Tuesday, July 31, 2012

step#13: compound words

there are many big words, that scare children. but when you look at them closely, they could be made up of two very simple words, which, individually, do not scare the children.

if children are taught to break a word into its two components, they find it easy to try big words, without fearing failure. they feel confident to attempt. however, not all big words are made up of two meaningful parts, but there are many. these words are called compound words.

the best way to introduce compound words is by using a picture puzzle in the beginning. the two sub-words and their pictures join to make the compound word that has its own picture. the concept is also well taught by using pictures of the two sub-words and asking the child to join them and think what word they make by joining together. then the picture and word can be shown to the child.

some of the compound words that can be easily taught to a preschooler child are:


·         butterfly
·         bookworm
·         cowboy
·         honeycomb
·         earthworm
·         flatworm
·         tapeworm
·         hookworm
·         tapeworm
·         lighthouse
·         football
·         sandalwood
·         rosewood
·         pinewood
·         ponytail
·         scarecrow
·         screwdriver
·         rainbow
·         sunflower
·         peacock
·         peahen
·         household
·         houseful
·         booklet
·         forefather
·         something
·         somehow
·         someday
·         underpass
·         overpass
·         overdo
·         overcharge
·         bypass
·         subtotal
·         cupboard
·         piglet
·         grandmother
·         grandfather
·         become
·         became
·         bedtime
·         bathroom
·         breakfast
·         fingernail
·         tablecloth
·         teaspoon
·         tablespoon
·         copycat
·         shopkeeper
·         seashell
·         background
·         buttermilk
·         starfish
·         bulldog
·         spacecraft
·         airfield
·         postman
·         footpath
·         headlight
·         weekend
·         handbag
·         hairpin
·         grandson
·         granddaughter
·         grapefruit
·         pineapple
·         haircut
·         handmade
·         workshop
·         waterfall
·         woodcutter
·         underground
·         volleyball
·         sunrise
·         sunset
·         telephone
·         blackboard
·         laptop
·         baseball
·         carpool
·         whirlpool
·         backpack
·         Goosebumps
·         footwear
·         eyebrow
·         earring 
·         forehead
·         crossroad
·         upside
·         lifetime
·         airport
·         airplane
·         peanut
·         password


when the child has fairly well understood the concept, he can be given many activities to practice it. for example, he can be given a compound word, and asked what are the two words that he can find in it. at next step, he can be given one sub word and invited to give another sub word so that the two of them may join to give a compound word. he may also be asked to give many compound words that have a particular sub word in it. for example, how many words he can think of with 'worm' in the end.

Friday, July 27, 2012

step # 12 : clusters

once children know the basic units, next comes the concept of clusters. clusters means 3 consonants sounded together. for example, str (स्टर) in words like string, strip, strong.
some of the clusters that can be taught are:

STR  (स्ट्र )              strain, string, strong, strand

SCR (स्क्र )             screw, scram, scramble, scratch

SPR (सप्र )              sprain, spring, sprout, spray

SPL   (स्प्ल )           splash, splendid

SCH (स्क )              school, schedule

SHR  (श्र )                shrink, shrub

THR (थ्र )                thrive, thrust, throw

CHR  (क्र )               Christ, Christian, chronic

step#11: simple units-2 (different CC)- the R effect

the R influenced units. R is not sounded. there is just a twist in the consonant following it.

URD unit:(अर्ड ) curd

IRD unit:(अर्ड ) bird

ARD unit:(आर्ड ) card, hard

ORD unit (ऑर्ड ): lord, cord

ARK unit (आर्क ): park, bark

ORK unit (ओर्क ): fork, pork

ARM unit(आर्म ): farm, harm, alarm

ORM unit (ऑर्म ): storm, form

ERM unit (अर्म ): germ

ARN unit (आर्न ): barn

ORN unit (ऑर्न ): horn, thorn

URN unit (अर्न ): turn, churn

ARP unit (आर्प ): sharp

URP unit (अर्प ): burp

IRP unit (अर्प ): chirp

ART unit (आर्ट ): cart, mart, part, chart

IRT unit (अर्ट ): dirt, shirt

ORT unit(ऑर्ट ): short, sort

ORT unit (ओर्ट ): port, fort

URT unit (अर्ट ): hurt,

step#10: simple units-2 (different CC)

SH units:

