Reading for Success - Book 1 by Teacher Superstore

RIC-6216 8.8/1207

Reading for success (Book 1) Published by R.I.C. Publications® 2014 under licence from Teacher Created Resources, Inc. Copyright© 2004 Teacher Created Resouces, Inc. This version copyright© R.I.C. Publications® 2014 ISBN 978-1-922116-67-3 RIC–6216 Titles available in this series: Reading for success (Book 1) Reading for success (Book 2) Reading for success (Book 3) Reading for success (Book 4)

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All material identified by is material subject to copyright under the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth) and is owned by the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority 2014. For all Australian Curriculum material except elaborations: This is an extract from the Australian Curriculum. Elaborations: This may be a modified extract from the Australian Curriculum and may include the work of other authors. Disclaimer: ACARA neither endorses nor verifies the accuracy of the information provided and accepts no responsibility for incomplete or inaccurate information. In particular, ACARA does not endorse or verify that: • The content descriptions are solely for a particular year and subject; • All the content descriptions for that year and subject have been used; and • The author’s material aligns with the Australian Curriculum content descriptions for the relevant year and subject. You can find the unaltered and most up to date version of this material at http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/ This material is reproduced with the permission of ACARA.

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Table of contents Teachers notes ........................................... iv – vi Introduction........................................................iv Curriculum links ......................................... v – vii Phonemic awareness .................................. 2–34 Phonemic awareness .................................. 2–4 Phonemic awareness assessment ............. 5–7 Phoneme isolation .....................................8–11 Phoneme identity .....................................12–15 Begins the same ........................................... 16 Ends the same .............................................. 17 Beginning or ending sound ........................... 18 Phoneme categorisation ............................... 19 Doesn't belong ........................................ 20–21 Phoneme blending ........................................ 22 Phoneme segmentation .......................... 23–24 Puppy puppet pattern .............................. 25–26 Phoneme deletion ......................................... 27 Phoneme addition ................................... 28–29 Phoneme substitution ............................. 30–34 Phonics....................................................... 35–73 Phonics ......................................................... 35 Letter-sound assessment ........................ 36–39 Letter-sound activities ............................. 40–43 Multi-sensory activities............................ 44–46 Alphabet cards ........................................ 47–53 Clothes peg games ................................. 54–59 Egg carton games................................... 60–62 Activity sheets ............................................... 63 Make a word ................................................. 64 Missing letters ............................................... 65 Short Aa ........................................................ 66 Short Ee ........................................................ 67 Short Ii .......................................................... 68 Short Uu........................................................ 69 Vowel sort ..................................................... 70 Short vowel match ........................................ 71 Missing vowel ................................................ 72 Same vowel sound........................................ 73 Fluency ...................................................... 74–115 Fluency ..........................................................74 Reading aloud ......................................... 75–79

Reading at home .......................................... 80 Monthly reading diary ................................... 81 Monthly reading awards .......................... 82–87 Reciting nursery rhymes ........................88–102 Student-adult reading...................................103 Echo reading ................................................103 Choral reading .............................................104 Songs ...........................................................104 Group divisions ............................................104 Audio-assisted reading.................................105 Partner reading ............................................105 Readers theatre ................................... 106–115 Vocabulary............................................... 116–148 Vocabulary ...................................................116 Developing vocabulary ......................... 117–132 Selecting vocabulary words .................133–135 Teaching vocabulary ............................136–148 Comprehension ......................................149–169 Comprehension ........................................... 149 Thinking aloud ............................................ 150 Graphic organisers ...................................... 150 Story map ................................................... 151 Sequencing map ......................................... 152 Venn diagram .............................................. 153 Text web ...................................................... 154 Graphic organiser examples ....................... 155 Stop and predict ...................................156–157 Summarising ............................................... 158 Story frame ................................................. 159 The important language pattern ................. 160 Short Aa sentences .................................... 161 Short Ee sentences .................................... 162 Short Ii sentences ....................................... 163 Short Oo sentences .................................... 164 Short Uu sentences .................................... 165 Colour the robot .......................................... 166 What colour is it? ........................................ 167 How many? ................................................. 168 Animal names ............................................. 169 Answers ...................................................170–171

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Reading for success

Foreword Reading for success is a series of four books designed to support teacher-directed lessons and independent student activities in the five key elements of reading instruction: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension. Titles in this series are: Reading for success (Book 1) Reading for success (Book 2) Reading for success (Book 3) Reading for success (Book 4)

Introduction Reading and the teaching of reading have. always been the discussions ©R I . C. Patu bforefront l i caoft i onsin education. Recent discussions bear no difference. Some, such as the media, criticise schools for not knowing how to effectively teach reading, and know more today about effective reading •f oyet rwer e vi ew p ur pos esinstruction onl ythan•ever before. One compilation of research reflecting effective reading instruction methodologies identified five key elements of reading instruction which are: • Phonemic awareness • Vocabulary • Phonics • Comprehension • Fluency This book has been designed to assist the classroom teacher with activities and teaching strategies appropriate for teaching the five identified elements of reading.

Book format The book is divided into five sections appropriately named after each of the elements of reading instruction. Within each section, you will find a definition of the element of reading, as well as a variety of ways to implement this key for effective reading instruction in your classroom. Some of the activities are teacher-directed activities, while others are games which students can use for practice. A variety of student activity sheets are provided as well. When appropriate, these activity sheets can be copied and distributed for the student to complete. The activities included in this book are not meant to be a complete reading program. They are to be used in conjunction with your school’s adopted reading program. These activities are meant to provide ideas for ways to make teaching the elements of reading more fun.

Reading for success

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Curriculum links The following Australian Curriculum English links are supported by the activities relating to the five key elements of reading instruction in this book. Phonemic awareness (pages 2 to 34) Understand concepts about print and screen, including how books, film and simple digital texts work, and know Foundation some features of print, for example directionality (ACELA1433) Recognise rhymes, syllables and sounds (phonemes) in spoken words (ACELA1439) Year 1

Understand concepts about print and screen, including how different types of texts are organised using page numbering, tables of content, headings and titles, navigation buttons, bars and links (ACELA1450) Manipulate sounds in spoken words including phoneme deletion and substitution (ACELA1457)

Phonics (pages 35 to 73) Recognise the letters of the alphabet and know there are lower and upper case letters (ACELA1440) Foundation Recognise that texts are made up of words and groups of words that make meaning (ACELA1434)

Know how to use onset and rime to spell words (ACELA1438)

Know that spoken sounds and words can be written down using letters of the alphabet and how to write some high-frequency sight words and known words (ACELA1758) Know that regular one-syllable words are made up of letters and common letter clusters that correspond to the sounds heard, and how to use visual memory to write high-frequency words (ACELA1778) Year 1

Recognise and know how to use morphemes in word families for example ‘play’ in ‘played’ and ‘playing’ (ACELA1455)

Recognise sound – letter matches including common vowel and consonant digraphs and consonant blends (ACELA1458)

Understand the variability of sound – letter matches (ACELA1459)

Fluency (pages 74 to 115) Replicate the rhythms and sound patterns in stories, rhymes, songs and poems from a range of cultures Foundation (ACELT1579) Listen to, recite and perform poems, chants, rhymes and songs, imitating and inventing sound patterns including alliteration and rhyme (ACELT1585) Year 1

Read supportive texts using developing phrasing, fluency, contextual, semantic, grammatical and phonic knowledge and emerging text processing strategies, for example prediction, monitoring meaning and rereading (ACELY1659)

Vocabulary (pages 116 to 148) Understand the use of vocabulary in familiar contexts related to everyday experiences, personal interests and topics taught at school (ACELA1437) Foundation Know that spoken sounds and words can be written down using letters of the alphabet and how to write some high-frequency sight words and known words (ACELA1758) Identify some familiar texts and the contexts in which they are used (ACELY1645) Year 1

Understand the use of vocabulary in everyday contexts as well as a growing number of school contexts, including appropriate use of formal and informal terms of address in different contexts (ACELA1454) Respond to texts drawn from a range of cultures and experiences (ACELY1655)

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Reading for success

Curriculum links (cont'd) Comprehension (pages 149 to 169) Recognise that texts are made up of words and groups of words that make meaning (ACELA1434) Respond to texts, identifying favourite stories, authors and illustrators (ACELT1577) Share feelings and thoughts about the events and characters in texts (ACELT1783) Identify some features of texts including events and characters and retell events from a text (ACELT1578) Foundation

Recognise some different types of literary texts and identify some characteristic features of literary texts, for example beginnings and endings of traditional texts and rhyme in poetry (ACELT1785) Identify some familiar texts and the contexts in which they are used (ACELY1645) Read predictable texts, practising phrasing and fluency, and monitor meaning using concepts about print and emerging contextual, semantic, grammatical and phonic knowledge (ACELY1649) Use comprehension strategies to understand and discuss texts listened to, viewed or read independently (ACELY1650)

Understand that the purposes texts serve shape their structure in predictable ways (ACELA1447)

Identify the parts of a simple sentence that represent ‘What’s happening?’, ‘What state is being described?’, ‘Who or what is involved?’ and the surrounding circumstances (ACELA1451) Year 1

Use comprehension strategies to build literal and inferred meaning about key events, ideas and information in texts that they listen to, view and read by drawing on growing knowledge of context, text structures and language features (ACELY1660)

Reading for success

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Reading for success

Phonemic awareness

Phonemic awareness – 1 Phonemic awareness is students’ awareness of the sounds in language and how those sounds work together to form words. The word phonemic comes from the word phoneme, which relates to individual sounds. The /s/ in sun is a phoneme, as are the /u/ and /n/. Phonemes are not necessarily isolated to individual letters because phonemes have to do with sounds rather than written letters. In the word ship, / sh/ is a phoneme too. In a narrow sense, phonemic awareness means ‘sound awareness.’ In a broader sense, it is a student’s ability to recognise, differentiate and manipulate sounds. The importance of phonemic awareness cannot be understated. There is ample research and evidence showing that phonemic awareness is a strong predictor of a student’s reading success. Phonemic awareness is developed in several ways. Prior to coming to school, many students gain phonemic awareness through their environments, either at home, in pre-primary, or both. In any of these cases, phonemic awareness was probably not directly taught but rather absorbed through a language-rich environment. Most likely, students sang songs, recited nursery rhymes, read books, made up riddles and began playing with language on their own. Because of the students’ extensive and varied experiences with language, phonemic awareness was developed. Students become phonemically aware in many different ways. It is important to keep in mind that although this section of the book focuses on many ways to directly and explicitly develop phonemic awareness, creating a language-rich classroom environment is crucial.

© R. I . C.Publ i cat i ons There are many students for whom phonemic awareness must be directly and explicitly taught. These students either did not have the experiences mentioned above or o did s note ‘absorb’ them in such a way as to • f o r r e v i e w p u r p s o n l y • develop phonemic awareness. The good news is there is evidence that phonemic awareness can be taught. Listed below are eight types of phonemic awareness instructions, practices and assessments which are included in this book. Phoneme isolation (recognising sounds in words) • Example: The first sound in dog is /d/. Phoneme identity (recognising words that have similar sounds) • Example: The words cat, car and cave all begin with /c/. Phoneme categorisation (recognising words that sound the same and words that sound different) • Example: The words bun, run and fun have similar sounds. The word bat does not sound the same. Phoneme blending (combining spoken phonemes into words) • Example: The sounds /t/ /u/ /g/ make the word tug. Phoneme segmentation (breaking words into their separate phonemes) • Example: There are four sounds in the word truck: /t/ /r/ /u/ /k/. Phoneme deletion (identifying a new word when a phoneme is removed from another word) • Example: If you take away the /s/ in start, you have the word tart. Phoneme addition (identifying a new word when a phoneme is added to another word) • Example: If you add /s/ to the beginning of port, you have the word sport. Phoneme substitution (changing a phoneme in a word to make a new word) • Example: If you change the /n/ in can to /t/, you have the word cat. Reading for success

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Phonemic awareness

Phonemic awareness – 2 Provided in this section are examples of each type of phonemic awareness activity. The first page of each activity provides a description and example of the activity. The following pages (if applicable) provide a variety of ways in which the task can be applied, practised or adapted. Phonemic awareness activities are well suited for whole-class lessons, as language warm-ups in smallgroup lessons, or for that five minutes that remain before the recess bell rings. Be sure that when you present a new activity, you provide sufficient time to both model and practise the activity.

Oral vs written The activities within this section provide teacher-directed examples. For students who are ready, any of the activities can be extended. By writing down the letters that students are manipulating, students begin to see the letter–sound relationships in the activities. Depending on students’ abilities you may wish to write the letters on the board or have the students write the letters using paper and pencil or small wipe-off boards. Developing students’ awareness of how the letters and sounds work together will help them in both reading and spelling.

Assessing phonemic awareness

A phonemic awareness assessment is provided on pages 5–7. This assessment tool can be used to determine areas in which students need additional instruction and practice. Photocopy one assessment per child. assessment. Write down student responses on the lines provided and record the scores for each section in the summary box on the front page. There are five points possible for each type of activity. A score of four or five indicates a student is competent in performing that particular phonemic awareness activity. A score of less than four indicates that the student needs additional instruction and practice.

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Reading for success

Phonemic awareness

Modelling phonemic awareness Many students develop phonemic awareness before any formal phonemic awareness activities are introduced in school. Students with rich language backgrounds may already be skilled in many phonemic awareness activities. However, there are many students for whom direct, explicit phonemic awareness instruction is necessary. For these students, modelling is crucial. Model phonemic awareness activities by talking through and demonstrating for students how to complete a task, step by step. Next, have students complete the activity by repeating what you have said, then complete the activity together. Finally, have the students complete the activity alone. Once students have demonstrated their ability with the word being analysed, provide another word on which they can try the same activity. The example below is a phoneme segmentation activity; however, the format can be used to model any of the phonemic awareness activities. Teacher:

I am going to say a word. I want you to listen as I say all the sounds I hear in the word. The word is red: /r/ . . . /e/ . . . /d/. Now, this time, I want you to repeat the sounds after I say them. /r/. . . /e/ . . . /d/

Everyone:

/r/ . . . /e/ . . . /d/

Teacher:

Now you say the sounds in the word ‘red’ by yourselves.

Students:

/r/ . . . /e/ . . . /d/

Teacher:

Excellent, now let’s do the same thing with the word ‘bug’.

Some students will need you to model a few times as they become familiar with the task. Other students will require you to do extensive modelling as they learn how sounds work together to make words. You may want to model the task again if you change it slightly, such as by adding words with more sounds, or if students need assistance because they are having a difficult time with a word.

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Phonemic awareness

Phonemic awareness assessment – 1 This assessment is adapted with permission from Pre-phonics tests: Phonemic awareness and more by Dr Fry. Date

Student’s name

Phonemic awareness score summary Phoneme isolation

Phoneme segmentation

Phoneme identity

Phoneme deletion

Phoneme categorisation

Phoneme addition

Phoneme blending

Phoneme substitution

Total score

/40

Phoneme isolation Tell the student, ‘I am going to say a word. Tell me what sound you hear at the beginning of the word. If I said, dog, you would say /d/’. If the student has a difficult time, repeat the word, separating the first sound, /d/, from the rest of the word, /og/. Continue to practise with the following examples before administering the assessment: can = /c/; fin = /f/ Word

1. big

/b/

2. ham

/h/

3. dot

/d/

4. mad

/m/

5. get

/g/

Phoneme isolation score

Incorrect

Phoneme identity Tell the student, ‘I am going to say three words. Tell me what sound is the same in all three words. If I said cup, cap and can, you would say /c/ is the beginning sound in all three words’. Continue to practise with the following examples before administering the assessment: hen, hand, hope = /h/; sun, soup, sad = /s/ Sounds

Response

1. tan, top, two

/t/

2. pig, pan, pot

/p/

3. fan, far, fill

/f/

4. man, mitt, mug

/m/

5. net, no, new

/n/

Phoneme identity score

Student response

Correct

Incorrect

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Reading for success

Phonemic awareness

Phonemic awareness assessment – 2 Phoneme categorisation Tell the student, ‘I am going to say three words. Tell me which word does not begin with the same sound as the other two. If I said, top, man and tip, you would say man does not begin with /t/ like top and tip’. Continue to practise with the following examples before administering the assessment: bed, boy, pan = pan kit, jar, jug = kit Word

Response

1. do, sun, dot

sun

2. game, go, duck

duck

3. van, dig, vet

dig

4. map, make, fat

fat

5. cake, dad, car

dad

Phoneme categorisation score

Student response

Correct

Incorrect

_________

Phoneme blending

Tell the student, ‘I am going to say some sounds. Tell me what word the sounds make when they are blended. If I said, /b/ … /i/ … /g/, you would say the word is big’. Continue to practise with the following examples before administering the assessment: /b/ … /a/ … /t/ = bat /m/ … /e/ … /n/ = men Sounds

Response

1. /t/ /e/ /n/

ten

2. /b/ /a/ /d/

bad

3. /p/ /o/ /t/

pot

4. /j/ /e/ /t/

jet

5. /f/ /i/ /l/

fill

Phoneme blending score

Student response

Correct

Incorrect

Phoneme segmentation Tell the student, ‘I am going to say a word. Tell me what sounds you hear in the word by saying the sounds, one at a time. If I said rat, you would say, /r/ … /a/ … /t/’. Continue to practise with the following examples before administering the assessment: pit = /p/ … /i/ … /t/ bug = /b/ … /u/ … /g/ Word

Response

1. win

/w/ /i/ /n/

2. red

/r/ /e/ /d/

3. log

/l/ /o/ /g/

4. ran

/r/ /a/ /n/

5. cat

/c/ /a/ /t/

Phoneme segmentation score Reading for success

Student response

Correct

Incorrect

/5 6

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Phonemic awareness

Phonemic awareness assessment – 3 Phoneme deletion Tell the student, ‘I am going to say a word. Tell me what word is left when you take away the first sound. If I said bat, you would take away the /b/ and say the word at’. Continue to practise with the following examples before administering the assessment: fan = an; sink = ink Word

Response

1. heat

eat

2. rice

ice

3. sit

4. for

5. gate

ate

Phoneme deletion score

Student response

Correct

Incorrect

Phoneme addition Tell the student, ‘I am going to say a sound and a word. Tell me what new word is made when you put the sound at the beginning of the word. If I said to add /s/ to the beginning of the word /at/, you would say the word sat’. Continue to practise with the following examples before administering the assessment: all with /b/ = ball oil with /s/ = soil Word

1. old

/f/

fold

2. am

/j/

jam

3. as

/h/

has

4. ill

/p/

pill

5. rag

/d/

drag

Phoneme addition score

Incorrect

Phoneme substitution Tell the student, ‘I am going to say a word and give some directions about what sounds to change. Change the sounds to make a new word. If I said change the /c/ in car to /f/, you would say the word far’. Continue to practise with the following examples before administering the assessment: bun change /b/ for /r/ = run jet change /j/ for /l/ = let Word

Sounds

Response

1. fog

change /f/ for /h/

hog

2. ten

change /t/ for /m/

men

3. van

change /v/ for /c/

can

4. hip

change /h/ for /s/

sip

5. hot

change /h/ for g/

got

Phoneme substitution score

Student response

Correct

Incorrect

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Reading for success

Phonemic awareness

Phoneme isolation – 1 Phoneme isoluation activities require students to isolate sounds in a word. Begin phoneme isolation activities by having students isolate initial sounds. For example, ask students, ‘What sound do you hear at the beginning of the word fan?’ Students should indicate /f/. Continue having students practise phoneme isolation using words from the list below. Word

Response

Word

Response

cab

/c/

had

/h/

wag

/w/

fan

/f/

bat

/b/

den

/d/

jet

/j/

pig

/p/

fill

/f/

kit

/k/

Select additional words based on your current studies. For example, if you are studying a letter of the alphabet, use words beginning with that letter. If you are doing a thematic study on a topic, use vocabulary related to the topic.

