General Information About Instruction

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General Information About Instruction

How To Pronounce The Letter And Phonogram Sounds Correctly

Teachers, tutors, and parents should be sure to listen to how the letters and phonics patterns are pronounced so that they can pronounce them correctly when teaching them to the students. Listen carefully and practice saying the sounds as needed. They may be different from what you are used to. Click here to go the the section with audio files. Most of the audio files can be downloaded. Click here to go to the section with video files. Most of the video files can be downloaded.

Student Success

The goal of this program is for as many students as possible to be successful. The teaching format is direct instruction. Students are actively involved in the lessons. The skills are taught in a step-by-step fashion so that concepts are easy to learn and there is little chance for confusion. At the same time, the lessons are rigorous. In a phonics based program, the students knowledge increases exponentially. Everything new thing that is learned fits together with students' previous knowledge like pieces of a puzzle. The big picture ends up being far more than the sum of its parts.

Student Support

The students are supported every step of the way so that they never have to give a wrong answer. If a student is unsure, the teacher immediately provides support by giving extra instruction, hints, direct modeling, or a quick demonstration. Students feel safe, so they are able to relax and think clearly. When students experience success, they feel excited, and they are eager to learn more.

Multiple Activities To Support Student Learning

Sufficient time is allowed each day to complete a number of different activities. Every activity reinforces each day's learning. The teaching process includes whole group and small group lessons and independent work. Daily review helps students remember essential information. This allows students to make rapid progress.

The entire day's lesson does not need to be completed all at one time. The parts of the lesson that require close attention by the whole group, such as introducing and reviewing letter patterns followed by the spelling dictation period, should be done early in the day. Other parts of the lesson which are more relaxed, such as small group rotations and reading aloud to the group, can be done later in the day.

The Importance Of Moving

During the lesson period, it is important to take frequent minibreaks to stand up and stretch, exercise, sing a song, or even take a quick walk.

Following A Daily Routine

Teachers will find it relatively easy to use this program. Each level uses a teaching outline that's just right for that level. When new skills are introduced, the teacher follows the same outline every time. The only change is that the teacher will plug in the new concepts to be learned. This provides security for the students, who get used to the routine and know what to expect. It allows the lesson to move quickly, since everyone knows what to do. On the other hand, students don't get bored, because they are learning something new every day.

Introducing The Alphabet Letters

Alphabet letters are taught one at a time. The sequence in which they are introduced is carefully thought out, so that students will be able to learn successfully. The letters that are easiest to write are taught first. This way, students master the basic handwriting strokes before going on to more complicated letters that are more difficult to write. The teacher introduces each letter by reading a section aloud from a sound story. Each section introduces a new sound in the English language, along with a picture that represents that sound, and the letters that represent that sound in words.

Thorough handwriting instruction is provided at the kindergarten and first grade level using large letter patterns to trace and copy. Older students begin the year with a handwriting review. If students are just starting the program and handwriting needs improvement, older students should be taught using the large handwriting patterns as well.

Multi-Sensory Teaching

The Sound City Reading program uses multi-sensory teaching techniques. To learn to write the letters of the alphabet, students trace large letter patterns multiple times on the chalkboard and on paper. While tracing and writing the letters students say the sound for each lower case letter, or the name and sound for each capital letter. When spelling words, students hear the words, say the sounds one at a time as they write the related letters, hear the letter sounds as they pronounce them, and see the letters and words as they write.

Students spell phonetic words by saying the individual letter sounds, one at a time, as they write each letter or letter pattern in the word. This process of saying each sound in a word separately is called segmenting. Students do not spell phonetic words by saying the letter names, since the letter names do not help students track the specific sounds in words. When spelling multisyllable words, students work with one syllable at at time.

Introducing Short Vowel Words

At levels two and three, students begin studying short vowel words. At level two, they spell short vowel words using plastic letters. At level three, they spell ten new short vowel words each day during a daily dictation period with the teacher. They then read the same words from their books. As soon as possible they begin reading and writing short vowel sentences.