  1. ASH(ऐश ): bash, cash, clash, splash, mash, rash, trash
  2. ASH(ऑश ): wash
  3. ISH(इश ): wish, fish, swish
  4. OSH (ऑश ): posh
  5. USH (उश ): bush, push
  6. USH(अश ): flush, lush, crush, brush
ST units:

  1. AST(ऐस्ट ): fast, last, past, cast
  2. EST(एस्ट ): west, best, test, nest, chest, pest, vest
  3. IST(इस्ट ): mist, list, fist
  4. OST(ऑस्ट ): frost, cost
  5. OST(ओस्ट ): post, host
  6. UST(अस्ट ): must, trust, rust, crust
 SK units:

  1. ASK(ऐस्क  ): bask, task
  2. ESK(एस्क ): desk
  3. ISK(इस्क ):risk, frisk
  4. USK(अस्क ): husk, rusk, musk
TH units:

  1. ATH (ऐथ ): bath, math, path
  2. ITH(इथ ): with
  3. OTH(ऑथ ): moth, cloth
  4. UTH(उथ ): truth

WN units:

  1. AWN(ऑन ): lawn, fawn, yawn
  2. OWN(आउन ): clown, crown, down, brown, town
  3. OWN(ओन ): flown,  grown, sown

WL units:

  1.  AWL(ऑल ): crawl
  2. OWL(ओल ): bowl
  3. OWL(आउल ): howl


step #9: simple units-2 (different CC)

after teaching the doubles, the next step is to teach the VCC units with different CC. this has a long list of units and words. though not difficult, it takes time to learn all the units and their words.

CK units:
  1. ACK (ऐक ) : back, hack, lack, jack, pack, sack, tack, whack, black, slack, stack, smack, shack, crack, track, flack
  2. ECK (एक ) : beck, heck, neck, peck, check, deck, wreck
  3. ICK (इक : lick, nick, pick, sick, tick, click, chick, stick, brick, trick, prick, thick
  4. OCK (ऑक ) : cock, lock, mock, sock, clock, stock, dock, frock, knock, shock
  5. UCK (अक ) : buck, duck, luck, muck, suck, tuck, truck, cluck, chuck, puck, pluck, stuck
FT units:

  1. AFT (ऐफ्ट ) : raft, craft, shaft, graft
  2. EFT (एफ्ट ): cleft, left
  3. IFT (इफ्ट ): gift, lift, rift, shift
  4. OFT (ऑफ्ट ): loft, soft
  5. UFT (अफ्ट ): tuft 
LK units:

  1. ALK (ऑक ): chalk, walk, talk, stalk, 
  2. ILK (इल्क ): milk, silk
  3. OLK (ओक ): folk
  4. ULK (अल्क ): hulk, bulk, sulk
LM units:

  1.  ALM (आम ): calm, balm, palm
  2. ILM (इल्म ): film
LD units:

  1. ALD (ऑल्ड ): bald
  2. OLD (ओल्ड): gold, bold, told, sold, fold, cold, hold
  3. ILD (आइल्ड): wild, mild, child
  4. ELD (एल्ड ) : held, weld
 LT units:

  1. ALT (ऑल्ट ): halt, malt, salt
  2. ELT (एल्ट ): belt, felt, melt, pelt
  3. ILT (इल्ट ): tilt, wilt, silt
  4. OLT (ओल्ट ) : bolt, dolt
  5. ULT (अल्ट ): cult  
MP units:

  1. AMP (ऐम्प  ): camp, stamp, ramp, champ, cramp, lamp
  2. IMP (इम्प  ): limp
  3. OMP (ऑम्प  ): romp, pomp, stomp
  4. UMP (अम्प  ): stump, lump, dump, hump, mump
ND units:

  1.  AND (ऐंड  ): sand, stand, land, hand, band, brand, bland, gland
  2. END (एंड  ): bend, blend, send, tend, mend, lend, trend
  3. IND (इडं  ): wind, 
  4. IND (आईंड  ): wind, mind, grind, hind, find, bind
  5. OND (औंड  ): bond, fond, pond
  6. UND (अंड  ): fund  
NG units:

  1.  ANG (ऐंग   ): bang, fang, gang, hang, sang, rang, pang, tang, slang, 
  2. ING (इगं ): bring, cling, ping, sing, wing, sting, sling, ring, thing
  3. ONG (ऑंग ): song, strong, long
  4. UNG(अँग ): hung, lung, stung, sung
NK units:

