Dyslexics Can Struggle More With Spelling Than Reading

Most Often SPELLING is MORE DIFFICULT for Dyslexics Than READING! 

Think about this for a moment:

Most often spelling is even more difficult for dyslexics (and other struggling students) than reading! 

It’s easy to become so focused on the struggling reader’s reading struggles, that spelling gets left behind. Spelling gets a little bit “ignored”. And yet, the truth is, spelling IS more difficult than reading for dyslexics and many other struggling students.  

There’s an underlying unproductive thought: “Spelling will come along. They’ll get it!” 

This way of thinking contributes to struggling students’ continuing feelings of inadequacy.  

Now that you are expertly teaching phonics with Silent Elephant “e” and seeing amazing growth in reading in your children, you will be able to knowledgeably and successfully teach spelling too!  

The first thing to understand about spelling instruction is that it must be taught concurrently with phonics instruction. While students are learning a particular phonics rule and utilizing it in learning to read, they need to be applying that same exact phonics rule in learning to spell. When learners do this, both reading and spelling make sense. They have confidence in both areas.    

Here is why reading and spelling need to go hand-in-hand:

·       They are like two sides of the same coin.

·       They both represent sound-symbol relationship—just on the opposite side of the coin.

·       Reading is a decoding skill; spelling is an encoding skill. 

Decoding is translating printed words to sounds; whereas encoding is the opposite—using sounds to create printed words.  

Decoding and encoding use different parts of the brain. Since different brain parts are constantly communicating with each other, it’s imperative that your skillful teaching of reading runs parallel to your skillful teaching of spelling. 

Let me say that again—

Spelling instruction must correlate with phonics instruction. 

Unfortunately, many basal reading and spelling programs often introduce a new phonics rule and the exceptions to that rule in the very same lesson.  

And worse, often there is no correlation between phonics (reading) instruction and spelling instruction, because two different programs from two different publishers are utilized within one classroom. 

The struggling learner is led to feel like there is no connection between the reading they are trying to learn and the spelling they are trying to learn.  

This lack of correlation between the two and the introduction of the rule and the exceptions in the same lesson compounds the confusion that dyslexic people or any struggling student is feeling when trying to comprehend the abstract concept of a phonics rule.  

This confusion makes it almost impossible for them to internalize and master the rule being taught, much less the exceptions to that rule. 

Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e” teaches reading and spelling together. 

When teaching with Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”, you will be able to expertly teach each abstract phonics rule through sequentially organized, multi-sensory, whole body lessons guiding students to a concrete understanding of each phonics rule. 

Your children will feel so confident in their understanding of a phonics rule, that they will eagerly accept the challenge to spell words that follow that rule. 

Because I created Silent Elephant “e” so that all learners could learn to read and spell at the same time, I included lengthy, leveled word lists (Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3) moving from simple to complex as an integral part of each phonics lesson in Silent Elephant “e”.  

These word lists provide you with NUMEROUS words focused on each phonics lesson’s objective—words to use for word recognition, for vocabulary development and for individualized spelling lists. 

I’ll address individualized spelling lists in my next blog post. 

If you have further questions about spelling the Silent Elephant “e” way, feel free to contact us.

Linda Katherine Smith-Jones                            Nina Henson

Freedom of Individualized Spelling

The “Oh So Good Feelings” Individualized Spelling Tests Bring 

Now that you know that you can easily and quickly create spelling lists, please take the following into consideration: 

As educators, we must always be cognizant of our students’ needs. Students should never feel uncomfortable, embarrassed or unintelligent in their educational settings. We must impart peacefulness and happiness in our students while watching their self-confidence grow. We must teach them in a way that quickly ensures their success.  

Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e” does just that! 

With our perfectly created leveled spelling lists in hand (which include no exceptions to the lesson’s objective), there is just one more thing for us to be mindful of: 

Our children need individualized spelling lists that contain just the right number of words to grow and develop their skills while offering a bit of a challenge. 

In the beginning, dyslexic learners, struggling learners and ELL learners might need you to shorten their spelling lists, so they can truly be successful in spelling. You might need to begin by giving them a list of only 3 words. 

When a child consistently spells the required 3 words correctly, add another word. Continue this pattern of adding an additional word as a child’s spelling skills grow. 

When children reach that “Oh, I get it!” awareness that the phonics rule needed in reading is exactly the same as the phonics rule needed in spelling, you will be able to add many more spelling words to their lists and they will easily learn to spell the new words.

 But first, you must start with where they are.

You must relax with them only having a few words in the beginning, if that is what they need.  

With Silent Elephant “e” you are on your way to developing strong, self-assured, capable students in reading, writing and spelling!  

In my next Spelling blog post, I will share several more relevant teaching ideas for spelling instruction. Teaching ideas that have worked for ALL LEARNERS!! 

If you have further questions about spelling the Silent Elephant “e” way, feel free to contact us.

Linda Katherine Smith-Jones                            Nina Henson

Spelling Powerhouse - Sentence Dictation

I Love Learning to Spell using Sentence Dictation! 

Spelling can be fun!

And now when we correlate spelling with phonics instruction, ALL students, struggling and non-struggling, connect both sides of the sound/symbol relationship coin! Reading and spelling makes sense. 

It’s important to realize that this applies to ALL learners:

·       struggling learners,

·       non-struggling learners, and

·       gifted learners.  

ALL learners deserve to understand that reading and spelling are connected. 