Although this is a very basic phonemic awareness activity, there are many students whose experiences playing with language may be very limited. For these students, even a task such as isolating the beginning sound in a word may be difficult. If students have a difficult time with this activity, model for them how to determine the beginning sound by isolating the beginning sound from the rest of the sounds in the word. For example, ‘Listen to the first sound you hear in this word, /f/ pause /an/’. Again, depending on students’ ability levels, you may need to emphasise the beginning sound by pausing longer after pronouncing it and before saying the remaining sounds in the word or by saying it slightly louder than the remaining sounds. For example, ‘/f/ pause, pause /an/’ or ‘/f/ (in a loud voice) pause /an/ (in a softer voice)’. As students become more familiar with the activity and capable of isolating beginning sounds, make the task more difficult. Below are some suggestions for extending the activity.

Words with more sounds —What sound do you hear at the beginning of the word alligator? /a/

Identify the sound at the end of the word —What sound do you hear at the end of the word hat? /t/

Identify the medial sound in a word —What sound do you hear in the middle of the word pin? /i/ The game on pages 10 and 11 can be used as a fun way to provide students with practice in each of these types of phoneme isolation.

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Phonemic awareness

Phoneme isolation – 2 Once students have become proficient in isolating the beginning phoneme, challenge students to identify the position of a given phoneme. The activity ‘First or last’ provides students with a hands-on way to consider a phoneme’s position in a word.

First or last Fold 8 cm x 13 cm index cards in half in order to create two 4 cm x 6.5 cm rectangles. Draw a line on the fold to better differentiate the rectangles. Provide each student with an index card and a manipulative such as a counter, a button or an eraser. Practise naming the sections of the cards with the students. For example, ask each student to place his or her manipulative in the first rectangle. Tell students this is the beginning rectangle because it is first. Ask students to place their manipulative in the second rectangle. Tell students that this is the ending rectangle because it is last. Be sure students understand the name and purpose of the two rectangles before proceeding to the activity. Determine the sound for which you want students to listen. Create a list of words, several of which have the target sound at the beginning of the word, and several of which have the sound at the end of the word. For example, if the sound you want students to listen for is /n/, use a list similar to the following: Ends with /n/ © R. I . C.Publ i cat i on s •f or evnice i ew pur pose sonten l y• nutr fan Begins with /n/

note

need

sun

Say a word from the list. If students hear /n/ at the beginning of the word, they should slide their manipulative onto the first or beginning rectangle on the index card. If students hear /n/ at the end of the word, they should slide their manipulatives onto the second or last rectangle on the index card. For example, if the word is net, students should slide their manipulatives onto the first or beginning rectangle because /n/ is at the beginning of the word. If the word is run, students should slide their manipulatives onto the ending or last rectangle because /n/ is at the end of the word. Demonstrate and practice several examples with students until they understand what is expected. Make first or last a movement activity by placing two pieces of paper on the floor in front of each student. Play the game the same way. Say a word such as nap. If the student hears the /n/ sound at the beginning of the word, the student jumps or steps on the piece of paper that is on the left. If the word is man, the student would jump or step on the piece of paper on the right because the /n/ sound is last in the word. An alternative is to have students walk to the front of the classroom if the target sound is at the beginning of the word and to the back of the classroom if the target sound is at the end of the word.

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Reading for success

Phonemic awareness

Phoneme isolation – 3 Name that sound game Materials: markers (one per person), one dice Directions: Place markers on the start. Roll the dice to see who will play first. The first player rolls the dice and moves his or her marker the same number of spaces. The player must say the name of the picture on the space on which he or she landed and then isolate the beginning sound. If the response is correct, the player rolls again. If the response is incorrect, the player must try again on his or her next turn. This game board can also be used for identifying the ending or medial sound of a word.

S TA R T

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Phonemic awareness

Phoneme isolation – 4 Game board

& ) . ) 3 (

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Reading for success

Phonemic awareness

Phoneme identity – 1 Phoneme identity activities require students to identify similar sounds in different words. For example, students should recognise that /s/ is the beginning sound in both sun and safe.

Alphabet books Excellent resources for practicing phoneme identity are alphabet books. Books such as Graeme Base’s Animalia, or Jane E Bayer’s A, My name is Alice provide students with many opportunities on each page to see pictures and hear words beginning with the same sound. Have students name all of the pictures they can on each page that begin with the targeted sounds. A list of excellent alphabet books is suggested below. • Bancroft, Bronwyn. W is for wombat. Little Hare Books, 2009. • Bancroft, Bronwyn. Possum and wattle: My big book of Australian words. Little Hare Books, 2009. • Russell, Elaine. A is for aunty. ABC Books, 2000. • Scillian, Devin. D is for downunder. Sleeping Bear Press, 2010. An extension of the activity above for students who are ready and capable is to challenge them to identify the ending sound of each word.

have practise identifying a variety of initial sounds.

What sound is the same, in all of these words? Fun and fan and father, too. What’s the sound you heard? Substitute the lines below for the italicised line above: Ant and axe and apple, too.

Net and not and nursery, too.

Bat and ball and body, too.

On and off and oxen, too.

Cut and car and curly, too.

Pup and pen and pencil, too.

Did and dot and dog, too.

Quit and quaint and quiet, too.

Egg and elf and elbow, too.

Run and rat and rose, too.

Far and fat and feather, too.

Sun and sand and sorry, too.

Good and goose and garden, too.

Top and tap and tummy, too.

Hen and harp and happy, too.

Up and under and uncle, too.

In and itch and igloo, too.

Van and vet and vacuum, too.

Jam and jug and jungle, too.

Wet and wag and welcome, too.

Kid and kite and kitty, too.

Box and axe and jacks, too. (Ending sounds are listed here)

Log and lamb and laundry, too.

Yak and yarn and yoyo, too.

Man and mice and money, too.

Zip and zoo and zebra, too.

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Phoneme identity – 2 I went to the shop Seat students on the floor in a circle. Begin by selecting a sound you want to target. For example, you may select the sound /b/. Choose a word beginning with /b/ and say, ‘I went to the shop and I bought a bat’. The next student must repeat what you have said, plus add his or her own item beginning with /b/. For example, ‘I went to the shop and I bought a bat and a ball’. Continue around the circle with each child adding to the list. Try to get all the way around the circle. If a student cannot think of a word beginning with the targeted beginning sound, stop, play with that sound and help the student select a new word. If it is a student’s turn and he or she cannot remember what a student has said, have the student who stated the word help by providing their word again when the time is right.

Sound sorts Use pictures in a pocket chart to provide students with practice in both isolating and identifying sounds in a word. Photocopy pages 14 and 15. Cut the picture cards apart and laminate for durability if desired. Place the cards in a pocket chart. Use the directions from below based on the skill on which you are currently working. Begin all of the activities below by naming all of the pictures with the students.

* Beginning sounds

Who can find the picture of a word that begins with the same sound as the word put? Continue until all words beginning with /p/ have been identified. Then sort by words beginning with /t/, /m/, /d/, /c/, /v/, /b/, and /l/. * Ending sounds Who can find the picture of a word that ends with the same sound as the word man? Continue until all words ending with /n/ have been identified. Then sort by words ending with /p/, /d/, /g/ and /t/. * Medial sounds Who can find the picture of a word that has the same middle sound as the word pen? Continue until all words with a medial sound of /e/ have been identified. Then, sort by words with a medial sound of /a/, /i/, /o/ and /u/. * Rhyming words Who can find a word that rhymes with the word fog? Continue by sorting words that rhyme with tan and fat.

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Phoneme identity – 3

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Phoneme identity – 4

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Begins the same Directions: Cut out the picture cards at the bottom of the page. Glue each picture card next to the picture that begins with the same sound. (Alternatively, the cards at the top maybe laminated and used as a base, and the bottom cards placed next to their matching card.)

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Ends the same Directions: Cut out the picture cards at the bottom of the page. Glue each picture card next to the picture that ends with the same sound. (Alternatively, the cards at the top maybe laminated and used as a base, and the bottom cards placed next to their matching card.)

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Beginning or ending sound Directions: Cut out the picture cards at the bottom of the page. Say each word. If the word begins with the same sound as nail, glue the picture card under the nail. If the word ends with the same sound as can, glue the picture card under the can.

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Phoneme categorisation Phoneme categorisation activities require students to identify sounds in words. For example, students should be able to identify that the words fun and fast both begin with /f/, but the word man does not. It begins with a different sound, /m/.

Three words A simple phoneme categorisation activity is to list three words for students. Two of the words should begin with the same sound and the third word should begin with a different sound. For example, say the words sun, sand and can. Ask students which two words begin with the same sound. Begin by placing the two words that begin with the same sound next to each other in order to emphasise the same beginning sound. Then, as students become familiar with the activity, separate those words by placing the one that begins differently in the middle of the two that begin with the same sound. Use pages 20 and 21 to reinforce the activity. The task can be made more difficult by using four words instead of three. Alter this task by including three words that begin the same and one that begins differently. For example, say the words tub, teeth, net and tank. Students should indicate that the words tub, teeth and tank begin with the same sound. Another alternative is to use four words but include two words that begin with the same sound and two words that begin differently. For example, you may say the words man, boat, can and map. Students should indicate that the words man and map begin with the same sound.

First determine a target sound on which you want students to focus. Create a list of words, about half of which begin with the targeted sound and half of which begin with other sounds. Say the words out loud, one at a time. If the word begins with the targeted sound, students perform a pre-specified activity or gesture. If the word does not begin with the sound, students do another gesture or nothing. For example, if the targeted sound is /b/, students can buzz around the room when you say the word baby. If the word is run, students do nothing. Some simple gestures students can perform include smiling or frowning and showing thumbs up or thumbs down. Also, consider having the gesture or action relate to the sound on which you are focusing. For example, if the sound is /p/, students can pat their heads or waddle like a penguin. For students who are ready, select words in which the target sound is at the end of the word. Have students perform an activity if they hear the target sound at the end of the word.

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Doesn’t belong – 1 Directions: Look at the pictures in each row. Say the name of each picture. Cross out the picture that does not begin with the same sound as the other two pictures.

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Doesn’t belong – 2 Directions: Look at the pictures. Say the name of each picture. Cross out the picture that does not end with the same sound as the other two pictures.

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Phoneme blending Students gain a better understanding of the role sounds play in making a word by doing phoneme blending activities. By segmenting the sounds for the students and allowing them to blend them together, students will begin to see that a series of sounds makes up a word.

Mystery word Say a mystery word by saying one sound at a time. When all the sounds have been made, students are to blend the sounds together to tell the mystery word. Begin by providing an example so students know what is expected. For example, if the mystery word is bad, say /b/ … /a/ … /d/. Students should identify that the mystery word is bad. If students have a difficult time, model saying the three sounds of the word again several times, each time with shorter pauses until the word sounds like normal speech. As students demonstrate their understanding of the activity and their capability to blend, use mystery words with more sounds. For example, expand from words like bad to words such as bend and bring. This activity is ideally suited for nonsense words, too. Nonsense words are words that we do not use in the English language. An example of a nonsense word is len. By using nonsense words, you can informally assess how well students understand the concept of blending. If you mix real words and nonsense words, ask students to identify whether the word is real or nonsense.

© R. I . C.Publ i cat i ons An excellent way to practise blending isv with student names. Dismiss students from the carpet •f o rr e i e wp ur pos eso n l y •or to lunch by segmenting names. The students have to blend the sounds to determine who is dismissed. For Student names

example, you may dismiss /j/ … /o/ … /n/. Once students are familiar with the blending activity, they will all guess that John is the person being dismissed. Students always anxiously anticipate their names being segmented.

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Phoneme segmentation – 1 Phoneme segmentation activities require students to take a word and break it down into its sound parts. Phoneme segmentation and phoneme blending activities are ideally suited to practise together.

Break it down Tell students you are going to say a word. They are to break the word apart, or segment the word, by saying each sound they hear, one sound at a time. For example, if you say the word red, students should say /r/ … /e/ … /d/. Begin by providing several examples for students so they know what is expected. The list below provides several examples of phoneme segmentation. Word

Response

hot

/h/ … /o/ … /t/

cap

/c/ … /a/ … /p/

ship

/sh/ … /i/ … /p/

quick

/kw/ … /i/ … /k/

lamp

Begin by having students segment CV or VC words such as my, at, on and in. Proceed to CVC words. Allow students to demonstrate a good understanding of phoneme segmentation before moving on to words with more sounds. Combine phoneme segmentation and phoneme blending into one activity in which one student thinks of a mystery word and segments the word. Another student or group of students must blend the sounds together in order to discover the mystery word. By having students take turns being the person providing the mystery word, students get to practise both segmenting and blending words. If students have a difficult time thinking of their own words to segment, provide a stack of picture cards. The student providing the mystery word must secretly look at the picture on the card, say the word to himself or herself, and then segment it for his friends. Once the friends have blended the sounds to guess the word, the student will show the picture so they can see if they were correct. The picture cards on pages 14 and 15 may be used for this activity. An alternative to having students segment the words is to have them tell you how many sounds there are in the word. For example, you may ask students, ‘How many sounds are there in the word bat?’ Students can indicate there are three sounds by holding up three fingers. As students become familiar with the activity, provide nonsense words for students to segment. This is an excellent way to assess students’ abilities to segment words.

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Phoneme segmentation – 2 Phoneme segmentation activities should be done orally; however, there are several ways to make the activity hands-on.

Manipulatives Provide each student with manipulatives to use in demonstrating how the sounds of a word are broken down. Manipulatives can be anything from buttons to math manipulatives, such as counters or counting cubes. Begin by providing the same number of manipulatives as there are sounds in the word. For example, if students are working on segmenting CVC (consonant, vowel, consonant) words with three sounds, provide students with three manipulatives. Have students line up their manipulatives in a straight line on the table or floor in front of them. Say a word for students to segment. As the students say each sound, they slide a manipulative forward. For example, if the word was jam, students would say /j/ as they slide the first manipulative forward, /a/ as they slide the second manipulative forward, and /m/ as they slide the last manipulative forward. Initially, use CVC words. As students become familiar with the task and are able to successfully segment CVC words, use other words as well.

If students have a difficult time segmenting words, demonstrate segmenting the word several times while sliding the manipulatives forward. Then have the students segment the word with you. Students will soon see the relationship between the manipulatives and the sounds in the word. word. As students become more capable of segmenting, you may wish to switch among words with a variety of numbers of sounds. In this case, have students line up five or six manipulatives and tell them to use as many as they need and to leave the rest in the line.

Puppets Allow students to use puppets to show how a word is segmented. Students can open and close the mouth of the puppet for each sound they say. Photocopy pages 25 and 26 for each student. Have students colour and cut out the paper bag puppet patterns. Glue the head of the puppet on the flap (bottom) of a brown lunch bag. Glue the collar and the dog’s mouth beneath the crease. Glue the body under the head, being careful not to glue the flap shut (so the mouth can move freely). Demonstrate for the students how to open and shut the mouth of the puppet to indicate the sounds of a word.

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Puppy puppet pattern – 1

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Puppy puppet pattern – 2

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Phoneme deletion In phoneme deletion activities, students are required to delete a phoneme from a word and yet produce the remaining sounds in the word. For example, say to the students, ‘If I take away the first sound from the word hop, what will I have left?’ Students should respond /op/. In order to ensure success with phoneme deletion, introduce this activity after students become skilled at isolating initial phonemes. Phoneme deletion can be used on any word; however, beginning phoneme deletion activities are easiest for students to complete when the word that remains after the initial phoneme has been deleted is a real word. For example, if students delete the /b/ from ball, the remaining word is all. See the list on page 29 for examples of words that do just that. The task of phoneme deletion is a sophisticated phonemic awareness activity. Many students, even students who are ready for this task, may have difficulty at first. Follow the steps below to help guide students in deleting the initial sound and determining the remaining sounds in a word. 1.

Ask students, ‘What is the beginning sound in the word fat?’ Students should indicate /f/.

Hold out your right hand and say /f/. Hold out your left hand and say /at/. Have students do the same.

Repeat the sounds with the hand motions, this time whispering the beginning sound (in this example, /f/). Say the remaining sounds in the word in a normal voice (/at/).

© R. I . C.Publ i cat i ons Ask students what word is left if you take away the beginning sound in the word fat. Do the hand • f othis rr epretending vi ewto p r p es nl yyou •whisper it. Once motions again, time takeu away theo /f/s with youro hand while again, say the remaining part of the word, /at/, with a normal voice. Students should indicate the remaining word is at.

Extend phoneme deletion activities by having students delete ending phonemes. For example, ask students, ‘If I took away the /p/ from the word map, what would be left?’ Students should indicate /ma/. A real challenge is for students to delete the medial sound in a word. In the example using the word map, students would respond that taking out the /a/ leaves /mp/. Usually, the remaining sounds require students to produce an uncommon blend which is very difficult to pronounce.

