"R" Is for Reactionary: phonics reading program

Showing posts with label phonics reading program. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Morning Codes

Morning codes give a child a chance to gain information by reading, even though his skills are still very limited.

The parent sets up a little "scavenger hunt", hiding bits of paper with clues on them. The child decodes the clues and finds or gets a little surprise (a sticker, a coin, a lollipop) at the end.

For instance, for the first game the parent would put a piece of paper with the word "hat" on it on the breakfast table or the child's desk. The child would read it and look about in the family's hats until he found another slip of paper. This one would say "bag", so he would start searching the house for bags and eventually come across a tootsie roll or something. The clues line up with the lessons of the Phonics Reading Program. Depending on your child's age and skill, you might use all four clues for a lesson in one morning, or continue the lesson over several days and make two smaller games.

Lesson 1

hat

bag

Dad’s hat

cat’s nap

Lesson 2

mat

pan

fan

ham can

Lesson 3

Mom’s hat

pot

mop

hot spot

Lesson 4

mug

gum

Dad’s cup

mud

Lesson 5

Mom’s hand

Mom’s bag

bat and cap

dog’s cot

Lesson 6

red hat

bed

cat’s bed

pen

Lesson 7

big bed

big pan

big pot

spot to sit

Lesson 8

Look in a big bag.

Look on the red mat.

Look in the clock.

Look in your bed.

Lesson 9

Mom bakes in here.

Look by a bike.

Look by the games.

Take a look at Dad’s hat.

Lesson 10

We make ice here.

Look at page five.

Look for a lot of lace.

I can see your face.

Lesson 11

I say “June” and “May”.

Just wait.

You use this to pay.

What do you use to play?

Lesson 12

You use this to read.

Look in Dad’s seat.

What do you put on your feet?

In this place is lots of meat.

Lesson 13

You lay here last night.

Look to your right.

Look up high today.

I lie to the left this time.

Lesson 14

Look in your coat.

This time, look below your coat.

Look for a big bowl.

Look by the road.

Lesson 15

Find a few beads and take them to Mom.

Look for something new in your room.

Look for something that says “moo”.

Look in the place you go to see the moon.

Lesson 16

Look by a big tree.

Where are you when you have dreams?

Look for a fake truck.

Drag the box from the side of the room.

Lesson 17

Look for something that you catch.

Where do we keep the cheese?

There is a bag of chips in an odd place.

Where would you make a batch of pancakes?

Lesson 18

Look for something that shines.

Find all three fish, and the prize will be yours.

Where do we put those bags of trash?

Stand by the bush, and I’ll be within your sight.

Lesson 19

Did someone draw a mean cat last night?

Look on the lawn.

Where do we keep raw meat?

Where were you at dawn?

Lesson 20

Look in the toy box.

Where do we put extra coins?

Cross the room, but avoid red spots.

Go back to where you began, and hum the “Ode to Joy”.

Lesson 21

How do you spell your last name?

Look for something round and blue.

Go outside and look around the steps.

Now spell the name of the beast that says “moo”.

Lesson 22

Look for something that smells good.

Look for something that’s on a hook.

Look for a big stack of books.

Find something soft that you put on your foot.

Lesson 23

Look at the hood of the car.

Look for something very sharp.

Find something that is cold, white, and hard.

Now go find a deck of cards.

Lesson 24

Look inside the bag of corn.

What’s stuck to the bedroom door?

Find four round things.

Now find four more.

Lesson 25

Where does the cat leave her fur?

Look for something you use to stir.

Get a sheet of paper and draw a girl.

Turn around three times with your hands on your mouth.

Monday, July 8, 2013

Mrs. Black's Class - Overview

The Mrs. Black's Class is a set of very short, decodable readings for students who are learning their letter sounds. There are posts for lessons 1-15 of the Phonics Reading Program. Each post is a series of images that can be printed and made into a booklet.

The booklets are not, of course, high quality literature. They let children do some real reading, giving them practice and satisfaction, but kids will need to hear more worthy stories than they are capable of reading on their own. Starting with lesson 10, this program provides simplified pieces of literature and non-fiction in addition to and then in place of the "Spot ran" sort of thing in Mrs. Black's Class. Easy readers should accompany the lessons as soon as children can handle them, and by the time the program's texts peter out, children will (hopefully) be ready to leave such stilted writing behind.

