Letter Formation

Teaching Handwriting

Teaching a one-stroke method for Lowercase letters (except for “f, i, j, k, t, and x”) makes handwriting easier, neater, faster, and makes cursive easier when they are older.   Letters are started one of 4 ways:

1. First, “l, i, j, t, h, b, p, r, n, and m” are started with a straight line down, and finished with an up and over the hill in the case of “h, b, p, r, n, and m”.   The “b” is made by coming straight down, then up and over like an “h”, then tucked under.  (Associating “b” with “h” and helping children connect their similarities will help children keep “b” and “d” straight in their mind.)
2. Second, the letters “a, d, g, q, s, and o” are started by writing a “c”.  Such as, “a” starts like a “c”, then go up and touch where the “c” starts, and come straight down.  Wait about 6 weeks after you have taught “b”, to introduce “d”.  This will help children keep these two letters straight.  Associating “d” with “a” and connecting their similarities, will help children be less confused between “b” and “d”.  Most children get them mixed-up.  Just keep comparing “b” to “h” and “d” to “a”, and they will eventually get it straight.  Here is a sample instruction for “d”:   “d” is made by starting at the broken line, go around like a “c”, then go up to the top line, then come straight down to the bottom line.
3. Third, “u” and “y” are started by drawing a smile, then come straight down.  In the case of “y”, add a hook like in the j and g (For example see picture below).  Teaching “y” this way will do two things.  It will make the “y” easier, and it won’t look like an “x”.  Also, it will make the transition to cursive easier.
4. Fourth, v, w, x, k, and z are the angled letters.  These are harder for children to form.  Teach these later in your instruction, unless the child has one in their name.

We have phonics based lesson plans that provide great ideas for kindergarten, preschool, or home schools.  Visit our website.  www.phonicsbyspelling.com

Math Lesson Ideas for the Number 1 (One)

Math Lesson for the Number 1 (One)

Objective:  Help children recognize the number 1, the word “one”, numbers are used for counting, count 1 object, and learn to write “l” and “one”.

Preparations:

• Find an art print or picture from a calendar or magazine with good examples of “ONE”.
• Optional:  Make some die cuts of apples or something else in two different colors and 3 different sizes.
• Have some stickers.
• Write the number “l” and the word, “one” on a word card.
• Have examples of the different fonts of the printed form of 1.
• Decide on a simple book, poem or nursery rhyme that has good examples of “one”.  Possibly use, “There Was a Crooked Man”.  (Included at the end.)
• Have paper and pencil for each child.

Lesson:

• Display the word card with “l one”.  Discuss the difference between the number “1” and the word “one”.  What are words made of?  (letters)  What are numbers used for?  (counting)
• Read  a book, poem or the Nursery Rhyme.  Then discuss the examples of one thing in the reading. Discuss different body parts to see how many they have.  Do you have 1 eye?  1 nose? Etc.
• Show the picture and have each child pick out one thing in the picture.
• Show the children examples of different fonts for the number one.  Encourage them to write their l’s with a straight line like an “l”.  Have them make them in the air with their finger.
• Give each child a paper and pencil.  Have or help them write their name.  Show the word card again for “l one”.  Have them write a number “l” and a word “one”.  (If a child has a hard time writing their letters, write the word “one” with a yellow pencil and have them trace it.)  Put out stickers and have them select 1 for their paper.

Extension ideas: Possibly include some comparison or patterning activities with the die cut apples.  (small, medium, large, same, different, ABAB pattern, etc.)   Can also do a food activity with several 1 items.

Nursery Rhyme

There was a crooked man, and he went a crooked mile;
He found a crooked sixpence against a crooked stile:
He bought a crooked cat, which caught a crooked mouse,
And they all lived together in a little crooked house.

For more educational tips and information visit www.phonicsbyspelling.com

Teach about Summer–The Season

Summer

Objective: Help children see and experience summer and how it is different to other seasons.

Preparation:

• Find drawings or pictures from books, magazines or old calendars of summer activities, food, and sun protection items.
• Print the attached worksheet. Downloadable PDF link: summer vs. winter worksheet
• A world globe and lamp.
• Decide on a book to read.  Suggested books: The Wonderful Tree, by Adelaide Holl,  Wake Up, Jeremiah, by Ann Himler,   The Sky Dog, by Brinton Turkle,   Frog and Toad Together, by Arnold Lobel The Reasons for Seasons by Gail Gibbons
  

Lesson:

Read a book(s) then discuss while showing pictures:

Discussion Questions:

