How to Teach Phonics — Story, Setting & Ideas

Grandma was taking a cozy nap Her hands were folded in her (lap) When she wakened she heard a (tap) In the maple tree that was full of (sap.) She soon spied the tapper--he wore a red (cap) White vest and black coat, and his wings gave a (flap) As he hopped about with a rap-a-tap-(tap) What did he want--was he looking for (sap)? Ah no, but for grubs, which he ate quick as (snap) Can you name this gay drummer who wears a red (cap)?

As soon as possible introduce a number of phonograms into the same story.

I have a little pet Who is as black as (jet) She sits upon a mat And watches for a (rat.) Her coat is smooth as silk, She likes to drink sweet (milk) She grows so fast and fat That soon she'll be a (cat) Can't you guess? Now what a pity 'Tis the dearest little ( ).

An easy step now, which the children will enjoy is the writing of the words of given families as a dictation exercise, followed by sentences as soon as the use of the capital and period have been taught. Such sentences as the following may be given after a number of short "a" phonograms are mastered:

The cat sat on a mat. Nan has a fan. The cat is fat. The cat can see the pan. The man has a hat. Dan has a bat. Dan has a hat and a cap. The bag is in the cab.

When phonograms containing the other short vowels are known, words may be pronounced miscellaneously from different series or families; as, run, cap, pet, ran, pin, top, followed by sentences made up of miscellaneous words, as,--

"Run red hen." "Nan has a fan." "Get the hat pin." "Ned can spin a top." "Nat set the trap." "Jack run back and get the sack." "A fat man got in the hack." "Can Sam get the hat?"

THE ALPHABET AND ORAL SPELLING

The names of letters should not be formally taught until their sounds are thoroly fixed in mind; otherwise the names and sounds will be confused. Pupils who begin by "learning their letters" will be found spelling out a word (naming over the letters) in order to arrive at the pronunciation. Attention must be focused on the _sounds only_, at first. When the consonant sounds are mastered by every member of the class, and they have gained some proficiency in pronouncing words by blending these with the short and long vowel sounds, the _names_ of the letters may be taught, and the alphabet committed to memory in order.

While as a rule, most children learn the majority of the letters incidentally by the end of the first year, it often happens that some remain ignorant of the alphabetical order until they come to use the dictionary, and are greatly handicapped.

_To Associate the Name of the Letter With Its Sound._

(1) The teacher names the letter as she points to it and the children give the corresponding sound; (2) As the teacher sounds the letter, pupils name the letter sounded. (3) Repeat with the letters erased from the board.

Oral spelling may begin _after_ the sounds have first been mastered--and as soon as the names of the letters are taught. Spell only the phonetic words at first. The lists of families of words which have been written from dictation may now be spelled orally.

The spelling recitation may be both oral and written, but written spelling should predominate the first year. Unphonetic words should be taught by visualizing--getting the form of the word as a whole. The teacher writes the word on the board in free rapid hand, pupils observe for a moment, getting a mental picture of the form; the word is erased by the teacher, and reproduced on the board by the pupil.

While oral spelling aids the "ear-minded" pupil and gives variety in the recitation, written spelling should predominate for the reasons that (1) in practical life, spelling is used almost wholly in expressing thought in writing; (2) the eye and hand should be trained equally with the ear. It is often true that good oral spellers will fail in writing the same words for want of practice. (3) In the written recitation each pupil can spell a greater number of words and in less time than is possible in oral spelling.

1. Distribute pages from magazines or old readers and let pupils underline words beginning with a certain consonant (the one being taught). If different colored pencils are used, the same pages can be used a number of times. When the "m" sound is being taught let all words beginning with that sound be marked with black; at another seat work period, words beginning with "b" are marked with "green;" and again, words beginning with "f" sound are marked with blue pencils, etc.

Underline digraphs, blended consonants, and phonograms.

2. The teacher writes a phonogram on the board and below it all the consonant sounds from which words may be built. Pupils write the entire words.