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Phoneme addition – 1 Phoneme addition is the exact opposite of phoneme deletion. Students are required to add a phoneme, usually to the beginning of a word, in order to make a new word. For example, ask, ‘What word would you get if you added /r/ to the word ice?’ Students should indicate the word rice. As with phoneme deletion, any word may be used in this activity; however, students are most successful when beginning this type of activity if the words are real words. A list of such words is provided on page 29. Once students understand the activity and are skilled at adding phonemes, do not hesitate to ask students to create nonsense words by adding phonemes to the beginning of any word. For example, ‘What word would I get if I added /k/ to the beginning of the word ring?’ Students should indicate kring.

Phoneme addition activities Phoneme addition activities are excellent to use when studying a particular letter of the alphabet. Use the sound of the letter being studied as the onset. The onset includes the beginning sound or sounds of a word up to the vowel. Provide students with the rime. The rime begins with the vowel and includes the remaining sounds in the word. Students can practise making words by adding the onset to the rime. For example, if the letter being studied is B, students can practise adding /b/ to several rimes. Ask the students, ‘What word will you get if you add /b/ to /at/?’ Students should indicate bat. Continue adding /b/ to rimes in order to get new words. See the list below for additional examples that can be used with B.

/ad / bad /ag / bag /all / ball /ake / bake /and / band

/at / bat /ay / bay /ed / bed /est / best /ig / big

/it / bit /old / bold /ug / bug /un / bun /y / by

Use other rimes that will create nonsense words, too. These nonsense words provide excellent practice for students adding phonemes. For example, have students add /b/ to the rime /ip/. Students should indicate the new word is bip. For students who are ready, use words that will require the students to practise blends, too.

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/lack / black

/lue / blue

/lend / blend

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Phoneme addition – 2 Tag team Assign one student a sound, such as /b/. This student will be responsible for being the ‘onset’ and saying that sound in the game. Assign other students various rimes, one rime per student (see the list on page 28 for rimes that go with /b/). When you point to a child, he or she should say his or her sound(s). Be sure each student knows the sound(s) that he or she will be saying. Practise several times before trying to add them together. Place the student responsible for saying the onset next to a student responsible for saying a rime. Point to the onset child and have him or her say the sound. Then, point to the rime child and have her or him say the sound. The rest of the children must blend the onset and the rime together in order to determine the new word. Then leave the onset child where he or she is standing and replace the rime with a new child. Again, point to each student and have the remaining students determine the new word. Repeat until all students with a rime have had a chance to add the onset to make a new word.

Word suggestions for addition/deletion activities

all am an

end bend, lend, send, tend © R. I . C.Publ i cat i ons dam, ham, jam, ram ice dice, lice, mice, rice •f orr evi ew pur p osesonl y•

ball, call, fall, hall, mall, tall can, fan, man, pan, ran, tan, van

bit, hit, kit, lit, pit, wit

ill

bill, dill, fill, hill, kill, mill, pill, will

and

band, hand, land, sand

ark

bark, dark, mark, park

bin, fin, pin, tin, win

ash

bash, cash, dash, gash, hash, lash, mash, rash

ink

link, mink, pink, rink, sink

lay

clay, play, slay

bat, cat, fat, hat, mat, pat, rat, sat

bore, core, door, for, more, tore, wore

ate

date, fate, gate, hate, late, mate, rate

box, fox, pox

ear

dear, fear, hear, near, tear

cup, pup

eat

beat, feat, heat, meat, seat

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Phoneme substitution – 1 By substituting one phoneme for another phoneme, students are able to practice making new words. For example, ask students, ‘What is the new word if you change the /m/ to /p/ in the word man?’ Students should indicate pan. When students substitute initial phonemes, they are creating rhyming words. The sooner students realise this, the more successful they will be at doing phoneme substitution activities. Have students practise rhyming words before introducing phoneme substitution. For example, ask, ‘What words rhyme with can?’ Students should respond with as many words as they can think of that rhyme. For example, students could say: fan, man, pan, ran, tan and van. In the beginning, students are most successful at phoneme substitution activities if the rime is kept the same and only the onset changes. Provide many examples with the same rime before changing it. For example, ask students, ‘What is the new word if you change the /b/ to /h/ in the word bat?’ Students should indicate hat. Then ask, ‘What is the new word if you change the /h/ to /r/ in the word hat?’ Students should indicate rat. Continue by telling students what initial sounds to substitute until students have made all of the following words: cat, fat, mat, pat and sat.

Making new words

Photocopy pages 32–34. Cut apart, colour and laminate for durability if desired. There are three words provided for each rime. Give students directions, as in the example above, for changing the initial sound of each word in order to form a new word. For example, ask students, ‘If you change the first sound in the word bat to /h/, what word would you get?’ Show the picture card of the hat when students determine the new word. If students have a difficult time substituting the phoneme, show them the picture card as a clue. Then ask students, ‘If I change the first sound in the word hat to /r/, what word would I get?’ Show students the picture card of the rat. Once students have determined all three words, display them in a chart. Practise saying all three words. Ask students if they can think of any other words that could be made if they change the first sound of the word.

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bat hat rat

pig wig dig

fan man pan

Page 32

cap map tap

dog log hog

hen men pen

Page 33

hop mop top

hug rug jug

jet net wet

Page 34

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Phoneme substitution – 2 Name change A fun way to practise phoneme substitution is with students’ names. Substitute the initial sound in a student’s name with the sound currently being studied. For example, if the class is learning about the letter B, have students practise substituting /b/ for the initial sound in their names. John would become Bon. When D is being studied, John would become Don. Students really have a great time with this activity and will often want to be called their new names for the entire day or longer. Hint: Carefully review names before the activity to make sure that no unfortunate letter combinations will occur.

Through the alphabet Create real and nonsense words by substituting the sounds of the alphabet combined with a rime. For example, if the rime is /et/, have students substitute all the consonant sounds, as the initial sound to create new words. For example: bet

fet

jet

met

quet

tet

xet

cet

get

ket

net

ret

vet

yet

©detR. I . C.P ubpetl i ca t i on s zet het let set wet •f orr evi ew pur posesonl y• Have students identify which words are real and which words are nonsense. Ending phonemes Beginning phoneme substitution activities should require students to change initial phonemes only. As students become more skilled at phoneme substitution, have them change medial and ending phonemes, too. For example, ask students, ‘If you change the /n/ to /p/ in the word man, what is the new word?’ Students should indicate map. Or ask, ‘If you change the /a/ to /e/ in the word man, what is the new word?’ Students should indicate men. Provide the following word examples and have students substitute the ending sound in order to create a new word. The picture cards on pages 32–34 correspond to newly created words in these examples. Use the picture cards for students to verify that the correct word has been produced, or as a clue. bad

bat

cat

cap

hot

hop

ham

hat

man

map

mob

mop

ran

rat

tab

tap

toss

top

pit

pig

dot

dog

hut

hug

win

wig

lot

log

run

rug

did

dig

hot

hog

jut

jug

fat

fan

head

hen

gem

jet

map

man

met

men

Ned

net

pad

pan

peg

pen

web

wet

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Phoneme substitution – 3 See pages 30 and 31 for directions on how to use these picture cards.

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Phoneme substitution – 4 See pages 30 and 31 for directions on how to use these picture cards.

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Phoneme substitution – 5 See pages 30 and 31 for directions on how to use these picture cards.

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Phonics

Phonics Through phonics instruction, students learn the relationship between letters and sounds. Students must have a working knowledge of the sound–symbol relationship in order to read. Although our language does have many irregularly spelled words in which a straight letter–sound relationship (one sound for one letter) does not work, it is still a system that can be used to help decode words. Students can learn to read irregular words through a variety of other means, such as spelling patterns and memory. Your reading or phonics program probably prescribes a sequence for teaching the letters and their corresponding sounds. Use this section of the book as a supplement to your program. The purpose of this section is not to provide a systematic approach to teaching phonics, but rather to provide ideas for helping students to develop their understanding of the sound–symbol relationship. Use or adapt the ideas in this section to the letters and sounds on which you are currently working. Children come to school in many different places in their understanding of the relationship between letters and sounds. Some children come knowing only the alphabet song, while others come knowing all the letters and their corresponding sounds. Of course, many children come with an understanding somewhere between those two. The challenge for the classroom teacher is to help students develop their letter–sound understanding in a way that will make all students successful readers. Students need a variety of activities and lots of time to practise letter–sound relationships in order to develop a deep understanding of how letters and sounds work together to form words. The ideas in this section are geared toward younger students; however, most of the activities provide a description of how to extend the activity for those students who are ready.

Letter–sound activities

Although the entire Phonics section is devoted to letter–sound activities, this subsection in particular provides a variety of teaching suggestions for helping students practise the letter–sound relationship. Although the ideas can be used for medial vowel sounds as well, this section lends itself to practise with initial and ending sounds of both consonants and vowels. Multi-sensory activities Ideas provided are for multi-sensory activities in which students can participate in order to develop sound–symbol correspondence. Alphabet cards Alphabet cards are provided. Suggestions for how to use the cards are provided at the top of page 47, as well as in activities throughout the phonics section. Games Ideas and patterns for phonics-related clothes peg and egg carton games are provided. Activity sheets Phonics activity sheets are an excellent way for students to demonstrate their understanding of sound–symbol relationships because they have to write a symbol (a letter) for the sound they hear. Provided in this subsection (pages 63–73) is a variety of ways students can practise vowels.

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Letter–sound assessment Assessing a student’s existing knowledge of letters and sounds will help you determine the areas in which the student needs instruction. One way to get a good picture of a student’s knowledge of letters and sounds is to give him or her a Letter–sound assessment. This assessment is given one-on-one. In the assessment, students are asked to name each uppercase and lowercase letter of the alphabet and produce the corresponding sound. By recording the results on a data sheet, you are able to easily see how a student scores, which will help you in determining areas on which to focus. Photocopy one copy of pages 38 and 39. Photocopy one per student of page 37. Begin with the uppercase letters. Show the student the photocopy of page 38, the uppercase letters, one row at a time. Note that some letters are repeated in different fonts. First, ask the student to name each letter. Mark an X in the corresponding box on the student data sheet to indicate the letters the student has correctly identified. Then, ask the student to produce the corresponding sound. Again, mark an X in the corresponding box on the student data sheet. Continue the assessment by showing the student the photocopy of page 39, the lowercase letters. Once again, mark an X in the corresponding box on the student data sheet to indicate the letters and sounds the student has correctly identified. Use the student data sheet (page 37) to determine which lessons you will use.

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Letter–sound assessment Student data sheet Student’s name Uppercase letters T

Date Identifies letter

Produces sound

Lowercase letters q

F Y O

Totals

Produces sound

Identifies letter

/27

k Totals

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/28

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Letter–sound assessment uppercase letters

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Letter–sound assessment lowercase letters

©R I . C.Pub o. glicationsp •f orr evi ew pur posesonl y•

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Letter–sound activities – 1 Focus attention Purchase pipe-cleaners or fluorescent, see-through book covers which can be used to highlight a letter within text. The pipe cleaners can be bent into the shape of a circle. The book covers can be cut into thin strips and the backing peeled when ready to use. With care, the book-cover strips can be used repeatedly. Use these two devices to focus students’ attention by placing the pipe cleaners around the featured letters or placing the book cover pieces on the letters you are referencing. This technique is highly recommended when doing a shared reading with students. The teacher can highlight what he/she is referencing, can have students hunt for examples of what he/she is referencing and highlight the text in order to illustrate.

Highlight letters Reproduce simple poems that have words beginning with the letter on which you are focusing. Make up hand motions or actions that go with each poem. Chant the poem several times until the students can say it independently. Have students recite the poem as they point to the words. They can use a yellow crayon to colour or highlight words beginning with the letter on which you are currently working.

Letter sort

Gather a variety of objects such as a pencil, eraser, pen, scissors etc. and place them in a box. Have a child reach into the box and pull out an object. The student must name the object, tell what sound he/she hears at the beginning of the word and what letter makes the sound. Once all of the objects have been removed from the box, sort them into piles so that the objects beginning with the same sound are together. (This portion of the activity works best if there is a limited number of initial sounds used. For example, you may only wish to place objects in the box that begin with ‘P’, ‘D’ and ‘T’.) Label each pile with the corresponding letter of the alphabet. Have students look around the room to find other objects that can be placed in each pile. Extend this activity for students who are ready by having them identify the ending sound or medial sound.

Letter hunt Have students search through magazines and newspapers for examples of a target letter; for example, ‘Aa’. Students can find letters in various fonts, sizes and colours. Encourage them to find several examples of both uppercase and lowercase letters. Then, have each student glue the examples on a piece of paper or a poster.

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Letter–sound activities – 2 Picture hunt Identify a target letter you want students to practise; for example, Bb. Have students look through magazines to find pictures beginning with the letter Bb. Glue all of the pictures students cut out onto a piece of paper in order to create a poster. Point to each object and have students name the word. Students can even practise isolating the initial sound. For example, if you point to a picture of a ball, students can say, ‘/b/ ball’.

Partner find Enlarge the picture and letter circle patterns on pages 61 and 62. Cut out each of the circles and laminate for durability. Divide students into two groups and provide one group with picture circles and the other group with the corresponding letters. Students work with each other to find their partners. Once everyone has found his or her partner, have the students show and announce what the picture is and the corresponding letter.

Heads or tails Determine a letter that you want students to practise; for example, Gg. Then, have a student flip a coin. If the coin lands on the heads side, the student must think of a word that begins with Gg. If the coin lands on the tails side, the student must think of a word that ends with Gg.

Cut out pictures from a magazine. The pictures should clearly show one object; for example, a desk. Glue the pictures on index cards. At the bottom of the card, punch three holes as shown in the pictures below. Above each hole, provide students an option for the initial letter of the object in the picture. Be sure to include the correct letter. On the back, draw a blue circle around the hole indicating the correct letter so students can self-check. Tell the student to say the name of the picture. The child then pokes a pencil tip in the hole that corresponds to the beginning sound of the picture. The child looks at the back of the card to check his/her answer.

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Letter–sound activities – 3 The activities on this page provide a variety of ways for students to practise identifying letters, sounds and words beginning with those sounds. Any of these activities can be extended by having students who are ready do the activity as described; however, instead of thinking of words beginning with a particular letter, students can think of a word that ends with that letter.

Can stack Cover six soft drink cans with construction paper. Write a letter of the alphabet on each soft drink can. Create a stack or line of the cans on the floor. The cans may be stacked in a variety of different ways. Make a chalk or tape line approximately 150 cm away. The first student stands on the line and tosses a beanbag in order to knock over as many cans as possible. As he or she picks up the cans, the student must name the letter on the can, the sound it makes and a word that begins with that letter. The next child takes his or her turn once the cans have been re-stacked. Students must think of new words. Words that have already been offered may not be repeated.

Beanbag toss

Locate a piece of chart paper. Using a black marker, write, in large print, six to eight letters on the chart paper. Place the paper on the floor. Make a chalk or tape line approximately 150 cm away. The first student stands on the line and tosses a beanbag onto the chart paper. The student must say the letter on which the beanbag landed (or the letter that is closest to the beanbag), the sound it makes and a word that begins with that letter. Then allow the next student to toss the beanbag.

Letter scoop Hide magnetic letters in a tub of sand or rice. Students must use a slotted spoon to scoop out a letter. Once the student has the letter in her or his hand, she or he must name the letter, the sound it makes and a word that begins with that letter. Students can take turns searching for letters until all have been found.

Sound ball Label a beach ball with letters. Have students stand in a circle. Explain that a student will throw the ball to another student who will catch the ball. The student who catches the ball will say the letter that is closest to his or her right thumb. He or she then must provide a word that begins with that letter. Then, he/she throws the ball to another child.

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Letter–sound activities – 4 Spin a letter Directions: Follow the instructions below for using the spinner. Label each section of the spinner with a letter. Use the letters students have already learnt in order to provide reinforcement. Any number of children can play the game. The first child spins. He/she must think of a word that begins with the letter on which the spinner lands. One point is awarded for each word that begins with the letter. The second child spins next. Continue until a player reaches a predetermined number of points. Extend the game by having students think of words that end with the letter on which the spinner lands. Make a spinner: Use a pencil and paperclip to act as the spinner. Hold the pencil (at the eraser) with one hand and spin the paperclip using the other hand.

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Multi-sensory activities – 1 Provide a variety of materials for students to glue on top of a letter outline. See pages 47–53 for alphabet card patterns. Enlarge the cards to suit the materials you will be using and the skill level of the students. You may use accessible objects such as beans, macaroni or rice, or you may want to use objects that correspond to the featured alphabet letter. Choose from the following objects: A – apple stickers B – beans, bird seed, buttons, bow-tie pasta C – confectionary, cotton balls, corn kernels, crayons (broken), cereal, candles, confetti, caps, corks, cotton buds D – dots, dough E – erasers, egg shells F – flour, feathers, felt, fabric, fur, flower petals G – glitter, googly eyes, glue (coloured), gauze H – hole punches, heart punches

L – leaves, licorice, lace, lip gloss M – magazine pages, macaroni N – newspaper, nuts, noodles, netting O – oats, o-shaped cereal P – packing beads, peanuts, paper curls, pipe cleaners, pasta, popcorn, peas (dried), paperclips Q – quinoa (dry) R – rice, raisins, ribbon, red rectangles, rope S – sand, seeds, sequins, pieces of sponge, salt, sticks, sugar (coloured), spaghetti, pieces of skipping rope T – toothpicks, tube noodles, twigs U – umbrellas (miniature) V – velvet, Velcro® W – white tissue, wood chips X – cardboard box pieces, floor tile separators (hardware shop) Y – yellow wool Z – zigzags (rick-rack fabric trim), zippers

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Multi-sensory activities – 2 Reinforce sounds by having students participate in movement activities that correspond to each letter of the alphabet. One approach is to have students participate in a variety of movement activities for each letter of the alphabet. Another approach is to select only one movement activity for each letter of the alphabet. Once practised, students will associate the movement with the sound and letter of the alphabet. Then, turn the movement activity into a game by displaying a letter of the alphabet. See pages 47–53 for alphabet card patterns. The cards can be enlarged as needed. Students must perform the movement activity that corresponds to the displayed letter. Continue displaying other alphabet cards. Students must change their movement to match the letter being displayed. Pretend to. . . A – fly like an aeroplane, walk like an alligator B – fly like a butterfly, blow bubbles, bounce a ball C – crawl like a crocodile, crab walk D – dance, dig, beat a drum E – walk like an elephant, roll like an egg

I – move like an inchworm, scratch an itch J – jump, juggle K – kick, hop like a kangaroo, fly a kite L – leap, climb a ladder M – march, act like a monkey

N – hammer nails, read the newspaper, nap O – wiggle arms like an octopus P – punch, pop like popcorn, put together a puzzle Q – quack like a duck, quiver, be completely quiet R – roll, read, rub your hands together S – spread, sneak around, slither like a snake, cut with scissors, skip a rope T – trot, brush teeth, hit a tennis ball U – put up an umbrella V – play volleyball W – wave, wiggle, wheelbarrow walk, act like windshield wipers, wash the car X – cross arms like an X, use fingers to make Xs in the air Y – play with a yo-yo, eat yoghurt Z – zip a zipper, act like an animal from the zoo R.I.C. Publications® – www.ricpublications.com.au

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Multi-sensory activities – 3 Set up a ‘Hands-on the alphabet’ centre and then change the activity each week. Students can simply practise individual letters or students who are ready can practise writing words. Display an alphabet chart or a list of words students can practise reading and writing. Have students practise words with the sound and letter on which you have been working. Begin with simple CVC words that you can draw or for which you have a picture. For example, if you have been teaching the letter H, include words such as hat, hut and hug. Rotate some of the following activities through the centre: Bag of paint: Fill several resealable lunch bags with two to three tablespoons (about 40 mL) of washable paint. Seal the bag tightly. Students lay the bag on a flat surface and use their hands to smooth out the paint in the bag. Children can use their fingers to practise writing letters and words on the bag. Magnetic alphabet: Provide magnetic letters and a magnetic surface, such as a baking tray for students. Students can experiment with the letters by putting them in alphabetical order or even creating words with the letters.

