Vowel Confusion

  Solutions for Vowel Confusion

Most of the students that come to the reading center for help have difficulties understanding and using vowel sounds appropriately.  The word "bait" may be read "bat," or the word "met" may be read "meat."  You may have a Struggling Reader that decodes (sounds out words) in a similar fashion.

You can improve your child's reading with some fun strategies, but first a little background.

Background:

At the reading center, we work with rime patterns to teach reading.  Rimes are letter patterns or word families.

       am -  jam, ram, Sam                  ack - back, pack, lack

       ail - tail, bail, jail                     eep - jeep, keep, weep  

Rhymes are sounds in words that are the same, but may not be spelled the same.

        there, bare, fair                             wait, late, freight

To help our students recognize patterns in words, our instruction includes color coding, stories and hand movements.  When organizing this activity, create your own stories, follow the colors and make up hand movements to enhance letter and sound recognition or use our Solutions for Struggling Readers teaching system.  http://www.skills-for-success.com/intervention.html

Vowel Confusion Lesson Activity:

Materials:

    48 index cards

     a list of 24 short vowel rimes - listed below

     a list of 24 long vowel rimes - listed below

1.  Write one rime on each index card - following the color coded system - all short vowels are blue, all long vowels are pink.

2. Mix the cards up

3. Have your child read and sort the cards into two piles...one pile containing short   vowels, the other one with long vowels.  When your child is successful at saying and sorting the cards correctly, try steps 4 and 5.

4. Place the index cards in rows of 5 across and 5 down.

5. Have your child read the cards in a sweeping motion from left to right (as we read.)  This helps with decoding, directionality and fluency.

Hints:

Color coding is used as a visual for an abstract concept.  Visually seeing the difference between vowel sounds will help your child differentiate the two concepts being taught.

Most of the students at the reading center do not stop to think about what word pops out of their mind and mouth.  Part of our job at the center is to get our students to stop and think before they say the word.  The above lesson will help your child to stop and think as they sort and read each card.

This activity also helps a child decode (sound out) unfamiliar words by learning letter patters instead of just memorizing words.  See Vowel Kingdom and Letter Patterns  of our Solutions teaching kits.  http://www.skills-for-success.com/intervention.html

Most of the students we help have an ability to read familiar words, but unfamiliar words become difficult.  Learning and applying letter patterns is critical to successful reading.

While engaged in this sorting activity, many of our students can eventually get the word right, if they guess enough.  A strategy that we have found helpful to reduce guessing is to reward the student for saying the word correctly the first time.  When our students stop and think, then say the word correctly on the first attempt, our students get a tally mark.  Five tally marks earns a sticker.  Thirty stickers earns a prize.  Motivation is often the key!! 

Have fun with this activity!

Short Vowel Rimes

ad        im         op         ock        ish         iff        ush          ick   

aft       ond       elt         unk       esk        int        elp          omp     

Long Vowel Rimes

eed       oat        aim        eap        uit        eath      oaf      ight

oam       aid        eak        eeth      oad       aif        eak      eep              

         

Phonological Awareness: Part 4

How to Help Your Struggling Reader

Phonological Awareness Activities

 Part 4: Sounds

I have just returned from the CHEA Homeschooling Convention held in Pasadena and I am still excited about the families we had the opportunity of helping during the convention!   It was engaging to listen to each family's story and work with dozens of Struggling Readers to help them understand that learning to read can be fun and easy!  With smiling faces, many children began to blend and segment with ease.  Whether it was children visiting our booth at the convention or children at the reading center, the response is the same when it comes to learning to blend and segment.  It is easy and fun!

Utilizing blending and segmenting Phonological Awareness activities, as mentioned in earlier blogs, has enabled our students to learn to read quickly, effectively and efficiently.  

A little instructional background... Phonemes (sounds) are the smallest unit of sound in a word.  For instance, "zoo" has three letters, but just 2 phonemes "z.....oo" and "ship" has 4 letters, but just 3 phonemes  "sh.....i.....p."  Blending and segmenting tasks are an abstract concept, which requires listening and memory skills.  Many children need some type of marker (beans or blocks) to connect the sounds with a tangible object.  The tangible objects or picture cue cards make this concept more concrete, understandable, and fun. 