Introducing Words With Phonics Patterns

At level four, students learn one new phonics pattern or syllable pattern per day. The teacher introduces new phonics pattern with a flashcard and also points out the pattern on a sound chart. For new syllable patterns, the teacher explains the pattern while writing several words on the board to demonstrate. Students spell new words with the pattern during the daily dictation period. Afterwards, they read words with the new pattern from wordlists in their books. Students apply their knowledge of new patterns by reading practice stories that contain only the patterns that have been taught. Students at level five read regular children's picture books instead of practice stories.

Daily Dictation Period

At levels two through five, the teacher and students complete a daily dictation period.
Level Two - Exploring Sounds In Words

Students learn to write a new capital and lower case letter.
The teacher dictates the letters that have been taught by saying their sounds. Students repeat the sound as they write each letter on lined handwriting paper.

Level Three - Short Vowels

The teacher dictates the letters that have been taught by saying their sounds. Students repeat the sound as they write each letter on lined handwriting paper.
The teacher dictates ten short vowel words. Students say each sound in the word, one at a time, while writing the related letters on lined handwriting paper. Saying the individual sounds in a word is called segmenting.
The teacher introduces these sight words when indicated on the sequence chart: a, A, was, as, has, is, his, I. These words are considered sight words because there is a part of the word that is not pronounced as expected.
The teacher dictates a simple sentence containing words that have already been taught. Example: A man was sad.

Level Four - Phonics Patterns

The teacher introduces a new phonics pattern or syllable pattern.
The teacher dictates a selection of letters and phonics patterns that have been taught by saying their sounds. Students repeat the sounds as they write the related letters and letter patterns on lined paper.
The teacher dictates ten words with the new phonics pattern or syllable pattern.
New sight words are taught as needed during the dictation period. Previous sight words are reviewed.
The teacher dictates a sentence with one or more of the words taught in the lesson.

Level Five - Advanced Phonics
At level five the dictation period follows a different routine.

After the teacher introduces a new phonics pattern, the students and teacher read a new list of about twelve words, working together.
Then the teacher writes the words on the board, one at at time, while students copy the words.
The teacher and students discuss how to mark the syllable patterns and phonics patterns as needed in each word. The teacher models this on the board, and the students mark the words on their papers.

Learning Activities

Working with the teacher, students do a number of hands-on learning activities during the small group teaching rotations. They work with small moveable plastic letters to practice spelling words. The practice pronouncing two-sound letter combinations during a letter connections activity. They work with a variety games to reinforce phonetic patterns and decoding skills.

Daily Review

As students learn new letters and phonics patterns, they review them daily. They say the sounds for letters and letter patterns from illustrated sound charts and also from flashcards. They also write letters and phonics patterns as a review during the daily dictation period. In this way, students truly internalize the patterns they are learning and are able to apply them when reading and writing.

Developing Phonological Awareness

Phonological awareness, including phonemic awareness skills, are taught systematically in levels one and two. Skills taught include rhyming, beginning and ending sounds, oral blending, and segmenting. At level one, students are introduced to conventions of print through a series of eight lessons, read aloud and demonstrated by the teacher. If older students have not been exposed to the these exercises taught at the earlier levels, they can be introduced to the same lessons in a separate book, Phonemic Awareness Picture Pages.

Learning To Read Short Vowel Words

The words studied at the short vowel level are not limited to common, high frequency words. Words that may not be in the student's speaking vocabulary are also taught, however the meaning of unusual words is always explained carefully. Students are exposed to a wide variety of words so that they can practice reading as many different beginning and ending sound combinations as possible for each short vowel. At the short vowel level, students are learning to read words for the first time. It is necessary for them to coordinate what they see, a sequence of three or four letters (for example led, less), with speech. Not only must students say each sound in the word in the correct order, they must also slide the sounds of the letters together smoothly. Mastering this task is important for beginning readers and older readers who are trying to "catch up." The physical movement of the student's mouth, tongue, and throat is different for each letter or combination of two or more letters. Like other physical activities, this process becomes more efficient when it's practiced, like riding a bike or dribbling a basketball. Reading many different short vowel words will help students develop confidence and fluency. This prepares students to be successful when they reach level four, phonics patterns.