As mentioned in my last blog post, it is essential that spelling instruction correlate with phonics instruction.

One of the most important spelling components I wrote into Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e” is sentence dictation.  

In Silent Elephant “e”, sentence dictation connects decoding and encoding with comprehension in one meaningful activity that is consistent throughout Parts 3-14. As I have mentioned in other blog posts, this consistency in instruction is vital for dyslexic learners and truly ALL learners.  

To make sure students connect the relationship of decoding and encoding, sentence dictation does not occur until children are fluently reading the sentences on their Partner Practice pages and have discussed what the sentences are about with their partners. 

This ensures that students are not trying to learn to spell/write a word that doesn’t have meaning for them, as that would only cause them more confusion and frustration.  

When students fluently read and comprehend the sentences on their Partner Pages in each phonics lesson, they are ready to move into the encoding part of the lesson—sentence dictation.

 To ensure children’s success in sentence dictation when working with their partners, teach these skills before they begin: 

·       Children take turns reading a sentence to their partner. This necessary step works on decoding and promotes active listening.

·       They discuss the meaning of the sentence by sharing what they are picturing/imagining in their brain—comprehension.

·       Each child reads the sentence one more time.

·       They turn their Partner Practice page over.

·       Both children take turns repeating the sentence from memory, first together, then separately. This works on both auditory and visual memory. If they need to review the sentence again, they can turn their Partner Practice page over.

·       Only then do they begin writing. This, of course, is encoding as they are thinking, “What sound am I hearing and what letter(s) do I use for that sound when I’m writing?”

·       When they have finished writing their sentences, they first proofread their own work and then proofread their partners. They proofread by:

o   Checking for space between words

o   Checking for a capital letter at the beginning of the sentence

o   Checking for an end mark—a period, question or exclamation mark

o   Checking for capitalized names

o   Checking for spelling accuracy

·       Last, each child proofs their work for accuracy by looking at their Partner Practice page, and then high-fives their partner for their good work. Smiles all around! 

As you can see, decoding and encoding skills utilized in sentence dictation engage numerous parts of the brain:

·       Visual processing, visual sequencing and visual memory

·       Auditory processing, auditory sequencing and auditory memory

·       Tactile handwriting skills

·       Comprehension of text

·       Analytical thinking--comparison of decoding and encoding 

Sentence dictation is a fun activity that children enjoy doing together without being completely aware of all the elements enhancing their learning—they’re just having fun and learning to share and support each other as they read and write.  

Because sentence dictation is such an important component in Silent Elephant “e”, when classroom teaching or tutoring, encourage parents to dictate sentences at least once a week (of course, more is better) with their children at home. To inform parents of your expectations of how to do sentence dictation, send home the sentence dictation skill list above. Parents will recognize the importance of sentence dictation and the decoding and encoding skills that sentence dictation strengthens.

My next blog post will provide you with a list of ten additional activities to further promote spelling achievement. Children will enjoy these fun, challenging activities! 

If you have further questions about spelling the Silent Elephant “e” way, feel free to contact us.

Linda Katherine Smith-Jones                            Nina Henson

Ten Fun Spelling Activities

Ten Fun Spelling Activities! 

In my last post in this series, I shared how sentence dictation is a powerful tool for mastery of spelling skills for learners of all ages, especially for struggling students. It’s such a powerful tool for learning that I made sure I included it as an integral part of Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”. 

I also shared some important “how to’s” when you use sentence dictation in the teaching of spelling.  

Of course, children also need to practice their spelling words outside of sentence dictation, but only after they are familiar with the words they are being asked to spell and can read and comprehend them. I cannot emphasize this enough! They must be totally familiar with the words they are learning to spell or they will become more confused and frustrated.

Below are some FUN multi-sensory techniques for children to use when they practice their spelling words: 

1. When children are writing spelling words with a regular pencil, have them write the letter(s) that are tricking them or challenging them in a bright red color. This analysis of what is tricking them takes the word and its meaning into another part of their brain enhancing their retention of the word. The red color helps stimulate visual memory.   

2. Write spelling words with two fingers (pointer and middle) in pudding. Spread the pudding out on a cookie sheet that has an edge around it. As you can imagine, this is a very popular way to practice spelling words. The tactile sensations of the coldness and smoothness of the pudding plus the sweet smell activates multiple parts of the brain. (Have them wash their hands first, because chances are, they will lick their fingers. Yum!) 

3. Write spelling words with two fingers in red aquarium sand that has been spread out in cold water on a cookie sheet that has an edge around it. The tactile sensations of both the sand and the cold water plus the red color of the sand activates multiple parts of the brain.

4. Write spelling words with two fingers in shaving cream that is spread out on a smooth surface, such as their desk or a cookie sheet. Again, the tactile sensations of the shaving cream along with the smell activates multiple parts of the brain at the same time. (I buy shaving cream for this purpose at a dollar store.) 

5. At home, children will enjoy writing their spelling words in the bathtub using bathtub crayons. This stimulates many parts of the brain and is, of course, just fun and oh, so pretty.

6. Write spelling words with two fingers or using a stick in sand, in mud and/or in snow. When students move outside the “normal” school setting to “work” on spelling, their brain connects their learning with all environments. Spelling is not just a school related skill.

7. Write spelling words with two fingers on coarse sandpaper. This tactile stimulus helps them feel the writing of their words through their fingertips. 