Each booklet has a "cover" page and four to eleven numbered, stick-figure-illustrated text pages. They are meant to be read with a parent, and unlike the text, the titles are usually not decodable. Some students may like the extra challenge of figuring the words out; others may do better if parents read the title.

Mrs. Black's Class - Lesson 1

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Phonics Reading Program: Introduction

The professional education world has long been fighting the "reading wars", trying to decide between phonics and "whole word" or later "whole language" approaches to reading. Phonics aims to teach children to read by telling them which letters make which sounds, while whole word has them learn, predictably, whole words (by sight). More recently (but not very recently) the whole language approach has largely replaced whole word. It aims at children reading lots of books and writing lots of stories (as well as they can; at the early stages pretending to do so is a substitute) and gradually absorbing the information they need to become readers and writers.

The name of my reading program may betray which side I'm inclined toward. I think most children learn best when they are taught, logically and explicitly, how something works. However, the whole word and whole languages approaches are not without their merit. Learning by rote common words who follow complicated rules or no rules at all offers children early success and opens up much more reading to them than a pure phonics approach does. And hearing lots of stories, making stories up, and playing at reading and writing provides the joy of these activities even when actual reading or writing is very tedious. Whole language, moreover, focuses on students doing a lot of real reading and writing once they've learned to - a practice not peculiar to whole language, of course, but owing some innovations to it.

With this in mind, I ordered the sounds and rules of language children would need to learn for reading and spelling from most immediately useful and simplest to most advanced. I made a list of words students would be able to read after each lesson (for use in teaching the rules and for students to read off and practice writing). The fifth through twenty-sixth lessons also include words to learn by sight; these are either irregular or use advanced rules. Each of these lessons has an accompanying passages using the sight words for extra practice.

The tenth through twenty-fifth lessons have accompanying readings that are mostly decodable for the student who has completed the lesson. These should be read with an instructor in most cases; a few words will be beyond the student's knowledge. Some of the lessons also have poetry accompanying them. I will add to the poetry section as I find or come up with more pieces that help teach the rules.

I designed copywork for the first twenty-five lessons. It is very simple, but will reinforce the spelling and handwriting and expose students to sentence structure. Once children have the basics of reading down, hopefully, they can copy passages of more inherent value.

Phonics Reading Program

Phonics Reading Program:

Introduction

Visual Overview

Word Lists:
Lessons 1-4 Lessons 5-8 Lessons 9-15 Lessons 16-22
Lessons 23-29 Lessons 30-36 Lessons 37-38 Lessons 39-45

Texts:
Lesson 10 Lesson 11 Lesson 12 Lesson 13 Lesson 14
Lesson 15 Lesson 16 Lesson 17 Lesson 18 Lesson 19
Lesson 20 Lesson 21 Lesson 22 Lesson 23 Lesson 24
Lesson 25 Lesson 26

Sight Word Practice:
Lesson 5 Lesson 6 Lesson 7 Lesson 8 Lesson 9
Lesson 10 Lesson 11 Lesson 12 Lesson 13 Lesson 14
Lesson 15

Phonics Poems

Copywork for Lessons 1-25

Morning Codes

Mrs. Black's Class (Overview)
Lesson 1 Lesson 2 Lesson 3 Lesson 4 Lesson 5
Lesson 6 Lesson 7 Lesson 8 Lesson 9 Lesson 10
Lesson 11 Lesson 12 Lesson 13 Lesson 14 Lesson 15
Lesson 16 Lesson 17 Lesson 18 Lesson 19 Lesson 20
Lesson 21 Lesson 22 Lesson 23 Lesson 24 Lesson 25

P.R.P: Sight Word Practice, Lesson 5

Lesson 5

Hi! I am Tom.

Hi! I am Jan.

I am not Pat.

Am I sad?

He had a cap.

She got mad.

We had a mat.

We hum.

She will be sad.

He will be so sad.

He will be mad.

He will be mad at me.

He got a cat.

Can she be glad?

Will he go?

Will she go?

No, he and she will not go.

He and she will not go, but we will go.

Jan got a rat, so I got a cat.

Jan got a cat, so I got a dog.

It will be hot.

The cat will be wet, so the cat will be mad.

The cat ran.

The dog ran.

P.R.P: Sight Word Practice, Lesson 6

Lesson 6

I am Jen. My pet is a cat.

I am Tom. My pet is a dog.

I am Sam. My pet is a rat.

The pet cat is red.

His pet rat is fat.

His pet dog has a bed.

