Reading Horizons

Who Am I (What matters most)?

Currently a Professor at SUUA teacher and Administrator in public schools for about 15 yearsI have worked in Education in Japan, Taiwan, California, New York, Minnesota, and Utah.

Who Am I? (Part II)

Why am I here?

*Now that the alphabet has been introduced, lets look at the C/K rule. Can anyone tell me when the /k/ sound is spelled with a C or a K? Specifically, if you hear the /k/ sound [say the sound /k/, NOT the letter name] at the beginning of a word, how do you know if it begins with a C or a K?

Can You See the Arrow?

Can You See the Arrow?

Reading Horizons Methodology

understandXXX

*Now that we have established the rationale for the teaching of explicit, systematic phonics, I would like to share with you an overview of the Discover Intensive Phonics method. It produces amazing results.Discover Intensive Phonics is a framework for phonics. It teaches the critical skills necessary for learning to read words in the English Language, and it does so in an easy-to-teach, easy-to-learn format.

Framework

*Those critical skills include: [NOTE: Press space bar]The 42 sounds of the alphabet,

[NOTE: Press space bar] the five phonetic skills upon which all English words are based to determine whether a vowel is long or short, and

[NOTE: Press space bar]two decoding skills that teach how to break words into syllables.

BbFfDdGgAaHhJjLlMmEeNnPpRrSsOoTtVvWwXxYyUuZzQqCcKkIiConsonants & Vowels

*Progress is made through the rest of the alphabet. Consonants and then a vowel are taught with each letter group, and words are made with all letters and vowels learned up to this point. Alphabetic order is generally followed, with the exception of B and D, C and K, and I. B and D are separated because some students confuse the letter formation and the sounds that each letter makes. C and K are left to the end because you have to know all the vowels before being able to teach the spelling rule when C makes the /k/ sound. I is separated from the E because it is difficult for some students to distinguish between the two similar sounds.

badaThe Slide

*Students are taught to blend the consonant and vowel sounds together in what we call a slide. Learning to blend sounds in the slide is a critical first step to fluency.

bag dadgab fad Beginning WordsXXXX

*Using only the five letters of the first letter set, students immediately begin forming words. They are learning both the phoneme/grapheme relationship and how those sounds are used within a word. At this point they begin the use of the unique marking system that is employed throughout the course. They identify the vowel by placing an x beneath it.

How do you know when to spell with a C and when to spell with a K?

*Now that the alphabet has been introduced, lets look at the C/K rule. Can anyone tell me when the /k/ sound is spelled with a C or a K? Specifically, if you hear the /k/ sound [say the sound /k/, NOT the letter name] at the beginning of a word, how do you know if it begins with a C or a K?

cankitcotkidcopkegcupKenXXX X XXXX

*Looking at these two lists, what do you think?The answer is that you listen for the sound of the vowel that follows the /k/ sound.If /k/ is followed by the vowel sounds of A, O, or U, it will always be spelled with a C.If you hear the vowels I or E, it will always be spelled with a K.This rule works 100% of the time, except with some names (i.e. Kate, Katherine, Kaitlyn) and words of foreign origin (i.e. kayak, Hong Kong, koala, kangaroo, kung fu, etc.)

L - gl gla glad

R - fr fro frog

S - sn sni snipXXXBlends

*Now that students know all of the alphabet, we begin to combine the letters into blends. The L-, R-, and S-blends are taught. Blends are joined with an arc because they seldom separate when words break into syllables. On the screen you see one blend from each group. Students identify the blends with an arc, and the vowel with an x, always working left to right beneath the word.

blclflglplsl

brcrdrfrgrprtr

sc skslsmsnspstswS-BlendsR-BlendsL-Blends

*There are six L-blends, seven R-blends, and eight two-letter S-blends.A blend is two or three consonants standing together, but each retaining its own sound. A blend must always be able to start a word (e.g., blue, trip, and slim). Sometimes blends are found in the middle or at the end of a word, or at both the beginning and the end, such as in the word clasp.