Learning To Read Words With Various Phonics Patterns And Syllable Patterns

At level four, students learn one new phonetic pattern or syllable pattern per day. Because they already know how to decode and spell short vowel words phonetically, students will be able move quickly through the new material. Students spell and read ten words with the new pattern so that they will be able to remember and apply the pattern with confidence. Then they apply their knowledge by reading short practice stories that have words with the same patterns. The words in the practice stories include only the letter patterns that have been taught. The most common patterns are taught first. Similar patterns, such as ai/rain, ay/play, and a_e/safe, are taught close together. The same lesson outline is used each day to introduce the patterns. Students are able to remember the patterns that have been previously taught because they review them daily from sound charts, from sound cards, and during sound dictation.

Students Spell New Words Before Reading Them

At levels three and four, students spell each new set of words before they read them. The ten words in each new list contain the same phonetic pattern, for example short a words, words with the sh pattern, words with the ai pattern, and so on. This allows the class to spell new words before they see them. After the teacher dictates each word, students segment the word in unison with the teacher, then segment it again individually, saying each sound one at a time while writing the related letters and letter patterns on lined paper. Analyzing words in this way prepares students to read the same words successfully.

Teaching Decoding Skills By Doing An Oral Blending Activity With New Words And Pictures

The color-coded books at levels three and four include an oral blending activity which is done to prepare students to read each new set of words. The activity is simple but it has an amazingly positive effect on the ability of students to learn to read new words with confidence. It works well for all students but is particularly helpful for students who do not learn decoding easily. To do the activity, students look at two facing pages in their books, with ten pictures on the left side in random order, and ten words on the right side. To do the activity as a group, the pages can be displayed from a PDF file on a screen using a projector. Alternately, picture/word charts printed on 11 inch by 17 inch ledger paper are available as printable PDF files. They can be placed on an easel to work with a group seated nearby. The game could also be played with the worksheet pages. In this case, the words are in a list in the middle of the page, with pictures on both sides.

For step one, the students look at the pictures. The teacher looks at the first column of words and pronounces the sounds for the first word, pausing slightly between each sound. A student is called on to look at the pictures and find the picture that matches the sounds. He or she points to the picture and pronounces the word normally. The class repeats the word. This continues in the same way until all of the pictures have been found.
For step two, the students look at the words in the first column. The teacher pronounces the sounds for one of the words, pausing slightly between each sound. A student is called on to find the matching word. He or she points to the word and pronounces the word normally. The class repeats. This step continues in the same way until all of the words have been found.
For step three, students read the ten words in the second column. First the teacher calls on individual students to take turns reading the words. If a student has trouble, he or she can go back to the first column and say the sounds of the letters and letter patterns going from left to right, following the arrows, sliding the sounds together smoothly. Then the whole group rereads the words in unison, going down and back up the second column.
An optional step four can be done last. The teacher gives a hint, clue, or description related to a word. Call on a student to look at the ten words, find the answer, and read it aloud. This continues in the same way until all of the words have been found.

Students Learn A Large Number Of High Frequency Words As They Study The Phonetic Lists

At the short vowel and phonics patterns level, some uncommon words are included, but as far as possible the most common words with that pattern are introduced. In this way, students are soon able to recognize a large number of high frequency words. Because students learn the words phonetically, they are able to remember them easily. The don't have to learn them by rote memory.

Phonetic Words Are Not Introduced Until Students Have Studied The Necessary Phonics Patterns

In some programs, many phonetic words are taught early as sight words because the patterns they contain haven't been taught yet. In this program, students are not introduced to common phonetic words until they have learned the necessary phonics patterns to read them.

