capital/lowercase may be different. Relation of letter-name to sound inconsistent. pbdq R r N n dubuyu /w/

15. m More Barriers: Slow Retrieval Uh, uh…uh, don’t tell me…uh…m!

16. More Barriers: Slow Retrieval Of Letter Names And Sounds “Letter learning requires retaining shapes, names, and sounds in memory and in fact, overlearning them so that letters can be processed automatically in reading and writing words.” National Reading Panel Report, 2000, p. 2-125

17. Unit 6: Teaching Letter-Sound Associations Barriers to Learning Letter-Sounds Teaching Letter-Sounds

18. Instructional Principles Applied To Letter-Sounds • Assessment • Sequential & Systematic • Direct and Explicit • Teach to Mastery & Automaticity • Multisensory Strategies Felton & Lillie, 2001

19. Strategies For Students With Naming/Retrieval Problems • Begin with a small set of items • Provide cues • Provide extensive practice - over learning • Practice in two directions: Sound to letter and letter to sound • Avoid guessing Felton & Lillie, 2001

20. Activity • Review sequences of letter-sound associations • What are the key things to consider when determining appropriate sequence? • Is a vowel taught? • Types of Consonants (continuants/stops) • Voiced/unvoiced • Names of letters

21. How many words can you make using the first 11 letters? Recipe for Reading: c, short o, short a, g, m, l, h, t, short I, j, k, p, ch, short u, b, r, f, n, short e, s, sh, th, w, wh, y, v, x, and z. Letterland: c, short and long a, d, m, t, s, short and long I, n, g, o, p, e, u, k, l, f, b, j, r, q, v, w, x, y, and z. Fundations: t, b, f, m, c, short a, short I, r, short o, g, d, s, short e, short u, l, h, k, p, j, w, z, q, y, x. Carreker: short I, t, n, s, short a, l, d, f, h, g, short o, k, c, m, r, b, short e, y, j, u, w, v, x, z, qu

23. Begin With A Small Set Of Items Possible set of letters: vowels:a i consonants:b t s f m Appropriate words: at am it if bat bit tab Tim sat Sam sit fat fit fib mat Inappropriate words: is as Ma aim

24. Provide Cues • Types of cues: • Picture • Gesture • Key word • Stories, chants, rhymes

25. f S h h Embedding Letter-Shape And Picture Cue

26. ZOO PHONICS

27. a apple /a/ o octopus /o/ e edge /e/ i itch /i/ u up /u/ Cues For Short Vowels

28. Video: Cues for Vowels • Please click on the video below to play.

29. From now on when you come before me, you have to say my name. You vowels think you are so special—just because you have to be in every word. carpet r hard harmony car a…a…a… Oh, no, here comes Bossy R. He’s such a bully. art R...r...r…r star bark The Story of Bossy R a

30. Did you hear what he did to a? pork dormant order Now for the rest of you vowels! I’m going to put a spell on you, e, i, & u. born horse fork Okay, O. Now, scram! Hey, O, come over here. Right now! OR I like you, kid. You remind me of a smiley face. I am going to let you say a word with me. r Uh-oh, there’s that Bossy-R. The Story of Bossy R o a e i o u

31. E-R, you are the noisiest, so I am going to make you stay on the end of words. I-R and U-R, you just fight it out to see who’s going in the rest of the words. You all sound alike! Now, let’s see what words you can be in. Er…er...er Ha, ha!! all of you are roosters!!!. r Ir...ir…ir Ur…ur…ur The Story of Bossy R better feather blender skater skirt dirt circle swirl fur spurt urgent curtain er ur ir

32. Solution: Provide Extensive Practice In 2 Directions DEMONSTRATION: Teaching a new letter-soundLetter-sound drill

33. Visual Drill

34. Auditory Drill

35. Avoid Guessing • Many students with reading problems have learned to impulsively guess until they get the right answer. • “That’s a b, no d, no, I mean p.” • “There, where, here…” • Remind students to use cues when they are unsure of a letter or sound. • “What’s your key word.” • “Make your hand motion.” • “Check your sound notebook” • Tell them the answer if necessary to avoid guessing.

36. a apple /a/ a Alaska /u/ Letter-Sounds Are Not Just For Beginners • More advanced students need letter-sound cues for more advanced spellings: • For example, by Wilson Reading Step 5, when shown the letter a, the student can proudly recite the following as well as similar key words for each vowel: a acorn /a/ a safe /a/

37. Letters Are the Building Blocks for Words • Automatic letter recognition is the key to automatic word recognition • Berninger (2000) reports that at-risk children were found to need over 20 times more practice Perspectives, Winter, 2002

38. Automaticity Practice: Letter-Sound Level • For initial learning, provide picture cues • For fluency practice, use plain letters • Use a key word for vowels • Use visual drill for reading • Use auditory drill for spelling Felton & Lillie, 2001

39. Letter Names/Letter Sounds

41. fcrr.org

42. Video: Cues for Letter-Sound Associations • Please click on the video below to play.

43. Review What makes learning letter name, shapes and sounds so difficult? What are some strategies to make this learning easier? Why are cues for short vowels especially important?

44. Review Continued What is the sound of each of these r-controlled vowel combinations? ar er ir or ur How can you help a student avoid guessing? What is the difference between a visual drill and an auditory drill?

45. Congratulations! You have completed Unit 6: Teaching Letter-Sound Associations

46. Sources • Felton, R., & Lillie, D. (2000). Teaching Students with Persistent Reading Problems (a multimedia CD-ROM). Greensboro, NC. Guilford County Schools. • National Reading Panel. (2000). Report of the National Reading Panel: Teaching children to read– Reports of the subgroups. National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, NIH Pub. No. 00-4764.