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How to teach 'ie' vs 'ei'

Focus on the rule "I before E, except after C, or when sounded as A". Teach ie first as the default for the long e sound, then introduce the exceptions: use ei after c (like in receive) and when the sound is long a (like in neighbor).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDGrc7Egclg

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I BEFORE E EXCEPT AFTER C 🦸‍♀️ SPELLING AND GRAMMAR for Kids 📝 Superlexia ⭐ Episode 9

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The alphabet letter combination ei makes 4 sounds.

The video:

says the word

breaks it down into the individual phonemes, highlighting the letters that make the sound

blending them together to show how the word is formed

The phonic alphabet symbol, representing the sound, appears in the top right hand corner.

Click the phoneme button in the red box to find the other alphabet combinations that make the same sound (phoneme).

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Picture-Chant-Motion

show students a picture of the bottle of lotion. write the word "lotion". say how -tion in the word says "shun". let's rub lotion into our skin!

right hand out, left hand is on the top of the lotion bottle, pump lotion into your right hand

while pumping the lotion say "T-I-O-N" twice

right hand rubs the lotion into your left arm, say "shun"

repeat

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Picture-Chant-Motion

show students the picture of the glasses and vision chart. write the word "vision". say -sion in the word says "shun". students should know what vision chart is because they have vision screening at school.

make your right hand into a pair of glasses and put it up to your right eye, say "si"

make your left hand into the other half and put it up to left eye, say 'on"

bring the glasses out away from your face and back again, say "shun" twice

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during the digraphs microteaching, we introduced 'Roll n Blend' where students have to roll the dice, read out each phonogram sound in the word, before blending all the sounds together. the first student to get all the words in a row either horizontally, vertically, or diagonally wins!

resource for 'roll n blend' worksheets for teaching of digraphs: https://ufli.education.ufl.edu/foundations/toolbox/42-53/

website also includes decodable text (short passages or books that use only the letter-sound patterns a learner has already been taught, along with a very small set of high-frequency words needed for readability). use decodable text to help student become more fluent in applying the new phonogram sound learn to reading!

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Eyes on OO! (to teach long /oo/)

The vowel digraph oo can be challenging for some children. Slowly read aloud a list of words, and have children form the two o’s with their hands and hold them up to their eyes like binoculars when they hear the sound. For example, your list may contain roof, room, rope, hop, hoop, bat, and boot. Only do the 'binocular' action if the word has /oo/ sound in it.

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BBC online phonics games for 26 letter sounds, digraphs and trigraphs. students are given 2 words sounded out and are asked to choose the word has the phonogram in it. these games can be used to help check students' understanding of phonogram sounds after they have been taught it during WS, especially if they prefer online games/platforms to physical word cards.

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Phonics - letter sounds - Early years English - BBC Bitesize

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Early years English Phonics - letter sounds learning resources for adults, children, parents and teachers.

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modelling the action and vocalising the sound "or" by rounding mouth slightly into the shape of an 'o' and curling the tongue upwards for the 'r' sound to show the student explicitly. encourage them to imitate the action and vocalisation. using visuals of familiar objects to allow them to associate the phonogram "or" with the sound "orrr". this can also be done by showing them the object and asking them to identify what it is (e.g., "this is cORn, cORRRRn! it has the "or" sound!)

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knock: showing the action and asking the student "what am i doing?"

knee/knuckle/knight: showing a picture of the word and using the word in an example. writing the word out so that the student can see the spelling. informing them that the 'k' is silent whenever it comes before 'n'.

e.g., "where is your knee? can you say knee? kn, kn, knee"

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food association (for younger students)

get students to think of their favourite food within a category (e.g. desserts, fruits, ice cream flavours)

teacher/seno lists out food in said category

student replies with "mm, yummy!" if they like the food, and "no, yucky!" if they don't like the food

student practices making 'm' sound and using it in a word 'yummy' while also building TSR (teacher/seno knows what they like and don't like)

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In actual fact, 'a' makes more sounds:

Short 'a' sound: /æ/ (as in apple, cat, man)

Long 'a' sound: /eɪ/ (as in snake, bake, made)

Broad 'a' sound: /ɑː/ (as in car, bath, ask, past)

'O' sound: /ɔː/ (as in ball, call, war)

Schwa sound: /ə/ (an unstressed, soft sound, often like the 'a' in the word about, or even the single word "a")

The pronunciation of 'a' can be confusing because there are multiple spellings for the same sound and multiple sounds for the same spelling, and different dialects also affect pronunciation.