Learning Sight Words

Sight words are taught as exceptions to the rules. For example, students learn the sight word been after they have after studied words with the ee/feet pattern. Sight words are introduced during the dictation period and reviewed during the small group reading period. When students write a sight word for the first time, they are taught to say the sound for each part of the word, with an emphasis on the section that does not show the expected sound. For example, when learning the sight word been, students follow these steps. First, the teacher shows a flashcard with the new sight word, pronounces it, and uses it in a sentence or describes its meaning. The teacher points out the part of the word that is irregular. In the word been, the ee pattern does not show the long ē sound, as expected. It is pronounced as a short i sound. The students look at the card and repeat the whole word aloud one at a time until all of the students have read the word. Students are told that this word is a rule breaker and they should pronounce the short i sound, /i/, when they look at the ee pattern in this word. Then the students look at the same card as they copy the word. As they write, they will segment the word, as usual, saying its individual sounds one at a time, while they write the letters that represent those sounds. As the say the /b/ sound, students write the letter b. As they say the /i/ sound, they write the letters ee. As they say the /n/ sound, the write the letter n. After writing the letters, the teacher guides the students as they underline the ee pattern and write the letter i above it so indicate the short i sound. Note: It is helpful to use flashcards with color-coded vowels to teach sight words. In this word, the ee pattern will be printed in the light purple color that shows the short i sound, instead of the dark green color that shows the long ē sound. For example: see, green, feet, been.)

Working With Plastic Letters

To help them learn to read and spell new words, beginning or remedial students work in small groups with the teacher to spell words with plastic letters. Each student in the group works with a box of letters and a sheet of construction paper to use as a work mat. Two complete sets of alphabet letters are included in each box, so that students will be able to spell words with two of the same letter, for example fill, dad, sash, feet, and book. This activity is structured so that all the students in the group spell the same word at the same time, saying each sound in the word and placing the related letter or letters on their work mats from left to right. This process is especially important when students begin studying short vowel words, but it can also be helpful when students are learning words with various phonics patterns. If students spell a new set of words with plastic letters first, they will then be able to spell and read the words more easily. There is something about physically moving the letters into position as they spell a word that helps students understand the basic phonetic principle - that words are made up of sounds, and each sound in the word is shown with a particular letter or letter pattern, going from left to right. Note: If you are doing the spelling dictation period the first thing in the morning, it works well to spell the same words during the small group rotations in the afternoon the day before.

Emphasizing The Meaning Of Words

There is a continuing emphasis throughout the program on the meanings of new words. Less common words are discussed so that students will learn their meanings. This will enlarge students' speaking and reading vocabulary. Many of the books include pictures to illustrate new words.

Reading Decodable Practice Stories

After a series of new phonetic patterns has been taught, students read a short practice story that contains words with those patterns. With very few exceptions, the stories contain words with phonics patterns and sight words that have already been taught. The teacher reads each story aloud to the students and discusses it before students read the story to the teacher in small groups. As students take turns reading in their small group, the teacher is available to provide support with any word that proves difficult. Usually a reminder to look at the vowel pattern or syllable pattern, modeling the vowel sound if necessary, will help the student read the word. If not, the teacher reads the word for the student and the student repeats the word and continues reading. This allows students to read the stories with confidence. They learn to apply their knowledge of phonics patterns and word structure to their reading, and do not develop the habit of guessing at words.

Sequencing Children's Picture Books So That They Are Decodable

As they continue to master new patterns, students will be able to read a few "easy reader" children's picture books during the second half of the phonics patterns level. At the advanced phonics patterns level, students will be able to read eighty-one popular children's picture books, with reading levels from first grade through the fourth grade. Recommended books are listed in the teaching materials when students are ready to read them. The books have been carefully screened and sequenced so that, with very few exceptions, students who have studied all of the phonics patterns taught, up to that point, will be able to decode all of the phonetic words in the book.

