Phonics Flash Cards

On a side note (from the last post), and in honor of my Mum's birthday, I thought another post about  the things my Mum has taught me was in order.

Mum tells me that she didn't try to teach my sister and I to read before school because she didn't want us to be bored. However, my sister began "reading" books at 4 months so clearly Mum's plan was not going to hold much weight with her. A strong memory of my sister and her reading skills is the annoying photographic memory she had/has. Staying in a cabin with my family during the christmas holidays, we would be in bunks on opposite sides of the room. I would ask Mum what a word in my book was and my clever sister would ask the sentence and proceed to tell me the not only the word I was struggling with but often the rest of the paragraph to boot! Grrr. Stupid intelligent sister.

I was never as fast a reader as my sister or my clever cousin, both of whom can devour a large book in one sitting, but I did have very good understanding. I probably didn't realise that until my reading tutor at Grad School (New Zealand Graduate School of Education) pointed out to me all the comprehension strategies I was using, both as the cause of, and as a remedy to, my slow reading speed. As a result, comprehension strategies are central to my reading tuition. I might blog about my programme at some stage.

Looking back, I don't really remember learning to read at school, but I do remember Mum teaching me phonics. It's a strategy I myself use daily now, and one I think was out of vogue when I in school.

I still remember Mum's little cardboard flashcards in the cupboard with the games and jigsaws. "ow as in cow" "ough as in tough". I jazzed those up last year and used them for a struggling student in my class. He went on to improve from reading level orange to level 2 texts (with support), over two years of progress in one year. Unsurprisingly he took out our school's 'Most Improved' trophy for the year and the movement definitely started when I introduced the cards. Go Mum!

I was so impressed with how well they worked. I was going to share the template but unfortunately my back-up disk failed. They are easy enough to make though. I just printed up squares and stuck them on to coloured card. That served two purposes; it stopped the cards being see through and it removed the hassle of making them match up perfectly with double sided printing.

I just made up cards for letter sound combinations he struggled with. I picked images that helped him recognise the sound and clue word. It worked great because if he couldn't remember the sound he remembered the picture and the word and that gave him the sound. Sometimes I had to get a little creative in my images. e.g. for "ould" I used the cover of "The Little Engine That Could" and I read him the story to help him remember and recognise the image.

He learnt them really quickly. Try it with your kids. I'd love to know how they respond.

Anyway, it just goes to show. Your Mum really is your first and best teacher. Thanks Mum.
Happy Birthday!