Is his cat as red as my cat?

Is his rat as fat as my rat?

Is his bed as big as my bed?

She is Jen. She has a red cat.

He is Tom. He has a dog. The dog has a bed.

He is Sam. He has a fat rat.

I got my cat at the Pet Hut.

Was the cat red?

No, the cat was not red yet.

I got my dog at the Pet Hut.

And the bed?

I got the bed at the Pet Hut, too.

I got my rat at the Pet Hut.

Was the rat fat?

No, the rat was not fat yet.

The cat is on the mat.

The dog is by the bed.

The rat is by the hat.

Jen, Sam, and Tom go by the Pet Hut.

The rat had eggs, so it was fat.

P.R.P: Sight Word Practice, Lesson 7

Lesson 7

Who is she?

Who is he?

Do we go to the Pet Hut?

Will he go to the Pet Hut?

Can she run to the Pet Hut?

Can she do it?

Can we do it?

Can he do it, too?

Who is he? He is Jim. He has a pig.

Ben has a pig, too. His pig is big and fat.

I got a cat. It was from my mom.

I got a doll. It was from my dad.

I got one, too. It was from Bill.

She got six dolls.

One of the dolls is big.

One of the dolls has a red hat.

One of the dolls can hum.

Bill got one for me, too. She is as big as the doll who has a hat.

Jill has a doll who can hum, too.

P.R.P: Sight Word Practice, Lesson 8

Lesson 8

If you do it, you will be sick.

Can you get your hat?

He must get his hat, too.

Who is your mom?

Who is her dad?

Tell me who he is.

Tell her who your pal is.

Will you get your pal a pet?

Can they go to the Pet Hut too?

Will they go to the Pet Hut if you do?

Will they get a pet?

Their pet is a cat.

Jen and Jim got a pet at the Pet Hut. Their pet is a big dog.

Their dog runs fast. They must yell so he will stop.

Our cat is sick. We must go back to the Pet Hut to get help.

The Pet Hut sells a lot of pets.

My cat is from the Pet Hut. We went to the Pet Hut to get her.

Your dog is from the Pet Hut. You went to the Pet Hut to get him, too.

His rat is from the Pet Hut. He went to the Pet Hut to get her, too.

Her pig is from the Pet Hut. She went to the Pet Hut to get him, too.

Our big, fat cat is from the Pet Hut, too.

Their big, red dog is from the Pet Hut too.

The Pet Hut sells a lot of meds. A lot of pets must be sick.

P.R.P: Sight Word Practice, Lesson 9

Lesson 9

Jane gave me a snake and a cat. She got them for me at the Pet Hut.

Jake went to the Pet Hut. It was not too far, but the pets were sick.

Jane will bake a cake for her mom.

Next, Jane will get her a gift.

Fred will get a gift for his dad, too.

Will Fred get a hat or a bike for his dad?

Is Jane done?

Is Matt gone?

The cats are gone.

Did you go to the Pet Hut? Were the pets still sick?

Is the Pet Hut far from your home?

No, it is by the lake.

Do you take a lot of pets home?

Mike and his pet snake are gone.

Will his pet snake bite me?

Are you glad the snake is gone?

Jane’s cake is done. Jane made a big cake for her mom.

P.R.P: Sight Word Practice, Lesson 10

Lesson 10

What pet is Jane’s?

This cat is Jane’s pet.

When did Jane get her pet cat?

Jane got this cat when we went to the Pet Hut.

Was the cat so fat then?

No, the cat was not fat yet when Jane got it.

What did she do to the cat?

She fed it a lot of pops.

Did you get a pet when you and Jen were at the Pet Hut?

No, I did not get a pet. But I will get a pet next time we go.

What will you get?

I’ll get a cat, like Jane.

What will you name your cat?

I’ll name my cat Trap, since she will kill mice.

Will this cat get fat?

No, Trap won’t get fat. I won’t let her.

P.R.P: Sight Word Practice, Lesson 11

Lesson 11

When did you get your cat?

I got her in May.

Did you name her Trap?

No, I didn’t name her Trap. She is gray, so her name is Mist.

Did you get her at the Pet Hut?

No, I didn’t get her there.

Why didn’t you get her there?

Mist had no home, so we got her and didn’t go to the Pet Hut.

That is nice. Too bad a cat has not gone home with me. Do you play with her a lot?

I play with her six times a day. She is so cute!

P.R.P: Sight Word Practice, Lesson 12

Lesson 12

Where would you like to go next week?