• Why do we have summer?  Summer is the time when our part of the earth tilts towards the sun.  This can be demonstrated by holding the lamp next to the globe and explaining how the Earth is tilted on its axis.  Put a sticker on the globe where you live.  Rotate the globe around the lamp showing when their part of the Earth is tilted more toward the Sun it causes the sun to rise higher in the sky it causes longer days.  The rays of the sun hit the earth more directly causing hotter weather.  When their part of the  Earth is tilted away from the Sun it is winter.  The Sun rises low in the sky, and causes shorter days.  The rays of the sun strike the ground indirectly causing colder weather.
• What is the weather/temperature like in the summer?  It is the warmest season of the year.
• What are some ways to protect ourselves from heat and sunburn?  Protect yourself by using sunscreen, wearing a hat, wearing sunglasses, drinking a lot of water, etc.
• What kind of things do we do in the summer?  We play in the water. go on vacations/camping. celebrate the fourth of July, ride bikes, have picnics, play summer sports like baseball and soccer, etc.
• What kind of foods are fun to eat or drink in the summer?  We eat ice cream, Popsicles, watermelon, etc.
• How is summer different from winter?  We wear lighter clothes.  It is hot outside.  

Activity: Worksheet 

How do we dress differently in the summer than in the winter?  Have the children do the attached worksheet. Discuss with them what each picture is and to which column it belongs. Ask why each article of clothing would be appropriate for that season.

For more educational products and information visit www.phonicsbyspelling.com

Alphabet

Alphabet Lesson

(The letter sounds are more important for reading than the letter names, but the letter names give you and the child a vocabulary for learning to read.  Work on both letter sounds and names, but give the sounds more focus.  Make sure phonics sounds are made clearly without an “UH” at the end.)

Objective:  To create an awareness of letters and their sounds in children and, informally assess what they know.  Also, to help children recognize the first sound in their name.

Preparation:

• Copy the ABC song, one for each child, on colored card stock.   ABC song
• Have music and pictures of the letter sound. http://www.phonicsbyspelling.com/  (Optional)
• Have a name card for each child.
• Have tracing paper and pencils.

Lesson:

• Give each child an alphabet card and sing the ABC song.  Have each child touch the letters as you sing the song.  You may need to sing the song real slow the first time.  Sing it slow from Ll to Pp.  End the song with, “next time won’t you touch the letters with me.”  This will help children connect the song to the letters.  Do this song several times over the next few weeks.
• If you have the music and pictures for each sound, http://www.phonicsbyspelling.com/  play the song for the first letter in every child’s name while showing their name card.

Activities:

Give each child their name card, tracing paper and a pencil.  Let them trace their name.  Then have them write their name without tracing.  (This activity lets you assess their writing skills, while still being fun.)

An additional activity is to make a name book for each child.   These can be the words for the four pages.   (My name is ______.  I am ______ years old.   I like school.  I like ________.) Children can draw the pictures for each page.

For more educational tips and information visit www.phonicsbyspelling.com

Farm–Animals, Plants, and Machines

     Farms

Objective:  Children will learn about animals, plants and machinery on farms.  Also learn to listen and follow directions.  (You may want to divide Farms into 3 lessons. Also it is good to teach the “AR” sound with farms.)

Preparation:

• Find drawings or pictures of farm animals, plants and machines from books, internet, magazines or old calendars. 

• Print the attached worksheet.  Farm following directions worksheet
• Possibly plan a trip to a farm.
• Suggested books:

  • Farm Flu by Teresa Bateman  

  • Big Red Barn by Margaret Wise Brown

Lesson:  Discuss farms while showing pictures.

• Farm Animals: Discuss with pictures the types of animals found on the farm and each animals purpose.

• Farm Plants:  Discuss with pictures the types of crops grown on the farm. Include fruit trees, garden fruits and vegetables, hay, wheat, corn, etc.

• Farm Machines:  Discuss with pictures the types of machines found on the farm and their uses.

Activity:  Following Directions Worksheet

Give each child a worksheet and a set of crayons.

Give them directions to follow. Here are some examples:

1. Choose a color then write your name on the top of your paper.

2. With your blue crayon, circle all the animals.

3. With your yellow crayon, color the animal that comes from an egg. 

4. With your brown crayon, write the word, “Farm” on the bottom of your paper.

5. With your red crayon, draw a square around the farm plants or crops.

6. With your purple crayon make a triangle around the barn.

7. With your orange crayon, color the tail and ears of the animal we get wool from.

8. With your gray crayon, color the face of the animal we get milk from.

9. With your green crayon, color the plant or crop used to make flour for bread. 

10. On the back, use many colors to draw yourself on a farm with a tractor. 

Wrap Up:  Read a fun Farm book while they draw on the back of their worksheet.

Teaching Time – Clocks and O’clock

Teaching Time – Clocks and O’clock

Objective:  Teach children to understand O’clock times.

Preparation:

·      Make word cards for the words “Time”, “O’clock”, and “Clock”.

·      Have a teaching clock with movable hands.

·      Prepare to read the book, The Grouchy Ladybug, by Eric Carle.

·      Have cards with o’clock times on analog clocks and cards with o’clock times as they look on digital clocks.  Be prepared to play a matching game with cards.  (These can be made or bought commercially.)