3. Phonograms are written on the board; pupils supply consonants and write out the words.

4. Have a number of phonograms and three or four sets of consonants in envelopes. Give an envelope to each child and let him build the words on his desk. Duplicate copies can be made on a hectograph, one set for each lesson; then if one envelope from each set is preserved, those miscellaneous lessons can be used in review for a long time, each child using a different set each time.

5. Write on the board lists of words ending in various phonograms and let the children re-write them, arranging in columns according to phonograms.

6. Write families from memory.

1. At least two daily periods should be given to phonics. The first lessons will be short, but after some advance has been made, ten to fifteen minutes should be given.

2. As far as possible let the words for phonic drill be those that will occur in the new reading lessons.

3. Constantly review all familiar sounds, phonograms, digraphs, blends, etc., when met in new words, and so teach pupils to apply their knowledge of phonics.

4. Teaching them to "pantomime" the sounds--representing them mutely by movement of the lips, tongue and palate, will aid them in silent study at their seats.

5. By the end of the first year the pupil's phonetic knowledge, combined with his vocabulary of sight words and his power to discover a new word, either phonetically or by the context, ought to enable him to read independently any primer, and to read during the year from eight to twelve or more primers and first readers.

6. In reading, pupils should be taught to get the meaning chiefly by context--by the parts which precede or follow the difficult word and are so associated with it as to throw light upon its meaning.

7. When a word cannot be pronounced phonetically, the teacher should assist by giving the sound needed, but the pupil will soon discover that by using his wits in phonics as in other things, he can get the new word for himself by the sense of what he is reading, e.g., in the sentence, "The farmer came into the field" he meets the new word "field." Naturally a second year pupil, who has learned the reasons for sounding will apply the long sound of "i;"--as he reads it does not make sense, so he tries short "i." Still the sentence is meaningless, so he tries again with "e" and reads a sentence which satisfies him, because the meaning is clear.

If the first year pupil pronounces the word "coat" as co-at (recognizing the last combination as a member of the "at" family) the teacher will underline and call his attention to the digraph "oa" which he has already learned to pronounce as long "o." Most pupils however, meeting the word in a sentence--as, "The caterpillar's coat is green"--would, if reading thotfully recognize the word by the context.

8. Drill on obscure sounds should be omitted the first year. Unphonetic words should be taught as sight words: as: one, many, been, said, they, ought, eight.

9. Begin to combine words and syllables into longer words as soon as possible: door-step, in-deed, hand-some, be-fore, ham-mer-ing, in-no-cent, for-get-ful, car-pen-ter, side-walk, mis-take.

10. Give time increasingly to analytic-synthetic word study, e.g.--"eight" and "rain" are taught as sight words.

eigh t r ain Analysis: eigh ain w eigh p ain w eight pl ain Synthesis: n eigh com plain n eigh bor com plain ing

Exercises to correct faulty articulation and secure flexibility should be given frequently. Constant vigilance is necessary in overcoming the common errors shown in the following examples.

"I will eat you," said the troll. (not "e-chew") Dear little baby, close your eye. (not "clo-zhure eye") "I will then," said Red Hen, and she did. (not "an' she did.") Put your right hand in. (not "put chure") --you, and you, and you. (an' Jew.) Father will meet you (meat chew) at the station. The leaves turned to red and gold. (red Dan gold) "No matter what you hear, (what chew) no matter what you see, Raggylug, don't you move." (don't chew) Tender flowers come forth to greet her. (gree-ter) It is not at all (a-tall) like the mother bird.

Have the pupils practice such exercises as:--

Did you? Don't you? Would you? Should you? Could you? (Not "did Jew," "don't chew" etc.) Where shall I meet you? (not meat chew) When shall I meet you? She sells sea shells.

Pupils usually have difficulty with words ending in sts, dth, pth. Lists of such words should be drilled upon:--

Nests, vests, posts, hosts, boasts, fists, mists, frosts, length, breadth, depth.