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Since /ai/ and /ay/ are both vowel digraph, it makes the long /a/ sound.

Knowing that since ‘i’ comes before ‘y’ in the alphabetical order,

/ai/ is always used in the middle of the word : mail, snail, tail

while /ay/ is used at the end of the word: day, say, clay

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The 'x' in "xylophone" sounds like a 'z' because of two factors: English phonotactics (rules about sound combinations) and French influence. English doesn't allow the consonant cluster "ks" at the beginning of words, so words borrowed from Greek, like xylophone, often change the sound to a /z/ to fit the language's rules. French phonology shifted the initial sound of these words to a 'z' sound, and this pronunciation was carried over into English. So in short, just teach it like an exception for this or similar words. For the rest, 'ks' sound will hold.

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I use sensory materials to trace letters or words Eg.Writing letters or words on shaving cream spread on dark coloured tray; use of yellow lentils (Mung dal) and sand to write letters or words. Table tracing of letters and words.

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For this sound "p", I will use tongue twister activity and challenge my student to see who can say the clearest and the fastest without pausing too much. I think there are activity books available for this (e.g. Peter Piper)

"Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, a peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked ...."

*I usually go through sentence by sentence.

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This is one activity that start my student laughing. I made them purse their lips together and blow the strip of tissue paper across finishing line. By the end of the activity, the table is full of their saliva.

*Then I made them go treasure hunt to find / point to an item in the room that starts with the sound "f". (e.g. fish, fan)

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Using mirror practice, highlight to the child how the shape and size of their mouth changes with the different sounds. When students are able to see and visualize themselves saying the letter, it can help with muscle memory formation.

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Holding a vertical piece of tissue near the mouth while saying the "p" sound. This allows the students to visualize the burst of air, which allows the tissue to fly up.

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When teaching the 2 sounds of 's', we can help students differentiate the 2 sounds by placing their fingers on their throat where the vocal chords are. When making /s/ sound, as in "stop", you will not feel your throat vibrating. However, when making the other sound of s, /z/ as in "easy", you will feel vibrations in your throat. Getting students to place fingers on their vocal chords is a kinesthetic way of learning to help them "feel" what they are sounding out and listening at the same time. Of course, students must say out the words aloud in order to feel the difference.

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Introducing hand movements instead of pictures when teaching the short vowel sound of letter 'o' as in "octopus". Show students with hand gestures like how an octopus moves about in the waters. This can serve as visual prompt to them the sound of 'o'. Similarly, hand movements as visual prompts can be used to teach short vowel sounds for letters a, e, i and u.

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After teaching students that letter 'q' always need 'u' to form the sound /kw/, we can encourage students to think of words they know starting with "qu" and then help them to string these words together to create a song to their favourite tune (if any). For example, The quite quiet queen wants the duck to stop quacking quickly. Reinforce their /kw/ sound by singing or reading aloud their own "qu" song lyrics.

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Getting students to place palm near the mouth (not covering it) when making the sound /h/, as in "hand", to feel the air released onto the palm. This will help them check if they have said the /h/ sound correctly. This method of "feeling the air" can be used to help students learn other sounds such as /f/ and differentiate between /b/ and /p/ sounds where the /p/ sound when made, will release air onto the palm.

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Important to note that the sound of /r/ in isolation sounds different from r-controlled vowels. Hence, when teaching the /r/ sound, start with words starting with letter 'r', e.g. rat, rabbit, run. In the video, mouth models and play dough are suggested visual tools to help students learn how to make the sound /r/ by the retroflex position- push their tongue back and curl the tip upwards to touch the top of the inner mouth. Students should feel their tongue nice and tight when making the /r/ sound. Explicit instructions were shared: Tongue back, curl the tip, nice and tight, /r/...

Another way of sound /r/ is the bunched position - push their tongue back and upwards to touch the teeth right at the back, high and tight, to produce the /r/ sound. Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5F-qKn_x59I

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How to say the R sound (retroflexed) by Peachie Speechie

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My last session with my students, I introduce to them "ABC game" so we will recite together ABC, put out the numbers of fingers (minimum 1 maximum 10) then count all the fingers (e.g. 15 fingers - letter O) so each of us will need to think of an animal / insects that starts with the sound 'o' (e.g. octopus / orangutan). The game will go on until the last person standing.

