Reading is fun!READINGFive of the six areas of reading are applicable for early childhood education:
Vocabulary increases reading ability; when a child encounters and sounds out a word that is in his/her vocabulary, s/he can recognize it. The sponge-like propensity for new words during early childhood promotes brain development.
Phonemic Awareness is the ability to hear, identify, and manipulate individual sounds- phonemes- in spoken words is a purely auditory skill. There are 44 phonemes represented by 26 letters.
Sight Words are words that are recognized immediately and that may not follow the phonics rules are called sight words. Most adults know all but a few words by sight, and those are usually geographic or medical terms that the person is unfamiliar with. Phonics is used to sound them out.
Phonics is a skill that links the visual letter with the auditory sound and is the basis for "sounding out" a word. Reverse phonics links an auditory sound with a visual letter and is used in early writing.
Comprehension is the goal of reading. Many comprehension activities picture, retell, act-out, draw, or sequence a story or informational text.
Fluency is the flow and speed of reading and is not addressed at the preschool level.
READING LESSONSVOCABULARYVocabulary is an ongoing lesson from birth on. A child learns about 2000-3000 words per year. The child is constantly learning new words and filing them into the appropriate category and brain web. Parents should not shy away from words that are technical or scientific in nature. Children are word sponges and understand much more than we give them credit for.
Thematic units emphasize new vocabulary in a science or social studies context. Also, new math and literacy vocabulary such as fraction and adjective can be introduced and used correctly in context to create understanding.
Increased vocabulary increases reading ability; when a child encounters a word s/he knows in print, it is easier to recognize. Here's an example of the necessity to have the word in the vocabulary in order to read it.
Jake is 5 and learning to read. He points at a picture in a zoo book and says,
"Look Mama! It's a frickin' Elephant!"
Deep breath ... "What did you call it?"
"It's a frickin' Elephant, Mama! It says so on the picture!"
And so it does .. " A f r i c a n Elephant ".
Vocabulary
SKILL: To learn to say and to understand the meaning of new words.
MATERIALS: Books, both fictional literature and non-fiction expository text
ACTIVITY: As or after the book is read, the vocabulary is discussed. This helps the child to put it in context and web it in the brain. The child's brain can web more easily if many books on the same subject are read closely in time, as a thematic unit. The subjects are discussed as how the books and the information is the same or different, while using the new vocabulary.
PHONEMIC AWARENESSPhonemic awareness is the ability to hear, identify, and manipulate individual sounds- phonemes- in spoken words. It is a purely auditory skill. There are 44 phonemes represented by 26 letters.
Hearing Sounds
SKILL: The child hears the sounds in a word, stretching out the word, isolating and counting the sounds.
MATERIALS: Large rubber band
ACTIVITY: The teacher models the skill by saying the word with the rubber band slack. The teacher then says the sounds of the word while stretching the rubber band. The word is said with the rubber band slack again. It is stretched while saying the isolated sounds of the word. The teacher and child count the sounds. This is repeated several times. The teacher invites the child to do it. If s/he doesn't want to the rubber band is left out for the child's play/independent practice. Example: (not stretched) CAT, (stretched) C-A-T.
Rhyming
SKILL: Hearing ending sounds that rhyme (are the same)
MATERIALS: Objects, pictures, magnetic numbers and letters.
ACTIVITY: We need to say, "Rhyming words have the same ending". We practice with a common ending like -at: cat, bat, We say the name of the object or picture and listen for the endings that match (example: two, blue, glue). The child places the object/picture on its rhyming match. This game may be used to teach, practice or assess.
PHONICSPhonics links the visual letter with the auditory sound. The skill is both visual and auditory. Kinesthetic Phonics (TM) adds another area- movement.
Weekly Phonics Letter
SKILLS: Phonics, beginning sounds
MATERIALS: Objects and pictures that begin with the featured letter, letters
ACTIVITY: Every week we feature another letter from the alphabet, in order, starting with Aa. We get out the items and pictures that begin with the letter as the sound(s) and the kinesthetic movement(s) from Kinesthetic Phonics (TM) are introduced. We do many activities that begin with that letter that week. The letter becomes the theme of the week.
Kids play with, handle, and verbalize all items and pictures that start with Ss.
Kinesthetic PhonicsPhonics links the visual letter with the auditory sound. Kinesthetic Phonics adds another area- movement. Kinesthetic Phonics is a method that gives the visual form of the letter both a sound and an action. Adding an action creates a physical memory sequence. All early childhood learners are kinesthetic learners, utilizing large muscles. The phonics actions are large muscle movements. Even very early learners remember the action and sound when they see the letter, especially if it is in their name.
All sounds of the letter are learned and in the order of most frequently used. There is an action for each. For instance, there are three sounds for "Aa": short "a", long "a", and the short "o" sound as in ball. The action/sounds are learned in order, so that when the child sees the letter Aa, s/he responds with the three action/sounds in order.
Then later, when the child encounters an "a" during reading, s/he tries them in order, finding the one that matches meaning and context. Learning all sounds prevents confusion later. The actions and all sound of the letter are especially helpful with the vowels, whose subtle differences may be hard to differentiate at first.
