mskelly Posted July 31, 2018 Share Posted July 31, 2018 My kiddos are in middle school, but I'm tutoring a little boy who is really struggling with a few letters. He is 6 and has been through pre-K and Kinder in public school. There are a few letters that he is having trouble learning so I'm looking for some tips and tricks. The letters that are not clicking are Qq,Kk,Vv, Ll. There are a couple of others, but these are the ones he consistently misses. We play games, flashcards, crafts, etc. I know repetition is great, but looking for some fresh ideas here. No known vision issues and he's definitely a kinesthetic kid! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HomeAgain Posted July 31, 2018 Share Posted July 31, 2018 Is he learning the letters phonetically or their names? My kids learned better with jumping straight to phonics because there was always practice in short CVC words (and they didn't have to unlearn what had been associated with the letter before, like with names). 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mskelly Posted July 31, 2018 Author Share Posted July 31, 2018 I worked on letter names for a while, but then moved to phonics. I keep working on the names for the ones he doesn't know because he will be tested on those as soon as school starts again. He will be repeating Kindergarten this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweet2ndchance Posted July 31, 2018 Share Posted July 31, 2018 Some kinethetic ideas (three of my four boys were kinethetic learners)... Sky write the letter while making the letter sound (use your pointer finger to write the letter in the air using large movements/gross motor movements) Form the letters with playdoh while making the sound. Write in a sandbox or with sidewalk chalk while saying the sound Pair a movement with saying the letter sounds such as in Zoo-Phonics or this Spalding version Write the letter on the whiteboard while saying the sound and have him trace the letter with his finger (erasing it) while saying the sound Place index cards around the room with letters he needs work on and a few he has down pat. Have him hunt for letter sounds or shoot them with a nerf gun. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElizabethB Posted July 31, 2018 Share Posted July 31, 2018 (edited) Has his hearing been checked? And was his vision checked with by a COVD optometrist? You can have 20/20 vision and have a vision problem that can be helped with vision therapy. Here is their website: https://www.covd.org/page/Symptoms I would have his parents buy the talking letter factor DVD, that frog might help, can't beat that frog, especially for $6.14. https://www.amazon.com/LeapFrog-Letter-Factory-Ginny-Westcott/dp/B001TKUXUC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1533077892&sr=8-1&keywords=talking+letter+factory+dvd You can draw a K kicking a ball. (K, /k/, kick.) For the rest, maybe try the open court pictures that focus on the sound linked with a picture. The L and Q sounds are not that exciting, but V /v/ as an airplane sound is fun, that one may help. http://wigowsky.com/school/opencourt/sounds.htm OK, L and Q are so boring I looked for other ideas: https://www.labnol.org/home/animal-alphabets/20806/ They have a YouTube video with some animals, too: Edited July 31, 2018 by ElizabethB 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElizabethB Posted July 31, 2018 Share Posted July 31, 2018 (edited) So, with K /k/, kick, look at a picture of K kicking a ball, then he kicks a ball, then he looks at K and says k, /k/, kick. Repeat a few times each lesson. Edited July 31, 2018 by ElizabethB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie_0801 Posted July 31, 2018 Share Posted July 31, 2018 Teach him to finger spell the alphabet. That's the only thing that seems to be working with my highly kinaesthetic adult student. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mskelly Posted August 1, 2018 Author Share Posted August 1, 2018 Great ideas! Thanks for the suggestions. I'll put some to use tomorrow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElizabethB Posted August 1, 2018 Share Posted August 1, 2018 (edited) I found a good one, google Itchy's alphabet and look at the images. They might be worth having his mom buy some of the products if they seem to help. From their website: Quote A unique phonics program, now partly available in French Phonics and Spanish Phonics, Itchy's Alphabet® cards and support products provide children with a visual cue to the letter shape as well as an auditory cue for the letter sound. For example, many of the commercially-made alphabet sets use 'moon' or 'monkey' for the 'm' sound.When children visualize these key words they do not envision the letter 'm'. When children think of our key-word, 'mountains', it immediately reminds them of the formation of the letter 'm' - the one with the mountains. Edited August 1, 2018 by ElizabethB 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElizabethB Posted August 1, 2018 Share Posted August 1, 2018 If you google "alphabet embedded picture mnemonics" and then look at the images that come up, you should see even more ideas to help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElizabethB Posted August 1, 2018 Share Posted August 1, 2018 Letterland has embedded picture mnemonics combined with songs. Here is the letter Q. If you type in Letterland and the letter you want in YouTube, you should find some more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElizabethB Posted August 1, 2018 Share Posted August 1, 2018 OK, more ideas. For my students that have trouble remembering the sounds, learning the sounds on the chart and then learning how to look them up on their own and then actually looking them up on their own while sounding out simple words is very helpful for remembering them. He can color in the black and white chart while learning the sounds, and you can use the letter cards (color or black and white) to form letters in a more kinesthetic way. http://www.thephonicspage.org/On Reading/Resources/40LChartsCombined.pdf If his phonemic