"He thrusts his fists against the posts, And still insists he sees the ghosts."

(If necessary show the pupils how to adjust the vocal organs to make the different sounds.)

p, b, w, m (lips) f, v (lips and teeth) t, d, s, z, n (tongue and hard palate.) j, ch, (tongue and hard palate-back) k, g, ng (tongue and soft palate.) y, l (tongue, hard palate and soft palate.) p, b, d, t, j, k, h, g, ch (momentary) w, f, v, s, l, r, y, th, sh (continuous)

The majority of children learn the sounds by imitation and repetition. The above is to help the teacher in giving the sounds correctly.

_I. Review Single and Blended Consonants, Digraphs, Short and Long Vowels, and All Phonograms._

_II. Continue Pronouncing Exercises, Teaching New Phonograms._

Continue word study by the analytic-synthetic process. These phonic drills will deal largely with the new words that occur in the daily reading lessons.

_III. Syllabication._

In mastering the pronunciation of new words, pupils should acquire the habit of analyzing them into syllables.

The ear must be trained to _hear_ syllables, they should be _separately pronounced_, and _clearly imaged_. This makes for effective spelling later. Most of the difficulties in spelling are removed when the habit of breaking up a complex word into its elements is acquired.

re mem ber ther mom e ter sep a rate in de pen dence dan de lion mul ti pli ca tion beau ti ful re frig er a tor

_IV. Teach the Long Vowel Sounds._

We have found that the short vowels predominate in the English language. The long vowel sounds come next in frequency. When the child has mastered the letters and combinations representing these two sounds, he is able to recognize a large majority of the phonetic words in our language.

Phonetic words follow definite rules of pronunciation. These rules are not to be formally taught in the first and second years, but pointed out by examples, so that the visual and auditory image may be associated.

To illustrate: When there are two or more vowels in a word of one syllable, the first vowel is long, and the last silent, as: came, leaf, coat, rain.

"When there is one vowel in the word and it is the last, it is long," as: me, he, fly.

All vowels are short unless modified by position.

Have the children notice the effect of final "e" upon some of their short vowel words. These lists will furnish good pronunciation drills.

mat mate bit bite tap tape pan pane rod rode fad fade fat fate hat hate mad made can cane pin pine rat rate not note rob robe pet Pete man mane din dine dim dime cap cape fin fine spin spine hid hide mop mope kit kite hop hope plum plume rip ripe tub tube cub cube cut cute tun tune

Call attention to the vowel digraphs in the same way: ea, ai, oa, ay.

deaf seat bean neat leaves meat heat peach lean please eagle clean eat seam teach mean stream glean read squeal wean

While there are exceptions, as in the words "head" and "bread," the digraph "ea" has the sound of long "e" in nearly three-fourths of the words in which it occurs and should be so taught. The visual image "ea" should call up the auditory image of long "e." When the child meets the exceptions the context must be relied on to aid him.

Likewise in the following list, the new fact to be taught is the digraph "ai" having the long sound of "a." Blending the initial and final consonants with this, the pupil pronounces the new list of words without further aid.

rain chain faith daisy wait main paint daily nail brain faint plainly pail drain snail waist pain claim frail complain pain train praise sailor aim plain quail raise maid braid sprain trail mail

The digraph "oa" and "ay" may be taught with equal ease the first year. There is no reason for deferring them; they should be taught as soon as the children have need for them.

coat toast roar load goat roam float road moan toad roam throat oar boat oat meal croak soar foam loaf soap coarse loaves groan board goal boast cloak coach poach roast

say day may gay hay play slay pray lay clay dray gray nay bray way stay pay tray sway spray ray stray jay stray

LONG VOWEL PHONOGRAMS

(These lists are for rapid pronunciation drills.)

