Since more than 60 per cent of the vowels are short, and since short
vowels outnumber long vowels by about four to one, they are taught
first. Teach one vowel at a time by combining with the known consonants.
And what fun it is, when short "a" is introduced, to blend it with the
consonants and listen to discover "word sounds." Henceforth the children
will take delight in "unlocking" new words, without the teacher's help.
She will see to it, of course, that the words are simple and purely
phonetic at first; as:
c-a-n, can h-a-d, had
c-a-p, cap m-a-t, mat
c-a-t, cat m-a-n, man
r-a-t, rat f-a-n, fan
h-a-t, hat s-a-t, sat
Whole "families" are discovered by placing the vowel with the initial or
the final consonants, thus:
ca n r at f an
ca p h at an d
ca t c at s an d
ca b b at st an d
ma t f at l an d
ma n s at b an d
The children will enjoy forming all the families possible with the known
sounds.
_Short "a" Families or Phonograms._
at an ap ad ack ag and r ang b ank
b at c an c ap h ad b ack b ag b and s ang r ank
c at m an g ap l ad h ack f ag h and b ang s ank
f at p an l ap m ad J ack j ag l and h ang t ank
m at t an m ap g ad l ack l ag s and f ang bl ank
p at r an n ap b ad p ack n ag st and cl ang cr ank
N at f an r ap c ad r ack r ag gr and spr ang dr ank
s at b an s ap f ad s ack s ag br and Fr ank
r at D an t ap p ad t ack t ag str and pl ank
h at N an tr ap s ad st ack w ag th ank
th at V an str ap gl ad sl ack st ag
sn ap br ad tr ack br ag
wr ap bl ack dr ag
After a little drill in analyzing the words of a family, (sounding the
consonant and phonogram separately) they should be pronounced at sight,
analyzing the word only when the pupil fails in pronunciation.
The teacher's chart of phonograms as she works it out for herself may be
something like this.
[(a] [)e] i [)o] [)u]
at et it ot ut
ack ed ick ock ub
ad en id od uck
ag est ig og ug
an end im op um
ap edge in ong un
and ent ip oss uff
ang ess ift ung
ank ell ing unk
ash ink ump
amp ill ush
ust
While this gives the teacher a working chart, it is neither necessary
nor advisable that the above order be always followed in teaching the
phonograms and sounding series of words, nor that they be systematically
completed before other phonograms found in the words of the reading
lessons are taught. Such phonograms as "ound" from "found", "un" from
"run", "ight" from "bright", "est" from "nest", "ark" from "lark", etc.,
may be taught as soon as these sight words are made a part of the
child's reading vocabulary.
f ound r un br ight
ound un ight
s ound f un m ight
r ound s un r ight
gr ound b un f ight
b ound g un fr ight
p ound n un l ight
f ound r un s ight
h ound s un sl ight
ar ound st un n ight
n est l ark c atch
est ark atch
b est d ark h atch
l est b ark m atch
p est m ark m atch
r est h ark b atch
t est p ark l atch
v est sp ark p atch
w est st ark th atch
cr est sh ark scr atch
ch est sn atch
gu est
Attention is not called here to the various vowel sounds, but the
complete phonogram is taught at sight.
_Short "e" Phonograms._
bed h en b end b ent
fed d en l end c ent
led p en m end d ent
n ed m en s end l ent
r ed B en t end s ent
Fr ed t en bl end r ent
sh ed wr en sp end t ent
sl ed th en tr end w ent
bl ed wh en sp ent
gl en
edge B ess b ell sh ell
h edge l ess c ell sm ell
l edge bl ess s ell sp ell
s edge ch ess t ell sw ell
w edge dr ess f ell dw ell
pl edge pr ess n ell
sl edge gu ess w ell
_Short "i" Phonograms._
D ick s ick cl ick th ick
k ick t ick qu ick tr ick
l ick w ick sl ick
p ick br ick st ick
b id p ig d im p in th in
d id b ig h im t in tw in
h id f ig J im b in
k id d ig r im f in
l id r ig T im s in
r id w ig tr im w in
sl id tw ig br im ch in
sk id sk im gr in
sl im sk in
sw im sp in
d ip l ift s ing p ink b ill
h ip g ift k ing l ink f ill
l ip s ift r ing m ink h ill
n ip dr ift w ing s ink J ill
r ip sh ift br ing w ink k ill
s ip sw ift cl ing bl ink m ill
t ip thr ift sl ing br ink p ill
ch ip st ing dr ink t ill
cl ip str ing ch ink w ill
sl ip spr ing cl ink ch ill
dr ip sw ing shr ink sp ill
gr ip th ing th ink st ill
sh ip wr ing tr ill
sk ip
tr ip
str ip
wh ip
_Short "o" Phonograms._
B ob n od c ock d og
c ob p od l ock h og
r ob r od r ock l og
s ob h od s ock f og
m ob c od m ock fr og
j ob cl od bl ock c og
f ob pl od cl ock j og
kn ob tr od cr ock cl og
thr ob sh od fl ock
kn ock
st ock
h op t op sh op
m op st op sl op
l op dr op pr op
s op cr op
s ong l oss
l ong t oss
d ong R oss
g ong m oss
str ong b oss
wr ong cr oss
pr ong fl oss
thr ong gl oss
_Phonograms Containing Short "u"._
r ub d uck b ug r un
t ub l uck h ug s un
c ub t uck j ug f un
h ub cl uck l ug b un
cl ub pl uck m ug g un
gr ub sh uck p ug sp un
scr ub tr uck r ug st un
st ub str uck t ug sh un
sn ub dr ug
pl ug
sn ug
dr um c uff r ung
pl um m uff s ung
ch um p uff h ung
g um h uff l ung
h um b uff cl ung
sc um bl uff fl ung
gl um gr uff sl ung
st uff st ung
spr ung
sw ung
str ung
b unk j ump h ush m ust
h unk b ump m ush j ust
j unk l ump r ush r ust
ch unk h ump g ush d ust
dr unk p ump br ush cr ust
sk unk d ump cr ush tr ust
sp unk st ump bl ush thr ust
tr unk th ump pl ush
thr ush
From the beginning review daily the phonograms taught.
Thus by means of these daily drills in pronunciation, the pupil gains
power in mastering new words. He constantly makes intelligent and
practical application of the knowledge he has gained in pronouncing a
letter or a combination of letters in a certain way, under certain
conditions.
_Diacritical Marks_
The child has no need of diacritical marks at this time; indeed he has
little need for them until the fourth year, when the use of the
dictionary is taught. The new dictionaries greatly simplify the matter
of mastering the diacritical marks, and lessen the number needed, by
re-writing unphonetic words in simple phonetic spelling.
During the first three years do not retard the child's progress, and
weaken his power to apply the knowledge which his previous experience
has given him, by marking words to aid him in pronunciation. At best,
the marks are artificial and questionable aids.