·      Have a worksheet with o’clock times on analog clocks to do as a direction following activity.  Clocks worksheet

Lesson:

•  Put up the word cards “Time”, “O’clock”, and “Clock” to label the clock in the room.  Talk about some of the sounds in the word.  (T, K, O, etc.)  Show clocks in the room and the teaching clock.  Show that when the hour hand or big hand is on the 12 and the other hand is on a number it is an o’clock time. 
• Give out cards with a digital o’clock time to each child.  Then show an analog o’clock time and see which child has the match.  (The cards can also be used as a memory game.)
• Read The Grouchy Ladybug.  Show the time on the teaching clock as you read the book.  It is fun to let the children say what the Grouch Ladybug says.   

Activity:

Give each child a clock worksheet and a set of crayons.  Have the children follow directions to color each o’clock time.  Then have them circle the time for each clock.  Have them color the bottom clocks to match the color of the clocks at the top of the worksheet,

http://www.phonicsbyspelling.com/ . 

 

Reading activities to help children at any stage of reading development.

 Stages of Reading Development

These are some ideas for helping children read at the different stages of reading. 

Adults working with children need to know:

• Consonant sounds need to be learned crisply without adding an “uh” at the end.
• Schwa (or lazy or UH) sound is the most common sound in the English language and all vowels sometimes make that sound.

1. Children learning to hear sounds in words.

•    Music speeds up learning of the sounds.  We have fun music with our phonics. Contact us if you would like free music and books.  877-206-2214 
•    Picture cards representing the sound, instead of something that starts with the sounds, is easier for young children to understand.  Example is the picture above from our Phonics By Spelling books.  The short oo sound is the sound you make when you lift something heavy like big books. Some words with that sound are; look, book, hook.  
•    Rhyming games and activities.
•    Reading and predictable readers.
•    Show and Tell. Examples; Have children bring something that starts or ends with a sound or 2 items that rhyme. 
•    Pick out the sounds in the beginning/middle/end from pictures of objects.
•    Learn vowels and consonants.  Our Cinco game is fun for reviewing these letters and sounds. www.phonicsbyspelling.com

2. Children starting to blend sounds: 

•    Sounding out words aids in fluency and comprehension.  Don’t let children struggle by themselves to sound out for more than 1 or 2 seconds.  Help them sound out the words.
•    Simple phonetic readers.
•    Word families.   Make lists of words with the same spelling and sounds at the end like; dot, hot, pot, got, not, shot.
•    Sound out 3 letter words with or without pictures.
•    Have child unscramble simple words.  Find or print a picture of a simple word like “cat”.  Then print the letters for the word on card stock, then cut apart. Put the picture and letters together in an envelope.  
•    Do different vowels in the middle of consonants.
•    Do short vowel /long vowel chant with the silent e.  Make some cards with 2 words like; cap/cape, hop/hope.   Example of the chant:  cub & cube, cub & cube,  cub says ŭ, cube says ū.  
•    Teach sight words.  Most words have some phonetic base but here are some basic words that break the rules:  one, said, says, give, have, many, they, are, any. 
•    Teach high frequency words by their vowel sounds.  This is a list of about 200 of the most frequent words. High Frequency Word List

3. The Beginning Reader: 

•    Have child read simple sentences.
•    Have child unscramble simple sentences. Write simple sentences on the computer then print and cut apart. 
•    Review sounds and sight words in a simple book.  Then help the child read the book.
•    Help children sound out words.
•    Help child to break multi-syllable words into syllables then sound out.  Cover with your thumb all but one syllable then uncover each syllable while sounding out the word. 

 4. Fluent Reader:

•   They need to read out loud right into junior high.
•   Read things at different reading levels.  Too high creates frustration unless read with someone. Too low helps with fluency.  Just right builds vocabulary.
•   Read along with books with CDs.
•   Build comprehension by having children tell you what is happening in the story.
•   Use your finger to help break words into syllables to sound out words.
•   Pick some words to look up in the dictionary.

If you have questions or would like help teaching reading to those you love, please contact us.   www.phonicsbyspelling.com 877-206-2214 

I Like Myself!

Children need to feel good about themselves and their creative work.

 

When children want you to praise them for their work, turn it around and ask how they feel about it.  This builds their internal self-worth.  Example:

• Child:  Do you like my picture?
• Adult:  What do you like about your picture?
• Child:  The flowers.
• Adult:  I see why you like the flowers.

This helps children see what is good about themselves.  When the child comes up with it, it is internalized better.

Try using positive talk about yourself.  This is great modeling.

This takes practice.  Enjoy the learning path.

What do you remember because of a song?

We remember best what we learn through music.

Simple and catchy works best.  Take simple tunes and put anything you want to learn or teach children to those tunes.  I teach the months of the year to the tune of Ten Little Indians.  No special music talent is needed to teach with music.  Have fun with musical learning.

Phonics By Spelling has fun, simple music and pictures for learning all 44 phonetic sounds.

For more educational products and information visit www.phonicsbyspelling.com