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Why can't we just memorize the phonograms and rules?


stm4him
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Sometimes I think we make things so complicated and wonder if all we really need to do is memorize the phonograms and apply them to a bunch of first-sound words (and readers with those simple words). This would be like pre-school or K work. Then in K or first grade one could memorize one rule at a time with example words, teaching the markings with them. Doing one rule a week you could have them all learned in 30 weeks and then pick up a real book and read it. Charts could be made and word cards could be flashed or word lists used for reading practice. Then in higher grades spelling lists could be used to make sure they know how to apply the phonograms and rules consistently such as the ones in Spelling Plus or the Ayers list or SWR (which has audios one could use to test them). Explain to me why this is too simple.

 

P.S. I am saying this after using SWR and AAS and owning several editions of WRTR and planning to use LOE in the fall. This is the frustration that comes with thinking that the bottom line is these 100(ish) tools and why it isn't as easy as memorize and apply.

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I think you really could do that. Expensive programs like LOE are for those of us who want our hand held through the process and want neat cards printed out for us, lists of words pre selected, etc. :lol: Well that and for all the multi sensory suggestions. My DD really needs lots of reinforcement in various modalities to remember this stuff and I don't want to come up with all of it on my own - but I don't think all kids need that (the games, etc).

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I don't even teach phonics. My kids learn to read from basic instruction and using Headsprout. That's it.

 

If you've got a kid who picks up reading intuitively and easily then this is no problem. But if you've got a kid who doesn't pick it up so easily, or a kid with a ld, then you've got trouble if you try to go that route.

 

DS was never taught explicitly how to read or spell. It's like he just knew how with very little teaching or reinforcement. DD on the other hand, well that's been a monumental struggle even with intense effort and many specialized curriculum.

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I just never understood sitting around, in general, learning phonograms.

 

I have 2 natural readers, and 2 who would NEVER have gotten it without the exact detailed instruction the original poster is describing. We are seeing a tutor who uses the Academic Associates program, and teaches one rule every day or two.

 

Friday / this weekend we did The CH Sounds

- ch usually makes its own sound as in chip;

- ch sometimes copies k as in Christmas;

- ch sometimes copies sh as in chef.

 

Honestly, this amazing program is very similar to OPGTR. The main difference is that it comes with a significantly more patient instructor. :)

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Memorizing them might be helpful, but just applying them to spelling words isn't enough for most children. It's applying them in a systematic way that makes the difference. I know this from the many times I've talked to people IRL who complained that Spalding "wasn't working," and as we talked about it more it turned out that they were using their own lists and trying to apply the phonograms and spelling rules to them, without analyzing them the way Spalding (and its spin-offs) does.

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From reading the 4th edition of WRTR, that is sort of what I thought was supposed to be done (memorize and apply). Everything else I read made it all seem very complicated and expensive and I refuse to (literally) buy into it.

Different strokes for different folks. :)

 

But the Spalding Method doesn't just "apply" phonograms and rules. However, I'm not going to try to convince you otherwise, as you have made up your mind. And that's ok. I'm just throwing it out there. :)

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There is a little ten dollar book called Taking the Mystery Out of Teaching Reading in 6 Easy Steps by Gail Busby. It comes with a cd of phonograms and is based on the Spalding Method. You can find it at latintrivium.com under the tab Our Other Books.

 

Her steps include:

 

1. Teaching the Direction in Which We Read (instruction for the teacher)

2. 83 Sounds of the English Language (for the teacher to memorize)

3. Writing the Alphabet Sounds (starting them on learning the sounds of the alphabet and writing them in manuscript)

4. Writing the Combination Sounds (multi-letter phonograms)

5. Assembling Spelling Words

6. Reading with Spelling Words

 

And so the student memorizes the phonograms and how to read them with see and say and hear and write quizzes. Then the student learns seven groups of words. The first three groups use all first sounds and go from two letters to up to five letters by group 3. In group 4 they learn 6 spelling rules and a few words for each and how to mark them. In group 5 the words start to have sounds that use their second or third sounds and the student learns how to mark them, including some of the rules they've learned. In Group 6 they learn silent final e words and their reasons. Finally, in the last group they learn a few words that do not follow the rules.

 

After that they are ready to begin reading easy books. They are continuing to take the quizzes on the phonograms and are also reading the words they have learned to spell on cards for fluency.

 

Of course, I would continue to have them spell words and learn any of the rules not already covered with examples and markings (she has a list of the rules and markings in her book). Her sounds, rules, and markings aren't exactly the same as WRTR but I think WRTR, SWR, or LOE rules, sounds and markings could be used instead with the same steps for the teaching of reading. I would have them memorize the rules but not the numbers.

 

I pulled out my 4th edition WRTR last night and of the three (4th-6th) that one definitely is the one I would sit and read cover to cover and have a chance at understanding. The others make it too confusing for me to get very far. I think the wording of the rules by SWR is much more clear and so I may use those flashcards instead or my LOE ones (I haven't looked that closely at them yet to compare).

 

Right now I'm using Phonics Museum as my basis of when to introduce phonograms and planning to use LOE in 2nd and 3rd grades but sometimes I just want notebook paper and a stack of flashcards, you know? I find wrong teaching in every phonics program not Spalding or O-G based and find the differences in those spin-off frustrating but often helpful. We'll see how this year goes I guess......