*This activity can be used as reinforcer for all letter sounds.

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Create a game similar to Snake and ladder but instead of putting numbers, can put letters. Once the student's counter landed on a letter, he/she will need to make that letter's sound and think of an items/animals that starts with the sound (criteria will depend on the student on what he/she is comfortable with). If he/she managed to get it correct, can stay on the square but if didn't get it correct, will need to go back to the previous square. *The first to reach finish box win the game.

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I play "I spy" game with my student. Example: I will say 'I spy with my little eyes, I see something that start with this sound "b b b" Then my student will start looking in the room for things that start with the sound "b" (e.g. ball, bear, book).

*For this game, I will use 2 different sounds "b" and "p" for her to discriminate the sound and find.

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spot it (for ending /s/)

get student to specify plurals for every turn

e.g. "i spot 3 cars/i spot 2 dogs"

students practice ending /s/ - e.g. /s/ for cars, /z/ for dogs

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whisper game

start by modelling voice 'on' and voice 'off' (whisper)

teacher/seno says 'T' with voice 'off' for student to follow

progress to words beginning with T (if student says 'dap' instead of 'tap' --> model 'tap' with voice off - student to follow voice 'off', and try again with voice 'on'

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Telephone game - when there is a group of students

students stand in one line, where last student is standing next to basket of toys and a table, and will receive instructions given by teacher that is passed down by other students

teacher starts : "Tell 'last student's name' to take two toys from the basket and put it on the table"

students repeat instructions (with teacher observing each student's pronunciation) until last student does what they are told to do + repeats it after

students practice using /t/ sound in words

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car-racing

teacher/seno teaches student how to say /v/ first --> place top teeth on bottom lip and turn voice 'on' (as opposed to voice 'off' for /f/)

students get a toy car and a race track

cars are powered by how many times student says 'vroom' --> the more times a student says 'vroom', the further the car will go

teacher to observe and check correct pronunciation of /v/

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to identify everyday objects that begins with the letter sound H - heart, horse, house, heart, helicopter into a treasure hunt

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to get students to dig out letter J and/or items that begin with the letter sound /j/ such as jug, jam, jet, jaguar. This allows the students to have a multisensorial approach into learning the letter sound. **Note that to use no-sugar jelly for this activity & add different colours for endless fun :)

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easter egg stamping for letter sound /e/ 

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Using the other half of the easter egg toy and paint on the cut out paper of letter E. Students to say /e, e, e/ while stamping on the paper

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book reading "if you give a mouse a cookie" then get students to paint and design how they want their cookie to look like in terms of colour, size, then do show-and-tell about their cookie, emphasising on the letter sound /c/

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for using worksheets, we can first teach the letter sound /n/ on how it sounds like and then identify examples of things that begins with the letter sound /n/. Use of worksheets can be done as an independant work task for students. They cut then paste the correct pictures that begins with the letter sound /n/

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A fun way to get physical and high energy with teaching phonograms is to do a phonogram hopscotch. Idea is to draw a traditional hopscotch grid on the floor (with taped paper) and instead of numbers, phonograms are written in the squares. Students will jump to the square as they call out the sound

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A competitive way to allow students to practice their phonograms can be through phonogram bingo. Students will have bingo boards with phonograms instead of numbers. Teacher will dictate a sound and encourage student to search the game board to locate the phonogram that makes that sound. When located, student places a sticker on that space. This continues until the first student who completes a row (horizontally, vertically or diagnonally) on his or her game board and yells BINGO will win.

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Leveraging on technology, we can use an app called "Teach your monster to read" which is a well-structured phonics program in disguise as a game. This is a more interactive way to get students engaged. Students play as a monster who travels across levels, completing reading-related challenges. There will be letter-sound introduction, blending practice, segmenting and spelling activities.

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We can use alphabet carnival games style to teach phonograms to get students engaged. For example, there can be ring toss where students toss rings over a letter and say its sound. There can also be beanbag toss whereby you hit the correct letter when a sound is called.

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Alphabet ball. Write letters all around the ball and have students toss the ball to someone, and whoever catches the ball calls our the first letter they see. They can also say a word that starts with that letter.