8. Write spelling words using multiple colored crayons, colored pencils or colored markers at the same time. This is sometimes called “Rainbow Writing”. Children love this activity and the colors activate the visual part of the brain as they form the letters of their words. 

9. Get a strong, sturdy large rectangular cardboard box about 12” x 10” x 1.5” with a lid. Line it with red duct tape. Pour two to  three boxes of table salt into the box. Write spelling words with two fingers in the salt. This stimulates both tactile and visual memory.

10. Pretend that your child’s back is a writing board. Write their spelling words with two fingers on his/her back. It’s important to “erase” (by gently rubbing their back) after each word, especially for a dyslexic or struggling student. This helps their brain “let go” of what they were intensely focused on and be ready for the next word.  

    When you are writing on their back, they must activate multiple parts of their brain that help them identify the letters in a completely different way. Their brain then must connect the letters they have identified through the touch on their back into a word that has meaning to them.  

    Switch places—let your child write on your back.  

    Do this activity after they have written the word in other tactile activities and have both a solid knowledge of the word’s meaning and visual memory of the word. 

Have fun taking turns spelling your children’s words as you explore spelling with these multi-sensory activities.  

Enjoy their smiles and feelings of success!  

Enjoy YOUR feeling of success!

If you have used a multi-sensory activity that you would like to share with all of us, please send it to me by email.  

Happy spelling to you! 

If you have further questions about spelling the Silent Elephant “e” way, feel free to contact us.

Linda Katherine Smith-Jones                            Nina Henson

Who Wouldn’t Want to Practice Spelling in Pudding!

Who Wouldn’t Want to Practice Spelling in Pudding! 

I received a fun, fun email from Wendy, a homeschool educator, after she read the blog post entitled “Ten Fun Spelling Activities”. 

We had a fun time practicing our spelling in pudding. Even Xander who is only 2 and a half years old was able to join in the fun. Thanks for the great ideas. 

They all licked their fingers! Each ended up liking a different flavor. We had chocolate, vanilla and butterscotch. 

We were practicing the words from the end of Part 4. First, they copied the spelling words from the board where I had written them. Then they worked as partners reading a word and sounding it out for the other to write. 

The last 2 words were challenging for them, but I think the pudding partnering will help them remember “phone” and “phonics.” 

Even Xander learned how to draw a circle in his pudding. 

It was great fun for all! 

Isn’t that a fun, lovely story—extremely educational, too! The children were learning using all of their senses: seeing, smelling, tasting, touching, and listening to Mom and their partner—their whole body! 

I loved how Wendy included her young son in the activity! What a wonderful idea to have him draw shapes in the pudding.  

Young children can draw lines that curve; lines that squiggle; lines that go up, down, or across; lines that are straight; lines that zigzag, etc.  

I included “phonics” and “phone” in that relatively early phonics lesson on consonant digraphs, because children need to be able to read those words early on in first grade. I know they are challenging, but I agree with Wendy that writing in pudding or another medium will aid in their retention of the words.  

These pictures of Zoya, Audrey and Xander giggling and laughing while having so much fun learning together, brings joy to my heart! 

I hope you try it with your kiddos and send me pictures!

If you have further questions about spelling the Silent Elephant “e” way, feel free to contact us.

Linda Katherine Smith-Jones                            Nina Henson

Students Becoming Teachers!

Students Becoming Teachers!  

I am continually delighted by the self-pride and self-confidence my students quickly attain when being taught using Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”! It shows up in all parts of their lives.  

One of the powerful components of Silent Elephant “e”’s program is its home-school connection. 

The children teach each lesson to their parents as soon as possible after tutoring. This teaching mode is much different from the learning mode they just left. When they are the “teacher”, they have to clearly express what they themselves have just learned in a way that another person can understand it and learn it. This teaching mode integrates their own learning to a much deeper level.  

To support this powerful component, Silent Elephant “e” provides parents with:

·       Lesson material explaining the goals and objectives of each lesson

·       The teaching vocabulary specific to the lesson

·       The content of the lesson

·       Questions to ask their child to guide their child to successfully teach the lesson to them at home 

It’s no wonder that after a child has successfully taught their parents each lesson at home, they are perfectly comfortable teaching others. 

They actually speak up in their classrooms and offer to teach their teachers and classmates what they have learned with Silent Elephant ”e” and me.

In my next blog posts I will share examples of my students becoming teachers in their classrooms. I’m so proud of them! My buttons are popping! 

If you have further questions about partner work and the home-school connection in Silent Elephant “e”, feel free to contact us.

Linda Katherine Smith-Jones                            Nina Henson 

“I taught my whole class the “C” and “G” Game!”

“I taught my whole class the “C” and “G” Game!” 

I’d like to begin telling you about my incredible students becoming “teachers” in their classrooms with “Mark.” Mark is a hard-working boy that I have been tutoring for 2½ years. He has finished Levels 1 and 2 and is currently working on Level 3 of Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”. 

Before he began tutoring with me, he had completed 4 years of public school education, which included 1½ hours of daily personal instruction from a certified special education teacher. He was also receiving services from a speech and language therapist and from an occupational therapist. 

When he came to me, he was frustrated in phonemic awareness (67% on the Part 1) and frustrated in word recognition and comprehension at a Pre-Primer reading level. Mark was a non-reader. His self-confidence and belief in himself were at rock bottom. 

Speed ahead to today where he is receiving special education services in reading for only ½ hour a day and has been staffed out of speech, language and occupational therapy.  

AND he is now reading at a 9th grade reading level!  