Shaving cream: Shake a can of shaving cream and then spray enough shaving cream to cover the palm of the child’s hand. Students can use their hands to spread the shaving cream around a pizza tray. Have the children use their fingers to practise writing letters and words.

Toothpick letters: Provide a box of flat, rounded-end toothpicks for students to use to create the shapes of letters and words. Dot letters: Provide unsharpened pencils with erasers on the end, paper and an ink pad at the centre. Students dip the eraser end of the pencil into the ink pad and use the eraser as a circle stamp in order to create the shape of letters and words. Pipe-cleaner letters: Have students practise forming letters with pipe-cleaners. Provide a variety of colours and lengths of pipecleaners at the centre. Students can bend the pipe-cleaners and, if needed, twist them together to form letters. Have them combine the letters to make words.

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Alphabet cards –1 Photocopy letter patterns for students to practise identifying and writing letters. Patterns are provided on pages 47–53. Enlarge the patterns if desired. Choose one of the following activities for students to complete using the letter pattern. Outline trace: Have each student trace the outline of the letter with one or more of the following: finger paint, pencil, marker, coloured pencil, glue, coloured glue, glitter glue or crayon. For additional practice, have him/her trace the letter more than once with a different medium. For example, the first time the student traces the letter using a pencil. The second time, have him/her use a crayon. Finally, the student traces the letter with paint and a paintbrush. Raised letters: Have each student squeeze glue on top of a letter, following the line. When the glue dries, it will be a raised surface for the student to run his/her fingers on. Add a few drops of food colouring or glitter to the glue for a special treat. Glitter glue is an excellent resource for this activity. Rainbow outline: Have each student trace around the shape of the letter. The student chooses one colour of crayon and traces around the letter or number. Then he/she chooses another colour and traces around the crayon line that was previously drawn. The child continues to select colours, tracing around the crayon line that was previously drawn. Continue this outlining pattern until reaching the edge of the paper.

a b

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Alphabet cards – 2

C D E F

c d e f

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Alphabet cards – 3

G H I J

g h i j

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Alphabet cards – 4

K k L l M m N n

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Alphabet cards – 5

o O p P q Q R r

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Alphabet cards – 6

S T U V

s t u v

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Alphabet cards – 7

W X Y Z

w x y z

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Clothes peg games Beginning sounds Reproduce the Clothes peg games onto card (pages 55 and 56). Colour the cards and write the answers on the back for self-checking. Laminate the cards for durability. Referring to the directions at the bottom of each game, write the letter that corresponds to the beginning sound of each picture on the clothes pegs. You will want to write the corresponding letter on both sides of each clothes peg. Each student takes one card and the labelled clothes pegs that go with it. Have him/her look at each picture and say the word. The student must then clip the clothes peg with the corresponding letter on the card near the picture. The student self-checks his/her answers by flipping the card over. You may wish to store the game card and the clothes pegs together in a large, resealable plastic bag.

Medial and ending sounds Once students have mastered matching initial sounds and letters, create new clothes pegs with the ending or medial sounds of the words. Use the same cards; however, be sure to mark the back of each card with the correct answer for the new directions. This way students can still self-check.

© R. I . C.Publ i cat i ons •f orr evi ew pur posesonl y• Complete the word Extend students’ understanding of how letters work together to form words. Reproduce pages 57–59 on card, cut out and colour the cards. Write the answers on the back for self-checking and laminate the cards for durability. Label clothes pegs with the vowel and consonant letters, one letter per clothes peg. Students must look at the picture on the card and identify the beginning sound. They then clip the corresponding clothes peg onto the card to be the first letter in the word. Have students practise reading the word once all of the letters of the word are in place.

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Clothes peg game – 1

Teacher note: Label each clothes peg with the letter corresponding to the beginning sound of each picture.

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Clothes peg game – 2

Teacher note: Label each clothes peg with the letter corresponding to each picture. The clothes peg for the letter ‘q’ will need to state ‘qu’.

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Clothes peg game – 3

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__eg __am

__irl

__ox

__ib

__up

__ey

__uck

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Word cards

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Phonics

Clothes peg game – 4

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__un

__est

__ing

__ueen

__an

__est

__eb

__ig

__ub

Word cards

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Phonics

Clothes peg game – 5

__p

__xe

Word cards

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__n __ip

__gg

__ool

bo__

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Phonics

Egg carton games – 1 Create egg carton games that can be used as whole class, small group or partner phonics activities. Use the letter and picture circles on pages 61 and 62 to design a game using the letters and sounds on which you are currently working, or use a variety of letters and sounds for a review. Use the directions below or alter them in order to best meet the needs of your students. Ways to extend each activity are provided, which can be used to challenge students who are ready. Consider placing the egg carton games in a learning centre once you have taught students how to play them.

Think of a word Cut out the letter circles on page 61. Determine which twelve letters you want students to practise. Glue those letters to the inside bottom of an egg carton, one letter per compartment. Provide a button to go with the game. Students are to place the button inside the egg carton, close the lid and shake the carton. Then they open the lid and look in which compartment the button landed. Students must think of a word that begins with the letter that is in the same compartment as the button. Close the lid and repeat. One to three students may play this game at a time. The children who are waiting their turn must act as checkers for the student currently playing. This game may be extended by having students think of words that end with the letter.

© R. I . C.Publ i cat i ons Cut out the picture circles on page 62. Determine the twelve pictures you want to use. Glue those twelve pictures to the inside• bottom of anr egg carton, one picture per compartment. Provide ay button to go with f o r e v i e w p u r p o s e s o n l • the game. Students are to place the button inside the egg carton, close the lid and shake the carton. Then Match the letter

they open the lid and look in which compartment the button landed. Students must look at the picture and say the word. They must then identify the letter that begins the word. Close the lid and repeat. One to three students may play this game at a time. The children who are waiting their turn must act as checkers for the student currently playing. This game may be extended by having students identify the ending or medial letter as well. Another extension is to have students match letter circles to each picture compartment. Cut out and laminate the letter circles (page 61) that correspond to each picture. Students must place the correct letter circle in each compartment to match the initial sound of the picture.

Ss W

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Egg carton games – 2

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Egg carton games – 3

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Activity sheets Make a word Photocopy page 64. Have students cut out the letters at the bottom of the page. Practise identifying the letters and the corresponding sounds. Then follow the directions below to have students make words with the letters. You may want to practise making the words with the letter cutouts the first time. Then repeat the directions again while students both make the words with the letters and write the words on the worksheet. Directions: Use the letters to make the word at. (If students have difficulty making the words, segment the sounds of the words; for example, /a/ … /t/.) Change the word at to an. Now, add a letter to change an to ant. Change one letter to change ant to and. Change and switch the letters around to change and to Dad. Change one letter to change Dad to pad.

Change one letter to change tan to tap. See if you can use the letters to make your own word. (Possible words include: tad and nap.)

Draw a letter Write each letter of the alphabet on the tip of a craft stick, one letter per stick. On the letters that are vowels, colour the tip of the craft stick red. You may want to colour on the opposite side of the craft stick from where you wrote the letter. Place the craft stick with the writing side down in a cup. This game can be played with any number of players; however, fewer than four works best. The first student reaches into the cup and draws one red-tipped craft stick (vowel) and two non-coloured craft stick (consonants) from the cup. He/she uses the three craft sticks to try to make a word. For example, if the student draws the letters a, h and t the student could make the words at and hat. One point is awarded for each word the student is able to make. The next student then takes a turn. Continue until a student reaches a predetermined number of points.

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Make a word 1.

10.

Bonus word

p Reading for success

n 64

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Missing letters Directions: Look at the pictures. Say the words. Write the missing letters in order to spell the words. 1.

a 2.

i 7.

a 3.

e e

10.

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u 65

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Short Aa Directions: Read each word. Draw a picture to go with the word. Write each word on the line.

sack

van

rat © R. I . C.Publ i cat i ons •f orr evi ew pur posesonl y• hand

cap

crab

mad

jam

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Short Ee Directions: Cut out the picture cards at the bottom of the page. Say each word. Glue the picture cards in the correct column. Write the short Ee words on the lines. Does not have short Ee

Has short Ee

bed

pig

bun

bell

cap

hen

jet

dog

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Short Ii Directions: Help the pig find his way home. Look at the pictures. Say each word. If the word has short Ii, like in pig, colour the box orange. Follow the path by saying each word.

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Short Uu Directions: Look at the pictures below. Complete each word by writing u as the middle letter. Read the word.

s t h r r

n b g g n

s b n b c

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b n t g b

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Vowel sort Directions: Cut out the pictures below. Place each picture in the column with the same vowel sound.

Short Aa

Short Ii

Short Oo

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sad

log

rip

sit

jam

man

hop

box

pig

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Short vowel match Directions: Cut out the picture cards at the bottom of the page. Glue each card under the picture with the same vowel sound.

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Missing vowel Directions: Look at each picture. Say each word. Write the missing vowel on the line. 1.

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c t c t h g p g t p t p

f f b b p p

n n g g n n

10.

11.

12.

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Same vowel sound Directions: Cut out the picture cards at the bottom of the page. Say each word. Match the picture cards to the words with the same vowel sound. Write the new word. 1.

hat

cat

pen

hen

sun

run

chin

bug

rug

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Fluency

Fluency Students who are fluent are able to recognise and read words quickly and accurately. Additionally, fluent readers have the ability to group the words of a text into meaningful sections. Fluent reading sounds much like natural speech. However, it is important to note that fluency is not merely the speed and accuracy with which a passage is read. Fluent readers read with expression and place pauses in the appropriate places in the text. Fluency instruction cannot be understated. Fluency plays an important role in students’ abilities to decode the words of a text and their ability to understand the text. If students can read fluently, they can focus on comprehension rather than simply reading (decoding) the words. Even in the early years when many students are not yet reading, there are many ways to promote fluency. Modelling fluent reading serves as an important component in early reading instruction. When students observe the teacher or a parent reading to them, they are observing many aspects of a good reader. As a teacher or a parent reads with expression, groups words into appropriate phrases and reads naturally rather than in choppy bits and pieces, students are immersed in what good reading sounds like. Additionally, students tend to emulate what is modelled for them. It is not unusual to see a young child holding a book as if she or he was the teacher, reading a patterned or predictable book in a natural manner.

Another way to develop fluency with young students is to have them learn and memorise poetry and nursery rhymes. By reciting poetry, students begin to develop an understanding of the natural rhythm and flow of language. By using other fluency instruction techniques such as choral reading, echo reading, audio-assisted reading and partner reading at a level appropriate for younger students, they begin making connections to concepts of print, as well as developing fluency for predictable and patterned text they are able to read. Fluency instruction in the early years sets the stage for reading instruction that will come later in their schooling.

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Reading aloud – 1 Most teachers are already familiar with the benefits of reading to their classes; however, the benefits are so far reaching that they bear repeating. When teachers read aloud, they are exposing their students to reading materials usually not yet available to the child, since the texts are too difficult for a student to read independently. A more difficult text also introduces students to vocabulary to which they might otherwise not be exposed. The teacher also models what an effective reader does and sounds like when reading. Reading aloud models fluent reading with appropriate phrasing, intonation, accuracy and speed. Reading aloud also models a variety of important reading concepts. While reading, the teacher is modelling the natural flow and sound of written language. By reading with expression, emphasising certain words and pausing in the correct places, students are shown that reading is more that just reading the words. Understanding of the text is built around how the words are read as well. Additionally, children gain an understanding of how a book is held, the directionality of print, the location and function of the title, author and illustrator, and even the purpose of the print itself. Because we encounter such a wide variety of texts in our daily lives, it is important to model a variety of texts to our students as well. Consider some of the types of text below and how you can incorporate them into your classroom routine. •

Cartoon strips

•

Fiction books

• •

•

Magazine articles

•

Newspaper articles

•

Nonfiction books

•

Notices and notes

•

Poetry

•

School bulletins

Although modelling reading a variety of texts is important, the reality is that books and poetry will provide the bulk of what we read to our students. Teachers can engage students by selecting quality books. See page 79 for a list of classroom favourites for young students.

The rule of five Some teachers use the rule of five when doing read-alouds in their classroom. The rule of five reminds teachers that they should read aloud to students five times each day. Although this may sound like a lot of time spent reading, especially if your school is on a half-day schedule, remember the benefits of reading aloud to young children. The five read-alouds do not have to be all books. Incorporating poetry or other types of text into your day can reinforce topics on which your class is working, as well as provide a different genre with which students may not be familiar. In addition, they take little time to incorporate.

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Fluency

Reading aloud – 2 Guest reader Having a guest reader is an excellent way to involve the school community or local community in classroom events. Some schools have a special day set aside in which they invite local community members to come into the classroom to read. You may want to organise this for your school, or simply invite a community member to your room on a particular day. Authors’ birthdays are excellent occasions to host a guest reader. Consider having your guest reader come to school on an author’s birthday and read a book written by that author. Another idea for guest readers is to invite various staff members to be special guest readers. On a regular basis, invite the principal, secretary, lunch supervisors etc. into the classroom to read. Staff members who do not spend much time in the classroom love to come and be the guest readers, and students love to see the staff members in the classroom as well. See page 77 for a sample of a letter that can be sent out as an invitation.

Parent guest readers Recruit parents to be guest readers as well. Many parents long to know what they can do to help at school. Recruit volunteers to come in to read to the class. The volunteers can come in on a regular basis—for example, monthly—or they can sign up to come in as a one-off. This is an excellent way to get male family members involved in volunteering in the classroom. The time they need to take off work is limited and it is important to have male role models reading to children, especially if you are a female teacher. The letter on page 78 can be used to recruit parent readers.

Child guest reader You have probably had students or children of your own who request the same book over and over again. Subsequently, the child knows the book so well that he or she eventually memorises the book. Often these same children can repeat the book from their memories with excellent expression. Invite students from your classroom to be guest readers. Of course, you will want students to volunteer rather than being assigned this activity. See page 77 for a sample of a letter that can be sent out to encourage parent support in helping his or her child get ready for his or her day as the guest reader. Then, on the big day, allow the child to ‘read’ the book to the class.

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Sample: guest reader letter Dear Reading plays an important role in our classroom. We read on a daily basis; however, we do like to have special guests come into our classroom to read. You are invited to be our special guest reader on at . As the guest reader, you will share a book with the children. Prior to reading the book, please be prepared to share with the children how you use reading in your professional or daily life. If you have a favourite book that is appropriate for young students that you would like to read, please feel free to bring it; otherwise, I will provide a book for you. If you would like the book in advance in order to read through it ahead of time, please let me know and I will get it to you. Thank you in advance for taking the time to be a special guest reader in our classroom. Sincerely

Teacher and students of

Sample: child guest reader letter Date: Dear Parents As you know, hearing stories plays a critical part in the lives of developing readers. Your child has indicated that he has a story which he/she can read to the class. It is alright if the story has been memorised. Your child has volunteered to read to the class on . Please help your child prepare for this event by practising with him/her and making sure that he/she brings the book to school that day. Thank you in advance for your support of our reading program.

Sincerely Teacher

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Parent readers volunteer letter Date: Dear Parents Hearing stories read aloud plays a crucial part in the lives of developing readers. Reading plays a large part in our classroom routine as well. As a class, we read on a daily basis. We do, however, like to invite special guests into our classroom to read to or with us. We are cordially inviting you to participate in our reading routine. Please review the options below and let me know if you can participate as a guest reader. I will provide a book for you to read and, if you desire, will get it to you in advance so you can look through it prior to coming to our classroom.

Thank you in advance for supporting reading in our classroom. Sincerely

Teacher

Please cut off and return this bottom portion to school. I can come read to the class on a regular basis (once a month). I can come one time to read to the class. Please contact me to schedule a date and time.

Name

Child’s name

Phone number

Best time to reach me

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Reading aloud – 3 There are many books that encourage students to participate in the reading of the text because of the predictability, repeated patterns or the rhythmic nature of the text. Provided below is a list of some classroom favourites. Students will often pick up on the patterned text and begin chiming in to help read the repeating portions of the book on the first reading. Subsequent re-readings encourage students to participate. Even though students will have memorised the patterned portion of the text, students continue to hear the teacher modelling what a good reader sounds like. In addition, by participating in the re-readings, students are practising good phrasing and expression. Many of these books are available in a big book format. Adams, Pam. (Illustrator). There was an old lady who swallowed a fly. Child's play International, 2007. Adams, Pam. This is the house that Jack built. Child's play International, 2000. Ahlberg, Allan & Janet Ahlberg. Each peach pear plum. Penguin, 1999. Berkes, Marianne. Over in Australia: Amazing animals Down Under. Dawn Publications, 2011. Brown, Margaret Wise. Good night moon. HarperFestival, 1991. Campbell, Rod. Dear zoo. Little Simon, 2007.