dragtrekgridcrop

slidplumbledclip

spinscanstopswimXXXXXXXXXXXXBlend Words

*Students are now able to begin practicing reading and forming words using all the blends learned and the alphabet.It is wise to post the blends in the classroom where they can be seen to help the students remember what the blends are. This will give the students sufficient exposure so they will be able to recall the blends throughout the program.

a e o u ia e o u iShort / Long Vowels

*As the vowels were taught in each of the letter sets, the students learned that the vowel sounds said one certain sound. Up to this point, the student has learned and practiced only these certain vowel sounds, and they now learn that the term short refers to these particular vowel sounds. Now at this point, students learn that the vowels have another sound. They learn that the vowel is called long when the name of the vowel is heard. Here are the diacritical markings used to indicate which sound is which.The short vowel mark, or a small arc above the vowel, indicates the short vowels.The long vowel mark, or a short horizontal line above the vowel, indicates the long vowels.

1.met

One guardian consonant makes the vowel short.Five Phonetic Skills X*

*Now that the students have been introduced to the short and long vowels, they need to have some rules to tell them when a vowel will be pronounced with its short or its long sound. We call these rules phonetic skills. There are five phonetic skills.The letters that come right after the first vowel in the word will indicate what the vowel will sound like. A new term is given to letters that follow the vowel as we look at phonetic skills #1 and #2. These letters are called consonants or guardians or guardian consonants. The word met follows the first phonetic skill. The 1st phonetic skill is: The vowel is short because it has one guardian consonant after it.

[NOTE: Press space bar three times until all the marks are on the word.]

2. jump

Two guardian consonants make the vowel short. X **Five Phonetic Skills

*Words that follow the 2nd phonetic skill have TWO guardian consonants that follow the vowel. The 2nd phonetic skill says: The vowel is short because it has two guardians after it.

[NOTE: Press the space bar four times to mark the word.]

3. me

When a vowel stands alone, it is long.XFive Phonetic Skills

*The remaining three phonetic skills deal with long vowels. In the 3rd phonetic skill there are no guardian consonants that follow the vowel. Phonetic skill #3 says that the vowel is long because it stands alone, as in the words he, she, we, and me.

[NOTE: Press space bar twice to mark the word.]

4. smile

When a word ends in a silent E, the vowel is long.X XFive Phonetic Skills

*In phonetic skill #4, there are two vowels. The E is silent, which makes the first vowel long. This is called the silent E rule. The rule says: E is silent, making the first vowel long. As you can see, some of the word is already marked. You see the two vowels and both of them are marked with an x. Watch as we mark the rest of the word.

[NOTE: Press space bar twice to mark rest of word.]

pin X*Five Phonetic Skills

*Now we can prove why pin says /pin/

[NOTE: Press space bar three times to mark word.]

pine X XFive Phonetic Skills

*and why pine says /pine/.[NOTE: Press space bar four times to mark word.]

5. boat

When two vowels are adjacent, the second vowel is silent and the first vowel is long.Five Phonetic Skills XX

*The last phonetic skill also has two vowels, but they are standing together. We refer to them as adjacent vowels. The 5th phonetic skill says that the second vowel will be silent, which makes the first vowel long. This is also known as the adjacent vowel rule.

[NOTE: Press space bar two times to finish marking the word.]

metjumpmesmileboat

*The five phonetic skills must be mastered before the student continues in the program. Here is an overview of the Five Phonetic Skills just learned. Are there any questions?

motelDecoding Skill #1

*So far we have only been working with one-syllable words. Now we are ready to work with larger words.Lets look at the word motel.

1. mo 2. mot3. mote4. motelDecoding Skill #1

*If we reduce it to just one consonant and one vowel, can you prove what it says? Yes, the word is mo. If we mark it, we can see it follows phonetic skill #3 the vowel stands alone and is long.

[NOTE: Press space bar once.]What does it say when we add the T? Yes, mot. Now it follows phonetic skill #1. The vowel is short because it has a guardian.