He has a completely different picture of himself then he did 2½ years ago. He is now confident knowing that he will always succeed in all of his endeavors in the future.  

Mark is usually quite serious, but one day he came bounding into tutoring with a huge smile on his face! He almost shouted, “Guess what I did today! I taught my class!”

He continued enthusiastically, “We were studying the Geneva Convention. A boy in my class asked my teacher why the “g” in Geneva made /j/. “I don’t know,” she answered, “It just does.”

 “Since my teacher couldn’t explain why the “g” in Geneva made /j/, I told her that I could teach everyone the “C” and “G” Game that you taught me, and then no one would wonder about when to use the hard or soft sounds for “c” or “g” ever again.  

“She said I could, so I did! 

“When I was finished, she said that the was one of the best lessons that she’d ever learned! The kids loved it too! Everyone thanked me! 

“Can you believe it?” 

I looked this bright, enthusiastic young boy in the eyes and said, “Yes, I certainly can believe it! You are extremely intelligent, and I know you are an amazing teacher for your parents! Now I know you are an amazing teacher for your classmates and for your teacher too! I’m so proud of you!” 

For your information:

The complete lesson plans for teaching the “C” and “G” Game are in Part 8.

If you have further questions about partner work and the home-school connection in Silent Elephant “e”, feel free to contact us.

Linda Katherine Smith-Jones                            Nina Henson 

He said nicely, “Actually “ou” makes 6 sounds.”

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.

Linda Katherine Smith-Jones                            Nina Henson 

She taught, "“Sh” is a digraph, together they make one new sound /sh/."

She taught,

““Sh” is a digraph, because when “s” and “h” are together

they make one new sound of /sh/.” 

It always makes me giggle and burst with pride when one of my kiddos become so confident in their skills that they become the teacher. It’s such a good feeling, for them, for me and certainly for their parents.  

Silent Elephant “e” is THE program that teaches reading (phonemic awareness, phonics, and comprehension), writing and spelling in a precisely organized, systematic, complete auditory, visual and kinesthetic way that ALL CHILDREN NEED, especially dyslexic and struggling learners.  

It is THE program that makes the teaching and learning to read, write and spell interesting, fun and a sure thing.  

Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e” is tried and true and that became apparent again last week when “Kathy”, the proud mom of “Julie”, one of my students, excitedly shared this wonderful story.  

Julie is in second grade and was on the computer for her reading class with her teacher and classmates. Her teacher told a child who was struggling to read the word “shade” that “shade” started with the blend “sh”. 

Julie raised her hand and her teacher called on her. Julie politely explained to her teacher and classmates that “sh” is not a blend. 

“If “sh” was a blend, it would make the Kindergarten sounds of /s/ and /h/ blended together smoothly. Then “shade” would sound like /s/ - /h/ - /long “a”/ - /d/. 

“So, “sh” is a digraph, because when “s” and “h” are together they make one new sound of /sh/. 

Julie continued teaching, “My tutor says that the letters in blends sound just the same as the sounds we learned for the letters in Kindergarten. 

“But the letters in digraphs make new, different sounds, not at all like the sounds we learned in Kindergarten. Mrs. Jones and I say the digraphs are magical, because the letters magically change their sounds to become digraphs.” 

Julie’s teacher was amazed, “Wow Julie, you explained that very well, very clearly. We’ll never get blends and digraphs mixed up again! Good job!” 

Kathy beamed with pride and shared, “I was so impressed by how politely and meticulously Julie taught her teacher and her classmates!  

“Everything she’s learned from you completely makes sense to her.” (Julie often says during a lesson, “Oh, that makes sense.” 😊) 

Kathy smiled with pride and continued, “Julie teaches Silent Elephant “e” to anyone who will listen: me, her dad, her little sister, her grandma, her friends—everyone! Maybe she’ll grow up to be a teacher.” 

I, too, felt so much pride!  

Julie is a completely different girl than the one who began Silent Elephant “e” 16 months ago. She is severely dyslexic and had already been placed in special education in the early part of first grade.  

What Julie needed to become confident in her reading, writing and spelling was a precisely organized, systematic, complete auditory, visual and kinesthetic program, aka, Silent Elephant “e”.

Students becoming a teacher is a common theme when you teach with Silent Elephant “e”. It teaches the way they learn, so reading, writing and spelling “makes sense” and it is easy for them to explain to others what they understand. Explaining why they know what they know is an integral part of the program.

If you have further questions about partner work and the home-school connection in Silent Elephant “e”, feel free to contact us.

Linda Katherine Smith-Jones                            Nina Henson

Silent Elephant “e” Has to Disappear!

Silent Elephant “e” Has to Disappear!

A smile brightens my face as I recall the day “Kimberly” excitedly shared her experience of teaching her class my phonics lesson about when and why Silent Elephant “e” has to disappear at the end of Silent Elephant “e” words when you add a suffix that begins with a vowel. 

She beamed as she told me, “My teacher loved the Silent Elephant “e” puppet! She thought it totally made sense that you couldn’t make SILENT Elephant “e” talk by putting ‘two vowels walking’ next to each other when you add a suffix that begins with a vowel!” 

You might be confused, so let me give you some examples. Let’s take the word “poke”. If you want to add the suffix -s which begins with a consonant, you can just add it on to the end of the root word to make “pokes”. The consonant “s” will not make “two vowels go walking”. 