awareness is low, he also might be helped by building words with mouth magnets, then with mouth magnets with letters, then letters on their own. You can get these for free and make a version without letters by printing 2 versions and cutting the letters off one version. https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Speech-Sound-Cue-Cards-Freebie-2196455 You can also see the sounds being made in both side view and lip view, that is helpful for some of my students. On some computers you can see it on screen, some you have to buy the app but it is cheap. http://soundsofspeech.uiowa.edu/index.html#english Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mskelly Posted August 2, 2018 Author Share Posted August 2, 2018 Wow! Thank you!! His phonemic awareness is extremely low. Does not get the concept of rhyming words, has trouble segmenting sounds...I was using Elkonin boxes with him for CVC words. He would say "ne" and "t" for net. Or "n" "et". I'm really enjoying working with him. You've shown me some ideas and websites that are new to me so I'm super excited! Thanks again!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElizabethB Posted August 2, 2018 Share Posted August 2, 2018 3 hours ago, mskelly said: Wow! Thank you!! His phonemic awareness is extremely low. Does not get the concept of rhyming words, has trouble segmenting sounds...I was using Elkonin boxes with him for CVC words. He would say "ne" and "t" for net. Or "n" "et". I'm really enjoying working with him. You've shown me some ideas and websites that are new to me so I'm super excited! Thanks again!! You need to work the majority of your lesson time on phonemic awareness. Watch my pre-reading videos, you only have to watch the first 10 minute Phonovisual video. The sounds on my chart are almost exactly the Phonovisual order, and learning them in that order and understanding that order will help phonemic awareness. I would post on the learning challenges board for more phonemic awareness ideas and activities, and I'll look for some and post them here. There should be 4 videos linked in my Pre-Reading skills playlist: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElizabethB Posted August 2, 2018 Share Posted August 2, 2018 This link has a lot of free resources for phonics, phonemic awareness, and phonological awareness: https://www.smartspeechtherapy.com/free-literacy-resources-for-parents-and-professionals/ I also like spelfabet, her latest pom pom phoneme video is great, she has other good videos: https://www.youtube.com/user/spelfabet The book "Phonemic Awareness Activities in Young Children" has some good ideas, many libraries have it. https://www.amazon.com/Phonemic-Awareness-Young-Children-Curriculum/dp/1557663211/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1533230006&sr=8-1&keywords=phonemic+awareness+activities+for+young+children And, you want to push for his parents to get a speech therapist to do LiPS with him. It's actually not that hard to use once you read over it and people on the learning challenges board will help you through it if you want to try it on your own, here is the manual, you can use it with just the manual and the mouth cards. There is a used manual for $45 right now: https://www.amazon.com/Lindamood-Phoneme-Sequencing-Program-Spelling/dp/0890797536/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1533230106&sr=1-1&keywords=lindamood Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mskelly Posted August 7, 2018 Author Share Posted August 7, 2018 It was suggested to jump right to phonics. I have been doing letter names and the sounds. I've been working on the letters he doesn't name automatically (so a random assortment) and I started Spalding phonics at the beginning (a,c,s...). We are about 10 sounds through Spalding. He is definitely picking up the sounds more quickly than the letter names. Does anyone know why this happens? I'm just happy he's learning, but curious as to why he can pick up the sounds, but not the names. He immediately told me the "qu" says /kw/ and he named a bunch of Q words, but he couldn't tell me the letter was q. I think he was having trouble articulating the name. When I said it and had him copy he told me it makes his tongue tickle to say "Q". I've learned some great tips here, just curious if there are any more thoughts out there... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElizabethB Posted August 9, 2018 Share Posted August 9, 2018 On August 7, 2018 at 10:44 AM, mskelly said: It was suggested to jump right to phonics. I have been doing letter names and the sounds. I've been working on the letters he doesn't name automatically (so a random assortment) and I started Spalding phonics at the beginning (a,c,s...). We are about 10 sounds through Spalding. He is definitely picking up the sounds more quickly than the letter names. Does anyone know why this happens? I'm just happy he's learning, but curious as to why he can pick up the sounds, but not the names. He immediately told me the "qu" says /kw/ and he named a bunch of Q words, but he couldn't tell me the letter was q. I think he was having trouble articulating the name. When I said it and had him copy he told me it makes his tongue tickle to say "Q". I've learned some great tips here, just curious if there are any more thoughts out there... That is interesting. Maybe there are also rapid naming issues? I would post on the special needs board, they might have ideas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElizabethB Posted August 14, 2018 Share Posted August 14, 2018 This might help with learning letters and phonemic awareness, the word builder app. I also like his word burger analogy for phonemes, graphemes, and letters, scroll down to about halfway down the page: http://www.readingdoctor.com.au/phonological-awareness-phonemes-phoenicians-phonics/ Here is a video of the word builder app, he's Australian but it also has a U.S. pronunciation option. The app includes both sounds and mouth positions. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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