c ame f ade f ace sh ape l ame m ade l ace gr ape g ame w ade p ace m ate n ame bl ade r ace d ate s ame gr ade br ace f ate t ame sh ade Gr ace g ate bl ame sp ade pl ace h ate fl ame gl ade sp ace K ate sh ame tr ade tr ace

c age b ake s ale l ate p age c ake b ale r ate r age l ake p ale cr ate s age m ake t ale gr ate w age r ake sc ale pl ate st age s ake st ale sk ate t ake wh ale st ate w ake g ale g ave c ane dr ake d ale s ave l ane fl ake c ape c ave m ane qu ake t ape p ave p ane sh ake cr ape r ave v ane sn ake dr ape w ave cr ane st ake scr ape br ave pl ane br ake gr ave sh ave sl ave st ave cr ave

b e h eed s eek h e s eed m eek m e w eed w eek w e r eed ch eek sh e bl eed cr eek th e br eed sl eek tr ee gr eed p eek s ee sp eed Gr eek b ee st eed f eet th ee fr eed b eet fl ee f eel m eet kn ee p eel fl eet fr ee h eel gr eet thr ee r eel sh eet gl ee kn eel sl eet sk ee st eel str eet d eed wh eel sw eet n eed f eed

p eep d eem d eep s eem k eep t eem ch eep br eeze w eep fr eeze cr eep sn eeze sh eep squ eeze sl eep wh eeze st eep sw eep

d eer m ice pr ide kn ife ch eer n ice gl ide str ife qu eer r ice gu ide h igh sh eer pr ice sl ide s igh st eer sl ice str ide n igh sn eer sp ice d ie th igh gr een tr ice t ie l ight qu een tw ice l ie m ight pr een r ide d ied r ight scr een s ide dr ied br ight w een h ide fr ied f ight spl een t ide sp ied n ight s een w ide l ife s ight k een br ide w ife f ife

t ight f ind t ire fr ight m ind w ire sl ight b ind f ire kn ight r ind h ire w ind m ire l ike bl ind sp ire d ike gr ind squ ire p ike h ike f ine k ite t ike d ine b ite sp ike m ine m ite str ike n ine qu ite p ine sm ite p ile v ine sp ite t ile br ine spr ite m ile sh ine wh ite N ile sp ine wr ite f ile sw ine sm ile th ine f ive st ile tw ine h ive wh ile wh ine d ive l ive d ime r ipe dr ive l ime p ipe str ive t ime w ipe thr ive ch ime sn ipe sl ime tr ipe m y pr ime str ipe b y fl y cr y

dr y c old b one ch ose fr y s old dr one th ose pr y b old ph one cl ose sh y m old sh one w ove sk y t old thr one dr ove sl y f old gr ove sp y g old r ope cl ove spr y h old h ope st ove st y sc old d ope tr y sl ope h oe wh y h ole t oe p ole c ore J oe r obe m ole m ore f oe gl obe s ole p ore w oe r ode st ole t ore j oke wh ole w ore d oor p oke r oll s ore fl oor w oke tr oll ch ore br oke str oll sh ore m ow ch oke sn ore r ow sm oke c olt st ore s ow sp oke b olt b ow str oke j olt t orn bl ow v olt w orn sl ow sh orn sn ow h ome cr ow t one r ose fl ow st one n ose gl ow h ose gr ow p ose kn ow sh ow

thr ow t ube bl ue s own c ube d ue bl own m ule h ue gr own f ume c ue fl own pl ume gl ue thr own J une fl ue t une c ure p ure

The Diphthongs oi, oy, ou, ow.

oi oy m ound ow b oil b oy gr ound c ow s oil j oy c ount n ow t oil t oy m ount h ow c oil R oy h our b ow br oil tr oy fl our br ow sp oil ou h ouse f owl m ouse h owl v oice l oud bl ouse gr owl ch oice cl oud p out sc owl c oin pr oud sh out d own j oin c ouch sp out g own j oint p ouch spr out t own p oint s ound st out br own n oise b ound tr out cl own m oist r ound m outh cr own f ound s outh dr own w ound fr own

(For rapid pronunciation drills.)