Learning Letter Patterns: using Key Words

Here's a method I used with my Grade 2-4 struggling readers; they were having trouble learning letter patterns such as oa, ai, oy, oi, ou, ow etc., so I developed a sheet for them to use to learn the patterns that were tricky for them. You could also use it for children who are having trouble with some alphabet letter sounds.

This method works because you are concentrating on the individual child - working on the letters or patterns that are difficult for the child, and using words that are significant for the child.
You can download the Key Words sheet to print here:

Key Words sheet to print

How to use the Key Words method:

Choose up to 5 'challenging' letters or letter patterns for each child to work on.
Have the child write each of these on a separate sheet of paper, then think of several words using that letter/pattern and write them down, too.

Then on the Key Words sheet, the child writes the letters/patterns neatly in the left column (or you can write them in if the child can't write neatly). 

The child then chooses a 'key word' using that pattern -  a word that is easiest for him to recognise and remember, and writes it neatly in the key space. Note that different children could have different key words, as they are choosing the word that is most significant for themselves. 

The child can then draw a picture in the third column to represent each Key Word - once again, this is an individual focus so it doesn't have to be a work of art, just something meaningful to the child himself.

The child can then practise the letters/patterns on the Key Words sheet each day until he is able to recognise them in words he reads in other contexts. 

You can also make flash cards with the extra words found in the first step, and use those to help the practice (play reading games - see other blog posts for printable board games- using the words to add fun to the practice). Keep the Key Words list handy to assist the child when reading or playing reading games.

Spelling - 'Hangman' with a positive twist...

One of the teachers at our school mentioned the idea of a 'Hangman' game ('Happy Man') with a positive slant, using a smiley face. I wasn't sure how it would work, but experimented with various forms. The end result was 

'Smiley Man':

'Smiley Man' printable sheets (2 per A4 page)

You can use just a pencil and paper, as for hangman, or you can print and copy the sheets above (there are 2 game sheets to a page). Use coloured or off-white paper if possible for children with glare sensitivity. 

The idea of the game, as for Hangman, is to for Player A to think of a word and for Player B to guess the word, by suggesting letters of the alphabet. The aim of Smiley Man is to guess the word and to complete the smiley face.

In Smiley Man, the word is restricted to 5 letters, and there are 16 boxes to write in 'wrong' letters. If Player B suggests a correct letter, it is written in to the word spaces, and one part of Smiley Man's face is drawn in. If the letter suggested is 'wrong' (not in the word), it is written in to the spaces below. 

There are 16 spaces for 'wrong' letters so Player B had a maximum of 16 guesses before he runs out of turns and the game is finished, even if the face is not completed. You may like to let the players finish off/colour in their Smiley Man faces later on (they can add hair etc. too if they wish). 

This game could also be played by teams of 2-4 children.

You can print off the full instructions here...

   Smiley Man Instructions

.... and here is a list of common 5-letter words to help with ideas for the game!
                                           

 List of Common 5-letter Words for Smiley Man Game

Word Patterns: -ay word family

When children can 'break up' words and recognise familiar patterns in them, it opens up a whole new range of knowledge; they can use the familiar patterns and phonemes (letter sounds) to predict words they have never seen before, e.g. if they know the common word day (d + ay), they can read may, hay, stay etc.

This month's free game download is 'May Day', with a range of words based on the /ay/ pattern. You can download and print it onto thin card (laminate for best results). You will also need dice and movers/tokens to play the game.

                                             

May Day board game (-ay words)

This game will be available during May, and is free for non-commercial, educational use. 

First Sight Words - cards for games, matching

Once children learn to recognise a few words, it's good to encourage them to practise until the words become very familiar. 

Here is a page of "First Sight Words" that I made to help beginner readers develop familiarity with some commonly-used words; these are words that I have found children often recognise.

The matching words are in a variety of different fonts, and the text is grey rather than black so the words don't show through light card.

   

First Words Match - printable cards

You can print the words onto light card then cut them out to use for matching, for playing 'Memory' (only use 4-6 pairs to start with), or as cards with reading games (free printable reading games are available from free-fun-n-games.com, and also  each month on this blog).

Here is a 'background' you can print on the reverse of the cards sheet if you want to make sure the words don't show through (it has a little colour in it; you can print in greyscale if you prefer):

Printable backing for cards

Pre-Reading Skills - I Spy - free picture sheet to download

'I Spy' is an old game which is great for developing children's awareness of beginning sounds. For pre-readers, it's best played with letter sounds rather than letter names, so the child really notice the beginning sounds of the words. 