  1.  ANK (ऐंक ): tank, bank, plank, sank, rank, drank
  2. INK (इंक़ ): blink, sink, rink, drink, think, wink, pink
  3. ONK(ऑंक ): honk, monk
  4. UNK(अंक ): bunk, dunk, sunk, trunk, drunk, chunk

NT units:

  1. ANT(ऐन्ट ): pant, chant, slant, grant, plant
  2. ENT(एन्ट ): bent, dent, gent, rent, sent, tent, went
  3. INT(इंट ): mint, tint, hint, lint, print
  4. ONT(ऑंट ): font
  5. UNT(अंट ): hunt, stunt

Thursday, July 26, 2012

step #8: simple units-2 (doubles)

once the child is comfortable with VCV units, its time to introduce the VCC units. the words of these units end with a vowel to be followed by 2 consonants. the last 2 consonants may be same or different. for example, same CC as in hall and different CC as in halt

the same CC units are called doubles and are easy to learn.

some of them are:
  1. ALL (ऑल ): ball, call, fall, hall, mall, tall, wall, stall, small, 
  2. ELL (एल ): bell, cell, fell, hell, tell, sell, well, smell, swell, shell, dwell
  3. ILL (इल ): bill, fill, hill, mill, pill, till, will, still, chill, drill, skill, frill, thrill
  4. OLL (ओल ): roll, poll
  5. OLL (ऑल ): doll
  6. ULL (अल ): dull, skull, mull, null, gull
  7. ULL (उल ): full, pull, bull
  8. AFF (ऍफ़ ): staff
  9. IFF (इफ ): stiff, cliff
  10. UFF (अफ ): bluff, buff, cuff, stuff, puff
  11. ASS (ऐस ): class, crass, grass, glass, pass, mass, 
  12. ISS (इस ): kiss, miss, bliss
  13. OSS (ऑस ): moss, floss, gross, boss

step#7: sight words

overall there are two approaches to teach spellings, phonic and sight. while there are many words that should be learnt by phonic method, there are few high frequency words that require immediate recognition (just by sight, no time spent in attempting to read). sight word vocabulary leads to fluent reading skills. some of the sight words are an, am, are, were, there, is, was, this, that and many more. in fact, there are age appropriate sight words lists also. 

sight word teaching is another very important part of learning English reading/writing. it should be done mostly with a flashcard. some of the important pre-primary sight words are:

  1. a
  2. am
  3. an
  4. at
  5. in
  6. it
  7. i
  8. me
  9. my
  10. is
  11. was
  12. were
  13. this
  14. that
  15. then
  16. them
  17. than
  18. there
  19. they
  20. when
  21. where
  22. which
  23. whose
  24. why
  25. who
  26. and
  27. can
  28. do
  29. go
  30. come
  31. sit
  32. for
  33. of
  34. he
  35. she
  36. be
  37. on
  38. to
  39. no
  40. not
  41. up
  42. will
  43. shall
  44. see
  45. out
  46. so
  47. run
  48. now
  49. new
  50. but
  51. play
  52. yes
  53. get
  54. set
  55. good
  56. bad
  57. eat
  58. with
  59. has
  60. had
  61. have
  62. did
  63. are
  64. all


step#6: simple units- 1

once you have taught CVC words and consonant blends, its time for units.

the end sounds of words are generally called "units". if you teach units first, the whole idea of word learning becomes easy. for example, when you teach "a-k-e ake" and then the child can add l, m, c to make lake make cake etc by himself

take simple units to begin with. the simple ones are called VCV units. you teach the sound of VCV and the child will need to add single consonants, blends or clusters to make words.

1. start with the a-units like ate, abe, ace, ade, age, ale, ake, ame, ane, ape, ase, are, ave, aze. take 1 unit at a time, if you feel more than that will over-burden the child. the best way to teach a unit is to write the unit on a blackboard/paper/whiteboard and ask the child to give you words that end with that unit sound. write down the words that the child gives. so the words that you might get, for example for ake unit, are bake, cake, fake, lake, brake, shake etc.
Teach ace, ase, age, aze together, as the end sounds are quite similar. so for these 4 units, make four columns, and write one unit in each column. then ask the child to give you words. write down the words in respective columns. keep this sheet for reference and stick it on wall somewhere. this comes handy when the child gets confused whether daze ends with aze or ase or age.

2. next is i-units like ibe, ice, ide, ife, ike, ile, ime, ine, ipe, ire, ise, ite, ive. teach in the same manner as you taught the a-units. here teach ice and ise together using column method. 

