Question 1

Teaching "3 Letter Words"

Manabiocean · Accepted Answer

On the first day, explain clearly to students how there are two different ways to pronounce A-Z: the Alphabet Sounds and Phonics Sounds. You could do this by first going through the A-Z flashcards, saying both sounds, and then practicing together with the students all the words of the unit in order: Alphabet-Phonics-Word.

It will take time for students to learn these basics, so be sure to keep doing lots of drilling. You should always start the Phonics part of the lesson by drilling the first page of the Unit (Alphabet-Phonics-Word). To mix things up, you can then do the Reading Practice pages with the students, too. Many students will struggle with the similar-sounding Phonics pronunciations, so try to focus especially on these difficult sounds. Beginning with Unit 3, you might start drilling the vocabulary by first doing Alphabet-Phonics-Word, and then also the Phonics Sounds of each word individually ("b, a, g, bag... c, a, p, cap...").

Question 2

Teaching "magic e"

Manabiocean · Accepted Answer

Explain to the students what the magic e does. Write some examples from the textbook on the whiteboard…
- tap → tape
- cut → cute
- pet → Pete
- kit → kite
- hop → hope
Remind students of the two ways of pronouncing a, u, e, i, and o – the alphabet sounds and the phonics sounds. Explain to them how you would normally use the phonics pronunciation when reading words. Emphasize this by reading the words in the left bracket. (“Tap. a! / Cut. u! / Pet. e!...”)
Now, explain that what the magic e at the end does is simply to change the pronunciation of the letter back to the alphabet sound. Emphasize by reading the words from the right bracket. (“Tape. a! / Cute. u! / Pete. e!...”)
Finally, repeat the words from the left bracket followed by the right bracket. Try to get students to really notice how the magic e changes the pronunciation of a, u, e, i, o from the phonics sound to the alphabet sound.

Question 3

Teaching "Digraphs"

Manabiocean · Accepted Answer

Practice the digraph sounds and the words of the Unit with the students. Most students will especially struggle with pronouncing the "th" sounds. Try to get them to watch and mimic how it's correctly pronounced: the tip of the tongue is supposed to be placed behind the top of the front teeth.

Question 4

Teaching "Blends"

Manabiocean · Accepted Answer

Practice the blend sounds and the words of the Unit with the students. On the first few days, it might be best to focus especially on L/R which is by far the thing students usually most struggle with. At first, try to get them to really watch your mouth when you're pronouncing the sounds. Show them how the L sound is actually done by sticking your tongue between your teeth -- don’t let it flick the roof. The R sound doesn’t let the tip of your tongue touch anything. It just sits there, with the back slightly raised (no flicking). You can also use the Orange Folder's L/R page to quiz students.

Question 5

Teaching "Double Sounds of C / G"

Manabiocean · Accepted Answer

Practice the double sounds and the words of the Unit with the students. Explain how Hard C/G are used when the next letter after it is A, O, or U, and that Soft C/G is used when the next letter is E, I, or Y. After you've said the words with the students, reiterate again how the Hard C/G sounds "hard" (C! C! Cat!!! / G! G! Gas!!!") compared to the "soft-sounding" Soft C/G (C... C... Cent... / G... G... Gem...) You can exaggerate your pronunciation to really make one sound "hard" and the other "soft."

Question 6

Teaching "Sounds of S"

Manabiocean · Accepted Answer

Practice the different S sounds and the words of the Unit with the students. Get students to notice how the "S-like" pronunciation of S is used when there is an unvoiced sound (P, K, T, etc) before it, and how the "Z-like" pronunciation of S is used when there is a voiced sound (G, N, L, D, M, etc.) before it. Some students might struggle with how similar the two sounds are, but lots of practice should get them used to them. To help students differentiate between the two sounds, you can initially exaggerate your pronunciation of them. ("Caps... Sssss... Dogs... Zzzzz...")

Question 7

Teaching "Different Sounds of U / Y"

Manabiocean · Accepted Answer

Practice the different U/Y sounds and the words of the Unit with the students. With these different sounds of U/Y, there aren't clear rules as to which sounds to use when, so lots of practice is key -- students will just have to try and memorize them through lots of drilling.

Phonics Adventure 2

Phonics Adventure 1

Phonics Adventure 3