Let’s go to the Pet Hut next week. There’s a sale there.

Why don’t we go to Gale? There are a lot of sales there.

We could go to all of the places in Gale. Then we could get lots of stuff.

That’s a grand plan. What would you get in Gale?

I would get a bike. What would you get?

Jen and I need hats. We’ll get them when we go to Gale.

Why do you need hats?

Last week there was a lot of rain. We got wet. So we’ll get hats that keep off the rain.

That’s a grand plan, too.

When would you like to leave?

I would like to leave at six, so we can spend a lot of time there.

P.R.P: Sight Word Practice, Lesson 13

Lesson 13

Someone said you have a pet snake.

I do have a pet snake. But I don’t plan to keep it. I’ll give it to Jake next week.

I have to give Jake something, too. What would he like?

He said he likes to sleep in a tent. You could give him a light. Oh no! Look!

What did you see?

I just saw the snake’s cage! The snake is gone!

Where could the snake be?

I don’t know! What will I give Jake? I’ll have to go to the Pet Hut again.

We can go to some places tonight. We will get gifts for Jake.

P.R.P: Sight Word Practice, Lesson 14

Lesson 14

What’s that?

This is a boat. Some people left it next to the road.

Is it a good boat?

It floats very well.

That’s good. I know that you love to sail.

P.R.P: Sight Word Practice, Lesson 15

Lesson 15

We need someone else. Who is that? Maybe he could go.

That’s my pal Jake. He’s only five.

He will be fine. We only need people to fill the seats.

All right, let’s get onto the boat.

Phonics Reading Program: Phonics Poems

Step Eight: consonant blends

Jack, be nimble! Jack, be quick!

Jack, jump over the candle-stick.

Jill, be nimble! Jump it too!

If Jack can do it, so can you!

Step Eleven: long ‘a’

In May the sun rays rule the day;

They rain upon the grass,

Then I would fain go out and play

And let the hours pass.

Where the grass is thick and the water’s quick

I run to chase the jays,

But they’re too fast – with a flit and a flick

We go our separate ways.

I make battle with evil men;

They gain on me like a wild pack.

Soon I face my foe again –

I lay him on his back.

The day goes on; the sun gets low;

I wave good-bye and say,

“I must go face the world but oh!

If only I could stay.”

Rain, rain, go away;

Come again another day.

Little Johnny wants to play;

Rain, rain, go to Spain,

Never show your face again.

Step Twelve: long ‘e’

A Greek queen sat down to eat.

Her meal was a real feast,

With greens and beans and beef and veal

And three ice creams at least.

Then Bea (the queen) said,

“I feel ill. I feel like I may scream.

Well I see that I will heal,

But I do hate ice cream.”

Jack Sprat could eat no fat;

His wife could eat no lean;

And so, between the two of them,

They licked the platter clean.

Upon an island hard to reach,

The East Beast sits upon his beach.

Upon the west beach sits the West Beast.

Each beach beast thinks he's the best beast.

Which beast is best?...Well, I thought at first,

That the East was best and the West was worst.

Then I looked again from the west to the east

And I liked the beast on the east beach least.

Step Thirteen: long ‘i’

In the sky

Up high

At night

The bat flies on its way.

He’s a night-sight,

And if we asked why

Here’s what he might say:

“The sun’s too bright;

I can’t stand its light

So I hide my flight from the day.”

Star light, star bright,

First star I see tonight,

Wish I may, wish I might,

Have the wish I wish tonight.

Three blind mice,

Three blind mice.

See how they run.

They all ran after the farmer’s wife.

She cut off their tails with a carving knife

Did you ever see such a sight in your life

As three blind mice?

What are little boys made of?

Snakes and snails and puppy dog tails,

That’s what little boys are made of.

What are little girls made of?

Sugar and spice and everything nice,

That’s what little girls are made of.

One, two, three four five,

Once I caught a fish alive.

Six, seven, eight nine ten,

Then I let it go again.

Why did you let it go?

Because it bit my finger so.

Which finger did it bite?

My little finger on the right.

Apple, apple way up high,

I can reach you if I try.

Climb a ladder,

Hold on tight.

Pick you quickly,

Take a bite!

Good night, sleep tight.

Wake up bright

In the morning light

To do what’s right

With all your might.

Good night, sleep tight.

Don’t let the bedbugs bite.

And if they do,

Take your shoe

And knock ’em till they’re

Black and blue!