[NOTE: Press space bar twice.]If we add the E, what do we have? Mote is correct. It follows skill #4, the silent E skill. E is silent making the first vowel long.

[NOTE: Press space bar three times.] But as soon as we add the final L, we can no longer use the five skills. For the first time we have TWO working vowels. This automatically tells us that we have two SYLLABLES because each syllable must have a working vowel or vowel sound. Now we will teach our students two simple decoding skills to help them break the word into syllables, and then they can use their five skills again.

motelDecoding Skill #1One consonant (guardian) goes onXX

*First we mark everything under the word we have only vowels in this word that need to be marked.

[NOTE: Press space bar twice.]Then we go back and look at the first vowel. The first decoding skill teaches us that if there is only one guardian consonant following the vowel, that consonant must go on to the next syllable. (One consonant goes on, or one must run!), so we will break between the vowel O and the consonant T.

[NOTE: Press space bar once.]Then you apply the 3rd phonetic skill to the first syllable. Looking just at the first syllable, what will the vowel sound be? Yes, long because it stands alone. The first syllable says MO.

[NOTE: Press space bar once.]Now we have only one more working vowel, so we have just one more syllable. Now we apply the 1st phonetic skill to the 2nd syllable. Looking at that syllable, will the vowel be long or short?

[NOTE: Press space bar once.]Yes, short because it still has a guardian consonant. So the second syllable says TEL.

[NOTE: Press space bar once.]The word is MO-TEL, motel!

provideDecoding Skill #1

X X X

One consonant (guardian) goes on

*Follow me as I demonstrate the marking sequence for this word using the first decoding skill.

[NOTE: Press space bar to mark the word.]The students need to get the decoding process clear in their minds. Study, drill, and test the students to ensure mastery.

campusDecoding Skill #2

XX

Two consonants (guardians) split

*Now lets learn decoding skill #2. In this word, mark everything under the vowel.

[NOTE: Press space bar two times.]Then when we go back to the first vowel, we see that there are not one, but TWO consonants following the vowel. The second decoding skill says that if there are TWO consonants following the first vowel, they will split.

[NOTE: Press space bar once.]The M stays with the first syllable

[NOTE: Press space bar once.]and the second syllable gets the P. The vowel A has a guardian consonant, so it is short.

[NOTE: Press space bar once.]The vowel U also has a guardian consonant, so it is also short.

[NOTE: Press space bar twice.]The word is CAM-PUS, campus.

extremeDecoding Skill #2Two consonants (guardians) split

XX

X

*Follow me as I demonstrate the marking sequence for this word using the second decoding skill.

[NOTE: Press space bar to mark the word.]

Murmur Diphthongserir erurar or X X X X X X

*Were ready to discuss three more of the 42 sounds upon which this program is built. These sounds are murmur diphthongs, or R-controlled vowels. AR and OR have their own sounds /ar/ and /or/ respectively, while ER, UR, and IR share the sound /er/. The vowels in these words are neither long nor short because the vowel combines with the R to make the diphthong sound; these vowel sounds are very predictable. We mark murmur diphthongs by putting an x under the vowel and putting an arc underneath the murmur diphthong to indicate that the two letters stay together to form the diphthong sound.

chshwhthth

phgnknckwrDigraphs

*We now move on to introducing a few more of the 42 sounds--digraphs. Although there are ten digraphs, only five have new sounds that are included in the 42 sounds. The first five digraphs are CH, SH, WH, and two TH digraphs--voiced TH, as in that, and voiceless TH, as in think. Digraphs are two consonants that stand together and make one sound.The next five digraphs produce sounds that have already been introduced in the alphabet--/f/, /n/, /n/, /k/, and /r/. Because these are not new sounds, we do not count them in the 42 sounds of the alphabet; however, we teach them as digraphs that serve as another representation of these sounds.

sharkwheat X X XDigraphs

*Digraphs can be used with the five skills, such as phonetic skill #5 in the word wheat, and they can also be joined with R-controlled vowels, as in the word shark. This demonstrates how the skills build on each other and also emphasizes the importance of constantly reviewing previously-learned skills. Using this approach, students can now read dozens of new words.