© R. I . C.Publ i cat i ons Carle, Eric. The very hungry caterpillar. Putnam Publishing Group, 1983. •f orr evi ew pur posesonl y• Fox, Mem. Where is the green sheep? Viking Children's books, 2004. Carle, Eric. The very busy spider. Philomel Books, 1995.

Fox, Mem. Hattie and the fox. Simon Schuster Children’s Books, 1998. Gelman, Rita Goldman. More spaghetti, I say! Cartwheel Books, 1993. Hoberman, Mary Ann. A house is a house for me. Puffin, 1982. Kubler, Annie. Ten little monkeys jumping on the bed. Child's play, 2001. Martin, Bill. Brown bear, brown bear, what do you see? Holt, Henry & Co., 1996. Martin, Bill. Kitty cat, Kitty cat, are you waking up? Two lions, 2011. Raffi. Five little ducks. Crown Books for Young Readers, 1999. Raffi. The wheels on the bus. Crown Books for Young Readers, 1998. Rosen, Michael. We’re going on a bear hunt. Aladdin, 2003. Sendak, Maurice. Alligators all around. HarperTrophy, 1991. Shaw, Charles. It looked like spilt milk. HarperCollins, 1993. Ward, Cindy and Tomie dePaola. Cookie’s week. Puffin, 1997. Westcott, Nadine Bernard. The lady with the alligator purse. Little Brown & Company, 1998. Williams, Sue. I went walking. Red Wagon Books, 1996. Wood, Audrey and Don Wood. Napping house. Red Wagon Books, 2000. Wood, Audrey. Silly Sally. Red Wagon Books, 1999. R.I.C. Publications® – www.ricpublications.com.au

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Fluency

Reading at home Demonstrate to parents and students the importance of reading by including it as part of their homework. At this age, the homework is more for parents; however, the benefits to students are critical for developing readers. The benefits of having parents read to their children are similar to those of a classroom read-aloud. Children need books read aloud to them in order to develop concepts of print, a sense of story and the rhythm and flow of written language. Samantha

You may wish to assign nightly reading and trust that parents will participate; however, many parents have commented that by having to fill out a reading diary, they end up reading to their child more consistently. By providing a reading diary, parents and students are held accountable for the daily reading they do. Encourage parents to fill out the reading diary with their child. Most classes have some sort of reading diary students must complete. Having parents and children fill out the reading diary together encourages student participation and demonstrates the purpose and how-to of a reading diary. A sample of a reading diary is provided on page 81.

Date

Title of book

Time spent Comment

1/3

I Went Walking

1/2

Hattie and the Fox

1/1

Good Night Moon

15 min

‘s reading log Parent signature

20 min 2 hour

number of books read, the number of minutes the student reads for or the number of days the student reads. You may want to consider a goal option which will encourage reading regularly. For example, you may set the goal for reading at least one book each night. Provide a monthly award for students who have met their reading goal. If you have a guest reader come to your classroom on a monthly basis, schedule him or her just after students have turned in their reading diary. Have the guest reader distribute reading awards to the students who have met their reading goals. This touch makes having the guest reader even more special to both the reader and the children.

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Monthly reading diary Research has proven the importance of reading to children. Read with your child. Record the time spent reading on the chart below and a comment about the book. The goal for each child is to read at least one book each night.

‘s reading log Date

Title of book

Time spent Comment

Parent signature

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Monthly reading awards – 1

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Monthly reading awards – 2

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Monthly reading awards – 3

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Monthly reading awards – 4

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Monthly reading awards – 5

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Monthly reading awards – 6

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Fluency

Reciting nursery rhymes – 1 Although most children beginning school are not yet reading, children this age have extraordinary memories. Make use of their interest and ability to memorise by using nursery rhymes to model language and fluency. By teaching students nursery rhymes or other simple poems, children are exposed to the rhythms and patterns of language. Nursery rhymes and poems also encourage correct phrasing and timing when recited. Initially, adults can model the nursery rhymes and poems for students. Most students easily pick up nursery rhymes. An additional benefit of using nursery rhymes and poetry is the ability to locate materials and books easily. Nursery rhymes are especially important for young children to learn. First, many children growing up today are not familiar with traditional nursery rhymes. These rhymes are often referred to in other types of literature. Familiarity with the traditional rhymes will encourage comprehension when the rhymes or reference to rhymes are encountered in other contexts. Second, most nursery rhymes are short and easy to remember, even if they are new to students. It does not take very many repetitions before students begin chiming in to recite the rhymes as well. Third, nursery rhymes rhyme. This sounds obvious; however, the rhymes assist with memorisation, as well as provide additional reinforcement to concepts such as rhyming words and other concepts of print. Finally, due to the sing-song nature of nursery rhymes, students are taught phrasing skills. To prove this point, take a nursery rhyme with which the students are familiar and try to recite it with inappropriate phrasing. For example:

© R. I . C.Publ i cat i ons •f orr evi ew pur posesonl y• Little Miss Muffet Little Miss Muffet sat/ On a tuffet, eating her/ Curds and whey along/ Came a spider who sat down beside/ Her and frightened Miss Muffet away.

Students who are familiar with the nursery rhyme will instantly know that the poem has not been recited with the proper phrasing. Use this to teach students about proper phrasing when reading or reciting text. Other simple poems that students can learn easily can be used for the same purpose of fluency instruction. There are a wide variety of poetry books available with some excellent poems. Traditional nursery rhymes can be used for fluency instruction. Some are provided on pages 91–102. Make copies of a poem for each member of your class. See page 90 for additional ideas on how to use these nursery rhymes for literacy and fluency instruction.

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Reciting nursery rhymes – 2 Although students may have already memorised the nursery rhymes, use these pages for both literacy and fluency instruction. Some of the activities listed below can be completed by the students. Other activities require the assistance of a parent, teacher or tutor in order to complete. Consider sending home the nursery rhymes as homework and assigning one of the activities below to be completed with a parent. Encourage one-to-one correspondence by having students follow along with each word as they recite the nursery rhyme. Have students use a crayon or pencil to demonstrate understanding of an area that you are emphasising in your instruction. Students can demonstrate understanding by circling, underlining, illustrating or highlighting (use a yellow or orange crayon for highlighting). For example, students can circle all the capital letters in the nursery rhyme. A filled-in sample worksheet can be found on page 90. See below for a list of concepts students can address. Use the appropriate concepts for the students you are teaching. Capital letters – Circle all the capital letters. Lowercase letters – Circle particular letters (for example, circle all of the ‘k’s). Spaces – Colour the spaces between the words.

© R. I . C.Publ i cat i ons •f rr ev ewwords pu po sesonl y• Rhyming words –o Circle pairs of i rhyming inr similar colours. Vowels – Locate and circle the vowel(s) in each word. Punctuation – Circle full stops and commas.

Substitution – Circle the rhyming words in the poem. Think of new words that rhyme with those found in the poem and write them at the bottom of the page. Additional activities to demonstrate understanding might include the following: Number of words – Count the number of words in a line. Write the number of words at the end of each line. Total up the number of words in the whole nursery rhyme. Find the letter – Indicate a letter on which your class is currently working. Locate words beginning with that letter in the nursery rhyme. At the bottom of the page, think of other words that also begin with the same letter. Illustrate the poem – Another option is to have students draw a picture to correspond with the nursery rhyme on the bottom half of the page. Students can demonstrate their understanding of the nursery rhyme using their picture.

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Example use of pages 91–102.

Humpty Dumpty Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall, Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. All the king’s horses and all the king’s men, Couldn’t put Humpty together again. Circle all of the ‘h’ words. Think of two more ‘h’ words and write them on the lines.

hat

house

Draw a picture of an ‘h’ word.

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Humpty Dumpty Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall. Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. All the king’s horses and all the king’s men, Couldn’t put Humpty together again. © R. I . C.Publ i cat i ons •f orr evi ew pur posesonl y•

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Little Miss Muffet Little Miss Muffet Sat on a tuffet, Eating her curds and whey. Along came a spider

And frightened Miss Muffet away.

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Mary, Mary, quite contrary Mary, Mary, quite contrary, How does your garden grow? With silver bells and cockle shells And pretty maids all in a row.

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Little Bo Peep Little Bo Peep has lost her sheep And doesn’t know where to find them. Leave them alone and they’ll come home, Wagging their tails behind them.

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Jack and Jill Jack and Jill went up a hill To fetch a pail of water. Jack fell down and broke his crown And Jill came tumbling after.

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Peter, Peter, pumpkin eater Peter, Peter, pumpkin eater Had a wife and couldn’t keep her. He put her in a pumpkin shell And there he kept her very well.

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Little Jack Horner Little Jack Horner sat in the corner Eating a Christmas pie. He put in his thumb, and pulled out a plum And said, ‘What a good boy am I!’ © R. I . C.Publ i cat i ons •f orr evi ew pur posesonl y•

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Little boy blue Little boy blue, come blow your horn, The sheep’s in the meadow, the cow’s in the corn. But where is the boy who ©looks after the sheep? R. I . C .Pub l i ca t i ons

•f orr evi ew pur posesonl y•

He’s under the haystack fast asleep!

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Hey diddle, diddle Hey diddle, diddle The cat and the fiddle, The cow jumped over the moon. The little dog laughed to see such fun

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Baa, baa, black sheep Baa, baa, black sheep, Have you any wool? Yes, sir, yes, sir, three bags full. One for my master, one for my dame © R. I . C.Publ i cat i ons And one boy • f orr evi efor w pthe ur plittle oses onl y•

Who lives down the lane.

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Hickory, dickory, dock Hickory, dickory, dock! The mouse ran up the clock. The clock struck one. The mouse ran down.

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Twinkle, twinkle, little star Twinkle, twinkle, little star, How I wonder what you are. Up above the world so high, Like a diamond in the sky.

How I wonder what you are.

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Student-adult reading Utilise the benefits of an adult modelling what a fluent reader sounds like by doing student-adult reading with children. Select a reading passage with which you would like a child to practise fluency. The adult (a teacher, parent, tutor or even a more fluent peer) reads the passage and a child rereads the passage. The adult has modelled both how to fluently read the passage, as well as any words that may have otherwise been difficult for the student. Repeated re-readings may be necessary for students to fluently read the passage. This technique is especially useful for modelling how a reader would read a sentence with punctuation including commas, and ending punctuation such as exclamation points or question marks. The adult first models the intonation of the passage and students re-read the passage, trying to emulate the same intonation. By hearing how a fluent reader raises and lowers his or her voice or speeds up or slows down when reading, students begin to understand the effect punctuation has on reading a text.

Echo reading For young students who are not yet reading, you may wish to do echo reading. Echo reading is when a teacher (or other adult) reads a line of text and then has students repeat or echo the same line. Usually in echo reading, the amount of text the students repeat is limited to a sentence or two. Also, because students are not yet reading but repeating the text, this opportunity can be used to draw students’ attention to the text. If using a big book, teachers can point to the words. Have students reading individual copies of the book point to the words themselves.

As you are reading, you are modelling one-to-one correspondence with the words, as well as the left to right and return-sweep. By having students point to the words too, they are practising these important concepts of print, as well as attending to the words on the page. Draw students’ attention to punctuation, emphasised words (bolded words or words in different fonts) and how those elements in the text affect your reading of it.

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Fluency

Choral reading Choral reading refers to a whole class or a group of students reading together. Choral readings begin with a fluent reader reading the book or passage of text in order to model a fluent reading. Then encourage students to participate in subsequent re-readings of the text. Depending on the text, some students may chime in on the second reading. Others may still need time to absorb the story line or patterning in the text before they feel comfortable joining in. For this reason, and to encourage fluent readings of the text, re-read the text on several occasions, perhaps over several days. Patterned and predictable books are excellent for choral readings. See page 79 for a list of well-known patterned and predictable books. Poetry also works well for choral readings due to the rhythmic nature of poetry, as well as the short length of text. Due to the nature of short poems and patterned and predictable books, students will probably memorise the text. Be sure to continue to display the text and continue to draw attention to it during readings. This emphasises that the meaning of what is being ‘read’ is coming from the print in the book.

Songs

Build on children’s love for singing in order to build fluency. Use songs for choral readings. Piggyback songs (a new song written to a familiar tune), in particular, are excellent practice for choral reading because the words are new to the children while the tune of the song is familiar. Remember, the children need access to the print. Consider photocopying and distributing the words to each child, writing the words on a piece of chart paper or displaying the words on the interactive whiteboard.

Group divisions Once students are familiar with the text, divide them into groups to re-read a text. This technique works especially well when there is a repeating line or if one group can echo another group. For example, in the song ‘Down by the bay’, one group can sing the words, ‘Down by the bay’, while the other group can repeat, ‘Down by the bay’. Continue this echoing for the remainder of the song and then switch which group sings first. Groups can be made using a variety of divisions, such as boys and girls, children with blue/brown eyes and children with brown/blonde hair.

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Audio-assisted reading Students can practise fluency by participating in audio-assisted reading. Provide the student with a CD and the book that is at the appropriate independent reading level. Have the student listen to the CD while following along in the book. The student should playback their recording, this time while reading out loud along with the story. It is important to note that audio-assisted reading is not simply listening to an audio story. The purpose of audio-assisted reading is as another means of modelling fluent reading to children, and then allowing them to practise reading fluently while re-reading the same material. The book being read should be at the student’s independent reading level. The ultimate goal is for each student to be able to read his or her book independently, with good fluency. CD and book sets are commercially available; however, consider making your own. The benefits of making your own audio CDs include the ability to use books you already own, using a slower than normal reading rate which students can follow easily and, of course, saving money, too. Use books from your classroom, especially patterned or predictable books for young children.

Partner reading © R. I . C.Publ i cat i ons Pair students to read to each other. The purpose again is for fluent reading to be modelled prior to a less fluent reader attempting to read the same passage. There are two ways in which this can be done. First, •reader f or r e vi ew pu po secan smodel onfluently l y• pair a more fluent with a less fluent reader. Ther fluent reader reading a passage

and then the less fluent reader can re-read the same passage. Some schools have implemented an upperclass buddy system in which a whole upper class comes to read with a younger class. This type of situation is ideal for having the upper graders model fluent reading and then having the younger students practise. Be sure the books selected for partner reading are appropriate for younger students to practise reading independently. Again, patterned and predictable books are ideal for this situation. A second way to do partner reading is to pair students with similar reading abilities after receiving the same instruction, during a guided or shared reading of a passage. The idea here is that the passage is not new, it has been modelled by a fluent reader, like a teacher or another adult. Students then have the opportunity to practise reading the passage fluently.

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Fluency

Readers theatre – 1 Readers theatre is the reading of a text in a play-like fashion. Although props and costumes can be involved in an elaborate readers theatre, most involve the children simply reading the text with good fluency. By performing a readers theatre, students are given an excellent reason to read and re-read a text; they are practising for a performance. Encourage student participation while practising a readers theatre script by motivating students with the promise of a performance. Invite another class, older book buddies or even parents for the performance. The readers theatre scripts provided on pages 107–115 are geared toward pre-readers. The teacher or other adult reads the portion of the script that moves the story and students respond with a refrain or simple lines that are repetitive and easy to learn. As students become more skilled at reading, there are Readers theatre scripts commercially available. Create a readers theatre It is fun and easy to create your own readers theatre. Readers theatre scripts are easy to write, especially with repetitive and patterned books. See page 79 for a list of repetitive and patterned books that can easily be adapted to a readers theatre format. For younger students who are not yet reading, the teacher or a capable reader should read the narrator parts which will carry the bulk of the plot. Students can be assigned repetitive or patterned lines.

Follow the steps below to create your own readers theatre. 1.

2. Some people find it easiest to type the entire text and then delete the portions of the text not needed. Other people edit as they type. 3. Delete lines that repeat who said them. For example: ‘Run, run as fast as you can, you can’t catch me, I’m the Gingerbread Man,’ said the Gingerbread Man.’ Delete the part that says, ‘said the Gingerbread Man’. 4. Delete lines that are not necessary to the plot. 5. Assign repetitive lines to students. 6. Assign lines to explain the plot or setting to the narrator. 7. Practise, practise, practise!

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Fables

Fairytales

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Fluency

Readers theatre – 2 Readers:

Teacher Students The three billy goats gruff

Teacher:

The three goats are hungry for something to eat.

Students: Trip, trap, trip, trap. Teacher:

But under the bridge, watch out for the troll!

Students: Trip, trap, trip, trap. Teacher:

©R I . C.Pthe ub l i ca t i o ns Over the. bridge, little goat crosses.

•f orr evi ew pur posesonl y•

Students: Trip, trap, trip, trap. Teacher:

Over the bridge, the second goat crosses.

Students: Trip, trap, trip, trap. Teacher:

Over the bridge, the biggest goat crosses.

Students: Trip, trap, trip, trap. Teacher:

Off the bridge goes the troll, and the goats have their lunch.

Students: Trip, trap, trip, trap. Teacher:

The three goats’ story has come to an end.

All:

Snip, snap, snout. This tale’s told out.

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Fluency

Readers theatre – 3 Readers:

Teacher Students The Gingerbread Man

Students: Run, run, as fast as you can. You can’t catch me, I’m the Gingerbread Man! Teacher:

Here come the old woman and the old man.

Students: Run, run, as fast as you can. Teacher:

Here © comes a. pig, Mru Gingerbread Man. R. I C .P bl i cat i on s

Students: • Run, run, as fast you can. f or r e vi ewasp ur posesonl y• Teacher:

Here comes a dog, Mr Gingerbread Man.

Students: Run, run, as fast as you can. Teacher:

Here comes a horse, Mr Gingerbread Man.

Students: Run, run, as fast as you can. Teacher:

Here comes a cow, Mr Gingerbread Man.

Students: Run, run, as fast as you can. Teacher:

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But the fox caught you, Mr Gingerbread Man!

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Fluency

Readers theatre – 4 Readers:

Teacher Students The hare and the tortoise

Teacher:

Hare and tortoise had a race.

Students: Go! Go! Slow and steady wins the race. Teacher:

Hare was fast. Tortoise was slow.

Students: Go! Go! Slow and steady wins the race. Teacher:

©R . I . C.PuTortoise bl i cat i on s Hare was running. was walking.

•f orr evi ew pur posesonl y•

Students: Go! Go! Slow and steady wins the race. Teacher:

Hare was winning. Tortoise kept walking.

