AAS Supplemental Materials (Level 3 and up)

[scootiepie]

I do like the way AAS has progressed and find that my son (8/3rd) has done well with it so far.   However - I have found I am mostly

going by the book - the rest of the supplemental materials we don't really use at all.   I will use the tiles when teaching something new,

but he prefers to write and not use the tiles.    The only thing I find useful in the supplemental materials are the syllable tags.

 

I have the supplemental materials for Levels 1&2, but considering how little we use them, I hate to order them again for the rest of the

levels.

 

I am just wondering if anyone else uses AAS this way - have you found that you can use it successfully without the

supplemental materials, or are there certain items in there you have to have?

 

 

[SamanthaCarter]

Curious. I started out going through the scripted process, but found that the tiles are something of a problem. My ds (8) likes to mess with them and it distracts him from the task at hand. He'll get lost in arranging them, driving them around, making up some sort of video game with them. It's excruciating trying to get him to focus when he's got those tiles in front of him. So I don't use them for stuff I know he already "gets" and if something new or important, I use them just to introduce the concept and spell maybe three or four things. Then we go through a number of the "spell with tiles" words orally while he jumps on his bed. lol. He writes the rest. 

 

Following with interest...

[ByGrace3]

We rarely use the tiles. Or the word cards. We do use the phonogram and key cards. I review tose and then keep a post it note in the TM for any words missed. I then review those words on the post it. We do use the syllable tags, and the word banks and supplements like the homophones book and silent E book.

[Missouri Okie]

We're in Level 5.  I haven't purchased the supplements since Level 3.  I do not regret not having the supplements.  I've been able to effectively work around the missing material.

[Farrar]

I hate those &*#$@ tiles. They are so poorly designed it hurts. They just fell off the board everywhere because they were always jostling each other. Building words with them was painfully S L O W so that it made ds super frustrated. Getting them reorganized often took half the short lesson time. We ditched them ages ago.

 

I did sort of like the cards, but I opted not to bother after book 3. Instead, I run the words just from the lists in the book and I write down the "tricky words" in the notes in the back. I erase them when they're mastered. I write new ones back there if they trip up on them during dictations, which is nice because then if it's from an older lesson or even a previous book I don't have to look for the card. I make my own "Silent E" book and things like that.

 

We did use the syllable tags, but when I sold that level I sold them. I just have then label the word on the white board when we do that, which isn't often anymore at this level.

[MerryAtHope]

I had struggling spellers, so I found most components necessary. Somewhere around 3 or 4 my oldest dropped the tiles, and I just used them for demos, but my youngest kept them through 5.

 

Levels 3, 5, and 6 have consumable booklets that focus on special topics (silent E, special plurals, and I before E). 

 

The word banks were very necessary here for building up a visual memory of the words. We read them much more than scheduled. I also used word cards like a word bank, or for visual reinforcement after they spelled a word (they'd spell it and I'd show the card). It would have been a nightmare here without the cards, to keep track of things that needed reviewing, because we added in review for their needs. A student who learns easily and doesn't need much or any review can work pretty easily from the book.

 

If you look on the page for just the student packet for each level, you can see a list of components, and that might help you decide. 

[sweetpea3829]

Count me in as a non user of the supplemental materials.  Oh, I've bought them all through level 4, but we never take out the tiles past level 1.  The cards are never used, either.  I do like the word banks, but I don't use them with the kids, I use them as a list to make other resources such as crossword, word search, etc.  

 

As for the consumable books Merry mentioned...I ended up creating my own for Silent E, and will probably do the same the next time I need it.  (I made my own because I have four kids...so only one kiddo used the booklet that came with the materials...I had to make the same booklet for the other kiddos).  

 

 

[BatmansWife]

Curious. I started out going through the scripted process, but found that the tiles are something of a problem. My ds (8) likes to mess with them and it distracts him from the task at hand. He'll get lost in arranging them, driving them around, making up some sort of video game with them. It's excruciating trying to get him to focus when he's got those tiles in front of him. So I don't use them for stuff I know he already "gets" and if something new or important, I use them just to introduce the concept and spell maybe three or four things. Then we go through a number of the "spell with tiles" words orally while he jumps on his bed. lol. He writes the rest. 

 

Following with interest...

 

Try something new.  Only have one set of alphabet tiles on the board in one line (that's assuming you have multiples of each letter on there now).  Tell him he can not move the tiles around.  When he is to spell the words have him touch the tile.  Because the magnet is only in the middle of the back of the tile (assuming you used the little square magnets from AAS), when he touches the bottom of the tile, it lightly clicks against the board (at least it does for us).  He can touch spell and click his way through the word.  This way he doesn't mess with moving the tiles around.  When he's done spelling it by touching the tiles he has to put his hands down and wait for the next word.  Of course, I'd only suggest this if you for sure are going to also have him write the words on paper afterwards...otherwise he doesn't actually see the word built on the board. 

 

Anyway...just an idea. JB hated moving the tiles down to spell the word and moving them back up.  Clicking the tile by what we call "touch spelling" made her much happier.

 

[Reed]

I did not buy the supplemental material for Level 2.  We still use the tiles sometimes. I photocopied the new headings that we would need for Level 2 out of the book (open syllable, closed syllable, etc). We do not use the cards. I think the dictation phrases and sentences are a great way to review previous lessons. I didn't know there were consumable books for Level 3 so I will have to check that out when we are ready. I'm glad to hear that this is working for others.

[SamanthaCarter]

Try something new.  Only have one set of alphabet tiles on the board in one line (that's assuming you have multiples of each letter on there now).  Tell him he can not move the tiles around.  When he is to spell the words have him touch the tile.  Because the magnet is only in the middle of the back of the tile (assuming you used the little square magnets from AAS), when he touches the bottom of the tile, it lightly clicks against the board (at least it does for us).  He can touch spell and click his way through the word.  This way he doesn't mess with moving the tiles around.  When he's done spelling it by touching the tiles he has to put his hands down and wait for the next word.  Of course, I'd only suggest this if you for sure are going to also have him write the words on paper afterwards...otherwise he doesn't actually see the word built on the board. 

 

Anyway...just an idea. JB hated moving the tiles down to spell the word and moving them back up.  Clicking the tile by what we call "touch spelling" made her much happier.

 

thanks! I'll try this.

[ScoutTN]

DD is in level 5 and is a good speller. She only uses the tiles about once every two or three weeks. we use the phonogram cards and the rule cards every lesson though. The sound cards about once a month or whenever they schedule a review mastered cards day. Dd really likes the homophones list - hers has an almost full page of notebook paper attached to the original cardstock. Who knew there were so many?! The silent E book and the plurals book are also helpful and she likes them.

[MerryAtHope]

Dd really likes the homophones list - hers has an almost full page of notebook paper attached to the original cardstock. Who knew there were so many?! 

 

There are tons! All About Homophones  has worksheets and games for more than 100 pairs, and there are even more than that!