'Tricky' words Since many of the most common words in English have irregular spellings (e.g. the, of, said, what) children need to learn a few of these non-decodable words from the start in order to read even simple, brief stories. They learn to examine the words to decide which letters are not making the expected sound. Then with brief simple practice they work toward recognising these words instantly. Segmenting and spelling Children begin segmenting words (breaking a spoken word into its constituent sounds, e.g. “map, /m/ /ă/ /p/”) at the same time as they learn blending. Since segmenting is essentially the reverse of blending, the two phonemic abilities reinforce each other. They use a multisensory strategy called the Rubber Band Trick (see page 190) to slowly say the word to hear all the sounds. They use this new strategy with 'Live Spelling', and word building with the Magnetic Word Builder or Story Phonics software.
Teaching order The teaching order for Section 2 is:
c ă ā d h m t s ĭ s/z/ ī n g ŏ ō p ĕ ē ss ŭ ū k ck ng sh ch th th l f ll ff b j r qu v ve o/ŭ/ w wh x y z The logic for this order is based on three important considerations: 1) Letters and digraphs that occur most frequently in simple three letter words (CVC) are taught early on to allow children to begin blending and segmenting a variety of words right from the start. 2) Letters and sounds that are easily confused (e.g. d and b, /ă/ and /ĕ/) are widely separated in this sequence to allow children to master one before the other is introduced. 3) The first three letters introduced are c, a, and d. All begin with the same anticlockwise curved stroke. This grouping allows children to establish the circular motion, and it sets the pattern for consistent correct handwriting and orientation of letter d. Teachers preferring a different teaching order (e.g. s a t p i n, etc.) should feel free to present it instead of a-z in the Fast Track. The resulting early acquaintance with all the letters will enable children to respond well to any early decodable texts.
'Tricky' words introduced in Section 2 a my to
come for of oh too was
her here like said see she what you
look Mr the they
of
they y
said the
what
Lesson Plans in Section 2 Three basic types of lessons are used in Section 2. The activities in each type of lesson overlap somewhat, but the particular selection and sequence of activities varies with the purpose of the lesson.
1. New Letter/Sound Lessons There are 26 lessons that teach a new letter and sound. Six more teach a second sound for a previously taught letter (e.g. long vowels). These lesson plans follow the steps below: 1. Review - 'Quick Dash' or 'Guess Who?' on alternating days 2. Sound Learn the Sound, Action and Song with the Picture Code Cards and Alphabet Songs CD 3. Phonemic awareness and language development Explore the letter sound in words with discussion, the ABC book or Living ABC software, and an optional game 4. Shape Teach correct letter formation with Handwriting Songs CD or Living ABC software and the Uppercase Trick with Big Picture Code Cards - Uppercase
Section 2: a-z Word Building
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