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Letter c makes two sounds - the soft sound /s/ and the hard sound /k/

Generally, when c comes before e,i or y it makes the soft sound /s/ whereas when it comes before a.o,u or any other consonant then it makes the hard sound /k/

Have two spoons

1. C /s/

2. C /k/

List the different words like the above picture and get the student to test out the different sounds C makes. To make it more challenging, jumble up the words and get the students to pick the right letter sound to the right word.

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Koala initial sound game

Things to prep:

1. Cut out the hole in the koalas mouth and stick onto a box.

2. Create a set of picture cards and have most of it that starts with the letter K

The students have to pick up one of the card and say the name of the object on the card and identify the initial sound. If the objects starts with the ‘k' sound, children can feed the card to the koala. If it isn’t they can discard the card.

You may create the resource on your own or find it here on: https://www.twinkl.my/resource/koala-initial-sound-game-letter-k-t-e-1636459144#:~:text=How%20can%20children%20practise%20recognising,cookies%20in%20your%20cookie%20settings.

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This Koala Initial Sound Game: Letter k is a great continuous provision activity to encourage children to listen for and identify initial sounds in words. There is a wonderful koala poster included in the game. Cut out the hole in the koalas mouth and stick onto a box. Encourage children to pick up one of the 24 cards provided, say the name of the object on the card and identify the initial sound. If the objects starts with the ‘k’ sound, children can feed the card to the koala. If it isn’t they can discard the card. This is a great game for children who being introduced to the phoneme ‘k’.

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Letter D Hunt

To prep:

1. Find items that start with the letter D or print visuals

2. Hide them around the classroom

3. A container with the letter D

Before playing the game, teach the student how to sound the letter D.

1. Explain that for the /d/ sound, the tongue taps behind the front teeth

2. Have the child place a hand on their throat to feel the vibration as they say the /d/ sound

Game:

1. Student to find the hidden items/visual cards around the classroom.

2. Once they found the item, to sound the letter D and say the word.

3. Drop the item/card in the container and search for the remaining items

4. Teacher to go through all the items again once all is found.

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Demonstrate to student how to say the letter F

1. Top teeth rest on your bottom lip, then blow out air to make the /f/ sound

2. Place a mirror in front of them so they are able to see how it looks

Read the book together with the student and identify the words that starts with F. List the words down on the board and revisit them again. Ensure the students sound the letter sound /f/

Additional prep:

1. Identify the words in the book before your session and create a word bank or visuals for your student to bring home

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tFVdlIfclQ

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Teaching the sound of letter b by blowing bubbles and labelling it. (e.g., Look, Bubble!) Repeat the word while emphasising the first letter sound. ("b, b, Bubble!")

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Using a playdough to form the shape of 'd' and naming the letter or the item/animal next to it. Moulding the playdough engages multiple senses of the child to make the information more memorable. You can ask the child to repeat the sound after you several times so that it becomes more familiar!

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Using art and craft activities to teach letter g by using glue and glitter. When the child uses glue to trace the letters, sound out the letter. Do it again when they sprinkle glitter in the formation of the letter. Teacher may label the items that they are using while emphasising the sound of letter g. ("g for glue! g, g, glue")

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Using water play with plastic whales to emphasise the W sound. After showing the letter W on a big card, engage the child in water play. As child plays, teacher can say "w, w, whale!" or "w, w, water!". You may even playfully splash the child and say "w,w, wet!"

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Do note that this is just the demonstration of one sound from the phonogram 'y'. There are 3 sounds for this phonogram.

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'y' Sound | Phonics for Kids | 'y' Words & Blending Practice | Learn to Read with a British Teacher

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Do note that we have to teach the 2 sounds of the phonogram 'u'. This is only demonstration of one.

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'u' Sound | Phonics for Kids | 'u' Words & Blending Practice | Learn to Read with a British Teacher

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Do note that the phonogram 'i' has 2 sounds. This is the demonstration of only one sound of 'i'.