Phonological Awareness Level 4 – Sounds (Phonemes)

Concept – Understanding phonemes can be blended into words and words can be segmented into phonemes.

Questions – Can your child blend and segment words with phonemes easily?

Activity Materials – Markers or picture cue cards and a list of words with two, three, four and five phonemes.

  

Blending Directions Without Markers:

This is the most abstract and difficult way to teach phoneme blending.  None of my students at the reading center have learned phoneme blending using this method, but perhaps this technique may work for your child. 

Hint:  The longer you pause between each phoneme, the more the student’s memory has to be used.  Memory development is a much-needed skill for most struggling readers.  Pause between each sound for several seconds.

The parent faces the child and says, “m....e....l....t”  The child blends the phonemes together into “melt.”

Blending Directions Using Markers: 

The parent faces the child (so that the child can watch the parent’s mouth – if needed).  The parent lines up four markers and starts from the child’s left, moving to the right (the direction we read) stating, “m” pausing for several seconds and then moves the first marker slightly, then states “e” and moves the second marker slightly, then states “l” and moves the marker slightly, the states "t" moving the marker slightly.  The child then verbally blends the phonemes into “melt” and uses his/her finger to make a sweeping movement (underlining) from left to right under the markers as the word is spoken.

Insight:   Years ago, educational professionals thought that children with letter and word reversals had visual issues.   However, now professionals think these difficulties may reflect “left-right orientation” challenge.   In simple language this means when a child reads, he/she doesn’t continually “sweep” from left to right, instead the child looks at the letter or word without directionality.  It is no wonder that letters are flipped and words are read backwards.  For more information regarding researched-based information regarding Struggling Readers, visit the International Dyslexia Association.  http://www.interdys.org/InsInt.htm

Blending Phonemes Using Picture Cue Cards:

Students at the reading center learn to blend phonemes together using our picture cue cards, see picture above.  Using the side of the cue card with just the boxes, the parent says "m.....e.....l.....t" using one tile for each sound.  The student then responds, "melt" and turns the card over to reveal the picture.  

Insight:

When using the picture cueing cards, even my most cognitively challenged Struggling Readers have learned blending and segmenting skills.    

                                     

Segmenting Directions Without Markers:  

The parent faces the child and says, “melt.”  The child segments the phonemes into “m…..e…..l....t” and sweeps his/her finger from left to right.

Segmenting Directions Using Markers: 

The parent faces the child (so that the child can watch the parent’s mouth – if needed).  The parent lines up four markers in front of the child and states, “melt.”   The child touches each tile and starts from his/her left and moves the first marker slightly and says “m,” then then states “e” and moves the second marker slightly, then states “l” and moves the third marker slightly, then states "t." The word has been segmented!  The child then uses his/her finger to make a sweeping movement (underlining) from left to right under the cards as the word is spoken.

Segmenting Using Picture Cue Cards:

The parent places cue card picture facing up in front of the child.  The child looks at the pictures and the parent states ”melt."  The child then moves the first tile into the first box on the left and says the sound "m," then moves the second tile and says the sound "e" using a different color to identify the vowel sound “e.” (see picture above) The child then moves the third tile and says the sound "l" and then the final tile is moved and the child makes the 't' sound.   The child then uses his/her finger to make a sweeping movement (underlining) from left to right under the cards as the word is spoken.  The word has been segmented.

Hint: At the conference and at the reading center, I repeatedly see children using their non-dominant hand when moving the tiles or switching hands when practicing these activities.  Some children even start moving the tiles backwards from a right to left motion.   Make sure your child uses his/her dominant hand and sweeps from left to right...this is a critical skills for some Struggling Readers to learn to read effectively. 

Now you have the strategies to teach blending and segmenting of phonemes with style.

