Transcript Clue Words for Consonants

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These notes are designed for new teachers and
others that want to help their student do well.
The first step is to teach the student the
alphabet. Not just how to say it in order.
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The names of the letters.
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How to write them.
And the sounds they make.
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I'm starting at the beginning because A Beka
has its own way of teaching things.
How Can I Help?
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I know that you are not an expert at this.
I keep track of each student and as head
teacher I add myself to the helpers as needed.
Each student will have what we call a “needs assessment” before teaching starts that will be shared.
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This helps us know where to start and what
we need to spend more time on.
Every student gets individual help in problem
areas or their special interests.
We start with learning holes or areas needed
to progress to a higher level of instruction.
No One Should be Afraid to Help
Their Student
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First we teach the short vowels and their clue
words:
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“a” as in apple
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“e” as in elephant
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“i” as in indian
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“o” as in ostrich
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“u” as in umbrella
We teach the clue words to give students a sample of
the sound.
The A Beka System Has Clue Words
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We have small flash cards to learn all of the clue
words with and a CD with the sounds on it.
If you have any questions while using these
notes, please contact me at my email or by
phone:
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[email protected]
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(510)827-5136
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This wiki is fine for general questions.
What if I Need Help?
'b as in bell
'c as in cat
'd as in dog
'f as in fox
'g as in goat
'h as in horse
'j as in jam
'k as in kite
Clue Words for Consonants
l as in lamp
m as in milk
n as in nest
p as in pig
qu as in queen
r as in ring
s as in sun
t as in table
v as in violin
Clue Words for Consonants
w as in wagon
x as in ax, box, or fox
y as in yarn
z as in zebra
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Later we will introduce combinations of 2 or
more letters that have a special sound when
combined. Each set of sounds also has a key
word to use as a memory aide.
Clue Words for Consonants
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Five letters of the alphabet are very special.
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We call these five letters vowels.
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Every word has to have at least one vowel
sound.
All of the letters of the alphabet that are not
vowels, are consonants. They are used with
vowels to form words.
There are 2 kinds of letters
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A blend is made up of one or more consonants
and a vowel.
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Some reading systems teach with word
families.
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Word families are all of the words with the same
last letters. If needed we will do that but most
students don't need that.
Beginning students are taught blends to
combine a consonant and vowel smoothly.
We teach them with blend ladders.
There are cards to help with this skill.
A Beka has blends
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Blend ladders look like this:
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'ma
'me
'mi
'mo
'mu
You can put them on 3”x5” cards and show
them in any order for practice as needed.
Examples of Blends
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By lesson 4 we are adding another letter at the
end to make words.
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'tu
'tub
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'ra
'rat
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'fe
'fell
When students are ready, we teach the onevowel rule:
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When there is one vowel in a word, it usually
says its short sound. We mark short vowels
with a shape that looks like a smile.
Words come next
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Given the word “cat”,
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How many vowels do you see?
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Which vowel sound does it have?
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Remember the 1-vowel rule.
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Cover up the last letter and tell me the blend.
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Add the last sound.
If the child gets stuck along the way, you know
that more practice is needed for that step.
How to Help a Student
Sound Out a Word
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The vowels have another sound called the long
sound.
The long vowel sound is the same as the
vowel's name.
We mark the long vowels with a straight stick.
(The long u sound can say its name or the oo
sound as in boo.
Lots of practice with both sounds may be
needed for some.
The Other Vowel Sound
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'a
acorn
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'e
eagle
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'I
ice cream
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'o
open
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'u
uniform
Long Vowel Clue Words
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When there are two vowels in a word, the first
vowel says its long sound, and the second
vowel is silent. We draw a slanted line like this
“\” through a silent vowel.
If you go through the questions this time, its like
this:
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How many vowels do you see?
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Which vowel sound does it have?
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Remember the 2-vowel rule.
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Add the last sound.
Two Vowel Rule
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We teach that 'l, 'f, and 's are doubled in many
words.
Next we teach that when you hear the “k” sound
at the end of a word, remember:
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“ck” follows a short vowel and “ke” follows a
long vowel.
And then we add that in English, “Q” always has
the helper “u”.
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We don't say more because some Arabic
words don't have the “u” helper.
Some Letters are Special
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We try to help students understand that a Test
is a way for the teacher to see how they're
doing and not to be feared.
Tests are mostly used to tell us if more practice
is needed in some skills.
Sometimes we try another reading program for
more practice without repeating the same
material.
Each step in phonics builds on the previous
one. Reading smoothly is our goal. Some
students need more practice than others.
This Brings us to Test 1