Like most new teachers starting out, I relied on the teacher's
guide as the basis for my reading program and phonics teaching strategies.
While the comprehension sections were well developed to extend meaning
to the text, I found the phonics sections to be weak
For example, in a typical guide you might find the following:
Teach the ea sound to the students. Tell them the sound. List the following words and
help the students read the words.
seat mean
leaf team scream
reach
Underline the ea in each word.
I did not find this to be an effective phonics
teaching strategy which is such an important component
of the reading process. While completing my graduate work at Loyola College in Baltimore, I attended a class on teaching
phonics. Using ideas from this class, I designed my own program which I found to be most
effective.
This program:
- teaches vowel sounds
- teaches blending skills
- builds upon the sounds and reinforces those sounds
- is effective in a group setting or one-on-one teaching
- multi-sensory-using rhythm and repetition
I believe in Blending At The Beginning as an effective phonics teaching strategy to instruct
and reinforce phonics and phonetic blending skills in the classroom. Try Blending At The Beginning as a phonics program
in your classroom.
