He said nicely, “Actually “ou” makes 6 sounds.”
Just last week, “Mark”, my budding young teacher’s mom said, “You need to tell Mrs. Jones how you helped your class and teacher learn all 6 sounds of “ou” yesterday.”
He looked up at me with pride and sureness. “I did teach everyone the 6 sounds of “ou”, because my teacher said that “ou” only makes the /ou/ sound like in “count”. I nicely told her that actually “ou” makes 6 sounds, and that I could teach her and the class the other 5 sounds if she would like me to.
“She said I could be the teacher, so I listed the 6 sounds of “ou” with the diacritical markings on the white board. I drew each of the 6 pictures you have on the “ou” poster so everyone could use the pictures to help them remember the sounds.
“My teacher said I did an excellent job teaching again! Everyone learned the other 5 sounds so now they won’t be confused.”
He was beaming from ear to ear as he shared, “Everyone thanked me again too!”
His mom said, “Mark, I think you should be a teacher. You always do an excellent job teaching your lessons to Dad and me. You’re awesome!”
The student becoming the teacher is just one of the many powerful components of Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”.
You as their teacher can relax knowing every one of them will feel the confidence and freedom that they know how reading works, and they know it so well they can teach it.
The complete lesson plans for teaching the 6 sounds of “ou” are in Part 12.
The /ou/ poster Mark reproduced from memory on the white board is one of the 44 colorful, instructional posters that are used throughout Parts 1-14 and are also available for purchase.
As you can see from Mark’s teaching, Silent Elephant “e”’s posters give students a tangible reference point in their learning. One they will be able to use all of their lives.
If you have further questions about partner work and the home-school connection in Silent Elephant “e”, feel free to contact us.