SOUND CITY READING

Sound city Reading Blog

  • Sequential Phonics Program
    • Welcome
    • Copyright Information
    • How To Navigate This Site
    • Information About The Sound City Reading Program
    • Information About The Author
    • How Was This Program Developed?
    • Why Are There So Many Different Books?
    • How To Get Started
    • What If I Can't Do Everything In This Program?
    • Information About Reading Street Materials
    • Reading Readiness
    • Understanding Consonants
    • Understanding Vowels
    • What Happened To The Old Web Site
    • Other Recommended Sites
  • Program Overview
    • Step Charts
    • Flow Charts
    • Teaching Levels
    • Books Used At Each Level
    • Color-Coded Vowels
    • Skill Sequence
    • General Information About Instruction
    • Integrating Phonics And Whole Language
    • Sound Story
    • Level 1 - Learning The Alphabet Overview
    • Level 2 - Exploring Sounds In Words Overview
    • Level 3 - Short Vowels Overview
    • Level 4. Phonics Patterns Overview
    • Level 5. Advanced Phonics Patterns Overview
    • Phonemic Awareness Picture Pages Overview
    • Handwriting Books Overview
    • Charts, Flashcards, And Games Overview
    • Newer Wall Charts
    • Previous Wall Charts
  • PDF Files
    • How To Work With PDF Files
    • Printers And Printing Supplies
    • PDF Files For Any Level
    • PDF Files For Handwriting
    • Level 1 - Learning The Alphabet PDFs
    • Level 2 - Exploring Sounds In Words PDFs
    • Level 3 - Short Vowels PDFs
    • Level 4 - Phonics Patterns PDFs
    • Level 5 - Advanced Phonics Patterns PDFs
    • PDF Files For Flashcards
    • PDF Files For Activities And Games
    • PDF Files For Newer Wall Charts
    • PDF Files For Older Wall Charts
  • Reading Street
    • PDFs Decoding Practice Pages
    • PDFs Spelling Worksheets
    • PDFs Word And Phonogram Cards
    • PDFs Reading Street Tests
    • PDFs Reading Street Stories
  • Pictures
    • Sound Story Pictures
    • Keyword/Sound Chart Pictures
    • Level 1 And 2 Pictures
    • Level 3 Pictures
    • Level 4 Pictures
    • Consonant Blends
    • Level 5 Pictures
  • Audio
    • Sound Story Part 1 - Alphabet Sounds
    • Sound Story Part 2 - Beyond The Alphabet Sounds
    • Sound Pictures With Letters - Part 1
    • Sound Pictures With Letters And Letter Patterns - Part 2
    • Individual Sound Pictures - Part 1
    • Individual Sound Pictures - Part 2
    • Individual Alphabet Sounds - ABC Order
    • More Letter Sounds - sh, th, ch, ng, oi, oy, ou, ow
    • Level 1 And Level 2 Sound Charts
    • Level 3 - Short Vowels - Sound Charts
    • Level 3 - Advanced Short Vowel Sound Charts
    • Level 4 - Book 1 - Sound Charts
    • Level 4 - Book 2 - Sound Charts
    • Two-Letter Sound Blending - Short U
    • Picture-Word Page Short U
  • Video
    • Sound Story Part 1 Videos
    • Robot Game a_e/safe Video
    • Advanced Sound Charts Videos (All SCR Patterns)
  • Blog
    • Contact Me
    • Share Your Experience
    • Take This Expanded Survey

10/23/2017

Updated Charts Showing All Of The Sound City Reading Books

Read Now
 
I've updated the overview charts and the flow charts showing all of the Sound City Reading phonics books.  Click on any chart to enlarge it. 

​The changes to the overview charts make it more clear that it is not necessary to use every book in a given level.  You could choose, for example, Book A OR Book B OR Book C at a particular level. The different options may present the material in a different order (as in the short vowel books) or in a different format (as in the phonics patterns books).  Although having a variety of books at some of the levels may be initially confusing, the advantage is that you can fine tune your instruction by selecting the particular books that are best suited for your students.