However, if you want to add the suffix -ed which begins with a vowel, you cannot just add it on the end of the root word as it will make “pokeed”. Then you will have “two vowels go walking” which will make Silent Elephant “e” have to “talk”.

 If you want to add the suffix -ing which begins with a vowel, you cannot just add it on the end of the root word as it will make “pokeing”. Then you will have “two vowels go walking” which will make Silent Elephant “e” have to “talk”. 

This sweet girl is now a 5th grader. She began tutoring with me in late October of her 3rd grade year. She was at an instructional 3rd grade reading level in word recognition but frustrated at a 1st grade reading level in comprehension. 

She has dyspraxia. Dyspraxia is a chronic neurological condition where the wiring in the brain is mixed up. People with dyspraxia display different symptoms. Kimberly can easily find and remember details when she reads, but she was struggling putting the details together to make sense of sentences, paragraphs, and lengthy pieces of writing. She struggled to find the main idea in any piece of writing. The educational psychologist that diagnosed Kimberly told me that Kimberly would probably never catch up in reading comprehension. 

After completing just 14 months of instruction with me using Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”, last March during her 4th grade year, this bubbly, energetic little girl tested out at a 9th grade instructional reading level in word recognition AND comprehension using the Fleishman Oral Reading Inventory!  

This is such a joyful example of the power of Silent Elephant “e” that teaches each child the way they learn. My heart sings knowing Kimberly is a successful reader. Her world has opened up for her.  

The complete lesson plans for teaching the Silent Elephant “e” rules are in Part 7.

If you have further questions about partner work and the home-school connection in Silent Elephant “e”, feel free to contact us.

Linda Katherine Smith-Jones                            Nina Henson

Can Your Child Pass the Phonemic Awareness Assessment?

Can Your Child Pass the Phonemic Awareness Assessment? 

My Heart Went Out to Him 

I know from experience that when our children struggle, our hearts are with them everywhere they go wanting to smooth and pave the way to their success.  

So, when I received an email from a parent who recently purchased Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”, Part 1, my heart went out to him. 

He is concerned that his four-year-old daughter will not be able to successfully complete the phonemic awareness assessment in Part 1.  

He mentioned to me that his daughter has some pronunciation difficulties and he thought she might not be hearing the individual sounds within words.  

For this very reason, Phonemic Awareness Part 1, is exactly what she needs, even though she is only four. I told him to begin with Lesson 1 in Part 1 using the game boards, colored squares, rubber band, and mirror and NOT to worry about assessing her at this time.          

In Part 1, she will just be listening to sounds within words. She will be comparing sounds within words that are different and sounds that are the same. She will not need to know letter names or how to associate letter sounds with letter names. 

Along with playing the games in Part 1, she will be singing the “Old McDonald” song using the short vowel sounds. The singing of the song takes her learning and experiencing of the sounds into different parts of her brain.  

I encouraged him to take his time, not to hurry her and to let her move at her own pace. I mentioned that she may need to repeat lessons, but not to worry—he wouldn’t run out of words. I promise. I put plenty of words in the lessons for children just like her.  

I told him that lessons 1-4 may be slow, but I definitely think she will have an, “Oh, I get it!” moment by the end of Lesson 4. I encouraged him to just let her lead the way. She will pick up the pace as she gains confidence. 

As I reflect on supporting this concerned dad and his daughter, I can honestly tell you, I so wish I had had Phonemic Awareness Part 1 when my dyslexic daughter was 4. As it was, she struggled and basically failed until I learned about phonemic awareness and taught her. That’s when she began to bloom—at the end of third grade! 

From 4th grade on, she had straight A’s. She graduated college with a degree in landscape architecture Magna Cum Laude! She also won the national competition for senior landscape architecture majors in the U.S.! 

Every child needs phonemic awareness—it is the foundation of reading for everyone. 

All struggling children I have worked with, Kindergartners through high schoolers, have not had phonemic awareness. They needed to go back and build their foundation to begin their path to successful reading, writing and spelling.  

Yes!! Even my middle school and high school students! 

So, I told this worried dad to jump into Lesson 1 with confidence. She may need 2-3 months before she pops that, “Oh, I get it!” moment, but it will happen.  She’ll be on her way.

If you have further questions about phonemic awareness, feel free to contact us.

Linda Katherine Smith-Jones                            Nina Henson

“First Things First!” What's Phonemic Awareness?

“First Things First!”

What’s Phonemic Awareness 

How much do YOU truly know about phonemic awareness? 

The beginning of the school year or when you begin tutoring a student is THE time to ask the question, “Do my children have phonemic awareness?” 

Asking this question about beginning readers is critical, and especially critical for any student, preschooler through adult, who has struggled with learning to read or who is learning to read English. 

But first things first—just how much do YOU truly know about phonemic awareness?  

It’s important you ask yourself that question before you ask the first question—“Do my children have phonemic awareness?” 

It’s important that you understand what phonemic awareness is and why it’s so important to the success of all of your students.     

So…Just what is Phonemic Awareness? 

Phonemic awareness is being aware of phonemes, the smallest unit of sound in our language, and understanding that phonemes flow one after another in our spoken words.  

Phonemic awareness has no connection to the printed word. It is solely the ability to hear the individual sounds within words and the silence of sound between words and syllables. 

When children can hear the individual sounds within words and the silence of sound between words and syllables, they gain knowledge of how sounds “work” in our spoken language—beginning with the smallest, single unit of sound and connecting those units of sound to form meaning.