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'i' Sound | Phonics for Kids | 'i' Words & Blending Practice | Learn to Read with a British Teacher

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1. Ask the child to draw out something that starts with an A

2. Ask what did he/she draw

3. Repeat to the child and emphasise on the first letter sound

4. Get the child to say together with you

5. Child will repeat the A sound 3 times on his/her own

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1. Ask the child to point objects in the room that is blue in colour

2. Teacher will say "Yes, it is a Blue clock" and emphasise on the B sound.

3. Teacher will facilitate the rest of the objects by getting child to say "Blue xx"

4. After counting the total number of blue objects, teacher will get child to repeat the same number of B sounds (Eg. 5 objects, repeat B sound 5 times)

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1. Show the child how to make the sound by putting their lips out slightly and releasing a puff of air

2. Practice saying the "qu" sound several times

3. Ask child to think of some words that start with Qu

4. Show child images that start with Qu (Eg. Queen, quilt, duck (quack), quarter)

5. Make up a story together with all the Qu words

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Show a picture of an item/food/animal that begins with the letter 'a' (e.g., apple). When the child labels the item/food/animal, I would ask what the beginning sound is. Child is then asked to repeat the sound of the letter by saying "a, a, apple".

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Get the student to think about the sound that a bee makes. It makes the "buzz" sound and they can feel a vibration at the "zz" part. Using their hand, place it at their throat, such that they can physically feel the vibrations. Then get the student to demonstrate how they smile while showing their teeth.

Link the concept of how when the student makes the "z" sound, their face is "smiling" and they will feel vibrations at their throat.

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Read a simple passage out aloud. Whenever students hear the /x/ sound, they are to show an 'x' by crossing their arms. At the end of the reading, ask students what were the words with the /x/ sound that they heard.

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1. Paste words or pictures on balloons

2. Students will to pick up a balloon, read the word or say what is depicted in the picture and pop it if it has the /p/ sound

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Make a flip book to practice short /a/ sounds in the middle of words. Kids might also like making nonsense words.

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Sometimes, it is difficult to tell the difference between short /a/ sound and short /e/ sound. You can clarify by teaching the student that the short /a/ sound is made with a wide open mouth as if you are eating an apple whereas the short /e/ sound is made with a narrower opening, like the side view of a fried egg.

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This is not just n, this is a....

students will draw something that has the /n/ sound using the letter n given

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Letter Sound Bingo Game

Emphasise the sound of the letter A and encourage students to notice the letter in each word. The focus letter is red and underlined. Students will identify the correct word and repeat after the teacher. If they can get 4 in a row they win the game.

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I play the Alphabet game. Decide on theme eg, Animals.

1. When I say "start" - Say the alphabet in your mind " A,B,C,D,..."

2. when I say " stop" - say the letter you stopped at eg. F, and say out the sound of F.

3. Say the an animal which starts with the letter F.

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Say a few words ending with the /x/ sound ('ks') and ask students about the last sound that they hear.

Introduce the /x/ sound and explain that the /x/ sound is made by joining /k/ and /s/ together.

Get the students to show one index finger while saying the /k/ sound and cross their other index finger on top while saying the /s/ sound to form the /x/ sound and the letter 'x'. Challenge the students to repeat the gestures and produce the /x/ sound as quickly as they can, three times.

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Introduce the short /u/ sound. Get the students to repeat the sound after you three times. Play a game called "/u/ /u/ up!" where the students would have to stand up when they hear the /u/ sound at the start of a word and remain seated if they don't hear the /u/ sound. After the game, repeating the words starting with 'u' used in the game with emphasis on the /u/ sound together with the students.

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Introduce the /p/ sound to the students and have them repeat the sound after you.

Play 'Guess the animal' game you will say the name of animal starting with 'p' to one student (e.g. Penguin, peacock, panda). The chosen student will then have to act out the animal to his/her classmates to guess. Remind the students guessing that all the animals will start with the /p/ sound. Once the animal has been guessed correctly, the student can choose another student to act out the next animal.

After the game, repeat the animals while emphasizing the /p/ sound with the students.

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Introduce the /j/ sounds and have the students repeat the sound after you. Say a few words and ask students if the words start with a /j/ sound.

Hand out an activity sheet for students to color the pictures that starts with the /j/ sound.

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Introduce the /d/ sound to students and have them repeat the sound. Give a few examples of words starting with the /d/ sound. Ask the students if they can think of anymore words starting with /d/. Have the students draw out something they like that starts with the /d/ sound.

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Letter y (consonant sound)

1. Before the lesson, I brought some yo-yo's for my students, and we played for about 5 mins. Next, I asked them, what is the first sound in the word 'yo-yo'(don't say the word out, but just point to the yo-yo). Then, I formally introduced the letter sound.