To order your own Solutions for Struggling Readers - Blending and Segmenting Cards click the link below and start having fun!

  http://www.skills-for-success.com/intervention.html

Phoneme word list:

Two Phonemes:                Three Phonemes                  Four Phonemes (Beginning Blends)

    zoo                                   lip                                   flat

    bow                                  hot                                  dress

    me                                    ship  (sh...i...p)                  grass

Four Phonemes (Ending Blends)              Five Phonemes

    sand                                                    blond

    jump                                                    trend

    help                                                     spent

Phonological Awareness: Part 3

How to Help Your Struggling Reader:

Phonological Awareness Activities

 Part 3: Syllables

For many of my students, blending and segmenting syllables is one of their favorite activities at the reading center.  I am excited to share with you how to help your Struggling Reader understand this abstract concept.  Utilizing blending and segmenting Phonological Awareness activities, as mentioned in earlier blogs, has enabled the students at my reading center to learn to read quickly, effectively and efficiently.  By creating your own syllable picture cue cards, or purchasing our ready-made cards, you will have the tools to teach syllable blending and segmenting with a splash of fun!

A little instructional background... Blending syllables is an abstract concept, which requires listening and memory skills.  Many children need some type of marker (beans or tiles) to connect the sounds with a tangible object.  The tangible objects or picture cue cards make this concept more concrete, understandable, and fun. 

Phonological Awareness Level 3 – Syllables

Concept – Understanding syllables can be blended into words and words can be segmented into syllables.

Questions – Can your child blend and segment words with syllables?

Activity Materials – Markers (beans, tiles) or picture cue cards and a list of words with syllables.

  

Blending Directions Without Markers:

This is the most abstract and difficult way to teach syllable blending.  None of my students at the reading center have learned syllable blending using this method, but perhaps this technique may work for your child. 

The parent faces the child and says, “um…….brel…..…la.”  The child blends the syllables together into “umbrella.”

Blending Directions Using Markers: 

The parent faces the child (so that the child can watch the parent’s mouth – if needed).  The parent lines up three tiles and starts from the child’s left, moving to the right (the direction we read) stating, “um” and then moves the first marker slightly, then states “brel” and moves the second marker slightly, then states “la” and moves the marker slightly.  The child then verbally blends the syllables into “umbrella” and uses his/her finger to make a sweeping movement (underlining) from left to right under the tiles as the word is spoken.

Insight:   Years ago, educational professionals thought that children with letter and word reversals had visual issues.   However, now professionals think these difficulties may reflect “left-right orientation” challenge.  In simple language this means when a child reads, he/she doesn’t continually “sweep” from left to right, instead the child looks at the letter or word without directionality.  No wonder, letters are flipped and words are read backwards.  .  For more information regarding researched-based information regarding Struggling Readers, visit the International Dyslexia Association.  http://www.interdys.org/InsInt.htm

Blending Syllables Using Picture Cue Cards:

Students at the reading center learn to blend syllables together using our picture cue cards.  

Syllable Picture Cue Card example:  

The "umbrella" cue card is cut into three pieces.

                                                                                                  © Skills for Success

          1       2       3

                                                     front of picture cue card

back of picture cue card

Whether you create your own cue cards, or want to order and use our ready-made cue cards, your child will love this activity!!       http://www.skills-for-success.com/intervention.html

The parent places the three “umbrella” cue cards with the numbers facing up in front of the child from the child’s left to right (the direction we read).  Don’t show the picture side of the cards to your child...this will create anticipation and mystery for each word.  Your child will become self-motivated!

The parent points the card with the number 1 on it and says, “um”, then the parent points to the card with the number 2 on it and says, “brel”, then the parent points to the final card with the number 3 on it and says, “la.”  The child then blends the word together saying, “umbrella” and turns the cards over to reveal a colored picture of an umbrella. The child then uses his/her finger to make a sweeping movement (underlining) from left to right under the cards as the word is spoken.

Insight:

When using the picture cueing cards, even my most cognitively challenged Struggling Readers have learned blending and segmenting skills.    

                                     

Segmenting Directions Without Markers:  

The parent faces the child and says, “umbrella.”  The child segments the syllables into “um…..brel…..la.”

Segmenting Directions Using Markers: 

The parent faces the child (so that the child can watch the parent’s mouth – if needed).  The parent lines up three tiles in front of the child and states, “umbrella.”   The child touches each tile and starts from his/her left and moves the first marker slightly and says “um,” then then states “brel” and moves the second marker slightly, then states “la” and moves the third marker slightly.  The word has been segmented!  The child then uses his/her finger to make a sweeping movement (underlining) from left to right under the cards as the word is spoken.