This consists of being able to do these crucial skills:

·                 identifying the first, last and medial sound(s)

·                 phoneme isolation

·                 phoneme blending

·                 phoneme segmenting

·                 phoneme deletion

·                 phoneme substitution

·                 phoneme manipulation

·                 phoneme reversal

·                 hearing and generating rhyme. 

As any learner, preschooler through adult, develops these skills, they become increasing aware of the phonemes in our language and how those sounds flow together to give our spoken words, sentences and dialogues meaning. They know how our language works. 

Upon first hearing the term phonemic awareness in the 1990s and listening to a definition such as I gave above, I was still confused. I couldn’t understand how a person could not hear the individual phonemes in our spoken language. It just seemed so simple–so natural. 

A gentleman teaching a Lindamood-Bell class I attended explained phonemic awareness by comparing the ability of a person to hear the individual notes within a chord on a piano to the ability of a person to hear the individual sounds within a word. 

He asked how many of us thought we would be able to tell him what the 3 or 4 individual notes were in a chord played on the piano. He said that we might be able to tell if the chord contained high or low notes or if it was major or minor, but would we hear the chord as one sound or as 3 or 4 distinct sounds? 

I decided that as soon as I got home, I would actually try this activity. I had my daughter play 3 and 4 note chords high and low on the piano. I painstakingly listened! Did I hear one sound when I listened to a chord made of 3 or 4 sounds or did I hear all the notes separately? 

I‘m a pianist myself, but I found that I actually struggled hearing the different notes within a chord especially if it was an unfamiliar chord.  

Through my struggles, I became more acutely aware of the different notes within each chord. I focused my attention more and more on the individual sounds.  

Even now I intensely concentrate on the individual sounds within chords while I play the piano. That is exactly what we do when we teach phonemic awareness—we teach our students to listen to the individual sounds that are flowing together to make a word. 

Try this activity yourself. Have someone play a 3-note chord made of high notes and a 4-note chord made of low notes on the piano as you listen carefully to discover if you hear the chord as one sound or as 3 or 4 distinct sounds. 

Let me know your thoughts about this experiment. Did you find this activity clarifying and enlightening or was it confusing and frustrating for you? Please email or call me to share your experience. I would love to hear from you!  

In my next blog post, I will share another learning experience I had with my daughter’s piano teacher as I continued my search to truly understand what phonemic awareness is, the difficulties a person might have in attaining phonemic awareness and why it is so important.

If you have further questions about phonemic awareness, feel free to contact us.

Linda Katherine Smith-Jones                            Nina Henson 

It's the KEY to The Whole Thing! It’s Mind-Boggling!!

It’s Mind-Boggling!!

Understanding this was such an eye-opener!! 

In my last post, First Things First, I shared my first insightful steps into an initial understanding of phonemic awareness.  

I shared my amazing a-ha moment when I realized the connection of hearing the 3 or 4 separate notes in a chord played on the piano to hearing the separate sounds within a word.  

To continue my journey –

I felt as though I was closer to an understanding of phonemic awareness, but it wasn’t totally clear to me. This was stressful. I needed to know all that could be known about phonemic awareness for my daughter, for my students and for myself. 

My daughter’s piano teacher, Gay Pool, diligently teaches her piano students to listen to the individual notes within a chord. She’s adamant that they hear all of the notes within chords.  

This fit in with what I had learned in the reading workshop I took, so I visited with Gay to understand why it is so important to her that her students hear all of the notes within chords.  

She reminded me of many things I already knew about language development in children but hadn’t quite connected them to phonemic awareness.

 She reminded me that children begin oral language development by listening to sounds followed by attempts to imitate those sounds in spoken words and in singing.  

Ah, now I was beginning to feel more clarity. The clouds around phonemic awareness were lifting. 

She said, “If a young child has access to a piano, they might be able to discern the minute differences in tone between the keys that they are “pounding away on” in the same way they are discerning the individual sounds in the spoken language they are hearing.” 

It’s all about the sounds and differentiating between them.  

Gay added another twist: everyone perceives sounds differently. 

She continued, “A child born with perfect pitch will be able to tell you which notes are in a chord, and they will be able to tell you how far apart the notes are in that chord. A child with perfect pitch will begin to play the correct notes on a piano to imitate a song without having been taught to read music.” They are acutely aware of the difference in the sounds of the notes. 

But a child not born with perfect pitch must develop phonemic awareness both in music and in speaking. Think of a baby—they listen intently as we sing, talk, and read to them. Very quickly they begin to work at imitating the sounds we are making. They are learning to differentiate the sounds by:

·                 listening to sounds

·                 imitating sounds

·                 receiving positive feedback from others for their attempts at        imitating sounds

·                 speaking and singing 

Finally, I truly understood exactly what is meant when we say a person has phonemic awareness! A person with phonemic awareness has an awareness of all sounds, the differences between them and how they fit together to communicate with others.  

It’s an innate part of most of us to have the ability to acquire the foundation of language. We develop phonemic awareness skills naturally and early unless we are dyslexic.  

If a child is dyslexic or has an auditory disability, their processing and sequencing of language into print becomes muddy. They will not naturally develop phonemic awareness.  

If they do not receive explicit instruction in phonemic awareness so they understand the process of phonemes becoming words with meaning, the transition from oral language to print is a steep, frustrating mountain to climb.

C – A - T 

This became very clear to me. 