Step Fourteen: long ‘o’

Row, row, row your boat

Gently down the stream,

Till you throw the teacher out

And she goes and screams!

Row, row, row your boat

Quickly to the coast

But don’t let it blow over

Or you will be toast!

A wise old owl sat in an oak;

The more he saw the less he spoke;

The less he spoke the more he heard;

Why can’t we all be like that bird?

A road-kill crow sits on an oak

(Sing hay-ho, the road-kill crow,

Foll de riddle, loll de riddle, hi ding ho).

He sees a tailor shape his coat

(Sing hay-ho, the road-kill crow,

Foll de riddle, loll de riddle, hi ding ho.)

“Wife, bring me my bent old bow,

(Sing hay-ho, the road-kill crow,

Foll de riddle, loll de riddle, hi ding ho)

That I may get that road-kill crow

(Sing hay-ho, the road-kill crow

Foll de riddle, loll de riddle, hi ding ho).”

The tailor shot and missed the crow

(Sing hay-ho, the road-kill crow

Foll de riddle, loll de riddle, hi ding ho).

He hit his own goat right in the nose

(Sing hay-ho, the road-kill crow

Foll de riddle, loll de riddle, hi ding ho).

Step Fifteen: long ‘u’

On that cruel night when the spooks go “Boo!”

The mood will turn to doom.

The loons hoot and the black bats swoop

And frightening beasts then loom.

By the moon’s blue light the night fairies dance.

They light the stars and fly away.

They land in cool gloom, but they make their loop

And the buds all bloom like day.

When the sun is new and the dew is fresh

The day fairies run and play.

They sit on toadstools to eat their food

And lie in beds of hay.

Step Sixteen: ‘tr’ and ‘dr’

Trick or treat, Mrs. Drack,

We’re all dressed up from front to back.

If you give us yummy candy,

Then we’ll treat you very dandy.

If it’s trail mix that you give,

We’ll feel sorry for your kids.

If you give us lima beans –

Well, we know what “trick or treat” means.

Step Seventeen: ‘ch’

It really was no miracle;

What happened was just this:

The wind began to switch,

The house, to twitch,

And suddenly the hinges started to unhitch.

Just then, the witch

To satisfy an itch

Went flying on her broomstick thumbing for a hitch.

And oh! what happened then was rich.

The house began to pitch.

The kitchen took a slitch.

It landed on the wicked witch in the middle of a ditch,

Which was not a healthy situation for the wicked witch,

Who began to twitch and was reduced to just a stitch

Of what once the wicked witch!

All around the cobbler’s bench

The monkey chased the weasel.

The monkey stopped to check his socks –

Pop! goes the weasel.

Step Eighteen: ‘sh’

She sells seashells by the seashore.

Step Twenty-One: ‘ou’ and ‘ow’

The eensy-weensy spider went up the water spout.

Down came the rain and washed the spider out.

Out came the sun and dried up all the rain

And the eensy-weensy spider went up the spout again.

Step Twenty-Two: short ‘oo’ sound

Over the river and through the woods,

To Grandmother’s house we go.

The horse knows the way to carry the sleigh

Through the white and drifted snow – oh!

Over the river and through the woods,

Oh, how the wind does blow!

It stings the toes and bites the nose

As over the ground we go.

At evening when the lamp is lit,

Around the fire my parents sit;

They sit at home and talk and sing,

And do not play at anything.

Now, with my little gun I crawl,

All in the dark along the wall,

And follow ’round the forest track

Away behind the sofa back.

There, in the night, where none can spy,

All in my hunter’s camp I lie,

And play at books that I have read

Till it is time to go to bed.

These are the hills, these are the woods,

These are my starry solitudes;

And there the river by whose brink

The roaring lions come to drink.

I see the others far away,

As if in firelit camp they lay,

And I, like to an Indian scout,

Around their party prowled about.

So, when my nurse comes in for me,

Home I return across the sea,

And go to bed with backward looks,

At my dear land of story-books.

Step Thirty-Nine: open and closed syllables

Lucy Locket lost her pocket;

Kitty Fisher found it.

Not a penny was there in it,

Only a ribbon ’round it.

A tisket, a tasket, a green and yellow basket,

I wrote a letter to my love and on the way I lost it.

I lost it, I lost it, on the way I lost it,

A little birdie picked it up and put it in her pocket.

Little Bunny Foo Foo, hopping through the forest,