book

Special Vowel Sounds

zoo

*The Special Vowel Sounds are the last of the 42 sounds to be learned. Like digraphs, special vowel sounds consist of two letters that produce a single sound. When you pronounce a special vowel sound, it is a vowel sound that you hear. The first set on the left says /aw/ (as in Paul and saw). Notice the way we mark special vowel sounds with an x between the vowels and an arc underneath the two vowels.There are five sets of special vowel combinations. We put a circle around each vowel sound and sometimes call them pig pens because they, like little pigs in a pen, look different, but make the same sound. These sounds are: /aw/ (as in haunt and saw), /ow/ (as in trout and how), /oy/ (as in moist and toy), /oo/ (as in book and look), and /oo/ (as in zoo and soon). O-W can also say the long O sound, as in show.

houndtoil crawlbook zoo X X X X XSpecial Vowel Sounds

*And, as with the other words, they are taught initially within one-syllable words to be certain that students are clear about the sounds and patterns of the word structure before learning them in context of multi-syllable words.

accomplishment

X

X

X

Xe

*[NOTE: Have someone explain why this word is marked this way.]

Test Drive

*Now that the alphabet has been introduced, lets look at the C/K rule. Can anyone tell me when the /k/ sound is spelled with a C or a K? Specifically, if you hear the /k/ sound [say the sound /k/, NOT the letter name] at the beginning of a word, how do you know if it begins with a C or a K?

*Now that we have established the rationale for the teaching of explicit, systematic phonics, I would like to share with you an overview of the Discover Intensive Phonics method. It produces amazing results.Discover Intensive Phonics is a framework for phonics. It teaches the critical skills necessary for learning to read words in the English Language, and it does so in an easy-to-teach, easy-to-learn format.

*Those critical skills include: [NOTE: Press space bar]The 42 sounds of the alphabet,

[NOTE: Press space bar] the five phonetic skills upon which all English words are based to determine whether a vowel is long or short, and

[NOTE: Press space bar]two decoding skills that teach how to break words into syllables.

*Progress is made through the rest of the alphabet. Consonants and then a vowel are taught with each letter group, and words are made with all letters and vowels learned up to this point. Alphabetic order is generally followed, with the exception of B and D, C and K, and I. B and D are separated because some students confuse the letter formation and the sounds that each letter makes. C and K are left to the end because you have to know all the vowels before being able to teach the spelling rule when C makes the /k/ sound. I is separated from the E because it is difficult for some students to distinguish between the two similar sounds.

*Students are taught to blend the consonant and vowel sounds together in what we call a slide. Learning to blend sounds in the slide is a critical first step to fluency.

*Using only the five letters of the first letter set, students immediately begin forming words. They are learning both the phoneme/grapheme relationship and how those sounds are used within a word. At this point they begin the use of the unique marking system that is employed throughout the course. They identify the vowel by placing an x beneath it.

*Now that the alphabet has been introduced, lets look at the C/K rule. Can anyone tell me when the /k/ sound is spelled with a C or a K? Specifically, if you hear the /k/ sound [say the sound /k/, NOT the letter name] at the beginning of a word, how do you know if it begins with a C or a K?

*Looking at these two lists, what do you think?The answer is that you listen for the sound of the vowel that follows the /k/ sound.If /k/ is followed by the vowel sounds of A, O, or U, it will always be spelled with a C.If you hear the vowels I or E, it will always be spelled with a K.This rule works 100% of the time, except with some names (i.e. Kate, Katherine, Kaitlyn) and words of foreign origin (i.e. kayak, Hong Kong, koala, kangaroo, kung fu, etc.)

*Now that students know all of the alphabet, we begin to combine the letters into blends. The L-, R-, and S-blends are taught. Blends are joined with an arc because they seldom separate when words break into syllables. On the screen you see one blend from each group. Students identify the blends with an arc, and the vowel with an x, always working left to right beneath the word.

