Word families can be described as a group of words that have a common pattern or features. Helping children learn these allows them to spell and sound out related words. For example, a child who learns the word family -at , will have an easier time spelling cat, mat, hat , etc. Remember to take it one word family at a time. This will help prevent your child from feeling overwhelmed with all the new information.
Although long vowel sounds are typically easier for kids to learn, we normally teach short vowels first. It takes two vowels to make a long sound, and this can be tricky for kids to understand at first.
To get started with long vowel sounds, we begin teaching the silent e. For instance, if you put an e after the CVC word tap, the word changes to tape , and the vowel sound produced changes. To help your child grasp this concept, begin with phonemic awareness. Ask them:. First, show your child the letter a. Make the short sound and then explain that you will give the power to its own name.
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Aoife McLoughlin. Share this: Print. Like this: Like Loading Very good for basic learning Loading Leave a Reply Cancel reply Your email address will not be published. One of my cousins has an adorable little girl named Elle.
That cousin is pregnant again and one of the names her and her husband are considering, if they have another girl, is Allie. Vowels are the trickiest sounds in our language. They can be especially frustrating for struggling readers; they can be challenging for teachers as well. What is going on here? Before I get into some technical background about vowels, first I want to give a few suggestions for helping students struggling with vowel sounds.
Please feel free just to read these quick, practical ideas that can be immediately applied, or keep reading to learn a little bit of the linguistic explanation of vowels. Students especially struggle with short vowels because the difference between the vowel sounds can be subtle. Use Vowel Intensives to help students focus on listening and distinguishing between two specific vowel sounds.
Remember, first, give the vowe l in isolation; then, put a consonant sound after the vowel ; finally, use the vowel in a short CVC word or nonsense word. There are tons of ways for the student to demonstrate which sound they hear. Try using different ideas to keep students engaged. The Vowel Sticks are a great option. I think the easiest thing for a quick whole class Vowel Intensive is to use hand motions.
Some of my other favorite ideas are having students stand up or sit down for different vowel sounds, and having them sort pennies or candy into piles another use for holiday candy leftovers!
Another thing that can benefit students struggling with vowels is to talk about the shape of the mouth and position of the tongue and lips when making the vowel sounds. Students who cannot pronounce the vowels properly will have an even harder time hearing and spelling the proper sounds. Model the proper mouth shape and sound for the students and, if needed, use mirrors to let them see if they are making the proper shape.
Talking about the mouth shape will also provide the students with visual cues for distinguishing the sounds. Some older students may need support to use the correct short vowel when spelling. In these cases, I like to have the student make columns on their paper and label each with a short vowel.
I have the students pound and tap the words as usual, but before they can write the word, they first point to the vowel column they heard. Vowel sounds work differently. You can hold them until you run out of breath.
Take the words pat , pet , and pit. They have short vowels. See how your mouth moves when you say those sounds. Did you notice how there are only small differences in your mouth movements? Many kids have trouble picking up on these differences.
And it can be really tricky for kids who have trouble with reading. With support, kids can get better at short vowel sounds.
One way I help my students is by using hand movements as they say the sounds. You can use these gestures at home when your child is sounding out spelling words.
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