A dyslexic who has not had explicit instruction in phonemic awareness cannot hear the three phonemes in “cat” just as most of us cannot hear the 3 or 4 separate notes in a chord on the piano. 

They are hearing “cat” as a single unit of sound. 

It’s interesting to realize that hearing “cat” as a single unit of sound had not been a problem for them until they tried to learn to read and spell and they were asked to connect THREE symbols (c, a and t) to the ONE sound they were hearing. They immediately became confused and they didn’t have a way of sorting out why they felt confused. It all just didn’t make sense. Why were they being asked to connect 3 symbols to something that is obviously (to them) one sound? 

Without explicit instruction, reading (that transition from oral language to print) is frustrating and impossible for them to comprehend. 

Further, at the same time they perceive every word as an individual unit of sound, they perceive every individual letter sound as a single unit. 

Because they perceive sound in this way, the sound of /c/ or /a/ or /t/ has no connection at all with the sound of /cat/. To them these are 4 different, unrelated sounds. 

Even further, they don’t make the connection between the common sounds represented by the same letters in different words (such as the /c/ sound in “can”, “cat” and “cap”). They hear and perceive every word as an individual unit of sound regardless of the common letters/sounds in words. 

Think about this!!

It’s mind-boggling!!

Understanding this was such an eye-opener!! 

Dyslexic students, like my daughter, feel like a ship floating aimlessly in an ocean of disconnected sounds and letters, and so will any other student who does not have phonemic awareness for whatever reason.  

Quite often, since the sounds, letters and combinations don’t make sense to them, they compensate by trying to memorize the letters and the letter configurations for every word in first and second grade with no regard to phonemes.  

This may be semi-successful for them in first and second but falls apart in third grade when words get longer with the addition of suffixes and prefixes. They are just not able to memorize the configuration of letters for thousands of words. 

This explained to me why some children who seemed successful in first and second fell apart in third grade. Everyone has to have phonemic awareness. 

Students in pre-school, Kindergarten and first grade need to be assessed for phonemic awareness and if they do not have it, they MUST HAVE EARLY explicit instruction in phonemic awareness. 

They will not be successful without it.  

Those are strong statements, I know, but research has proven that acquired phonemic awareness skill in Kindergarteners is the best predictor of their future success in reading. 

It makes so much sense.

Thanks to the gentleman teaching the Lindamood Bell class and Gay Pool:

I got it!!

I understood!

It made sense to me!

It changed my teaching!

It changed how I looked at my daughter.

It became the foundation of Silent Elephant “e”, because IT IS the foundation.

I wrote the first 44 lessons in Silent Elephant “e” to explicitly teach phonemic awareness and nothing else. I also included a Phonemic Awareness assessment, so you don’t have to go searching for one. 

These 44 lessons are fun, individual whole-child learning games that activate all parts of the brain to ensure that all children (and adults) quickly, successfully and confidently master phonemic awareness.  

Every learner needs these 44 explicit phonemic awareness lessons to develop their strong foundation to become a successful reader. 

To sum up the last two posts: 

Why is phonemic awareness so important? 

It’s the key that opens the door to reading! Without that key, the door to meaning in print stays closed. 

What’s the first question for you to ask as you begin teaching or tutoring new students no matter what age level you teach? 

“DO MY CHILDREN HAVE PHONEMIC AWARENESS?” 

As educators, whether homeschooling, in a school setting or tutoring, we must ensure the success of all and we must know if our children have phonemic awareness or not. If they don’t, we must explicitly teach it.

If you have further questions about phonemic awareness, feel free to contact us.

Linda Katherine Smith-Jones                            Nina Henson

How Do I KNOW if My Children have Phonemic Awareness?

• How Do I KNOW if My Children have Phonemic Awareness?

 I will never forget the shocked and amazed face of a 15-year-old I was tutoring who burst out, “Oh my gosh! Cat has 3 sounds in it!!”  

She stopped stone still and stared at me trying to take in this new understanding she had realized for the first time. She hadn’t found the phonemic awareness games at all childish in their simplicity, she found them freeing. They changed her life. It’s a moment she will never forget. Neither will I. 

In my previous posts about phonemic awareness, I shared the reason that phonemic awareness is THE critical first step for every learner. 

I asked you to ask yourself this question: 

“How much do I truly know about phonemic awareness?”

 I shared my own journey from confusion to my giant A-HA as I figured out exactly WHAT is phonemic awareness and WHY it is THE first step a child MUST master in order to read, write and spell. 

I also asked you to ask this question about your students no matter their age, whether you teach at home, tutor or have a classroom: 

“Do my children have phonemic awareness?” 

Now that you know WHY phonemic awareness is THE ALL IMPORTANT, CRITICAL first step for every learner and you’re asking yourself if they have phonemic awareness, I’m suspecting that your next question logically is: 

“How do I know?” 

This is where a good assessment comes in because we can’t just say, “I think so. I think my children have it. They’re 6 (7, or 8, or 9 or 23…) years old. I’m sure they do. Right?” 

Careful assessment is vital. If you don’t know what they know, how do you know what to teach? 

That was part of my journey, too!

 After I truly felt that I understood what phonemic awareness was and why it was so important, I began to ask, “How do I know? How will I find out if each of my 27 students have phonemic awareness?”  

As you know, my journey was to write Silent Elephant “e”, A Phonetic Reading Program for ALL Learners of Any Age Particularly Dyslexic or Struggling Readers. 