*There are six L-blends, seven R-blends, and eight two-letter S-blends.A blend is two or three consonants standing together, but each retaining its own sound. A blend must always be able to start a word (e.g., blue, trip, and slim). Sometimes blends are found in the middle or at the end of a word, or at both the beginning and the end, such as in the word clasp.

*Students are now able to begin practicing reading and forming words using all the blends learned and the alphabet.It is wise to post the blends in the classroom where they can be seen to help the students remember what the blends are. This will give the students sufficient exposure so they will be able to recall the blends throughout the program.

*As the vowels were taught in each of the letter sets, the students learned that the vowel sounds said one certain sound. Up to this point, the student has learned and practiced only these certain vowel sounds, and they now learn that the term short refers to these particular vowel sounds. Now at this point, students learn that the vowels have another sound. They learn that the vowel is called long when the name of the vowel is heard. Here are the diacritical markings used to indicate which sound is which.The short vowel mark, or a small arc above the vowel, indicates the short vowels.The long vowel mark, or a short horizontal line above the vowel, indicates the long vowels.

*Now that the students have been introduced to the short and long vowels, they need to have some rules to tell them when a vowel will be pronounced with its short or its long sound. We call these rules phonetic skills. There are five phonetic skills.The letters that come right after the first vowel in the word will indicate what the vowel will sound like. A new term is given to letters that follow the vowel as we look at phonetic skills #1 and #2. These letters are called consonants or guardians or guardian consonants. The word met follows the first phonetic skill. The 1st phonetic skill is: The vowel is short because it has one guardian consonant after it.

[NOTE: Press space bar three times until all the marks are on the word.]*Words that follow the 2nd phonetic skill have TWO guardian consonants that follow the vowel. The 2nd phonetic skill says: The vowel is short because it has two guardians after it.

[NOTE: Press the space bar four times to mark the word.]*The remaining three phonetic skills deal with long vowels. In the 3rd phonetic skill there are no guardian consonants that follow the vowel. Phonetic skill #3 says that the vowel is long because it stands alone, as in the words he, she, we, and me.

[NOTE: Press space bar twice to mark the word.]*In phonetic skill #4, there are two vowels. The E is silent, which makes the first vowel long. This is called the silent E rule. The rule says: E is silent, making the first vowel long. As you can see, some of the word is already marked. You see the two vowels and both of them are marked with an x. Watch as we mark the rest of the word.

[NOTE: Press space bar twice to mark rest of word.]*Now we can prove why pin says /pin/

[NOTE: Press space bar three times to mark word.]*and why pine says /pine/.[NOTE: Press space bar four times to mark word.]*The last phonetic skill also has two vowels, but they are standing together. We refer to them as adjacent vowels. The 5th phonetic skill says that the second vowel will be silent, which makes the first vowel long. This is also known as the adjacent vowel rule.

[NOTE: Press space bar two times to finish marking the word.]*The five phonetic skills must be mastered before the student continues in the program. Here is an overview of the Five Phonetic Skills just learned. Are there any questions?

*So far we have only been working with one-syllable words. Now we are ready to work with larger words.Lets look at the word motel.

*If we reduce it to just one consonant and one vowel, can you prove what it says? Yes, the word is mo. If we mark it, we can see it follows phonetic skill #3 the vowel stands alone and is long.

[NOTE: Press space bar once.]What does it say when we add the T? Yes, mot. Now it follows phonetic skill #1. The vowel is short because it has a guardian.

[NOTE: Press space bar twice.]If we add the E, what do we have? Mote is correct. It follows skill #4, the silent E skill. E is silent making the first vowel long.

[NOTE: Press space bar three times.] But as soon as we add the final L, we can no longer use the five skills. For the first time we have TWO working vowels. This automatically tells us that we have two SYLLABLES because each syllable must have a working vowel or vowel sound. Now we will teach our students two simple decoding skills to help them break the word into syllables, and then they can use their five skills again.

*First we mark everything under the word we have only vowels in this word that need to be marked.