3. next is 0-units like obe, ode, oke, ole, ome, one, ope, ore, ote, ose, ove, oze. teaching methods remains the same. here, teach ose, oze together using column method. also, here one unit has 2 sounds अन and ओन. teach the ओन sound first and then the exception sound of one as अन as in words none, done. also, ome unit again has 2 sounds अम  and ओम. teach the ओम sound first, as in home, dome, and then the exception sound of ome as अम as in words come, some. 

4. next is u-units like ube, ude, uge, uke, ule, ume, une, upe, ure, use, ute,. teaching methods remain the same. here, teach uge use together, using column method.

5. and next is e-units. not many pre-school words ending with e-consonant-e. so the list will be quite small. some of the words that you may teach here are 'were, here, there, mere, where'.

step #5: more about blends

practise blends more. write the blends on paper/blackboard. sound them together. invite the child to come up with words he can think of with that sound. write with thick chalk on board. if you are writing on a paper, you may save it for reference. the expected words from our little preschoolers for the blends are:

  1. BL:  black, blue, blast, block, blood etc
  2. BR: brown, bright, brick, broom, break, brake, bread, broccoli, broken, etc
  3. CL:  cloud, clay, clown, clever, class, clap, cloth, clot, clear, clinic, clip, club etc
  4. CR: crow, crown, crab, craft, crack, cricket, cranky, crowd, crap etc 
  5. CH( क): chord, chorus
  6. CH (च): chalk, chips, chew, chain, chart, chair, cheek, chin, chest, chick, chicken, chit, chat, chilled, cheetah, cheese, chop, etc
  7. DR: dry, drum, dress, drop, drip, drawer, draw, dream, drill, dragon etc
  8. FL: fly, flute, flag, flame, flop, flip, flower, flamingo etc
  9. FR: fruit, friend, fridge, fry, frock, etc
  10. GL: glow, glue, glad, glass, globe, etc
  11. GR: grass, grow, green, gray, group, grab, grandparents, grandfather, grandmother, grapes, grapefruit, grade, grill, gram, grizzly bear, grasshopper, gravy, great, etc
  12. GH: ghost
  13. PR: practice, pray, prayer, prune, prick, pretty, etc
  14. PL: play, plastic, plum, pluck, please, etc
  15. PH: phone etc
  16. SC: scooter, scan, etc
  17. SK: skin, sketching, skull etc
  18. SH: ship, shop, shell, shore, she, should etc
  19. SL: slap, slow, sleep, slim, slip, slide, slab, slouch, etc
  20. SM: smart etc
  21. SN:snow, snore, sneakers, etc
  22. SP:speak, spoon, special, speed, sparrow, speaker, etc
  23. ST: stool, stand, stairs, stem, step, stack, steering, etc
  24. SW: sweater, sweat etc
  25.  TR: train, trick, tram, truck, trip, trap, etc
  26. TH (थ ): thirsty, thumb, thick, thin, etc
  27. TH (द ): the, they, then, there, that, them, than etc
  28. TW : twig, twist, etc
  29. WH (ह ): who etc
  30. WH (व ): where, what, when, what, why, whistle, wheel etc
  31. WR: wrist, wristwatch, etc

step#4: consonant blends

when 2 consonants come together, they form a blend. blend are of 2 types- pairs and diagraphs. in consonant pairs, the sounds of both consonants can be heard, for example, PR is a consonant pair where the sound of P(प) and R(र) are both sounded . in consonant diagraphs, the sounds of both consonants blend and only one sound can be heard.for example, PH is a consonant diagraph where the sound of P and H have one sound फ.

when the child has been taught CVC words, the next step is to teach these blends. then the child can be taught the CCVC  words like brat, chat, shed, when, then, that, glad, flip, slip, stop etc.

some of the blends and their CCVC words are:

  1. br: brag, brat
  2. bl: blot, bled
  3. cl: clot, clip
  4. cr: crop
  5. ch: chip, chap
  6. dr: drag
  7. fr: frog
  8. fl: flip, flop
  9. gr: grip
  10. gl: glad
  11. pr: prod, pram, pray
  12. pl: plod, plum
  13. st: stop
  14. sc: scam
  15. sk: skin
  16. sl: slip, slap
  17. sm: smug
  18. sn: snap, snow
  19. sp: spit, spat
  20. sw: swat
  21. tr: trip
  22. th: that
  23. wh: when, what