Unit 6: Teaching Letter-Sound Associations

Barriers to Learning Letter-SoundsTeaching Letter-Sounds

“…teaching children all the letters of

the alphabet is not easy, particularly

when they come to school knowing

few of them.”

National Reading Panel

Letters are abstract shapes that convey no meaning to the uninitiated.

A B C D E F G HA B C D E F G H

Letters Are Abstract Shapes

“...There are 52 capital and lower-case letter shapes, names, and sounds to learn.”

Shape: H h

Name: aich

Sound: /h/

National Reading Panel

Letters Are Abstract Shapes

H h

BB ““bee”bee” PP ““pee”pee”

DD ““dee”dee” TT ““tee”tee”

Letter-Names May Sound Alike

What is this?

What is this?

q

b d

p

Letter-Shapes Are Often Similar

b d p qb d p q h n u mh n u m

V W MV W M l i jl i jl i jl i j

The shapes of many letters are similar, and, therefore, easily confused with one another.

G g G g ggG g G g gg

D d D d

Letter Forms Are Often Different

A a aA a a

E e E e

Each letter has two or more forms that may look very different.

7 pairs of letter-sounds differ only in that 1 is unvoiced and 1 is voiced.

/b//p//p/

/d//t//t/

/v//f//f/

/g//k//k/

/j//ch//ch/

/z//s//s//th//th//th/

Quiet SistersQuiet Sisters Noisy Sisters

Unvoiced and Voiced Letter-Sounds

Letter-names that begin with the letter-sound:

b - “bee” k - “kay” t - “tee”

Letter-names that end with the letter-sound

f - “eff” l - “ell” x - “ex”

Letter-names not containing the letter-sound:

c - “see” h - “aich”

Letter-Sounds In Letter-Names

Activity: Sounds in Letter-names::

Add all of the

consonants to the chart.

b d j k p t v z (c, g)

f l m n r s x

Letter-names that begin with the letter-sound:

Letter-names that end with the letter-sound:

Letter-names not containing the letter -sound:

c g h q w y

Sounds In Letter-Names

Barriers To Alphabet Learning

Letters are abstract.

Shapes for different letters are similar.

Capital/lowercase may be different.

Relation of letter-name to sound inconsistent.

pbdq

R r N n

dubuyu /w/

More Barriers: Slow Retrieval

mm

Uh, uh…uh, don’t tell me…uh…m!

More Barriers: Slow Retrieval Of Letter Names And Sounds

“Letter learning requires retaining

shapes, names, and sounds in

memory and in fact, overlearning

them so that letters can be

processed automatically in

reading and writing words.”

“Letter learning requires retaining

shapes, names, and sounds in

memory and in fact, overlearning

them so that letters can be

processed automatically in

reading and writing words.”

National Reading Panel Report, 2000, p. 2-125

Unit 6: Teaching Letter-Sound Associations

Barriers to Learning Letter-SoundsTeaching Letter-Sounds

Instructional Principles Applied To Letter-Sounds

Assessment

Sequential & Systematic

Direct and Explicit

Teach to Mastery & Automaticity

Multisensory Strategies

Felton & Lillie, 2001

Strategies For Students With Naming/Retrieval Problems

Begin with a small set of items

Provide cues

Provide extensive practice - over learning

Practice in two directions: Sound to letter and letter to sound

Avoid guessing

Felton & Lillie, 2001

Activity

Review sequences of letter-sound associations

What are the key things to consider when determining appropriate sequence? Is a vowel taught? Types of Consonants (continuants/stops) Voiced/unvoiced Names of letters

How many words can you make using the first 11 letters?

Recipe for Reading: c, short o, short a, g, m, l, h, t, short I, j, k, p, ch, short u, b, r, f, n, short e, s, sh, th, w, wh, y, v, x, and z.

Letterland: c, short and long a, d, m, t, s, short and long I, n, g, o, p, e, u, k, l, f, b, j, r, q, v, w, x, y, and z.

Fundations: t, b, f, m, c, short a, short I, r, short o, g, d, s, short e, short u, l, h, k, p, j, w, z, q, y, x.