[NOTE: Press space bar twice.]Then we go back and look at the first vowel. The first decoding skill teaches us that if there is only one guardian consonant following the vowel, that consonant must go on to the next syllable. (One consonant goes on, or one must run!), so we will break between the vowel O and the consonant T.

[NOTE: Press space bar once.]Then you apply the 3rd phonetic skill to the first syllable. Looking just at the first syllable, what will the vowel sound be? Yes, long because it stands alone. The first syllable says MO.

[NOTE: Press space bar once.]Now we have only one more working vowel, so we have just one more syllable. Now we apply the 1st phonetic skill to the 2nd syllable. Looking at that syllable, will the vowel be long or short?

[NOTE: Press space bar once.]Yes, short because it still has a guardian consonant. So the second syllable says TEL.

[NOTE: Press space bar once.]The word is MO-TEL, motel!

*Follow me as I demonstrate the marking sequence for this word using the first decoding skill.

[NOTE: Press space bar to mark the word.]The students need to get the decoding process clear in their minds. Study, drill, and test the students to ensure mastery.

*Now lets learn decoding skill #2. In this word, mark everything under the vowel.

[NOTE: Press space bar two times.]Then when we go back to the first vowel, we see that there are not one, but TWO consonants following the vowel. The second decoding skill says that if there are TWO consonants following the first vowel, they will split.

[NOTE: Press space bar once.]The M stays with the first syllable

[NOTE: Press space bar once.]and the second syllable gets the P. The vowel A has a guardian consonant, so it is short.

[NOTE: Press space bar once.]The vowel U also has a guardian consonant, so it is also short.

[NOTE: Press space bar twice.]The word is CAM-PUS, campus.

*Follow me as I demonstrate the marking sequence for this word using the second decoding skill.

[NOTE: Press space bar to mark the word.]*Were ready to discuss three more of the 42 sounds upon which this program is built. These sounds are murmur diphthongs, or R-controlled vowels. AR and OR have their own sounds /ar/ and /or/ respectively, while ER, UR, and IR share the sound /er/. The vowels in these words are neither long nor short because the vowel combines with the R to make the diphthong sound; these vowel sounds are very predictable. We mark murmur diphthongs by putting an x under the vowel and putting an arc underneath the murmur diphthong to indicate that the two letters stay together to form the diphthong sound.

*We now move on to introducing a few more of the 42 sounds--digraphs. Although there are ten digraphs, only five have new sounds that are included in the 42 sounds. The first five digraphs are CH, SH, WH, and two TH digraphs--voiced TH, as in that, and voiceless TH, as in think. Digraphs are two consonants that stand together and make one sound.The next five digraphs produce sounds that have already been introduced in the alphabet--/f/, /n/, /n/, /k/, and /r/. Because these are not new sounds, we do not count them in the 42 sounds of the alphabet; however, we teach them as digraphs that serve as another representation of these sounds.

*Digraphs can be used with the five skills, such as phonetic skill #5 in the word wheat, and they can also be joined with R-controlled vowels, as in the word shark. This demonstrates how the skills build on each other and also emphasizes the importance of constantly reviewing previously-learned skills. Using this approach, students can now read dozens of new words.

*The Special Vowel Sounds are the last of the 42 sounds to be learned. Like digraphs, special vowel sounds consist of two letters that produce a single sound. When you pronounce a special vowel sound, it is a vowel sound that you hear. The first set on the left says /aw/ (as in Paul and saw). Notice the way we mark special vowel sounds with an x between the vowels and an arc underneath the two vowels.There are five sets of special vowel combinations. We put a circle around each vowel sound and sometimes call them pig pens because they, like little pigs in a pen, look different, but make the same sound. These sounds are: /aw/ (as in haunt and saw), /ow/ (as in trout and how), /oy/ (as in moist and toy), /oo/ (as in book and look), and /oo/ (as in zoo and soon). O-W can also say the long O sound, as in show.

*And, as with the other words, they are taught initially within one-syllable words to be certain that students are clear about the sounds and patterns of the word structure before learning them in context of multi-syllable words.

*[NOTE: Have someone explain why this word is marked this way.]