​The overview charts give a range of suggested grade levels for each group of books.  The books are not limited to a single grade level, so that they can be used at any level as needed.  
Picture
Picture

The flow chart pages have been changed to show two alternate routes for beginning readers.
  1. You may choose to complete the Learning The Alphabet books, then the Exploring Sounds In Words book, and then one of the short vowel books.  
  2. Or you may complete the Learning The Alphabet books and then work through the Exploring Sounds In Words book and the Mixed Short Vowel Words And Sentences book at the same time, integrating the daily instruction. 
Picture
Picture

Share

10/17/2017

I've Uploaded Learning The Alphabet Revised, Books 1 And 2

Read Now
 
Picture
Picture
I've revised the Learning The Alphabet books and have uploaded the PDF files today.  A separate teaching guide for these books will be posted in the near future.  These books are perfect for students who are learning the alphabet letters.  I developed these pages for my grandson when I was teaching him the alphabet.  The PDF files are copyrighted but they may be downloaded and printed by teachers, parents, and tutors, to use with their own students.

I had previously thought that I might combine these books into one book and put the handwriting and sound story pages into a separate book.  After more thought, I decided that since this is the very first book in the Sound City Reading program, I should leave everything together.  This will make it easier for teachers and parents to follow the teaching sequence.  All you have to do is go from one page to the next, in the order in which the pages appear in the book.

The changes in the books are as follows.
  1. The front and back cover pages are printed in color.  The rest of the book has all black print, as before.
  2. The handwriting pages with the large letters have been changed.  The letter outlines are narrower.  (See the pictures below.)  This allows students to finger trace the letters first and then trace them with a pencil.
  3. An additional handwriting page has been added to each letter section.  It is a letter review page.  Students trace letter outlines for all of the letters that have been taught so far.  (See the picture below.)
  4. The order of the oral blending pages has been modified.  In Book 1, students complete three compound word pages, four two-syllable word pages, and six two-sound pages.  In Book 2, students complete two two-sound pages and eleven three-sound pages.  The purpose for this change is so that there will be a gradual increase in difficulty spread across both books as students complete the pages.  Both books include six pages of two-syllable words at the end of the book as extra practice, to be used as needed.
  5. Due to the addition of the extra handwriting pages, the teaching guide will become a separate book.  However, brief instructions are included on each student page in Books 1 and 2.  Please use the teaching guide in the original Learning The Alphabet 1 until I get the separate guide posted.

This is the handwriting page with large letters in the original version.  Students finger trace the letters.
​
Picture
This is the handwriting page with large letters in the revised version.  Students finger trace the letters, and they can also trace the letters with a pencil.
Picture

The letter introduction page with small letters has not changed.
Picture
A handwriting review page has been added after each new letter has been taught.
Picture

Both the original and revised versions are set up with beginning learners in mind.  They use multi-sensory instruction to teach new letters.  Tracing large and small letters helps students internalize each letter shape so that they can recognize the letter when they see it.  Saying the letters sounds as they trace helps students associate each letter with its sound.  After tracing a new letter, students complete a letter discrimination page, on which they circle the new letter in rows of individual letters, in rows of words, and in a sentence.  (Students are not expected to read the words and sentence; they are read aloud by the teacher.)
Picture

As each new letter is taught, two types of picture pages are included to teach beginning phonemic awareness skills.  The first teaches oral blending, and the second introduces students to rhyming
Picture
Picture

Students also study a page with words and pictures.  Each word on the page begins with the new letter.  The students look at the pictures to figure out the words, with the teacher's help.  As students pronounce each word, they listen carefully for the first sound, and circle the beginning letter.  This introduces them to the concept of beginning sounds in words.  The begin to understand that the beginning letter in a written word represents the first sound in the spoken word.
Picture

Share

10/9/2017

I've Uploaded A Smaller Version Of The Letter Connections Activity Used To Teach "Sound Blending"

Read Now
 
These instructions in the book Color-Coded Short Vowel Words explain how to make letter connections materials to teach sound blending.  However, both a large and small version of these  materials are available as pdf files to download from this web site.
Picture
Picture
The two versions of the Letter Connections Activity can be found on the PDF Files page for sound cards, sounds charts, etc.  The larger version has been available for a while.  It is large enough to use with a whole class, displayed on a large easel or on a chalkboard.  I uploaded a smaller version today.  It is a good size to use when working with a single student or a small group.  For one student it can be used on a flat surface such as a desk or table.  For a small group, it can be used on a tabletop easel.  These charts are used to teach "sound blending," the ability to connect a series of letter sounds smoothly when pronouncing them.