I had to have an excellent phonemic awareness assessment for Silent Elephant “e”, so after much research, I developed one. 

Part 1 of Silent Elephant “e” is Phonemic Awareness, and it includes a two-part assessment that is easy to individually administer and will leave no doubt in your mind whether each of your students have phonemic awareness or not, whatever their age.  

With that question answered, the 44 lessons in Part 1 guide you to teach the games that develop phonemic awareness in every student.

These games have 4 levels of complexity and the instructions in Part 1 guide you to meet the individual needs of each of your students within a classroom, in individual tutoring or in homeschooling.  

·                 Level 1 has words with short “a” and short “o”. It also has the consonant sounds that you can hold, stretch out or sing for a long time: /f/, /m/, /n/ and /s/. These consonants are called continuants.

·                 Level 2 builds on Level 1 sounds and adds the vowel sound of short “u” and the continuant consonant sounds of /l/, /r/, v/ and /z/.

·                 Level 3 builds on Levels 1 and 2 and adds the vowel sound of short    “e” and the continuant consonant sounds of /k/, /h/, /j/, /p/ and /t/.

·                 Level 4 builds on Levels 1, 2 and 3 and adds the vowel sound of short “i” and the continuant sounds of /b/, /d/, /g/ and /w/. 

When children (or teenagers or adults) have completed Part 1, they HAVE phonemic awareness. There will be no doubt about it! They will be ready to successfully jump into reading words in print.

I have to say, I feel very good about these last four posts. 

I feel that you now have a better understanding of how to meet your children’s needs because you know:

·                 WHAT phonemic awareness is

·                 WHY it is important

·                 WHERE to go for assessments that answer your “How do I know?” question

·                 WHERE to go for THE program that teaches phonemic awareness as no other  

I love helping you be the successful educator you want to be. Together we will strengthen your way along that path. Together we will make sure every child is a successful reader.

If you have further questions about phonemic awareness, feel free to contact us.

Linda Katherine Smith-Jones                            Nina Henson

Making Your Life Easier - Tips for Phonemic Awareness

Making Your Life Easier -

Tips for Teaching Phonemic Awareness 

Experience is our greatest teacher, so I want to share a few “extras” about phonemic awareness that I have discovered. 

These “tips” will come in handy: 

Not all languages have the same phonemes! 

Some children learning English as a new language may not have heard some of our English phonemes before. Some examples are: French does not have the aspirated sound of “p” (as at the beginning of ‘pot’) and many languages do not have the soft, unvoiced “th” consonant digraph sound (as in ‘think’).  

In these cases where the phoneme is new to the learner, you will have to slow down and carefully teach them how to pronounce the English phonemes.  

Take your time. Don’t rush them.

 Short “i” and short “e” can be pesky! 

Many children, whether English is their first language or they are English Language Learners, struggle with discriminating between short “i” and short “e”.  

I have found it best initially to separate instruction of short “i” from short “e” by several days to a week or two, because so many children have trouble discerning the difference between the two sounds. Once I think a child has a good grasp of short “e”, then I teach short “i”. In Silent Elephant “e”, Part 1, Phonemic Awareness, I put short “e” in Level 3 and short “i” in Level 4 to avoid confusion.  

Again, don’t hurry your learner.  

Even then I have a few children who have difficulties, so I reteach the lessons and practice with them until they are competent.

Patience is golden! 

Children with the least phonemic awareness skills will need your loving patience.  

Most likely you will need to do every word in a lesson. I have included long word lists so you won’t run out of words.  

You may need to go back over and review part of a lesson or even a whole lesson.  

You may need to exaggerate the sounds, to exaggerate stretching out the sounds, to direct children’s attention to your mouth movements and to direct children’s attention to their partner’s mouth movements.

Have your children feel their lips with their fingers and feel where their tongue is in their mouth when they make the sounds. In Silent Elephant “e” we give each child an individual, handheld mirror so they can look at their own mouth movements.  

This may seem over the top, but a child (or adult) who does not have phonemic awareness may not actually understand how they are forming sounds.  

They will also need to close their eyes and listen carefully to your voice, their neighbor’s voice and their own voice when they make the sounds of the word. 

For some children, you may need to engage the help of a speech therapist. This will be obvious as you are teaching them.  

You cannot rush this MOST important step, so relax and enjoy their journey with them. You will have so much fun watching them become aware of their language and proud of themselves.

Last tip!! They will get there; they really will! 😊 

Never move a child to a new lesson until you are certain the child has mastered the present lesson’s objective. This will pay off in so many ways. One is, you will be able to move through later lessons much more quickly if you build a solid foundation layer by layer in beginning lessons. If that foundation isn’t solid, you will feel the frustration of continually returning to what you thought they should already know.  

Keeping this in mind, I never rush a child. I move at their pace.  

Three of my students with hearing impairments (one who was born deaf) and one ELL/ESL child with speech and language impairments and profound learning differences needed every word in every lesson. We moved through Part 1 carefully and at their pace resulting in all four of them learning phonemic awareness and developing beautiful reading skills.

Another thing to keep in mind is to plan a little extra time for a struggling child, as they will need 5 to 10 minutes of additional individual tutoring a day to quickly reach that wonderful “Oh, I get it!” moment. That little extra time is powerful. 

I hope these tips help smooth out your teaching. 

I love helping you be the successful educator you are.

If you have further questions about phonemic awareness, feel free to contact us.

Linda Katherine Smith-Jones                            Nina Henson