Segmenting Syllables Using Picture Cue Cards:

The parent places the three “umbrella” cue cards with the picture facing up in front of the child from the child’s left to right (the direction we read).  The parent says, “umbrella.”  The child then points to the first piece of the umbrella and turns it over and says, “um”,  revealing the number 1, then the child says, “brel” and turns the card over revealing the number 2, then the child says “la” revealing the number 3.  Three syllables in the word “umbrella.”   The child then uses his/her finger to make a sweeping movement (underlining) from left to right under the cards as the word is spoken.

Now you have the strategies to teach blending and segmenting of syllables with style!

Syllable word list:

One Syllable             Two Syllables           Three Syllables

cat                           table                     umbrella

door                         basket                   telephone                

pig                           candy                     elephant

            grass                       flower                   Saturday                 

            ball                          pencil                     family                     

Four Syllables                     Five Syllables

        watermelon                     cafeteria

        harmonica                        veterinarian

        kindergarten                   vocabulary

        helicopter                       opportunity

        january                            university

Phonological Awareness: Part 2

How to Help Your Struggling Reader:

Phonological Awareness Activities

 Part 2: Compound Words

One of my favorite lessons to teach at the reading center is blending and segmenting of compound words.  It is easy to teach and very effective!  Often students come to the center after years of classroom instruction, but unfortunately without the ability to sound out words effectively.  Within three sessions or less, these Struggling Readers understand the concept of blending and segmenting and begin to apply their new learning towards reading words.

While instructing Struggling Readers, the use of your hands as “markers” will be helpful for learning to blend and segment compound words.  More challenged Struggling Readers may experience better success by using picture cue cards to help with this abstract concept.  Whether you make your own picture cue cards or purchase ours, this teaching technique provides a visually concrete way of teaching an abstract concept.

Phonological Awareness Level 2 – Compound Words

Concept – Understanding compound words can be blended and segmented.

Question - Can your child blend and segment compound words?  

Activity Materials – A parent’s hands or picture cue cards and the list of compound words.

Blending Directions:

    The parent faces the child and holds up his/her right hand and says “butter.”   Then the parent holds up their left hand and says “fly.”  The parent then puts their two hands together and child blends the words together and says, “butterfly.”  The word has been blended!

Insight:  The longer the pause between the two words, “butter” and “fly,” the more difficult the task becomes as the child must hold each word in his/her memory to figure out the word…an important skill!   If your child is unable to blend the two words together, repeat the words again more quickly, using your hands as “markers.”

Eventually, you will be able remove your hands and your child will be able to hold the words in his/her memory, blending the two words together with ease.

More Insight:  For students with special needs, this oral activity may be too abstract.  At the reading center, we use our picture cue cards to represent each word.  Each word is a puzzle piece with a picture on the front…the two pictures fit together and when flipped over, shows the new meaning of the compound word.


For example:                                                                          © Skills for Success

Front puzzle piece

Back of puzzle
(meaning)

Front puzzle piece

As a parent, you can make the picture cue cards for your child, or you can purchase ready-made cards from the Skills for Success Reading Center website:  http://www.skills-for-success.com/intervention.html

Segmenting Directions: This activity will be the opposite of blending.  Your child is going to pull apart the compound words.  The parent faces the student, with both hands together and says, “butterfly.”  The student then says, “butter” and the parent pulls the right hand away to the right (segmenting) and then the student says, “fly” and the parent moves the left hand to the left.   The word has been segmented!

Insight:  Again, for students with special needs, this oral activity may be too abstract, so I recommend using pictures cue cards.  The same cards used for blending can be used for segmenting.  Show your child the complete picture of the “butterfly,” then have your child segment the word, saying “butter” while turning over the first piece, then the child says, “fly”  turning over the second piece.  The word has been segmented!

Have fun with this Level 2 Phonological Awareness activities!!