Add A Period For Free Choice Activities At The End Of The Day

It is wise to end the school day with a "center time" period. During this time students can interact freely with the other students and choose their own activities. The can read independently or with a partner, write, draw, do file folder activities, play with small sets of dinosaurs and animals, and build with construction toys. They might also do some type of special project. Students know that after they get their work done for the day they will have this reward period. It helps them to stay on track during the formal lessons, knowing that if they do their best work they can look forward to this self directed period.

Three Visual Cues Used To Help Students Learn The Sounds For The Phonics Patterns

1. Sound Pictures

The sounds for the alphabet letters and phonics patterns in this program are taught using a sound story. Each picture in the story represents a specific sound. For example, a dog growls, showing the /rrrr/ sound. The wind blows, showing the /www/ sound. Someone cries out in surprise, showing the "Oh!" sound. It is important to understand that the sound pictures are not key words. You can't figure out the sound by looking at the sound picture and thinking of its beginning sound. For example, one sound picture shows a clock. The sound that this picture represents is a ticking sound, / t, t, t, t/, the sound that a clock makes. It does not represent the /c/ sound, even though the first letter in the word clock is the letter c.

The story is in two parts. The first part teaches the sounds for the letters of the alphabet, including the consonant sounds, the five short vowel sounds (a/ax, e/egg, i/in, o/ox, u/up), and the long ī sound (ī/lilac). The second part of the story teaches the 15 remaining speech sounds in the English language. The following sounds are included in part two of the story.

Four consonant digraphs - sh/ship, th/thumb, th/this, ch/chicken, and ng/ring
Four long vowels - ā/raven, ē/begin, ō/robot, and ū/music
Three dotted vowels - ö/to, ü/push, and ä/all - In this program, two dots over a vowel means "not the usual sound." The German umlaut is shown as two dots over a vowel with the same meaning. The sounds for the dotted vowels in this program do not match the sounds for the dotted vowels in the dictionary.
One consonant sound without a specific pattern, heard in the words vision, measure, azure, and garage - The dictionary uses zh to designate this sound in words. However the zh pattern is not used in English words.

You can see each sound picture and hear its sound under the AUDIO heading on the main menu.

2. Color Coded Vowels - Click here to see an explanation of how color-coded vowels are used in this program.

3. Diacritical Marks And Other Written Cues

This program also uses written marks to help students understand and remember vowel sounds. These marks are used during the daily dictation lesson when students are writing the letters and patterns to represent sound pronounced by the teacher and when they are spelling words phonetically. The marks are also used when introducing new patterns in the student books and when the teacher writes a word on the chalkboard to show how it is pronounced. Note: The terms short vowel and long vowel do not mean that the size of the letter is short or long. The terms do not mean that the sound itself is held for a shorter or longer period of time. The terms short and long are just a way to talk about specific vowel sounds.

Short Vowel Sounds - In this program, when students begin to spell words for the first time, they spell short vowel words. The short vowel sounds are are heard in these words: a/ax, e/egg, i/in, o/ox, and u/up. In this program, vowels with short vowel sounds are not marked. This eliminates confusion with the long vowel sounds. (Some phonics program use a mark called a breve, which looks like a smile, above letters that have short vowel sounds. It is not used in this program.)

Long Vowel Sounds - Students begin to spell words with long vowel sounds after they have learned to spell words with short vowel sounds. The long vowel sound for each letter is the sound you hear when you pronounce the name of the letter. In this program, a straight line is placed above a vowel to indicate that it represents its long vowel sound, like this: ā, ē, ī, ō, ū. You can hear the long vowel sounds at the beginning of these words: āpron, ēmu, īsland, ōcean, and ūniform. The line is a diacritical mark called a macron. Examples include hē, nō, and zērō.

Dotted Vowel Sounds - In the German language, two dots over a vowel are an indication that the vowel is not pronounced in the usual way. The two dots are called an umlaut. In this program, the use of two dots over a vowel has the same meaning. A vowel marked with two dots will not have its short sound or its long sound. It will have a different sound. The dotted vowel sounds can be heard in these words: äll, ballët, pïzza, tö, and püsh.