Students: Go! Go! Slow and steady wins the race. Teacher:

Hare was sleeping. Tortoise kept walking.

Students: Go! Go! Slow and steady wins the race. Teacher:

Hare woke up. Tortoise kept walking.

Students: Go! Go! Slow and steady wins the race. Teacher:

Tortoise kept walking and won the race.

Students: Hooray! Hooray! Slow and steady won the race!

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Fluency

Readers theatre – 5 Readers:

Teacher Students The three little pigs

Teacher:

One pig built his house of straw.

Students: Oh, no! Oh, no! Teacher:

One pig built his house of sticks.

Students: Oh, no! Oh, no! Teacher:

©built R. I . C. Pub i cat i ons One pig his house ofl bricks.

Teacher:

Then the wolf came to blow them down.

f orpig! r ev i ewpig! pur posesonl y• Students: • Smart Smart Students: Huff, puff! Huff, puff! Teacher:

Down went the houses of straw and sticks.

Students: Huff, puff! Huff, puff! Teacher:

But he couldn’t blow down that house of bricks.

Students: Huff, puff! Huff, puff! Teacher:

Who’s afraid of the big bad wolf?

Students: Not us! Not us!

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Fluency

Readers theatre – 6 Readers:

Teacher (The Hen) Students The Little Red Hen

All:

Little Red Hen has found some wheat.

Teacher:

Who will help me plant the wheat, so we may have bread to eat?

Students: ‘Quack, not I’, said the duck. ‘Meow, not I’, said the cat. ‘Woof, not I’, said the dog.

Who will help me water the wheat, so we may have bread to eat?

Students: ‘Quack, not I’, said the duck. ‘Meow, not I’, said the cat. ‘Woof, not I’, said the dog. Teacher:

Then I shall do it myself. Who will help me sow the wheat, so we may have bread to eat?

Students: ‘Quack, not I’, said the duck. ‘Meow, not I’, said the cat. ‘Woof, not I’, said the dog. continued …

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The Little Red Hen continued Teacher:

Then I shall do it myself. Who will help me cut the wheat, so we may have bread to eat?

Students: ‘Quack, not I’, said the duck. ‘Meow, not I’, said the cat. ‘Woof, not I’, said the dog. Teacher:

Then I shall do it myself. Who will help me grind the wheat, so we may have bread to eat?

Students: ‘Quack, I’I ,. said the ‘Meow, not ©not R. C.P uduck. bl i c at i on sI’, said the cat. ‘Woof, not I’, said the dog.

•f orr evi ew pur posesonl y•

Teacher:

Then I shall do it myself. Who will help me make the bread?

Students: ‘Quack, not I’, said the duck. ‘Meow, not I’, said the cat. ‘Woof, not I’, said the dog. Teacher:

Then I shall do it myself.

* When the bread was done, all her friends wanted to eat. But the Little Red Hen ate the whole treat.

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Fluency

Readers theatre – 7 Readers:

Teacher Students The three little bears

All:

The three little bears went for a walk, and in came Goldilocks.

Teacher:

Goldilocks tasted Papa Bear’s porridge.

Students: This porridge is too hot.

Goldilocks tasted Mama Bear’s porridge.

Teacher:

Goldilocks tasted Baby Bear’s porridge.

Students: This porridge is just right! Teacher:

And she ate it all up. Then, Goldilocks sat in Papa Bear’s chair.

Students: This chair is too hard. Teacher:

Goldilocks sat in Mama Bear’s chair.

Students: This chair is too soft. Teacher:

Goldilocks sat in Baby Bear’s chair.

Students: This chair is just right.

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The three little bears continued Teacher:

But she broke the chair, so she went upstairs to the bedroom. Goldilocks laid in Papa Bear’s bed.

Students: This bed is too hard. Teacher:

Goldilocks laid in Mama Bear’s bed.

Students: This bed is too soft. Teacher:

Goldilocks laid in Baby Bear’s bed.

Students: This bed is just right. Teachers: Goldilocks asleep inb the bed. © Rfell . I . C .Pu l i c at i ons The Bears came home from their walk.

•f orr evi ew pur posesonl y•

Teacher:

Papa Bear said, ‘Somebody has been eating my porridge’.

Students: Who could it be? Teacher:

Mama Bear said, ‘Somebody has been eating my porridge.’

Students: Who could it be? Teacher:

Baby Bear said, ‘Somebody has been eating my porridge and it is all gone’.

Students: Oh, no! Oh, no! Teacher:

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The Bears went into the living room. Papa Bear said, ‘Somebody has been sitting in my chair’. 114

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Fluency

The three little bears continued Students: Who could it be? Teacher:

Mama Bear said, ‘Somebody has been sitting in my chair’.

Students: Who could it be? Teacher:

Baby Bear said, ‘Somebody has been sitting in my chair and it is broken’.

Students: Oh, no! Oh, no! Teacher:

The Bears went upstairs to the bedroom. Papa ©R . I . C .Publ i cabeen t i on s in my Bear said, ‘Somebody has sleeping bed’.

•f orr evi ew pur posesonl y• Students: Who could it be? Teacher:

Mama Bear said, ‘Somebody has been sleeping in my bed’.

Students: Who could it be? Teacher:

Baby Bear said, ‘Somebody has been sleeping in my bed and there she is’.

Students: Oh, no! Oh, no! Teacher:

Goldilocks heard all the noise and jumped out of bed. She saw the bears and ran away.

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Vocabulary

Vocabulary We use words in order to communicate, both in writing and orally. The words we know and use are our vocabulary. A rich vocabulary allows students to be effective communicators and readers. Our goal as teachers is to increase students’ vocabularies in order to help them communicate more effectively, as well as for them to more fully understand others. Students can display their rich vocabularies in both speaking and writing. Students also apply their vocabulary when reading. A rich vocabulary background leads to better reading comprehension. Children learn new vocabulary words in two ways, directly and indirectly. Most of the vocabulary students acquire is learned indirectly. Through a variety of literacy events, such as conversing with others and listening to stories, students learn new vocabulary words and how to use them. Direct vocabulary instruction includes explicitly teaching a specific word, defining the word, and showing how it is used. Through direct vocabulary instruction, students are able to hear the target word used in a variety of contexts and are provided with opportunities to practise using the word. Although students do not learn most of their new vocabulary words through direct instruction, direct vocabulary instruction is particularly important for several reasons. First, the teacher is able to introduce specialised vocabulary. If the class will be studying a unit on ‘matter,’ students need to know specialised science vocabulary words such as solid, liquid, and gas that they may not have been exposed to previously. By providing direct instruction on the words solid, liquid, and gas, students will have a better understanding of these terms, as well as the related science concepts as they are used throughout the science unit. Second, direct vocabulary instruction includes modelling and practice for how words are used in sentences. Students gradually incorporate vocabulary words into their speaking vocabulary, reading vocabulary, and writing vocabularies. This happens as students’ understanding of the word is deepened. Finally, students gain a better understanding of the variety of contexts in which a particular word can be used. It is important to note that students are constantly learning the meanings (depth) of a word as it is used in a variety of contexts.

The vocabulary portion of this book contains three sections—Developing vocabulary, Selecting vocabulary words, and Teaching vocabulary. The Developing vocabulary section provides ideas for creating a rich language environment, one in which vocabulary is developed indirectly. The Selecting vocabulary words and Teaching vocabulary sections provide ideas for ways to teach specific vocabulary words and concepts. Selecting vocabulary words contains a variety of ideas for ways to select vocabulary words on which you wish to focus. Teaching vocabulary words provides strategies for introducing, teaching, and reviewing both specific vocabulary words and vocabulary concepts.

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Developing vocabulary – 1 Use a rich vocabulary This may be stating the obvious; however, teachers can do a lot to improve student vocabulary by being conscious of using a rich vocabulary throughout the day and throughout the year. At the beginning of each month, select several words you would like to incorporate into your everyday language. See Selecting vocabulary words on pages 133–135 for ideas for choosing vocabulary. For example, you may want students to be aware of the term print. Substitute the word print for words on every opportunity you have to do so.

Read alouds Most teachers are already aware of the far-reaching benefits of read-alouds as an important way to develop vocabulary. By hearing books read aloud, students are provided with examples of rich vocabulary used in a variety of sentences and contexts. An especially useful strategy is to select books related to topics currently being studied or to select vocabulary from the books being read (see Selecting vocabulary words on pages 133–135). Students gain a better understanding of words as they hear them repeatedly and in a variety of contexts.

Realia

Bring objects from home into the classroom. By seeing and touching an object, students are more likely to remember the vocabulary word, as well as other information about the object. example, bring a stone to school when reading the book Stone soup. Either prior to, or after reading the story, discuss the word stone. How is a stone different and the same as a rock? Relating objects to a story helps to develop vocabulary, as well as helping students remember the story better. Curriculum based – Consider areas in the curriculum from which you can bring objects. For example, if you are studying plants, bring a variety of types of plants for students to observe. Many children have never seen a cactus or a Venus fly trap. Observing and learning about these plants helps students understand more about characteristics of plants and provides first hand knowledge of these terms. Usual and unusual objects – There are many objects with which students may have had limited experiences. Many of the objects can be found right in your own home. Others are easily obtained from a supermarket. Page 118 provides a list of items for you to consider. Keep adding to the list.

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Developing vocabulary – 2 List of objects. School items

Foods

Nature

hole punch shelf files poster rubbish bin bag hook easel bulletin board drawing pin globe

coconut artichoke asparagus mango papaya kiwi spring onion lime pineapple pumpkin cherries

pinecone twig dandelion seeds (especially unusual) snake skin pussy willow clover weed shells

kettle jug spatula whisk egg timer tongs rolling pin platter saucer

knuckle bones marbles checkers jack-in-the-box top robot pogo stick dice table tennis ball/paddles

Clothes gumboots raincoat cap gloves bathrobe shirt trousers sandals sandshoes

Other objects horseshoe dustpan binoculars magnifying glass calculator pliers drill

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pin cushion bucket hammock mattress lantern screwdriver anchor

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funnel spade fly swatter needle compass tape measure chest

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Vocabulary

Developing vocabulary – 3 Participation activities Early years classrooms have activities going on all the time. Use these activities to promote discussions and immediate and practical experiences with new vocabulary terms. Although some activities may take planning, the benefits far outweigh the time it takes to prepare such activities. Once you have determined an activity in which you want your students to participate, create a list of vocabulary words you want to introduce and use throughout the activity. Participating in such activities provides excellent context for students to practise using the new vocabulary words. Encourage students to use the correct vocabulary during the activity. Ideas for activities are listed below. Add to the list with ideas of your own. Cooking activities – Select cooking activities related to an area of study. For example, if you are reading ‘The Gingerbread Man’, consider baking gingerbread. Students will benefit from the literary connection, as well as be provided with a context for cooking-related vocabulary. Science experiments – Your science curriculum probably already has a number of science experiments in which your students can participate. Prior to participating in the science experiment, select vocabulary words to emphasise.

© R. I . C.Publ i cat i ons Special days – Set aside ae dayv oni which bring ane • f o rr e wstudents pucan r p os sonl y• item to school. It is good to relate the item to a topic being studied. For example, if your class is studying animals and it is appropriate, have students bring their pets to school. Be sure to talk to students about safety considerations. Plan activities related to the pets to encourage student understanding of body covering words such as feathers, fur, scales and skin and body part words such as claw, fin and paw etc. Students can observe the animals, draw pictures, write about their favourite animal, sort the animals by body coverings etc.

Other suggested participation activities Invite parents to join in and help with some of the suggested activities listed below. •

create a time capsule

•

learn a dance

•

dye eggs

•

make and fly paper aeroplanes

•

experiment with items (such as magnets)

•

plant seeds

•

excursions

•

play instruments

•

leaf rubbings

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Developing vocabulary – 4 Enlisting the help of parents in developing their child’s vocabulary is an excellent way to broaden children’s vocabularies. There are some vocabulary words that are best learned through experiences and interactions. Send home the letters below and on pages 120–124. Include all of the letters in your back-to-school packet or send one home periodically throughout the school year. Date: Dear Parents One of the best ways to develop your child’s vocabulary is to provide him/her with firsthand experiences. Through these experiences, children learn words, contexts for the words and appropriate ways to use the words in sentences. Having extensive background experiences and a rich vocabulary helps children with reading comprehension, too. Consider whether your child has had experiences with the following occupations. If your child has not been exposed to the people, jobs they perform and the locations at which they perform the jobs, consider providing them with the opportunity for them to visit these people. It may not be possible for you to provide your child the experiences with each occupation listed below; however, make an effort to expose your child to as many of these people as possible.

Has your child met a/an … • • • • • • •

artist chef clerk clown construction worker doctor electrician

• • • • • • •

farmer fire fighter judge lifeguard magician mechanic nurse

• • • • • • •

photographer pilot plumber police officer reporter singer soldier

Your child’s education will truly benefit from any experiences with these people. Sincerely

Teacher

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Developing vocabulary – 5 Date: Dear Parents One of the best ways to develop your child’s vocabulary is to provide him/her with firsthand experiences. Through experiences, children learn words, contexts for the words and appropriate ways to use the words in sentences. Having extensive background experiences and a rich vocabulary helps children with reading comprehension, too. Consider whether your child has been to the locations listed below. If your child has not visited the places listed, consider providing them with the opportunity to visit them. It may not be possible for you to provide your child with experiences with each location listed below; however, make an effort to expose your child to as many as possible. Has your child been to … • • • • • • • • • • • • •

an airport an amusement park an aquarium an automotive shop a bakery a bank a beach a bookshop a bus station a campground a chemist a circus a college or university

• • • • • • • • • •

a fair a farm a fire station a forest a hardware shop a hospital a lake a library a motel/hotel the mountains

• an office • a photography studio • a place of worship • a post office • a river • a sports event • a theatre • a zoo

Your child’s education will truly benefit from any experiences with these locations. Sincerely Teacher

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Developing vocabulary – 6 Date: Dear Parents One of the best ways to develop your child’s vocabulary is to provide him/her with firsthand experiences. Through experiences, children learn words, contexts for the words and appropriate ways to use the words in sentences. Having extensive background experiences and a rich vocabulary helps children with reading comprehension, too. Consider whether your child has seen the objects listed below. If your child has not been exposed to the following items, consider providing them with an opportunity to do so. It may not be possible for you to provide your child with experiences with each item listed below; however, make an effort to expose your child to as many as possible.

Has your child seen ... • • • • • • • • •

an attic an awning a boat a brick bunk beds a candlestick a chandelier a CD

• • • • • • • •

chopsticks an education certificate an escalator a feather duster a fire hydrant a hot water heater an ironing board a lift

• • • • • • •

a rain gutter a rope a saw a screwdriver a toolbox tweezers a workbench

Your child’s education will truly benefit from any experiences with these items. Sincerely Teacher

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Developing vocabulary – 7 Date: Dear Parents One of the best ways to develop your child’s vocabulary is to provide him/her with firsthand experiences. Through experiences, children learn words, contexts for the words and appropriate ways to use the words in sentences. Having extensive background experiences and a rich vocabulary helps children with reading comprehension, too. Consider whether your child has tasted the foods listed below. If your child has not experienced the following foods, consider providing them with the opportunity to taste them. It may not be possible for you to provide your child the option to taste each food listed below; however, make an effort to expose your child to as many as possible.

Has your child tasted ... • • • • • • • • •

avocado coconut cottage cheese cucumber eggplant garlic green beans

• • • • • • •

mango olives papaya pear pine nuts pineapple raspberries

• • • • • • •

spinach sweet potato Swiss cheese tortilla walnuts yoghurt zucchini

Your child’s education will truly benefit from any experiences with these foods. Sincerely Teacher

Safety note: If you are inviting other children to taste these foods, be sure to take into account student allergies before providing any food experiences.

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Developing vocabulary – 8 Date: Dear Parents One of the best ways to develop your child’s vocabulary is to provide him/her with firsthand experiences. Through experiences, children learn words, contexts for the words and appropriate ways to use the words in sentences. Having extensive background experiences and a rich vocabulary helps children with reading comprehension, too. Consider whether your child has seen or had experiences with the animals listed below. If your child has not been exposed to animals, consider providing them with the opportunity to visit an environment where they would see these animals. It may not be possible for you to provide your child experiences with each animal listed below; however, make an effort to expose your child to as many as possible.

Has your child seen … • • • • • • • • • • • • •

a a a a a a a a a a a a a

bandicoot bat bear bilby camel caterpillar centipede chicken cow crocodile deer dingo dolphin

• • • • • • • • • • • • •

an elephant an emu a fox a frog a giraffe a goat a goose a hippopotamus a kangaroo a koala a kookaburra

• • • • • • • • • • •

a lizard a monkey a mosquito a numbat a possum an owl a panda a peacock a pelican a penguin a pig

• • • • • • • • • • •

a a a a a a a a a a a

raccoon rhinoceros rooster seal snake starfish swan tiger turtle whale zebra

Your child’s education will truly benefit from any and all experiences with these animals. Sincerely Teacher

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Developing vocabulary – 9 Providing language experience opportunities for students is an excellent way to develop students’ vocabularies. Although a language experience can be used with the whole class, an ideal setting for a language experience is with a small group. When used with a small group, the opportunities for each child to contribute to the discussion and develop other literacy skills are greater.

Language experience Gather a small group of students around you with an object. See page 118 for ideas of objects that may be used. The questions listed below can be used as a guide for leading the discussion; however, they do not necessarily have to be followed in order. Allow students to help determine the direction of the discussion. The idea is to have a discussion in which students have an opportunity to learn more about a particular word, as well as to contribute their knowledge of the word. 1. Show students the object you brought. Allow the children to touch the object. 2. Ask them if they know what it is. If students do not know, identify the object for them. Ask them to repeat the name of the object several times with you. 3. Ask students to describe the object (colour, shape, texture etc.).

4. Ask if students know how the object is used. 5.

As students are discussing the questions above, encourage them to use complete sentences that include the vocabulary word. For example, when describing the object students could say, ‘The marionette has strings attached to its hands and feet’, or ‘I saw a man make a marionette move in a puppet show’. By including the vocabulary word as part of the sentence, the rest of the students in the group are hearing the word used in a variety of contexts which helps create a fuller understanding of the word.