2. I got them to sky write the letter y while saying this;

''y says /y/ in yoyo" (yo-yo will be the keyword for them to remember)

3. Worksheet will be given for them to practice reading and remember the sound that the letter y makes.

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Y says 3 sounds!

Pre-requisite:

- Long vowel sounds

- Short and long words

1. Recap y says /y/ in yo-yo

2. Introduce letter y as a part-time vowel (Being a consonant is his full time job, but sometimes, he works part-time too!)

3. Explain the 2 vowel sounds it makes and how to differentiate it.

y says /i/ in cry (end of a short word)

y says /e/ in baby (end of a long word)

4. Keyphrase to remember all 3 sounds that y makes:

"cry baby of the year"

3. Before reading the words in the worksheet, highlight the letter y and write the sound it makes above it using the rules to differentiate it, so that it will help them to recall the correct sound when reading.

4. Provide some words for them to practice reading and reinforce the concept taught.

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1. Knock on a door/ desk and ask: “What sound do we hear at the start of ‘door’/ 'desk'?”
2. Then, teach the /d/ sound using visuals.

3. Knock on the desk once each time I say /d/ to get them to remember.
4. Play the game “Doggy Says” (like Simon Says). Students will only follow if the instruction starts with /d/ (e.g., “Doggy says dance!”).

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1. Introduce by pretend to eat popcorn and say “p-p-pop!”
2. Teach the /p/ sound --> lips closed, burst of air (students hold hand in front of mouth to feel the puff).
3. Play a movement game: “Pop Like Popcorn” --> students jump like popcorn kernels when they hear /p/ words.

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Prepare a story with words starting with letter 'q'

E.g.: One day, a queen went for a walk.
She saw a little duck. The duck said, ‘quack, quack!’
The queen laughed. She said, ‘What a funny quack!’
Then the duck ran quick to the queen.
The queen gave the duck a soft quilt to rest on.
They both said, ‘We love qu words — queen, quack, quick, quilt!’

Make it engaging and interactive by providing props and incorporating actions - crown to pretend to be a queen, quilt to hold, run quick (on the spot), waddle like a duck.

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1. Introduce letter W by waving my hands and say “w-w-wave!”
2. Teach /w/ --> round lips, blow air softly.
3. Play a game called Wiggle for W --> students wiggle whenever they hear a /w/ word (wave, wet, win, wall, worm, water). If it’s not a /w/ word, they freeze.
4. Chant: “/w/ is for wave, wet, wall, worm, water!" while flashing picture of corresponding words

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1. Give each student a worksheet with bread outline, paint brush (as the butter) knife and pretend to spread jam: “j-j-jam.” over the 'bread'
2. Teach /j/ with the help of video to see how to produce the sound and model after
3. Play movement game: Jumping J --> students jump when hearing /j/ words.
4. Sky-write “j” with a jump.

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B-Word Action Game

Call out or show pictures that starts with b and have students do a related motion:

“Bounce like a ball” – jump up and down

“Fly like a bee” – flap arms

“Roar like a bear” – growl gently

“Hold a baby” – rock an imaginary baby

Emphasize the /b/ sound in each word. Teacher to model first then get students to try when you flash each picture.

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Letter C Craft Time:

Provide children with a big cut out of letter C and hand out materials like cotton balls, crayons, colored paper, colour pencils, pictures (candy, cat, corn, carrot) and craft glue. Show a sample of the above picture on how they can decorate using glue along the curve to make a “C is for Cotton” collage (example), then decorate around it with their preferred materials. As they work, encourage them to repeat the sound: “/k/ /k/ cat!”

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Movement-Based Sorting game:

Place a “Hard G” sign on one side of the room and a “Soft G” sign on the other.

Say or show a G word (go, gum, game, giraffe, gem, giant)

Students run or walk to the correct side of the room after word is flashed.

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1) Short I / Long I Hop

Lay out cards on the floor with I-words.

Students hop onto the word and say whether it's short or long I.

Add "itchy" bug sounds for short I and "ice" chill sounds for long I.

2) I Sound Detective

Say a word and ask students to:

Clap for short I (e.g insect, ink and igloo)

Snap for long I (e.g ice, island, ice cream, ivy, iron, idea)

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1) Z Sound Bingo or Matching Game

Use cards with z-words and pictures: zipper, zebra, zero, zoo, zigzag.

