Project
EASE
Early
Access to Success in Education
A
Parent-Child Program
3. Cracking the Code: A Letter and Sound Unit
Background Information for Parents
One of the most critical tasks that an emerging reader has to tackle is learning the code of written language. Our English language presents some challenges because it uses abstract symbols (letters) to represent the sounds contained in a word. Our letters have two forms, upper and lower case, which means that a new learner has 52 symbols to conquer. Many times those letters are similar to other ones. Learning them takes considerable attention to detail. To compound the problem, those letters represent a variety of sounds, so the letter to sound process gets very complicated. The good news is that over time and with much practice, most readers construct a very sophisticated system to unlock written words in the English language. If a reader has a reliable memory system for these letter and sound combinations, the decoding process (going from print to sound) is easy.
Why is decoding so important? Whenever a reader has to translate the symbols into spoken words it takes attention. As a reader becomes more adept at decoding, less and less attention is required for the translation stage. That is the ultimate goal, that a reader has to apply little attention to the decoding of text so that the bulk of the attention is applied to the understanding of text. It is much like driving a car. At first, a new driver has so many things to think about while driving, he is totally comsumed in the task. As he acquires more practice, he can relax a little and think about other things in addition to driving. Reading is similar in that new readers have to spend a great deal of energy unlocking the words. They often do no have enough extra attention to process the message of what is being read. Understanding the message of print is called comprehension. Our goal is to ahve readers so skilled in decoding that almost all their attention is focused on the comprehension process. Getting to that level of skill is a critical goal and a large part of the instruction in the early grades. The more prepared the readers are for reading, the easier school will be in the future.
How can I help my child learn the letters? An emerging reader has to learn the letters of the alphabet so quickly and completely that they are recognized instantly. The only way to get that rapid and accurate recognition is to practice them in a variety of ways. They need to know the shape of the letter, the name of the letter, how the letter is distinctive from all the other letters, and the sound that the letter makes. Practicing form and sound will help reinforce the letter. As with any learning, children need time, patience, and opportunity to practice. Children have to be engaged in meaningful activities which help them learn. The activities we have structured will help build awareness to letter form, name, and sound. We will require them to use many of their senses... sight, hearing, touch, and movement. We will try to get them to recognize the letter first - first upper case, then lower case - recall its name, write its form, and make its sound. We will use highly motivating materials for you to use to make sure your child is engaged in the learning.
Why is sound so important? The emerging reader has to have a reliable memory for the letter and its name, but the sound the letter makes really helps the reader unlock the word. The ability to think about the letter sound is a critical step in reading. It is both a necessary step before reading and a consequence of reading. What that means is that you need some awareness of sound before you can learn to read, but learning to read will help you have greater awareness of sound. This finding has been one of the greatest insights into the understanding of how children learn to read. The stakes are quite high. Children who can think intentionally about the sound learn to read more easily than chldren who do not.
How can I help my child learn about sound? One of the best ways to help build sound awareness is to play games with the sounds. When you say words, try extending the sound out so that they can hear all the sounds in the word. Try some rhyming games, where they have to generate words having the same ending sound pattern. Say a word syllable by syllable and have your child put it together. Make silly names up for them (Anna Banana) so they can play with the sound. Look around a room and have them find words that begin with a sound.
Parents meet with the Project EASE teacher who gives them background on the task demands of decoding print and the role that letter recognition and sound awareness play in developing an awareness of how the print system operates in reading.
Concepts Covered:
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Strong accurate decoding ability is necessary for competent readers so that the allocation of attention can be focused on the comprehension process.
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Strong decoding abilities rely on accurate and automatic associations between print and sound.
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Having a firm command of letters and their sound associations give children a foundation to make sense of the print/sound system. Having the ability to think intentionally about the sound that a letter makes and the awareness that spoken words are made up of constitute sounds are critical markers in beginning to read stage.
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Sound associations can be facilitated by the strong memory associations to speech motor acts. In other words, parents can use feedback as to how a sound feels when making the sounds to help children remember.
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Early print experiences help children think about the letters and their sequences.
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Accurate letter recognition can be facilitated by examining letters and their features.
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Repeated meaningful experiences with print help children build up strong memory associations for the visual form of the letter.
Parents engage in a variety of one-on-one activities with their children which maximize the learning opportunities with print and sound. Parents can select to do activities such as:
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Making collages of selected letters. These collages help child search through a visual array of items in magazines and/or advertisements which begin with the target letter. Children learn to look at the items and classify them by the sound of the onset, thus forcing them to think about sound associations and sound isolations.
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Children listen to a reading of Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and review the book by matching the lower case letters with the letters printed on the page. Visual features of the letters and letter orientation are developed.
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Children listen to a reading of Alphabugs and make their own pop up book generating words that share the beginning sound. This activity allows for lexical searching by children for words that share the same onset, allowing again for more intentional thought about sound associations.
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Children play a game which requires them to sort through a collection of plastic manipulatives, give those items a label, and then place the items into boxes which have been labeled by the 26 letters of the alphabet. This activity has children isolate the beginning sound and forces an association of that sound with a printed symbol.
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Children listen to a reading of the book, Noodles, and then play with the sounds contained in the words and names of the characters. This activity allows for sound manipulation in multisyllabic words and offers a more complex awareness of sound associations. The book is also told in a rhyming pattern which gives children more opportunity to play with sounds. The children do an art activity with the noodles referred to in the story.
Children bring home a structured book activity to do at home each week for three weeks. The activity includes a specific book which models the desired print interaction, a scripted set of directions that guides parents, a follow up art activity, and an evaluation sheet.
Parents engage their children in review of letters in both upper and lower case forms, sound associations of letters, and follow up art activities that extend the ideas contained in the book.
Bunting,
J. (1993). My first abc. New York: Dorling Kindersley.
Carter,
D. (1994). Alphabugs. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Ehlert,
L.(1989). Eating the alphabet: Fruits and vegetables from
a to z. New York: Harcourt Brace.
Kitamura,
S. (1992). From acorn to zoo. New York: Sunburst.
MacDonald,
S. (1986). Alphabatics. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Martin,
B., & Archambault, J. (1989). Chicka chicka boom boom. New
York: Simon & Schuster.
Martin,
B., Ehlert, L. & Archambault, J. (1995). Chicka chicka sticka
sticka: An abc sticker book. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Seeley,
L. (1990). The book of shadow boxes. Atlanta, Georgia:
Peachtree Publishers, Ltd.
Sloat,
T. (1989). From letter to letter. New York: Penguin Books.
Weeks,
S., & Carter, D. (1995). Noodles. New York: Harper Collins.