Object ideas for language experiences balloon

flower

newspaper

small toys

baskets

glitter

pine cone

stamps

bracelet

globe

potato masher

stuffed animal

button

gloves

rocks

tortilla

calendar

handkerchief

rubber gloves

tweezers

candle

instrument

scarf

wand

checkers

iron

sequins

whisk

dustpan

nest

shells

wig

eye dropper

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Developing vocabulary – 10 Extending language experiences Language experiences are designed to be discussion generators; however, by extending the activity, teachers can use the experience to develop literacy skills as well. There are many ways to do this; a description of one is shown below. Consider the literacy skills on which you are currently working and determine ways to incorporate the language experience to practise those skills. By including the vocabulary word as part of the lesson extension, students are gaining additional practice with the word.

After the discussion ... 1. Have each child think of a sentence using the vocabulary word. 2. Write each student’s sentence on a sentence strip. 3. Read the sentence back to the child while pointing to each word. 4. Read the sentence with the child while pointing to each word. If necessary, hold the child’s index finger in your hand while you point to the words. 5. Have the child re-read the sentence while pointing to each word.

Have the students complete a follow-up activity using their sentence strips. Assign all students the same activity or vary the activity based on student needs. Some activities include: 1.

in the sentence.

2. Colour the spaces between the words. 3. Circle the first letter (or last letter) in each word. 4. Underline the vocabulary word. 5. Circle words from the word wall that are in the sentence. 6. Trace over the teacher’s writing with a highlighter or crayon. 7. Cut the sentence strip apart at the spaces, mix up the words and rearrange the words to form the sentence. Store the cut up sentence strip in an envelope. Students can practise ordering the sentence during free time. 8. Turn the sentence strip over and have the student write the sentence by him/herself. 9. Turn the sentence strip over and have the student write a new sentence using the vocabulary word. 10. Circle the vowels in each word.

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Developing vocabulary – 11 Young students love to share. This is an excellent opportunity for students to develop speaking skills. So, why not capitalise on students’ interests in sharing and use this as an opportunity to develop vocabulary? Many early years classrooms already have a system for sharing. Some teachers set aside time each day and a certain number of students to share during that time. Other teachers assign each child a specific day of the week on which to share. However you decide to organise your sharing, it is an excellent vocabulary development opportunity. Students who have rich vocabulary backgrounds will be modelling words and word usage. All students will be hearing words necessary for developing rich vocabularies. Listed below are ways that traditional sharing time activities can be used as a tool for developing vocabulary.

Mystery share Have students bring an item they want to share in a paper bag. The student sharing must provide three clues in order to try to get the other children in the class to guess what is in the bag. This type of sharing activity works well to develop vocabulary because students must prepare in advance what they are going to say. The clues provide additional vocabulary related to the object in the bag. See page 128 for a sample letter that can be sent home.

© R. I . C.Publ i cat i ons Determine a theme around which students must relate their sharing. The theme can be of any topic; or r e vi e ur p os eso y• however, if you• canf relate the theme to aw topic p of recent study, especially onen inl which vocabulary words Theme share

were taught, it provides yet another context for students to apply their understanding of words. For example, if you are studying animals, tell students they must share something about an animal they have at home (such as a pet) or an animal they have seen somewhere (at a neighbour’s house or at a zoo). By relating the sharing topics, students are able to apply vocabulary words that have been recently studied and hear how words relate to each other, as well as hear words used in a variety of sentences.

Current events One of the things students like to talk about the most is current events in their lives. Make the most of this by having students share about an event that has recently happened. This is an especially useful technique when the students have all shared a similar experience, for example a three-day weekend or an assembly.

Teach and tell Have your students be the ‘teacher’ of the class. We all know the vocabulary and the specialised terms of the things we know best. Capitalise on this by having the students teach the class something they know about or how to do very well. See page 129 for a sample letter that can be sent home.

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Developing vocabulary – 12 Date: Dear Parents Children love to share. Sharing Time is a specific time of the school day set aside for students to share. This time provides an opportunity for students to develop speaking skills. We will be using Sharing Time to help develop vocabulary as well. Your child . is scheduled for Sharing Time on Please help your child select an item he/she wants to share with the class, as well as prepare what he/she will be saying. The item should be placed in a paper bag. Your child must provide three clues regarding the contents of the bag. The clues should help the other students in the class correctly guess the contents of the bag. Once the contents of the bag have been guessed, your child will show the object, share any other information desired and answer questions about the object from the class. Below is a sample of how your child might go about sharing.

‘Good morning boys and girls. I have an object in my bag. Please try to guess what it is. It is smaller than my hand. It has a ring on it. You can put keys on the ring. Boys and girls, what is it? (a key chain) I got this key chain when I went to Seaworld on the Gold Coast. My mum and dad let me pick out one souvenir from the gift shop. When I look at this key chain and see the picture of a dolphin it makes me think of my holiday. I keep my key chain on the pin up board in my bedroom. Thank you. Do you have any questions?’

Please practise with your child what he/she will say. By running through the activity several times at home, your child will feel more comfortable when he/ she gets to school. Thank you for your support in making this portion of our school day a success. Sincerely Teacher

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Developing vocabulary – 13 Date: Dear Parents We have been participating in sharing time since the beginning of the year. The students are now ready for what we call Teach and Tell. This differs from simple sharing in that the child is responsible for teaching his/her classmates a simple activity or skill. Ideas include, but are not limited to, the following: • an anagram (scrambled word) • a ‘how to’ • a craft such as origami • explanation of how something works

• a logic puzzle • a maths fact •

• a science experiment

• the rules of a sport or game • a science fact • words in a foreign language The best place to begin when choosing a topic for Teach and Tell is with your child’s particular interests and hobbies. Once the decision has been made, please help your child to prepare by watching him/her rehearse, offering praise and suggesting improvements. Thank you for taking the time to help your child prepare for Teach and Tell. The more rehearsal he/she has, the better the presentation is likely to be. Sincerely Teacher

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Developing vocabulary – 14 We know that students learn most of their vocabulary indirectly, so the teacher does not have to be the one from whom all vocabulary is learned. By carefully setting up common classroom activities, you can take advantage of students with rich vocabulary backgrounds and use them as models for other students.

Dramatic play centres Dramatic play centres are common in many early learning classrooms. By providing a variety of props and a brief period of instruction, students will be immersed in a language-rich environment, one in which vocabulary naturally develops. Following instruction, students have immediate and meaningful opportunities to practise using new vocabulary. Additionally, students with rich language backgrounds and prior knowledge of the props or situations will act as models for other students. Involve students in setting up the play centre; it can become part of the instruction. Bring a variety of props in a box. Bring one object out of the box at a time. Ask students to identify and explain what it is and how it is used. Repeat the vocabulary word several times and use it in sentences in a variety of ways, especially if the item is something with which students may not be familiar. Elicit from students places they have seen each object and how they have seen the object used. Tapping in to a student’s prior knowledge will provide for a rich language discussion.

Ask a student to place the prop in the play centre in an appropriate place. The placement of the item often provides context for students who may not be familiar with the object, thus adding to students’ understanding of the word. For example, students may not be familiar with a roll of bandages or adhesive tape (suggested for use in a veterinarian office). By discussing the purpose of these objects and then placing them in the veterinarian’s bag, students begin to make the association that they are objects the veterinarian would use to help a sick animal.

Model how to play in the play centre. Any time you spend in the play centre will directly benefit students, as well as model vocabulary in action. Do not feel like you have to spend a half an hour in the play centre, since even a few minutes will help students know how they can use the items. If students visit the play centre during a learning centre rotation, consider spending the first few minutes of each rotation in the centre, especially when new props are introduced.

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Developing vocabulary – 15 Dramatic play centres (continued) Many classrooms’ dramatic play centres consist of a play kitchen and possibly some dress-up clothes. It is important to change the dramatic play area when the children appear to have lost interest in the materials. Children will not play appropriately in the area when they are no longer stimulated. By adding new props to the area, interest is renewed. Consider some of these suggestions to bring students countless hours of fun, imagination and vocabulary development. Office workers: pads of paper, old typewriter, pencils holders, pens and pencils, stamps, stapler, tape, envelopes, hole punchers, telephones, old keyboards and computers with cords removed, and pictures of office workers Flower shop: flower and garden magazines, small garden tools, garden hats, gloves, aprons, plastic flowers, silk flowers, tissue-paper flowers, vases, telephone, Styrofoam squares, baskets, cash register, play money and pictures of flowers Beach party: beach towels, sunglasses, hats, empty sunscreen bottles, small CD player, plastic fish, fish net, fishing pole, umbrellas, beach balls, picnic basket, picnic blanket, plastic food and pictures of the beach and ocean

© R. I . C.Publ i cat i ons Veterinary office: small stuffed animals, small rolls of cloth bandages, adhesive tape, cotton balls, •f orr evi ew pur posesonl y• veterinarian bag, stethoscope, disposable masks, magnifying glass, pet comb and brush, thermometer, telephone, pet travel boxes, old cages and pictures of animals

Beauty shop: smocks, snap-in curlers, hand-held hairdryers (with cords removed), towels, curling irons (with cords removed), hair pins, hair clips, empty spray bottles, empty shampoo bottles, mirrors, ribbons, bows, a telephone and pictures of hairstyles Safety note: Do not include combs or hair brushes. Camping: plastic bugs, wood for fire, water bottles, pillows, fly swatter, small tent, frying pan, spatula, sunglasses, small cooler, torch, frying pan, paper plates, utensils, sleeping bags, binoculars, fishing poles, coffee pot, plastic food and pictures of outdoor scenes Sporting goods shop: backpacks, heavy socks, helmets, cricket caps, gloves, cricket bat, football shoes, various types of balls, headbands, tennis racquets, telephone, goggles, flippers, snorkels, hand-held weights and pictures of athletes

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Developing vocabulary – 16 Dramatic play centres (continued) Consider putting together outdoor boxes such as these: Pipes: PVC pipes and elbows to be used in sand and water areas Hoops: plastic hoops to jump in, roll around, crawl through and so on Painting: painting items like buckets, aprons, several brushes in various sizes, water, paint, chalk, dish soap and paper Squirting: various squirt bottles Digging: buckets, scoops, shovels, pots and pans Transportation: cars, trains and trucks Gardening: outdoor gardening supplies including: watering cans, small hoses, plastic pots, small rakes, child-size gardening tools, gloves, kneepads, seeds and hats

* Other ideas include a bakery, petrol station, repair shop, hardware shop, supermarket, fast-food shop, doctor/nurse office, police station, fire station, post office, dentist office, restaurant and an ice-cream shop.

Australia Post

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Selecting vocabulary words – 1 Because children learn the depth of a word based on various encounters with the word, it is important to select words with which students will have a number of exposures in a short period of time. (See suggestions below for a variety of ways to select words.) It is recommended that no more than ten vocabulary words a week be formally introduced, nor more than five at one time. Because the number is limited, be selective when considering words to use. Also, select the number of words based on the amount of time you have to devote to teaching the words. Once the words have been selected, locate other materials such as books, posters, songs, charts or diagrams that contain the vocabulary. Seeing the vocabulary again in another context is not only exciting for students, but reinforces the word which helps them build their understanding of the word. For all of the suggestions for selecting vocabulary, it is important to keep in mind that the vocabulary must be meaningful to the student. Select words the student can immediately incorporate into his or her vocabulary. Repeated practice and hearing the word in a variety of contexts will help students become more comfortable with their knowledge of the word, and thus they will begin to use it in their everyday conversations.

Topical

Words can be selected based on a unit of study. Teach vocabulary words from a thematic unit of study or from curricular areas such as science, social studies, maths, health or physical education. For example, if you will be teaching a unit on weather, it is an excellent time to introduce words such as sprinkle, storm and shower. Preview the materials you will be using to teach in order to select appropriate words.

Literature selection Consider selecting words from a piece of literature that you will be studying or even just reading aloud. Students’ comprehension of the text will increase as they will understand more words from the literature.

Grouping words Students can develop a better understanding of vocabulary words when similar words are grouped together. For example, when reading the story Make way for ducklings by Robert McCloskey, it is helpful for students to have an understanding of some of the geographical terms used, such as pond, river and island. Although there are many other vocabulary words that could be selected from this book, by selecting geography-related terms, students will be able to learn the terms in relationship to the other words, as well as how they are individually used in the book.

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Selecting vocabulary words – 2 Opposites Students who have a good understanding of antonyms can benefit from vocabulary words that are opposites. For example, if you wanted to use the vocabulary word ill, you may also select the word well. By using both words as vocabulary words, they can be compared and contrasted allowing the students to get a fuller sense of the meaning of each word. This is an especially useful strategy when students are already familiar with one of the words.

Multiple meanings Enrich students’ vocabularies by selecting words with multiple meanings. To begin with, it is suggested that you select words for which students already know one meaning. For example, students already know the meaning of the word foot. It is the body part at the end of a leg. But what about the foot of a ladder, the foot of a bed, the foot on a piece of furniture? These are all ways in which the word foot can be used.

Synonyms Synonyms are excellent words to use for vocabulary instruction. We often use a variety of words to say the same thing. Think about the words we can use to say sad—unhappy, gloomy etc. Teach students a variety of ways to say words that they use in their everyday speaking.

example, students understand the sentence, ‘It is raining outside’. Introduce students to the distinctions we can make about how hard it is raining. For example, we can use these words to explain rain: sprinkling, pouring and drizzling. Introduce students to words that add distinction in order to make the ways in which the word is used more specific.

Words encountered in worksheets There are many words we take for granted that students understand. Take a look at words from your phonics program and consider some of those words for vocabulary words. There are many CVC (consonant, vowel, consonant) words students are expected to read, and yet we never spend more than a second or two explaining them. For example, nip, gap, jug and den are not unusual for younger students to encounter. However, many students do not have a good understanding of the definitions of these words.

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Selecting vocabulary words – 3 Location words In, on, around—although these words may seem simple and students have undoubtedly heard these words used before, location words are tough words for many early childhood students to fully grasp and use appropriately. Consider identifying location words that you have noticed students have had a difficult time using appropriately. Use these words as vocabulary words in order to deepen student understanding of how these terms can be used.

School events There are many events at school in which students participate that generate opportunities to develop vocabulary. For example, have your students ever carefully considered the word assembly? Think about the regularly and specially scheduled events in which your students participate. You may even want to consider events that students may have heard about through older siblings but are not yet old enough to participate. For example, a young student may not be on the athletic team; however, he or she may be curious about what an athletics competition is.

Idioms

Students don’t usually encounter a formal study of idioms until later in their schooling years; however, consider including idioms as vocabulary terms as they relate to topics of study. For example, if you are studying a unit on weather, in addition to the words sprinkle, downpour and storm, consider adding the sentence, ‘It’s raining cats and dogs’.

Familiar words Not all vocabulary words have to be new. Study familiar words, too. Students enjoy being able to recognise words and participate in sharing their meanings. By including words familiar to students, you may be able to expand students’ understanding of how the word can be used.

Similar sounds Do you have students in your class who think that in the alphabet song, the letters L, M, N, O and P are all one word, LMNOP? Without direct instruction, there are many words that sound similar to students until distinctions are made. As these words come up in your classroom, add them to your vocabulary list. For example, many students think the words locks and lots are the same word. By providing instruction in how these words sound different and look different when we spell and read them, students gain an understanding of both of the words.

Holiday related There are many holiday-related words with which students may not be familiar, especially for terms that are used only once a year. Consider the upcoming holidays and select vocabulary words based on themes of the holiday. For example, for St. Patrick’s Day, you may select vocabulary terms such as leprechaun, Blarney stone, ‘top o' the morning’ or shamrock.

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Teaching vocabulary – 1 Picture/Word dictionary This method of vocabulary instruction is particularly useful when introducing vocabulary that students will encounter in a book. Select several (usually no more than five) vocabulary words which you want students to learn. The words do not necessarily have to relate to each other; however, it is helpful to students if they do. If many of the vocabulary words will be new to students, it is nice to include at least one word with which students are already familiar. Photocopy and distribute page 137 to each student. You may wish to do the activity with students on an overhead transparency or interactive whiteboard. Write a vocabulary word at the bottom of each square and then as you explain the word to the students, draw a simple illustration to correspond. Students should also write the word and draw a picture. The vocabulary dictionary can be cut and assembled into a small book if desired.

‘Quarter’ a word

Choose a word to ‘quarter’ together as a class or small group. Fold a piece of paper into four sections or draw a rectangle on the whiteboard and divide it into four sections. In the first section, write the vocabulary word. In the second section, write a definition of the word. The definition can either be looked up in the dictionary or the word can be defined by the students. The third section contains a picture of the word. The picture can either be drawn or cut out from an old magazine. The final section includes a sentence that demonstrates how the word is used.

Vocabulary word

Definition

magnet

A piece of iron or steel that attracts certain metals.

Picture

Sentence I picked up the paperclips with a magnet.

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Picture word dictionary

Vocabulary by

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Teaching vocabulary – 2 Ask questions Often by pooling students’ understanding of a word, the class comes up with a thorough and deeper understanding of the word. Ask questions that help provide context of the vocabulary word. For example, for the word pup you might ask the following questions: What is a pup? What is another word for a pup? Where would you see a pup? Ask as many of the 5Ws + H questions (who, what, where, why, when, how) as are applicable to the word being studied. Chart student responses on a web in order to document the conversation.

Pantomime This activity is excellent for reviewing vocabulary that students have been recently taught. Whisper a vocabulary word in a student’s ear. The student must use pantomime in order to try to get his or her friends to guess the word. Have the student who guessed the word use it in a sentence. Divide the class into teams and turn the activity into a game. Keep score to determine a winning team.

Riddles Provide clues in order to introduce a vocabulary word. This activity works best if students are already familiar with the word and you are going to use the vocabulary word to deepen students’ understanding of the word. Here is an example:

Have students create riddles in order to practise and review vocabulary words already introduced. Students can work in partner pairs in order to come up with their own riddles.

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Teaching vocabulary – 3 Cloze activities Cloze activities are an excellent way to practise applying vocabulary words. In cloze activities, key words of a sentence are left blank, covered up or blocked out. Students must use the context of the sentence in order to appropriately fill in the missing word. Cloze activities can be used to introduce vocabulary words; however, they work best when students are familiar with the words, and more review and application is needed. It is suggested that other strategies be used for introducing the vocabulary words, and then use the cloze activities to review and apply the target words. Following are several cloze activities that can be used for developing vocabulary.