Compound Word List:

paintbrush              toothbrush              noontime

steamboat               cookbook                 fishhook

playmate                 footprints               downtown

snowflake               countdown               seesaw

groundhog               sundown                   jigsaw

southwest               cowboy                    bedspread

rooftop                  headlight                 mailbox

raindrop                 pigtail                    soapsuds

broomstick             Sunday                    toenail

seaside                        teammate                beehive

airplane                  baseball                  campfire

chalkboard             touchdown               sailboat

playground             notebook                 lighthouse

downstairs             crosswalk                 bookstore

birthday                birdhouse                bathroom

sandpaper              sunshine                   eggshell

windshield              wallpaper                 headlight

sunbeam                 understand               Superman

flashlight               waterfall                  bluejay

Next Blog… Level 3 Phonological Awareness Activities

Phonological Awareness: Part 1

How to Help Your Struggling Reader:

Phonological Awareness Activities

 Part 1: Sentences

Teaching Phonological Awareness is simple and fun!  All you need is a bit of language understanding and some creativity…then the sky will be the limit for you and your Struggling Reader.

Phonological Awareness is nothing more than the understanding of sounds in words without letters.  Many Struggling Readers have a difficult time separating our language into individual parts and this complicates learning to read and spell. 

Blending (the ability to put together sounds) and segmenting (the ability to pull sounds apart) is the foundation to all Phonological Awareness (PA) activates.

I have broken each PA activity into 4 levels for ease of teaching.  For this blog, I will cover activities for blending and segmenting sentences.  

Level 1 – Sentences

Concept – Understanding words in sentences.

Question - Can your child pull-apart sentences into separate words and put them back together?

Activity Materials - Use counters (beans, pennies or other small objects) and a bowl or bag.  Your child will place one counter into the bag for each word.

Segmenting Sample Sentences:

    The parent says, “The dog can run.”   Your child repeats the sentence and places one counter in the bag as they say each word.  “The” (one counter), “dog” (one counter), “can” (one counter), “run” (one counter).

   The parent says, “That flower is pretty.”  Your child repeats the sentence and places counter in the bag for each word.  “That” (one counter), “flower” (one counter), “is” (one counter), “pretty” (one counter).

Insight:  Many Struggling Readers will not understand that some words are made up of syllables and that “flower” is not two words, but one.  The second sentence example should have 4 counters placed in the bag…many Struggling Readers will place 6 counters.

This activity also practices listening skills and memory development.  The student must listen to the sentence, remember the sentence and repeat the sentence, then remember the words to “segment” the sentence.  As the sentences become longer and more complex, the skills are challenged.

Practice examples:

·       “My mom made a cake.” (5 counters)

·       “The blue truck is in the mud.”  (7 counters)

·       “His sweater is in the closet.” (6 counters)

·       “We went to the mountains yesterday.”  (6 counters)

·       “Grandma is coming for spaghetti dinner tonight.”  (7 counters)

Activity variations:

Instead of using counters and a bag try…

·       Marching around the room – each step represents a word.

·       Clapping hands (as seen in the picture) – each clap represents a word.

·       Jumping rope – each jump represents a word.

·       Moving army men or horses (any toy) across the floor or table to represent a word.

·       Your own creative way of teaching sentence segmentation.

Blending Sample Sentences:

Now try the opposite! 

     The parent says, “His………dog……….is………….lost.”  The child then blends the sentence together into,  “His dog is lost.”

Insight:

This activity may seem very simple, however many Struggling Readers have a difficult time holding the words in their memory and blending them together into an understandable sentence.  The longer the pauses between words…the more challenging this activity become and the more skills are required to be successful.  So….stretch those sentences out!

Practice examples:

·       The…bird…is…singing.

·        My…mom…is…very…helpful!

·       Can…you…play…with…the…truck?

·       On…the…table…is…a…blue…plate.

·       I…have…a…friend…at…school...named…Tim.

Have fun with your child…it is the most important part of learning!

Next Blog… Level 2 Phonological Awareness

Welcome to the Solutions for Struggling Readers blog.  It is my hope to provide parents of Struggling Readers tools to help make learning to read easier and more enjoyable for their Struggling Reader.  

Struggling Readers come in all ages and stages of reading development.  They may come with or without special needs.  And each Struggling Reader is unique.   Fortunately, it doesn’t matter … We Have Solutions! 

Solutions for Struggling Readers blog will provide practical ideas, strategies, research and links to assist you and your Struggling Readers achieve reading success. 

Next Blog...  Learn about the "Different Types of Struggling Readers" and how to help reading development for each type.