We practice Kinesthetic Phonics by flashing letter cards to students. They respond with the action/sound, standing for vowels and sitting for consonants. This emphasizes the vowels' sounds. For the cards, we use the most common font in books that use the lower case 'a' and 'g'. The font is not used in primary writing and can be confusing and hard to recognize. The cards are used during the initial teaching of the letter and its sound, during the week the letter is featured. All known letters are practiced once a day.
Each week the writing of the upper and lower case letter is introduced on a 12" x 12" unlined whiteboard with a dry erase marker. Every child traces over the written letters correctly, starting most letters at the top. Then items or pictures that go with every letter each week that begin with the letter sound(s) are shown and the beginning sound is emphasized.
Kids match beginning sounds of objects and pictures with the letter.Beginning Sound Phonics Matching Games
SKILLS: Phonics and beginning sounds practice or assessment.
MATERIALS: Objects and pictures that begin with the featured letter or letters
ACTIVITY: Letters are placed on the rug. All objects and pictures of the letters being used are placed near the letter that says the beginning sound.
MATERIALS: Objects and pictures that begin with the featured letter, letters, fly swatter, sidewalk chalk or large letters
ACTIVITY: The object or picture is shown to the child and the child slaps the letter with a fly swatter. This can be taken outside with letters drawn on the sidewalk with chalk.
MATERIALS: Objects or pictures
ACTIVITY: The child differentiates between the subtle sound of either vowels or the sounds of one letter by doing the sound/action for a picture or object.
Example: When shown a picture of a game, the child responds with the first sound/action of Gg. When shown a picture of a giraffe, s/he responds with the second sound/action of Gg. These games can be modified for ending sounds or the vowels in CVC vowel words as well.
Please contact Jean Borne for further information about Kinesthetic Phonics;)
SIGHT WORDSSight words are words that are recognized immediately and may or may not follow the phonics rules.
SKILL: The student will recognize and read sight words.
MATERIALS: Unlined index cards, stuffed hand pointer (a glove is stuffed and put on a stick with the stick in the index finger)
ACTIVITIES:
The first sight words are: I, go, to, a
These are printed on half-size unlined index cards. Pictures of places (park, school, house)and a period are created so that sentences can be made and read.
A student puts sight words together with pictures to make a sentence.CVC WORDSSKILL: The child will recognize and read consonant-vowel-consonant words.
MATERIALS: Paper, unlined index cards, CVC words printed on unlined index cards.
ACTIVITY: Use CVC words printed on unlined index cards. The CVC words are sounded out, using words with the same vowel.
A student reads and blends the sounds on a Flip Book.LONG VOWEL WORDSAfter the child has become very familiar with CVC words, the silent 'e' is introduced as a story. "The silent 'e' is very naughty. He doesn't make a sound. But very quietly he tiptoes around to the vowel and pinches it and makes it say its own name."
SKILL: Differentiate between the short vowel sound in a CVC word and a long vowel sound when a silent 'e' is added at the end.
MATERIALS: Two color markers, blank index cards.
ACTIVITY: A CVC word is printed on one side of the index card. The same word is printed on the other side with the other color marker adding an 'e' at the end. The child reads the CVC side with the short vowel. After flipping it over, s/he reads the other side, using the long vowel sound. Some pairs that can be used are:
par-pare hat-hate bid-bide nap-nape cap-cape not-note
cut-cute mad-made tap-tape fat-fate
WORD WALL
SKILL: Visually display sight words to facilitate recognition.
MATERIALS: ABCs, unlined full-size index cards
ACTIVITY: All sight words go on the word wall on unlined, full-size, index cards, placed under the ABCs. Each word is put under its beginning letter, with all words in a vertical line. These can be read off the wall with a pointer. Many students find the spatial placement of the words helpful to jog memory if they forget. Word walls are built over time as students get new words. Although the words are isolated on the wall, they are introduced in context. The words are also on index cards accessible to kids to make sentences with and categorize in different ways.
Word Wall
Students mark spaces while circling and counting words in their journals.
COMPREHENSION
Comprehension is the goal of reading. Many comprehension activities picture, retell, act-out, draw, or sequence the story. The best long-term comprehension strategy is to make a mental picture. It can be used for both fiction and non-fiction reading.
SKILL: The student will comprehend and understand what is read.
MATERIALS: Books, art materials, props for objects/subjects found in books, costumes.
ACTIVITY: The teacher reads the book to the students. The students make a mental picture. Then they either retell, draw, sequence, or act-out the story or expository text.
Example: For the story, Brown Bear, the animals are made from colored felt and as each page is read, the colored felt animals are put out in a line in sequence.
Example: As the story, The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything, is read, the children each have items of clothing depicted in the story. They make the appropriate sound and action as each part is read and put the parts together to make a scarecrow at the end
ACTIVITY: The teacher differentiates between real (non-fiction expository text) and make-believe (fiction) by seeing if animals are wearing clothes and talking. Can it really happen? This gives a foundation for the differences in literature. It is very appropriate to introduce this concept at Halloween, saying that it's a time for make- believe and we like to pretend to be scared.
VIDEO:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrCJTqwHjtQ
Kid Garden kinesthetic phonics makes learning phonics fun and easy and kids remember ALL the sounds of each letter.