Introducing words Cloze procedures for introducing vocabulary work best if the vocabulary words do not relate to each other, especially if students are not at all familiar with the words. Students can then practise using the context of the sentence in order to determine the word that best completes the sentence. For example, if the vocabulary words you are introducing are herd, bow and stork from the story Bringing the rain to Kapiti Plain, the following cloze sentences could be used. stood on one foot. © R . I . C.Publ i cat i ons The of elephants protected the baby elephant. • f o r evi ew pu ptheo sesonl y• and arrow to r shoot target. I used my r The

Review in context Review vocabulary words in the context of several related sentences or a small paragraph. This strategy works especially well when several vocabulary words have been selected that relate to each other. For example, if vocabulary words related to a science topic (insects) have been selected, provide a cloze activity in which all of the words are connected, as in a paragraph.

Vocabulary words abdomen arthropods Insects are Insects have three ,

body legs head thorax . All insects have six . parts. The body parts are called the and the .

Consider using a simple paragraph from a related book or story that includes the vocabulary. Copy the sentences onto sentence strips or chart paper, deleting the key vocabulary words to create cloze sentences. By introducing related vocabulary and then having students practise the vocabulary in a cloze procedure such as the one described above, students are able to practise both reading the words in context, as well as developing a better sense of how the words relate to each other. R.I.C. Publications® – www.ricpublications.com.au

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Teaching vocabulary – 4 Multiple answers You may wish to design cloze sentences to work with a variety of related vocabulary words on which you are working. For example, if students are learning about community helpers, a sentence such as, ‘A is a community worker’, may be used to demonstrate how a number of vocabulary words will work within the same context. Students can try inserting the names of a variety of community helpers in the sentence in order to see that all make sense. • A fire fighter is a community worker.

• A police officer is a community worker.

• A rubbish collector is a community worker.

• A mayor is a community worker.

Reveal a letter Occasionally, students will have a difficult time determining the missing word in a cloze sentence, or, as in the activity above, multiple answers may apply to a particular sentence. A way to help students determine the missing word is to reveal the first letter. This will often provide students with enough support to help them determine the word. Depending on the word, you may need to reveal several letters. For example, if the word begins with a blend, you may wish to reveal the first two or three letters for an added clue.

© R. I . C.Publ i cat i ons Whiteboard/Chart paper – The easiest way to use this technique is to simply write the cloze sentence on a •f rwhere r ev e w word pu r po se so l y•and can be whiteboard or chart with ao blank thei missing belongs. This requires non preparation Strategies for using cloze activities

done spontaneously as appropriate within your class schedule.

Sentence strips – Write the cloze sentences on sentence strips. Leave a blank where the missing word belongs. Place the sentence strips in a pocket chart. Vocabulary words can be written on index cards and used in the blanks. This strategy is particularly useful for trying a variety of vocabulary words within each sentence. Doing so helps students understand how context relates to vocabulary. Additionally, the process of elimination can be demonstrated for determining the correct word. Cover-ups – Use sticky notes to cover up key words. Use sentences from any text used in teaching such as songs, poems, big books, posters and sentence strips. When the correct missing word is determined, reveal the completed sentence by removing the sticky note.

There was an old woman who lived in a shoe

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Teaching vocabulary – 5 Sentence variation Use target vocabulary words in a variety of sentences. By hearing the words used in a variety of sentences and, if appropriate, a variety of contexts, students deepen their understanding of the word and how it is used in our language. Consider the word builds and how students’ understanding of it can be deepened through its use in a variety of sentences. A construction worker builds the house. A bird builds a nest with grass. The boy builds with the blocks. The excitement builds as the wedding approaches. He builds a shelf to hold the microwave.

© R. I . C.Publ i cat i ons Use words with• multiple meanings ini order to develop students’ understanding ofy the • variety of meanings f o r r e v e w p u r p o s e s o n l a word can have and how its context helps determine the meaning of the word. Be sure to differentiate Multiple meaning words

between the various ways in which a word can be used. This is especially important when words that students are very familiar with and use on a regular basis are used in ways new to the students. The examples below show a variety of meanings the word foot can have. The quilt was at the foot of the bed. Put the shoe on your foot. I kicked the foot of the chair. We travelled by foot. Put the foot of the sewing machine down to start sewing. The year the poem was published was in the footnote. The dancer did fancy footwork.

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Teaching vocabulary – 6 True/False True/False is an excellent game to play with students in order to review vocabulary. Think of several statements about a vocabulary word you want to review. Some of the statements should be true and some should be false. Read the statements to the children, one at a time. Students must determine if the statement is true or false. For example, the following statements could be made for the vocabulary word gumboots. I wore my gumboots to school when it rained.

(True)

Mum made gumboots for dinner.

(False)

Her gumboots kept her feet dry.

(True)

Tim keeps his gumboots near his raincoat.

(True)

We grew gumboots in the garden.

(False)

Determine a movement students can perform if a statement is true and another movement if the statement is false. For example, if the statement is true, students can show ‘thumbs up’. If the statement is false, students can show ‘thumbs down’. True/False can also be turned into a game by dividing students into teams and having them compete against each other. Keep score to determine a winning team.

Five senses Help students develop a fuller understanding of a word by using their five senses. Bring an object to school which is related to a vocabulary word. Obviously, this activity will need to be modified if an object cannot be tasted. Create a chart on which to record student observations. A column for each sense that will be used should be included. Label each column with one of the five senses. Allow students to observe the object. Record their findings on the chart.

Coconut See round

Touch hard

brown

hairy

Hear liquid

Smell sweet

Taste sweet

fuzzy

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Teaching vocabulary – 7 Classifying and categorising Classifying and categorising are important vocabulary building activities. Students build on their understanding of how words are used, as well as the relationship of one word to another. Below are several categorising and classifying activities that can be done with students.

Fits the category In this activity, the teacher names a category and students must provide examples of words that fit in the category. For example, the teacher may say, ‘Colours’. Students must list colour words such as blue, red, yellow and green. See page 144 for a list of suggested categorises. This activity is excellent for those five minutes before the recess bell rings.

Picture sort Photocopy the picture cards on pages 145–148 onto card. Colour and laminate if desired. Provide a group of pictures for students to sort. Begin by providing pictures from only two groups. For example, place the pictures of the pen, car, pencil, bus, truck and crayon in a pocket chart. Have students sort the pictures into two groups. Students should identify the car, bus and truck as one group and the crayon, pen and pencil as the other group. Have students name other items that would fit in each category. For example, students could name van to go in the same category as car, bus and truck. As students become skilled at sorting the pictures with similar characteristics, increase the number of groups.

Challenge students to name the characteristic that is similar to all items. Many times students will be able to sort the pictures; however, they will not be able to name the characteristic similar to all items. When introducing the activity, simply name the category for students. As students become more skilled with sorting and classifying, they will be able to name the category more easily.

Name the category Once students are skilled at naming items in a category, reverse the teacher/student roles. In this activity, the teacher names the items and the students must name the category. For example, teacher says, ‘coin, dollar cents’. Students should respond that the category is money. Sometimes, there will be more than one title that can be given for the words listed. Discuss the options and decide if one title is more appropriate or specific than the other.

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Teaching vocabulary – 8 Use these categories with the activity Fits the category on page 143.

Things for a baby Things in a bathroom Things in a child’s room Things in a classroom Things in a kitchen Things people collect Things that are blue (or any other colour) Things that are cold Things that are hot Things that go Things that hold other things Things that need electricity Things that tickle Things to do on the playground Things used on a rainy day Things used on a sunny day Things you can read Things you eat for breakfast Things you eat for dinner Things you eat for lunch Things you find at the beach Things you find at the supermarket Things you find in a tree Things you find in the ocean Things you find outside Things you need to go camping Things you turn on

Animals Animals that lay eggs Animals that live in the water Animals that live on land Careers Cartoons Clothes Colours Dinosaurs Fairytales Farm animals Flowers Foods Fruits Furniture Instruments Jewellery Jungle animals Kinds of meat Parts of an animal’s body Parts of the body Plants Sources of light Sports Tools Toys Vegetables Vehicles

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Teaching vocabulary –9 Writing tools

Vehicles

Fruits

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Teaching vocabulary – 10 Parts of the body

Things you take camping

Farm animals

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Teaching vocabulary – 11 Clothes

Things you can sit on

Types of weather

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Teaching vocabulary – 12 Things you can open

Utensils

Things that grow

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Comprehension

Comprehension We read in order to gain meaning from a text. Thus, comprehension instruction is crucial to teaching reading. Good readers read in order to derive meaning from a text for a purpose. Some reading is done to gain some type of assistance, perhaps from a recipe or for directions. Other reading is undertaken to increase knowledge. Still other reading is done strictly for pleasure. Good readers also actively participate while they are reading. They are engaged in gaining meaning from the text and have strategies for maintaining their understanding when problems arise. Good reading instruction provides students with both a purpose to read and strategies for monitoring their comprehension. Because comprehension, gaining meaning from a text, is such a critical element of reading, it is important to teach students how to monitor themselves when they are reading. Students need to know when their understanding of the text has broken down, and ways they can resolve the comprehension problem. Good instruction in comprehension teaches students strategies they can use for monitoring comprehension, as well as practice in using those strategies on a variety of texts. At the early level, students will most likely not read texts independently until later in the school year. (See the Fluency section on how young students can read with patterned and predictable books.) Much of the reading in the classroom will be done by an adult. Although most students will not be able to read texts independently, comprehension activities can still be used with students. In fact, it is critical that students be given comprehension instruction so that they can begin to understand the purpose of reading, as well as begin to practise comprehension strategies.

• The first part of the section is devoted to activities that can be done when an adult, such as a teacher, reads the text to the students. The activities are mainly whole-class activities to be guided by the teacher. Refer to pages 150–160. • The last several pages provide practice with simple sentences that can be used to have students practise reading and demonstrate comprehension. Refer to pages 161–169.

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Thinking aloud Thinking aloud is an excellent way for teachers to model good reading comprehension strategies for students. When reading a text, occasionally stop and say aloud what you are thinking as you read the text. You may wish to model making a prediction about what may come. You may wish to comment on an aspect of the corresponding picture. Whatever comprehension strategies you model, it is important because students emulate what they see. Showing students how to predict, clarify, ask questions and summarise while actually reading a text is powerful. Students can see how these tools for comprehending a text can be used while reading.

Graphic organisers Graphic organisers are excellent for teaching students about relationships in a text and help break down the whole text into manageable pieces. The graphic organiser also shows the relationship of those pieces to each other. There are many graphic organisers available for use with a variety of types of texts and at the early level, most would be filled out together as a class. The teacher can either reproduce the graphic organiser on an interactive whiteboard or chart them on butcher paper. In either case, students should be able to see the graphic organiser and participate in completing it. By participating in the process students are deepening their understanding of the text, as well as receiving guided practice both in how to complete graphic organisers and how to use them to increase comprehension. Students gain important insight into what types of information they should be looking for when reading a text. Provided on pages 151–154 are graphic organisers that can be used with a variety of types of texts.

The Story map on page 151 can be used to show important elements of a story. The Sequencing map on page 152 can be used to show the sequence and timing of a plot. The Venn diagram on page 153 can be used to compare two books or two elements from the same book; for example, two characters or two settings. The Text web on page 154 is especially useful for identifying important related aspects of a nonfiction text. See page 155 for an example of how each of these graphic organisers can be used.

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Author

Title

Problem

Characters

Story map

Solution

Setting

Comprehension

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Sequencing map Illustrate the beginning, middle, and end of the story.

Beginning

End

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Venn diagram

Comprehension

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Text web

Comprehension

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Graphic organiser examples Story map Title

Setting

Beginning

The Paper Bag Princess

Castle

A caterpillar hatches from an egg.

Dragon’s cave

Middle Characters

The caterpillar eats and eats and eats. He makes a cocoon.

Princess Elizabeth Prince Ronald Dragon

End

Solution

The dragon captured Prince Ronald.

The princess tires the dragon out so he has to take a nap. The princess rescues Prince Ronald.

The caterpillar emerges from the cocoon as a beautiful butterfly.

Text web Venn diagram each has a unique pattern 3 pigs wolf

The true story of The three little pigs

The three little pigs

straw house

huff and puff

stick house

sneezes

brick house

baking a cake for granny

mean wolf

houses blown down

eat grass

live in herds

Zebras

have soft lips

nice wolf run fast

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Stop and predict – 1 Good readers are continually making predictions and revising their predictions based on what they have read. Encourage students to make and revise predictions by stopping when reading a story and asking them to make predictions about what will happen next. This activity can be done orally or by using page 157. Photocopy one copy of page 157 for each student. When reading a story, stop and have students draw a picture about what they think will happen next in the story. Allow several students to share their predictions with the class or have all students share their predictions with a partner. Be sure to encourage students to include why they made the prediction they did. Then, continue to read the story. If appropriate, stop again and have students revise their predictions. A great way to check for comprehension when you are finished reading the story is to have students draw a picture about how the story ended.

Write an ending Another interesting way to complete this activity is to have students write the end of the book. Warn students ahead of time that you will not be reading the end of the book. Then read the book, stopping halfway, or at a critical point in the book, and have students write an ending. In essence, this is a prediction for how the book will end. Students will need to demonstrate their understanding of the book by including feasible endings that incorporate events, characters and settings from the beginning of the book. Often, the students will come up with better endings than are in the book. (Note: If possible, arrange for additional adult help with this activity.)

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Stop and predict – 2 My prediction

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Summarising Story frame Summarising a book provides an excellent comprehension check. Summarising a text is a difficult thing for many students to do. They often want to include details that are unimportant to the main idea of the text. An excellent way to have students practise summarising is to have them complete a story frame. The story frame on page 159 can be used to help direct students to the most important ideas to be included in the summary. There is little room for students to get off track. The story frame on page 159 is especially designed to be used with fiction materials. The important book language pattern described below can also be adapted for use with a fictional text.

‘The important book’ language pattern The text pattern on page 160 is based on the language pattern from Margaret Wise Brown’s book The important book. This story is an excellent read-aloud that students enjoy; however, the benefits of using the book and sentence patterns from the book are far-reaching. Once students become familiar with the patterns of the text, it can be used as a summary tool with other texts being read. See the example below for a summary of a science unit on matter. The critical thing that a language pattern does is to confine students to include only the most important pieces of information in the summary. Although this language pattern will work for fiction texts, it is especially useful with nonfiction texts.

matter is everywhere takes up space. has mass. can take three forms. can be a solid. can be a liquid. can be a gas. matter is everywhere

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Story frame Title: Author: A problem begins when . Next,

Then, . The problem is solved when . The story ends .

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is that it is

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But the important thing about

The important thing about

The important language pattern

is that it

Comprehension

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Short Aa sentences Cut out the sentences at the bottom of the page. Read each sentence. Glue the sentence in the grey box below the picture that matches the sentence.

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Short Ee sentences Cut out the sentences at the bottom of the page. Read each sentence. Glue the sentence in the grey box below the picture that shows the sentence.

The hen has a bell. The nest has eggs. Ned is wet. The men have a net. Reading for success

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Short Ii sentences Read the sentence beneath each box. Draw a picture to illustrate each sentence.

The kid can dig.

The pig has a ring.

The king can sit.

The pin will fix the rip.

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Short Oo sentences Read the sentence beneath each box. Draw a picture to illustrate each sentence.

The dog is on a log.

The dog is on top.

The dog can mop.

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Short Uu sentences Read the sentence beneath each box. Draw a picture to illustrate each sentence.

The bug is in the sun.

The tub is on the rug.

The mug is by the bun.

The cub can run.

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Colour the robot Colour the

s red.

Colour the

s blue.

Colour the

s yellow.

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What colour is it? Read the sentences. Colour the pictures.

The sun is yellow.

The grass is green.

The bear is brown.

The heart is red.

The pumpkin is orange.

The bird is blue.

The hat is black.

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How many? Read the sentences. Draw a picture to match the sentence.

Here are two

Here are four

Here are seven

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Here are three

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Animal names Read the animal names. Draw a line from the animal name to the picture of the animal.

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Answers – 1 Page 16 The pot should be matched with the pin. The bat should be matched with the bus. The wig should be matched with the web. The ten should be matched with the tub. The ring should be matched with the rat. The can should be matched with the cat. The (person) digging should be matched with the dog. The fish should be matched with the fan. Page 17 The bug should be matched with the log. The map should be matched with the top. The fan should be matched with the sun. The bed should be matched with the sad (face.) The net should be matched with the hat. The hill should be matched with the ball. The six should be matched with the fox. The fork should be matched with the cake.

Page 64 1. at 2. an 3. ant 4. and 5. dad

6. pad 7. pat 8. pan 9. tan 10. tap

Page 65 1. cat 2. tap 3. bed 4. pen 5. wig

6. pin 7. log 8. mop 9. tub 10. run

other: tad nap

Page 67 Has short Ee: bed, bell, hen, jet Does not have short Ee: pig, bun, cap, dog

Page 18 Nail: nut, nest, nose Can: fan, sun, pen

Page 69 Students should write u as the medial letter in all of the words.

Page 20 The following pictures should be crossed off: hen cat log fan cup van Page 21 The following pictures should be crossed off: rat pin duck sun can tub

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Students should colour the following boxes: wig, king, bib, pin, hill, chin, dig, ring, fin

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Page 70 Short A: sad, jam, man Short I: sit, rip, pig Short O: log, hop, box Page 71 The cat should be matched with the fan. The net should be matched with the bed. The bib should be matched with the pig. The pot should be matched with the dog. The bug should be matched with the bun.

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Answers – 2 Page 72 1. cat 2. cot 3. hug 4. pig 5. tap 6. top

Page 163 Accept any picture that illustrates the sentence.

7. fan 8. fin 9. bag 10. bug 11. pin 12. pan

Page 73 1. cap 2. ten 3. bun/jug 4. fin 5. jug/bun Page 161

Page 164 Accept any picture that illustrates the sentence. Page 165 Accept any picture that illustrates the sentence. Page 166 All circles should be coloured yellow. All rectangles should be coloured blue. All squares should be coloured red. Page 167 Teacher check

168 © R. I . C.PPage u b l i cat i ons Students should draw: 2u hearts 4s flowers •f orr evi ew p r pose onl y• 1 cloud 7 smiley faces 5 balls

A man has a hat. A dad has a van.

6 crayons 3 stars 10 dots

Page 169

dog A rat has a can.

A cat has a map.

hen

Page 162

cat pig

Ned is wet.

The nest has eggs.

bug

The men have a net. The hen has a bell.

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