The Problem
​

Often, students are able to say the sounds for the letters of the alphabet, put alphabet letters together to form words, and read words by saying the sound for each letter.  They understand that letters are symbols for sounds and know that the letters are arranged sequentially in words to show us how to pronounce those words.  However, they are still reading each word by saying one letter sound at a time, pausing between the sounds.  While they can mentally put the sounds together after they have pronounced them separately, they are not yet able to read fluently because the decoding process slows them down quite a bit.
 
The Solution

The Letter Connections Activity teaches students to pronounce two or more letters, one after another, putting the sounds together smoothly.  

Step One: Working With Two Sounds
Students begin by pronouncing short vowel-consonant combinations, such as ab, ac, ad, af, ag, and am.  This exercise helps students learn to slide two letter sounds together smoothly.  For beginners, this can be a challenge but it is much easier than trying to put three sounds together smoothly to pronounce a whole word.  As students pronounce these vowel-consonant combinations, they are also learning that single vowels followed by a consonant usually represent the short vowel sound.  Most of these two-sound combinations are not real words, so in this program they are called "silly sounds."  Often, when students are having trouble pronouncing three-sound short vowel words smoothly, they will also have trouble putting just two sounds together.  This activity teaches them how to do that. 

Step Two: Working With Three Sounds To Read Short Vowel Words
After the first step has been mastered, students can begin reading series of short vowel words formed by moving cards showing the same ending chunks they have already mastered (_at, _oss, _in, _ell, _un, etc.) down a column of beginning consonants.  Students add various beginning sounds to the ending chunks to pronounce either real words or nonsense words.  For example, using the ending chunk _at, students would read bat, cat, dat, fat, gat, hat, etc.  Even though not all of the letter combinations are real words, many of the non-word combinations will be beginning syllables from multi-syllable words that students will eventually learn to read.  Because students are only having to change the beginning letter sound as the ending chunk is moved from one letter to the next, they will find it easier to pronounce the three-letter combinations smoothly, without having to say the sounds separately.

If you prefer to work with only real words with the students, you can just skip any combinations that don't form words.

Step Three: Working With Advanced Letter Connections Charts
After mastering short vowel words, students will learn to read words with beginning and ending consonant blends and words with various long vowel and r-controlled vowel patterns.  As they learn new consonant and vowel patterns, the teacher can use the various advanced letter connections charts to give students practice pronouncing consonant-vowel and vowel-consonant combinations.  Again, these combinations are often not real words, but they are generally found in words that students will be learning to read.  For example, students might practice putting beginning consonants with long vowel patterns, as in bai, cai, dai, fai, gai, hai.  They can also practice pronouncing words or chunks with ending consonant blends, for example band, cand, dand, fand, gand, and hand, or with beginning consonant blends, as in stee, snee, smee, and spee.  (Spell check is NOT happy with these pseudo words!)

Notice that studying these non-word syllables will prepare students to read many multi-syllable words such as daily, Haiti, candy, gander, steeple, and speedy.

Reinforcing With Color-Coded Short Vowel Lists and Color-Coded Phonetic Lists
These two books contain both rhyming and body-coda (same beginning sounds) word lists, sorted by vowel patterns.  They would provide excellent follow up reinforcement after students have done  particular letter connections activities.  Students can practice reading words with the same consonant and vowel patterns they have studied on the charts.

Individualizing Instruction
Some students pick up decoding more quickly than others.  It's important to provide enough decoding practice for students who find it more difficult.  Often students who struggle initially go on to become excellent readers, after mastering sound blending, which is an important sub-skill for decoding.  Developing this skill allows students to begin reading more fluently.  Working with specific letter combinations helps students begin to decode words more smoothly and automatically.  ​At the same time they are able to study a lot of new words in a short period of time.  This allows students to read on their own with more confidence and better comprehension. 

In my experience working with first grade students, even those students who come into first grade already reading will benefit from this specific type of decoding instruction.  It helps them become more conscious of the various letter patterns so that they can apply them when they begin to read more advanced words.  I've seen many good readers become advanced readers who are reading above grade level by the end of the year.  

