Learning to read English requires a significant amount of rote memory. There are over seventy phonograms to memorize and dozens of rules governing their combinations. How can children best learn all these things? The way children learn best—through stories and games.
Anna Ingham, author of the Blended Sound-Sight Program of Learning, loved children and spent her teaching career developing effective tools to make learning fun and lasting. One of her most brilliant inventions was the letter stories that not only teach the sound of each alphabet letter but also how to print them.
The first letter taught is the Happy Letter: c. “Start at the top, circle around, but don’t close it up because this letter is a happy cookie that somebody took a bite out of: c, c, cookie!”
Next up is the Sad Letter: o. Start at the top, circle around, and close it up because [put on your sad face] this is a cookie that nobody took a bite out of. He says, ‘Awww [short sound of o], nobody took a bite out of me!’”
These letter stories were my salvation when I was teaching dyslexic students. One little girl could not remember the letter g for the life of her until I reminded her that it was the Draggy Leg Letter. Thanks to that prompt she instantly remembered that this letter has a broken leg under him, and he says “g, g, g” as he drags his leg while walking.
The letter stories have a central role in our Primary Arts of Language (PAL) and Printing with Letter Stories programs. Each letter is taught and reinforced using the stories and illustrations.
Today I’d like to introduce a brand-new product that will help your students master their letters while having lots of fun. The Printing with Letter Stories Card Game is a set of game cards picturing the twenty-six letter story illustrations to be matched with the twenty-six letters. Students can use the cards as flashcards to say the sounds, to practice sorting, to play a matching game, and more! The card game makes learning to read with letter stories all the more enjoyable. Click here to take a closer look at this hot-off-the-press product.
Now, the part you’ve been waiting for. We’re so excited about this new product that we’d like to offer a free copy to one lucky winner! Click here for a chance to win your set today! The winner will be drawn on Friday, February 19. Will it be you? [Congratulations to this week's winner, Margaret P.!]
Stay tuned for more chances to win one of our new or updated products for 2016. We’ll be introducing another Hot Off the Press item and drawing each Friday for the next month. Click here to subscribe to our blog to make sure you don’t miss any!
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Jill Pike is a homeschooling mother of eight and an IEW® Accomplished Instructor. Serving as moderator of the IEWFamilies forum, she provides support to thousands of teachers and parents. She has authored many lesson plans offered by the Institute for Excellence in Writing, most recently adapting Anna Ingham's Blended Sound-Sight Program of Learning for home educators in the Primary Arts of Language. After graduating all eight of their children, Jill and her husband, Greg, continue to support home educators from their home state of Indiana. |