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Different strokes for different folks. :)

 

But the Spalding Method doesn't just "apply" phonograms and rules. However, I'm not going to try to convince you otherwise, as you have made up your mind. And that's ok. I'm just throwing it out there. :)

 

No. You just misunderstood me, is all. :) No doubt my fault for oversimplifying and leaving myself wide open to such. Likewise, I may have misunderstood the OP but it remains that for me, the WRTR made Spalding a very simple and straightforward thing in my mind while other products made teaching reading and spelling seem on par with rocket science.

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Have you seen Phonics Made Plain? It's nothing but flash cards and a poster with spelling rules. The flash cards are keyed to The ABC's and All Their Tricks.

 

http://www.MottMedia.com/pages/publications.asp?Pub=phonics

 

 

Hunter, that seems like a really elegant resource! just the sort of pared-down style I like ...

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I dont know. We use Horizons and in the 1st grade book its all about the rules. Im glad they want to teach them but there are so MANY! There are some that just are hard to explain! Like one of her spelling words is EYE. It sounds silly, but i cant figure out a way to explain how to sound it out to her. Then it gets confusing. 2 vowels next to each other make the first say its name and the second quiet, but then what if theres an E at the end and hey throw in some blends.. Oy.

 

We are to the point C can read a 1 sentence per page book, but its a long road.

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No. You just misunderstood me, is all. :) No doubt my fault for oversimplifying and leaving myself wide open to such. Likewise, I may have misunderstood the OP but it remains that for me, the WRTR made Spalding a very simple and straightforward thing in my mind while other products made teaching reading and spelling seem on par with rocket science.

OIC. I feel better now. :D

 

Spalding really is a very simple method. Even the fifth and sixth editions of the manual still present a simple method; the charts and whatnot included in them are just an expression of how Spalding teachers have always taught. And yes, it sure seems to me like the spin-offs have turned reading and spelling into rocket science, although I've hear that same thing from people who read through the fourth edition of WRTR, lol.

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Hunter, that seems like a really elegant resource! just the sort of pared-down style I like ...

 

The poster really makes the spelling rules seem easier. The phonograms are grouped, and the rules that apply to that group, are placed after that group. I can't find my poster to comment any further on it. If kept falling down and I wasn't using it at the time, so just kind of placed it any old place.

 

The flashcards are really big and a bit awkward. One of my cards arrived bent with smeared printing. Aesthetically and tactiley the program wasn't an instant hit, but I find it interesting. It is often used with the McGuffey's Readers and the original Ayres list.

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2 vowels next to each other make the first say its name and the second quiet, but then what if theres an E at the end and hey throw in some blends.. Oy.

 

I would never use a program that taught this. What about "bear" and "coil" and "lien, to name only three?" That rule only works in such limited circumstances that it takes most words with 2 vowels next to each other and turns them into exceptions.

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Headsprout is probably the best system I've ever seen for learning to read. And yes, obviously if we had LD issues, our strategy would have to change. I just never understood sitting around, in general, learning phonograms.

 

Headsprout was a disaster here for one of mine. It was, so far, my biggest waste of money school wise as I had to stop using it. The problem was that Headsprout can promote or at least provides opportunity for sight reading/memorization for a child inclined that way. One of mine was inclined that way. I had to do some work to undo before he could be taught to read (with explicit phonics instruction).

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I can't see teaching all the phonograms and only then actually reading to be very rewarding for the child. And for a lot of people it is hard to memorize things out of their context but once they have used them it really sticks in the mind.

 

I also don't really think it is as simple as learning the rules and then just applying them - there are other skills. To my mind, mixing up learning phonograms, practicing using them, and reading simple books is developing skills the child will need anyway, helps prevent boredom, and maintains more enthusiasm.

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Why can't we just play some Happy Phonics and listen to Jingle Spells in K while working through blending on CVC words?

 

In 1st grade, start a program like Spalding for real (with 1/2 the battle behind us). If the child isn't reading spontaneously soon, switch to a program like Dancing Bears that hits the process from the opposite end. (intensive decoding instead of encoding first)

 

I'm a believer in explicit phonics and spelling. Some kids need to see those phonograms used in lots of real words - repeatedly - before they will ever stick. (Thank you, Happy Phonics!) Some kids need those rules implanted in their brains by osmosis before applying them systematically. (Thank you, Jingle Spells!) And some kids will never read spontaneously given all of the above and then some without specific training of the eye to track and decode.

 

 

I think if I could go back in time and do *this* with my oldest, that he'd take to Spalding like a fish to water right now. As it is, he burned out so badly on the process before he was ready to grasp it all.

 

 

With my youngest, I'm very much in tune to what is working for him...and not worrying at all about working a program. (I've tried enough programs to know that there is no magical one to be found...:tongue_smilie:)

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I dont know. We use Horizons and in the 1st grade book its all about the rules. Im glad they want to teach them but there are so MANY! There are some that just are hard to explain! Like one of her spelling words is EYE. It sounds silly, but i cant figure out a way to explain how to sound it out to her. Then it gets confusing. 2 vowels next to each other make the first say its name and the second quiet, but then what if theres an E at the end and hey throw in some blends.. Oy.

 

We are to the point C can read a 1 sentence per page book, but its a long road.

"Eye" is one of the few true sight words. You can't explain it. It just is. :-)

 

If Horizons is teaching that rule, then it really isn't doing a very job. Sorry. It's why I like Spalding. :-)

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