Some students who begin reading without any problems have particular difficulty with spelling.  These students benefit greatly from this type of instruction because they are able to apply the patterns they have studied when spelling words.

Share

Details
    Picture
    Picture

    Archives

    November 2021
    June 2020
    April 2019
    February 2019
    March 2018
    February 2018
    December 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    November 2016
    September 2016

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Picture

Sound City Reading

All Materials Copyright 2023 or earlier by Kathryn J. Davis, All Rights Reserved
Teachers, parents, tutors, and schools may download and print PDF files to use with the students they teach.  They are not to make a profit from distributing the materials.     
If you download one or more PDF files from this site, you may not make the files available from a different site.  However, you may share links to any of the pages on this website, including the pages that have PDF files.    
​Teaching videos are free to watch, and they may be downloaded for use with your own students, at home or in the classroom.  

In special cases I may grant written permission to individuals to use the materials in other ways.  
You can contact me at kathjdavis@gmail.com.
  • Sequential Phonics Program
    • Welcome
    • Copyright Information
    • How To Navigate This Site
    • Information About The Sound City Reading Program
    • Information About The Author
    • How Was This Program Developed?
    • Why Are There So Many Different Books?
    • How To Get Started
    • What If I Can't Do Everything In This Program?
    • Information About Reading Street Materials
    • Reading Readiness
    • Understanding Consonants
    • Understanding Vowels
    • What Happened To The Old Web Site
    • Other Recommended Sites
  • Program Overview
    • Step Charts
    • Flow Charts
    • Teaching Levels
    • Books Used At Each Level
    • Color-Coded Vowels
    • Skill Sequence
    • General Information About Instruction
    • Integrating Phonics And Whole Language
    • Sound Story
    • Level 1 - Learning The Alphabet Overview
    • Level 2 - Exploring Sounds In Words Overview
    • Level 3 - Short Vowels Overview
    • Level 4. Phonics Patterns Overview
    • Level 5. Advanced Phonics Patterns Overview
    • Phonemic Awareness Picture Pages Overview
    • Handwriting Books Overview
    • Charts, Flashcards, And Games Overview
    • Newer Wall Charts
    • Previous Wall Charts
  • PDF Files
    • How To Work With PDF Files
    • Printers And Printing Supplies
    • PDF Files For Any Level
    • PDF Files For Handwriting
    • Level 1 - Learning The Alphabet PDFs
    • Level 2 - Exploring Sounds In Words PDFs
    • Level 3 - Short Vowels PDFs
    • Level 4 - Phonics Patterns PDFs
    • Level 5 - Advanced Phonics Patterns PDFs
    • PDF Files For Flashcards
    • PDF Files For Activities And Games
    • PDF Files For Newer Wall Charts
    • PDF Files For Older Wall Charts
  • Reading Street
    • PDFs Decoding Practice Pages
    • PDFs Spelling Worksheets
    • PDFs Word And Phonogram Cards
    • PDFs Reading Street Tests
    • PDFs Reading Street Stories
  • Pictures
    • Sound Story Pictures
    • Keyword/Sound Chart Pictures
    • Level 1 And 2 Pictures
    • Level 3 Pictures
    • Level 4 Pictures
    • Consonant Blends
    • Level 5 Pictures
  • Audio
    • Sound Story Part 1 - Alphabet Sounds
    • Sound Story Part 2 - Beyond The Alphabet Sounds
    • Sound Pictures With Letters - Part 1
    • Sound Pictures With Letters And Letter Patterns - Part 2
    • Individual Sound Pictures - Part 1
    • Individual Sound Pictures - Part 2
    • Individual Alphabet Sounds - ABC Order
    • More Letter Sounds - sh, th, ch, ng, oi, oy, ou, ow
    • Level 1 And Level 2 Sound Charts
    • Level 3 - Short Vowels - Sound Charts
    • Level 3 - Advanced Short Vowel Sound Charts
    • Level 4 - Book 1 - Sound Charts
    • Level 4 - Book 2 - Sound Charts
    • Two-Letter Sound Blending - Short U
    • Picture-Word Page Short U
  • Video
    • Sound Story Part 1 Videos
    • Robot Game a_e/safe Video
    • Advanced Sound Charts Videos (All SCR Patterns)
  • Blog
    • Contact Me
    • Share Your Experience
    • Take This Expanded Survey