Visual discrimination of detail is also important for reading - so activities such as jigsaw puzzles and 'find it' (e.g. Where's Wally?) are good practice.

Here is a printable 'I Spy' sheet that you can use to help children develop awareness of visual detail, sounds in words and also 'expressive language' (the ability to express themselves in words) - all important skills in learning to read.

 'I Spy' printable sheet

You can print it and use it in an educational setting - or take it with you when you go out for a day or on a long trip to help keep a child entertained.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

                       

Here are some ideas for how to use the "I Spy" sheet (you can download and print these if you like - click on the links in the headings):

‘I Spy’ game variations –for ‘I Spy’ sheet:

You can use this sheet to play the normal ‘I Spy’ game (“I spy with my little eye something beginning with…”); try using letter sounds rather than letter names (e.g. “Book starts with a ‘b’ sound. Can you find something else that starts with ‘b’?”)

For a challenge, try using ending sounds (e.g. “Book ends with a ‘b’ sound. Can you find something else that ends with ‘b’?”).

Play ‘Vowel I Spy’ - look for items with clear vowel sounds, e.g.

·         short ‘a’ sound - bag, cat, pan, map, bat, ant, arrow, hand

·         short ‘e’ sound – egg, hen, peg, pencil, zebra

·         short ‘i’ sound – lips, ship, chicken, jigzag, scissors

·         short ‘o’ sound – doll, dog, clock, stop

·         short ‘u’ sound – cup, bug, jug, sun, duck, thumb, trumpet, butterfly, umbrella

·         ‘long i’ (igh) sound – bike, knife, sign, spider

·                                 ‘long e’ (ee) sound – tree, TV

·         ‘long oo’ (as in zoo) sound – shoe

·         ‘or’ sound – fork, door, sea horse

·         ‘ar’ sound – jar, star, guitar, heart, glasses

‘ou’ sound – house, mouse, flower

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

Questionsfor ‘I Spy’ sheet:

·         How many round things can you see?

·         How many long things can you see?

·         How many animals can you see?

·         Can you see anything that you can eat?

·         How many things can you see that make a noise?

·         Can you see anything that is really black and white?

·         What things can you see that you can play with?

·         How many things can you see that are useful?

·         Which things can you see that you can wear?

·         How many things can you see that can fly?

·         Is there anything there that is really small?

·         How many things can you see that you might find in your house?

·         How many things can you see that are part of nature?

·         How many eyes can you see?

·         Which things could help you to see?

·         Can you see anything that could help you travel?

·         Which pictures do you think are funny?

·         Which are your favourite pictures? Why?

Can you think of more questions to ask?

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

Terms of use - All content and printables in this blog are free to use for your personal/educational use - they may not be used for any commercial purposes or distributed elsewhere, but you are welcome to add the links to Pinterest boards etc.

Sight Words - ‘Practice Words’ printable sheet

Children can have a lot of trouble learning their common ‘sight words’, so you may need lots of strategies to help them.

One aid is to write out the words to be learnt in different colours and styles, to help build a mental picture of the words in their surroundings. I developed this sheet to help a student who was having a lot of difficulty with some words.

You can download it to use with your child/students if you like; you can write in the words they are struggling with, or better still get the child to write in the words (just make sure they are correctly spelt and that the letters are facing the right way – write softly for them to trace over if necessary!). The child can use coloured pens or pencils, and can decorate the page with colours, drawings or stickers as they like.

‘Practice Words’  printable sheet

The boxes are big enough for 2 or 3 ‘related’ words (e.g. where, there; would, could, should;  he, me, we; go, no, so) – or you can just focus on one word in each box.

When the child practises the words, you can tick those remembered correctly and quickly.

The child may want to highlight or circle the words that prove most difficult (giving them the option of doing this also gives them some ‘ownership’ of their learning). 

Discuss why those words are difficult and see if you can work out together a way to help them become easier (break them into letter sounds or ‘chunks’, look for patterns, draw a shape around them, etc.).

April Game: Bunny Fun - free Printable Board Game to use with Sight Words.

With Easter only a few days away, I thought it was a good time to post a printable board game with a "Bunny" theme... so here it is. You can download and print this game (laminate for best results).

Bunny Fun- Printable board game

You will need some Sight Word cards to use with the game, and a die (dice) and some tokens or 'movers'. Here are some movers that you can print and assemble to use with the game:

Bunny Fun - printable 'movers' for board game

These printables will be available in April, and are free for your private/educational use. They are in.pdf format, and the links will take you to a public Dropbox folder; note that you do not have to sign up to Dropbox to access them - just exit the pop-up box if you are asked to join or sign in!