Vowel Patterns - During the dictation period, when students are spelling words, they will underline any vowel patterns that are made up of more than one letter. Examples: saw, pie, feet, weigh, would, farm, early. If a

Split Vowel Patterns - In a split vowel pattern, a consonant is inserted between two vowels, as seen in the words safe, these, pine, home, and cube. The first vowel is pronounced as the long vowel sound, and the second vowel (always the letter e) is not pronounced. When spelling words from dictation, the teacher shows the students how to draw a bracket under words that they spell that have split vowel patterns. The bracket connects the vowels that have the consonant between them. This helps the students "see" the vowel pattern, even though the vowels are separated.

Marking Silent Letters - A small x is placed above letters in a word that are not pronounced. For example, the underlined letters in these words would have a small x written above them: listen, plumber, honest, tumble.

Dividing Words Into Syllables - During the dictation period, the teacher models how to draw lines as needed to divide words into syllables.

Umbrella Sounds - The letter u has the short u sound in these words: run, jump, cut. There are six other letter patterns that show the short u sound in words: a/was, a_/away, _a/panda, o/son, o_e/love, and ou/country. Students study wordlists for each of these patterns. To introduce these sounds, the teacher reads a story about the five vowels going for a walk one day. The letter u carries his large umbrella. It starts to rain, and the other vowels ask to get under the letter u's umbrella. He decides to allow them to get under the umbrella if they will promise to show his short u sound in at least some of the words that they are in. Words with these patterns are called umbrella patterns, and a small umbrella is placed above the vowel to remind students to use the short u sound. The umbrella is printed above new umbrella words in the student books. Students write a small umbrella above the patterns when they spell umbrella words during the spelling dictation period.

was

son

Unaccented Syllables - The vowel sound in an unaccented syllable is not pronounced as clearly as the regular vowels are pronounced. In fact, it is hardly pronounced at all. This type of vowel sound is called the schwa sound. To show an unaccented syllable, this program places a curved line under the vowel in that syllable. The curved line starts under the consonant that comes before the vowel and it ends under the consonant that comes after the vowel. Students are taught to go directly from the first consonant to the next consonant when they pronounce the syllable, skipping the vowel sound.

Sight Words - A small picture of a pair of glasses is used to show that a word is a sight word. The picture reminds students to be careful; part of the word cannot be pronounced phonetically. These words must be memorized. Sight words in this program include these words: was, said, been, where, does, sew, and half.

Rulebreaker Patterns - A small picture of a broken ruler is used to indicate that a phonics patterns is a rulebreaker pattern. For instance, the ew/few and eu/Europe patterns are rulebreaker patterns, because they don't represent the long vowel sound for the first letter in the pattern. They represent the long ū sound instead, even though there is no letter u in the pattern.

Combining Phonics Instruction With The Whole Language Approach

To create the best possible results, the Sound City Reading program uses elements from whole language instruction in addition to the phonics instruction.

For this program to be effective, the teacher should read aloud to the class daily from a variety of fiction and nonfiction books, including children's literature, and books related to science and social studies. I recommend thirty minutes of read-aloud time per day. It works well to integrate the books read aloud with the science and social studies curriculum.
As they work through this program, students will be able to read variety of regular children's picture books. It is recommended that the teacher reads these books aloud to the students on a regular basis before it is time for the students to read them on their own. Being familiar with the stories will allow the students to recognize and decode words in the story more easily.
When students reach a new practice story in level four, the teacher should first read the story aloud to the whole group, asking appropriate questions to help students understand and think about the story. Then the teacher should echo read each sentence or each page of the story again, taking turns with the students, who have their own books in their laps. The same procedure can be done with stories from basal reading programs and other literature selections when they are being used.
Some students will enter first grade already reading. At the beginning of the school year, the teacher should invite each student individually to read a page or two from several books, using an extra easy book, moderately easy book, and more advanced book. Students should put those students who are already reading together during the small group rotations. The group can begin reading the suggested literature selections listed in the level four books and the level five book at the beginning of the year. This
It is suggested that teachers create graphic organizers on the board daily with the students' input to analyze and visualize information from the stories and books read aloud or from current science and social studies topics. Diagrams, concept maps, timelines, and others can be used. Students can then copy the material on the board during the small group rotation time, and when possible expand on the topic with their own words and pictures.
In the same way, it is suggested that the teacher and students work together to prepare students for writing assignments. For example, the teacher might solicit information from the students to create a graphic organizer on the chalkboard on a selected topic. Beginning students can copy the organizer during an independent work period, perhaps drawing pictures as well to illustrate the concepts. More advanced students can use the organizer as a reference point to write and illustrate a short essay or story related to the topic.