Play Bingo or Memory matching game with the cards.

2) Z Sound Freeze Dance

Play music, students dance.

When you say a word starting with Z, they freeze and shout the word emphasizing the /z/ sound.

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To differentiate short "a" and "e," observe your mouth and tongue: for short "a" (like "apple"), your jaw drops significantly, your mouth opens wide, and your tongue is flat, while for short "e" (like "egg"), your jaw opens slightly, your mouth remains more closed in a smiling position, and your tongue is relaxed but not as flat. Using a mirror can help you see this.

Short "a" (as in "apple" or "ant")

Mouth/Jaw: Your mouth opens wide, and your jaw drops significantly, as if you were biting into an apple.

Tongue: The tongue flattens in the center of your mouth, sometimes touching the back of your lower teeth.

Examples: ant, cat, hat, bat, apple, arrow

Short "e" (as in "egg" or "leg")

Mouth/Jaw: Your mouth opens only slightly, with less jaw drop compared to the short "a" sound.

Tongue: The tongue remains relatively relaxed.

Examples: egg, leg, wet, pet

Practice Tips

Use a Mirror:

Watch your mouth and tongue in a mirror as you produce each sound to see the physical difference.

Compare Sounds:

Say words with the short "a" and short "e" sounds and focus on the distinct mouth movements.

Create Gestures:

Develop a physical gesture for each sound, such as wide-open hands for "a" and a smaller, smiling movement for "e," to help with muscle memory.

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We can adapt from catchy tunes to learn or teach the differentiations in sounds of a phonogram. In the case of /ou/, there are 4 sounds: /ow/ as in "found", long vowel /o/ as in "course", long /oo/ as in "group", short vowel /u/ as in "cousin". So we can insert these 4 sounds into the catchy lyrics of tunes such as this song "Witch Doctor", where it has this chorus catchphrase: "Ooh eeh, ooh aah aah, Ting tang wallawalla bang bang". We can modify the catchphrase to go: "/ow/, /ō/, /ōō/, /ŭ/, Ting tang wallawalla bang bang". Repeated catchphrase in the chorus to the beat of catchy tunes serve as repeated learning opportunities in a fun and interesting way.

(Do check out the song! (: )

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WITCH DOCTOR (David Seville)  1958 original version

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The two sounds of 'ow' can be easily remembered with the word 'bow'. The bow used in archery (long /o/), and bow as a greeting gesture (/ow/ or /ou/).

We can also remember the two sounds with the phrase "slow down". Where in slow, the ow makes the long /o/ sound and in down, the ow makes the /ow/ or /ou/ sound.

Some other examples of /ow/ with the long /o/ are: grow mow, row

And examples of /ow/ with the /ow/ or /ou/ sound are: cow, town, how

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/ay/ makes the long /a/ sound and it can be easily remembered by identifying the name of the first letter - 'a'. This digraph is usually used at the end of a word, for e.g. day, may, say, ray.

We can teach this together with the digraph /ai/ which makes the same long /a/ sound but is used in the middle of a word (pain, gain, rain). One phrase we can use to remember is "play in the rain".

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The /oi/ sound can be easily remember as the Singlish word we often use, "oi!". This digraph is usually used in the middle of a word, for e.g. coin, point, foil, soil.

We can teach this together with the digraph /oy/ which makes the same /oi/ sound but is usually used at the end a word (toy, boy, joy, soy). One phrase we can use to remember is "toy in the soil".

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The two sounds of /oo/ can be more difficult to distinguish as in Singlish, we often use the long /oo/ sound ('moon') even for words with the short /oo/ sound ('book').

The short /oo/ sounds like "uh" and the long /oo/ sounds like "oo". Some examples of words with the short /oo/ are good, foot, took, look. And words with the long /oo/ sounds are zoom, moon, room, spoon.

A phrase we can use to remember the two /oo/ sounds are "look at the moon".

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/au/ and /aw/ sound the same as /or/

/au/ and /aw/ similar to /ai/ and /ay/

Generally,

If the sound is in the beginning or middle, it will be spelt as /au/.

For eg: words like sauce and caught.

There’s an exception, if the word ends with letters n, l, k? It will be spelt as /aw/

For eg:

__ awn ; lawn and not laun

__ awl ; crawl and not craul

__ awk ;gawk and not gaul

If n, l, k is not the last letter, the rule does not apply

For eg: vault and launch

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/aw/ and /au/ sound the same as /or/

/aw/ and /au/ similar to /ai/ and /ay/.