Carreker: short I, t, n, s, short a, l, d, f, h, g, short o, k, c, m, r, b, short e, y, j, u, w, v, x, z, qu

Begin With A Small Set Of Items

Possible set of letters:

vowels: a i a i consonants: b t s f mb t s f m

Appropriate words: Appropriate words:

at am it if bat bitat am it if bat bit

tab Tim sat Sam sit fat tab Tim sat Sam sit fat fit fib matfit fib mat

Inappropriate words: Inappropriate words:

is as Ma aimis as Ma aim

Provide Cues

Types of cues: Picture

Gesture

Key word

Stories, chants, rhymes

Embedding Letter-Shape And Picture Cue

S fhh

ZOO PHONICS

Cues For Short Vowels

a apple /a/e edge /e/ o octopus /o/

u up /u/ i itch /i/

Video: Cues for Vowels

Please click on the video below to play.

a

a…a…a… Oh, no, here comes Bossy

R. He’s such a bully.

R...r...r…r

rYou vowels think you are so special—just because you have to be in every word.

From now on when you come before me, you have to say my

name.

The Story of Bossy R

car

art

star

bark

hard carpetharmony

o

oe i u

Did you hear what he did to a? Hey, O, come

over here. Right now!

I like you, kid. You remind me of a smiley face.

I am going to let you say a word with me. OR

The Story of Bossy R

forkhorseborn

pork dormant orderOkay, O. Now, scram!

Now for the rest of you vowels! I’m going to put a spell on you, e, i, & u. a

Uh-oh, there’s that Bossy-R.

r

The Story of Bossy R

erer irir urur

skirtdirt

circleswirl

furspurt

urgentcurtain

betterfeatherblenderskater

I-R and U-R, you just fight it out to see who’s going in the rest of the

words.

rEr…er...er Ir...ir…ir Ur…ur…urYou all sound alike!

Now, let’s see what words you can be in.

Ha, ha!! all of you are roosters!!!.

E-R, you are the noisiest, so I am going to make you stay on

the end of words.

Solution: Provide Extensive Practice In 2 Directions

DEMONSTRATION:

Teaching a new letter-sound

Letter-sound drill

Visual Drill

Auditory Drill

Avoid Guessing

Many students with reading problems have learned to impulsively guess until they get the right answer. “That’s a b, no d, no, I mean p.”

“There, where, here…”

Remind students to use cues when they are unsure of a letter or sound. “What’s your key word.”

“Make your hand motion.”

“Check your sound notebook”

Tell them the answer if necessary to avoid guessing.

Letter-Sounds Are Not Just For Beginners

More advanced students need letter-sound cues for more advanced spellings:

For example, by Wilson Reading Step 5, when shown the letter a, the student can proudly recite the following as well as similar key words for each vowel:

a apple /a/

a safe /a/

a acorn /a/

a Alaska /u/

• Automatic letter recognition is the key to automatic word recognition

• Berninger (2000) reports that at-risk children were found to need over 20 times more practice

Perspectives, Winter, 2002

Letters Are the Building Blocks for Words

Automaticity Practice: Letter-Sound Level

For initial learning, provide picture cues

For fluency practice, use plain letters

Use a key word for vowels

Use visual drill for reading

Use auditory drill for spellingFelton & Lillie, 2001

c a D S

M t T C

A d s m

Letter Names/Letter Sounds

fcrr.org

Video: Cues for Letter-Sound Associations

Please click on the video below to play.

Review

What makes learning letter name, shapes and sounds so difficult?

What are some strategies to make this learning easier?

Why are cues for short vowels especially important?

What is the sound of each of these r-controlled vowel combinations?

ar er ir or ur

How can you help a student avoid guessing?

What is the difference between a visual drill and an auditory drill?

Review Continued

Congratulations!

You have completed Unit 6: Teaching Letter-Sound Associations

Sources

Felton, R., & Lillie, D. (2000). Teaching Students with Persistent Reading Problems (a multimedia CD-ROM). Greensboro, NC. Guilford County Schools.

National Reading Panel. (2000). Report of the National Reading Panel: Teaching children to read– Reports of the subgroups. National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, NIH Pub. No. 00-4764.