Another fun way to teach your student to read harder words is to teach them the Magic E Song found here. When your student understands that the 'e' is silent at the end of the word, they are able to read more words. All they need to remember is that the first vowel in the word says it's name (or long vowel sound) and the e is silent. Here are some words you could practice with your student:
bake
take
care
fade
wave
bike
like
bite
dive
hive
cove
rode
yoke
home
hope
mule
rule
As a teacher, when I introduced the Magic E, I always made a wand by using a popsicle stick and gluing a small paper 'e' on the end of it. We would use the wand to point to words in books that had the Magic E. My students loved using the wand and applying what they learned. I hope your student enjoys it too!
As a teacher, I noticed that vowel sounds were particularly more difficult for my students to learn than the other letter sounds. Especially the 'e' and 'i' sounds. When I taught students how to read a word with two vowels side by side, I used the following familiar phrase: "When two vowels go walking, the first vowel does the talking." I used this phrase countless times during the year to help my students read words with two vowels. Here is a list of 20 words that apply to the rule:
1. hail
2. tail
3. fail
4. pail
5. sail
6. team
7. bean
8. heat
9. seat
10. beat
11. goat
12. goal
13. foam
14. roam
15. coat
16. soap
17. toe
18. foe
19. due
20. sue
Words that have ee also apply to this rule (like feet, reel, wheel, etc.) You can find a great movie that teaches this very concept on the website www.starfall.com. Just click here to see it! Have fun teaching your student this great way to read words with vowels!
Fry phrases are phrases that children see a lot in their reading. When students know these simple phrases they learn to read quicker and more confidently.
Don't get overwhelmed with the rather long list of Fry Phrases. Just focus on a couple of phrases a week to start off. Your student will get faster and better at reading the phrases the more you practice together.
You can find a list of Fry Phrases here. I would recommend making the Fry Phrases into flashcards. After your student has mastered about ten of them, time your student to see how quickly they can read them. Have fun watching your student become a fluent reader.
Are you looking for more word lists to help your student become a fabulous reader? Check out some of the following:
1. HIGH FREQUENCY SIGHT WORDS- This is a list that is made up of words that are frequently seen in printed texts. Obviously learning these words will help your student become a better reader. Check out this website to see the lists all through the elementary grades. Start with the simple Kindergarten list and then go on to the first grade one.
2. FRY WORDS- These words are most commonly used in reading, writing, and spelling.
Students are expected to read the word within 3 seconds once they have
seen it. Mastery of fry words leads to reading success in the upper grades. Take a look at the following website to find a
list of fry words: http://www.uniqueteachingresources.com/Fry-1000-Instant-Words.html.
3. DOLCH WORDS- This list contains 220 words that are found in children's books (Preschool-3rd grade). Students are expected to quickly recognize each word on the list in order to gain reading fluency. Check out the list here.
These lists overlap of course, so click on the links and see which one you like the best. Don't get overwhelmed with all of the words. Most of them your student has already mastered!
What are Fry Words? Fry Words are words most commonly used in reading, writing, and spelling. Students are expected to read the word within 3 seconds once they have seen it. So, much like sight words, your student should see the word and just know what it says. Mastery of fry words leads to reading success in the upper grades.
Once your student has learned the sounds, sight words and word families, you could start introducing your student to fry words. Take a look at the following website to find a list of fry words: http://www.uniqueteachingresources.com/Fry-1000-Instant-Words.html.
Don't get overwhelmed with the amount of fry words there are. Many of the words listed are sight words your student already knows. The list is just a good way to keep your child progressing to become a fluent reader with a great sight word vocabulary.
A couple days ago I gave you a list of good three letter words
to practice with your student. Today I'll be adding good four letter
words to practice. Make sure your student has mastered three letter words
before going on to four. You don't want to overwhelm them!
My list includes only words with short vowel sounds that
are extremely simple to sound out. Try making flashcards with these twenty
words and see how your student does. Enjoy practicing!
Short a:
fast
glad
clap
flat
Short e:
tent
went
best
west
Short i:
grin
spin
flip
spit
Short o:
frog
drop
spot
trot
Short u:
jump
plug
slug
spun
Yesterday I gave you a list of good two letter words to practice with your student. Today I'll be adding good three letter words to practice. Make sure your student has mastered two letter words before going on to three. You don't want to overwhelm them! They will be reading books in no time.
My list includes only words with short vowel sounds that are extremely simple to sound out. Try making flashcards out of these words and see how your student does. Enjoy practicing!
Short a:
1. pan
2. sat
3. ham
4. dad
5. cap
Short e:
1. pet
2. hen
3. set
4. hen
5. men
Short i:
1. hit
2. fin
3. kid
4. zip
5. win
Short o:
1. lot
2. mom
3. top
4. dog
5. mop
Short u:
1. tub
2. bug
3. fun
4. rug
5. sun
By now your student knows ALL 26 letter sounds, or close to it. Begin teaching them how to read two letter words. You might try making flashcards of these short words. This a great way to help them gain some confidence and start on their path to success.
Here is a list of 15 two letter words that are easy to sound out. Have fun making flashcards for your student and practicing these simple words!
1. at
2. am
3. an
4. as
5. ax
6. Ed
7. if
8. in
9. is
10. it
11. of
12. on
13. um
14. up
15. us
You have been reviewing letter sounds with your student for almost 2 whole months now. At this point your student has mastered many letter sounds. Make a list of the letter sounds they know, and have them start sounding out words that contain those letters.
For example, if your student knows the following letter sounds: A, B, C, F, P, S, T
You might have them practice sounding out the following words: bat, bats, cab, cabs, cap, caps, cat, cats, cast, fat, fast, past, pat, pats, sat, tap, taps, tab, tabs (maybe you can think of more).
Although these words are simple and short, these are the sounds your student may have mastered. Naturally these words will be pretty easy for your student to sound out since they already know the sounds. What a great way for your reader to gain some confidence and realize that they can actually read!