Generally,

if the sound is at the end, it will be spelt as /aw/.

For eg: saw, draw

However, there’s an exception, if the word ends with letters n, l, k. It will be spelt as /aw/, replacing /au/

For eg:

__ awn ; drawn and not drawn

__ awl ; shawl and not shawl

__ awk ; awkward and not aukward

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There are 2 different sounds to /th/ - one voiced sound and the other voiceless sound. For voiced /th/, we can feel vibrations when we rest our fingers on our throat. Examples of words with voiced /th/ - the, this, that, there, though, bathe, mother, father.

For voiceless /th/, we won't feel the vibrations as it is like a gentle whisper. Examples of words with voiceless /th/ - through, birthday, fourth, bath.

Helps to say out loud by putting words with voiced /th/ and voiceless /th/ into a sentence OR challenge ourselves to tongue twisters as a practice: That thinker thinking there near those other three thinkers, thinks things through thoroughly. (bold ones are voiced /th/)

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Interesting fact: Why does the 'ch' phonogram have 3 distinct sounds?

English is a language with many borrowed words from other languages, e.g. Greek and French. The 'ch' phonogram have 3 distinct sounds:

1. /ch/ sound as in cheese, cheer, chain - which are "true blue" English words;

2. /k/ sounds as in school, scheme, character are borrowed words from the Greece language;

3./sh/ sounds as in chef, chute, cliche

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Phonograms /er/, /ir/, /ur/ are r-controlled vowels where the "bossy" 'r' changes the vowel sounds. These 3 phonograms have the same /er/ sound but they are somewhat different when it comes to spelling:

1. /er/ - used in the middle or end of a word or syllable and often used as a suffix "-er" (e.g. smaller, bigger) or a person's role , e.g. teacher, clerk, mother

2. /ir/ - used in the middle or end of a word or syllable and often for words related to numbers or before 'm', 'd', 't' and 'th', e.g. first, third, firm, bird, dirt

3. /ur/ - used in the middle or end of a word or syllable, e.g. hurt, burn, fur, days of the week - Thursday, Saturday

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Phonogram /ar/ is one of the r-controlled vowels where the "bossy" 'r' will take over the vowel /a/ sound to make the /ar/ sound, like what a pirate would usually exclaim in stories. Examples of word with the /ar/ sound: farm, park, arcade, march, yard

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Phonogram sound /ng/ may look familiar in our local context as it is one of the common Chinese surnames in Singapore. So some of us may pronounce it with the 'en' sound. And /ng/ is not a combination of the /n/ and /g/ sound.

/ng/ is a single sound. It should be sounded with tip of our tongue near our bottom teeth while the back of our tongue lifts up to touch the soft palate. We should feel a vibration in our noses as air is forced out and vibration of our throats when we place our fingers on the throat.

Word examples: strong, king, long, ring, sing

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At this stage, students should have mastery of the single consonants and vowel sounds. Now we can share what diagraphs and dipthongs are.

Diphthongs are made of two sounds, so that means a diphthong starts as one vowel, then moves to a second vowel. You should feel your articulators move as you say the sound. We can teach through a video or go through the different words with -ow and -ou included. Then play games (shown above) by rolling a dice. Can level up for students to come up with their own words -ow when they land on that box

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Adding a multi-sensorial approach when introducing the -oo sounds. Another way is to rely on the key phrase “Look at the Moon” 🔭. This simple, visual anchor helps students recall that sometimes “oo” sounds like look (short sound) and sometimes like moon (long sound).

Next is to go through the different words that include the short and long sounds. We can also include games (as shown) to further establish the sounds.

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make teaching the "oy" sound fun, start with phonemic awareness by focusing on the sound itself, then introduce words containing it through interactive games like "fishing" for "oy" words or playing Memory with picture and word cards. Reinforce the sound with activities such as drawing "oy" words, using them in sentences, and finding "oy" words in books, while also encouraging learners to practice writing the "oy" digraph.

https://www.twinkl.com.sg/resource/cfe-l-526294-oy-sound-going-fishing-game#:~:text=How%20does%20this%20resource%20excite,Sound%20Phonics%20Frog%20Game%20next!