Why Are Letter Sounds Emphasized More Than Letter Names In This Program?

Students learn both the letter names and the letter sounds in this program. However the letter sounds are emphasized in the daily activities. Students say the letter sounds, not the letter names, from the alphabet chart and alphabet cards as a review each day. Why is it so important for students to say just the letter sounds during these review periods and throughout each day's lesson?

Using Letter Sounds

It Helps Students Read Phonetic Words - When students begin to read words, they will say the sound for each letter in the word, going from left to right, to pronounce the word. This process is called decoding. When students look at each letter, the sound must come to mind immediately and automatically instead of the letter name. If students practice saying the letter names from the alphabet chart and alphabet cards, they will think of the letter name for each letter when they begin reading words. Saying the letter names does not form the correct pronunciation of the word. For example, to pronounce or read the word cat, the student should say /c/ /a/ /t/, putting the letter sounds together smoothly. (Letters between slash marks indicate the letter sounds.) If the student sees the word cat and says "cee-ay-tee" that does not sound like the word cat. By saying the letter sounds, students are able to read words phonetically. Eventually they will be able to read thousands of words in this way, even if they have never seen the words before. On the other hand, if students think of the letter names when they read, they will be learning the words by rote memory, making the reading process much more difficult.
It Helps Students Spell Phonetic Words - At level two, students will learn to write the letters of the alphabet on lined handwriting paper. During a daily dictation period, students will write each letter when give the sound by the teacher. Students will repeat the letter sound as they write each letter. This prepares students to spell phonetic words. When students learn to spell words in this program at level three, they will say each sound in the word, one at at time, while writing the letters (or letter patterns) that represent those sounds, going in order from left to right. The way that the word is pronounced provides the information the student needs to write the correct letters to spell the word.
It Streamlines The Process Of Reading And Spelling Words, Which Is Essential For Many Students - If students are taught to say both the letter name and sound when they study/review the alphabet letters, they will have to screen out the letter names when they read or spell words. This creates a multi-step process. Students see a letter, think of its name and sound, remove the letter name mentally, and say the letter sound. Some students are able to do this comfortably. Other students find it almost impossible to do this type of mental screening, creating a severe roadblock when learning to read and write.

When To Use Letter Names

There are two reasons that students will need to know the letter names. First, they will need to be familiar with alphabetical order in order to find words in a dictionary or alphabetize a list of words. Saying the letter names in alphabetical order can help students remember their order. Second, students will at some point need to spell their name and possibly their address for someone during a business or other type of transaction. To do this they will need to say the names of the letters. These skills can easily be taught after students have begun to spell and read phonetically.

Sound City Reading

My goal is for as many people as possible to use this reading program to teach students how to read. All of the materials you need are available on this site as free PDF files. The materials are copyrighted, but I give permission to all teachers, parents, tutors, and school systems to download and print any of the PDF files for use with the students they teach. However, they are not to make a profit from distributing the materials. If you don't have a printer, using a print shop is allowed. If preferred, you may work with the PDF files directly from a computer screen, without printing them. This makes it possible for tutors to teach the program online. Audio and video files are free to watch and to listen to, and they may be downloaded if desired for use with your students. In special cases I may grant written permission to individuals to use the materials in other ways. You can contact me at [email protected].