Helping Early Learners Conquer Those Pesky Vowels
When young children have mastered the alphabet letter names and know more than half of the letter sounds, hooray! But with that sigh of relief comes the reteaching and reteaching of those pesky vowels! In fact, vowels are so pesky, they need to be revisited each grade-level because many reading errors of older students can still be traced to inconsistency of vowel mastery.
Vowels are most easily mastered if the reteaching is thorough and strategic. To begin this strategic teaching, review the alphabet letter that represents the vowel and the sound-card that you are using in your classroom or homeschool setting. If you don’t have defined sound-card you can check out ours in the product section below.
There are many great videos that are great and kids love them. Heidi's Songs is one of my favorites! She has been remastering all of her videos so if you think you know them, be sure to look again!
When revisiting the vowels, I recommend spending at least two days on each vowel for review. Because this is a review and all sounds have been previously introduced, be sure to talk about both the long and short sounds of the vowel.
Provide a visual and auditory (sound song) link for A E I O and U. There are many available, my favorite is Have Fun Teaching, my students LOVE it!
I also love the Talking Words Factory, kids really get the "glue" concept that is presented in this video.
Be sure to add further supports. Using hand cues to teach short vowel sounds adds a kinesthetic link. Teach your students these signs as each vowel is reviewed, then continue to use this cues as vowels are continually reviewed (I love how these signs actually match the mouth formation we will discuss below).
Teach children the linguistic characteristics of these vowels. I found that even though I was scared to take linguistics as an undergrad, and then terrified of advanced linguistics as part of my masters program, I loved these courses! I found the knowledge I gained to be crucial in regards to the effective teaching of reading. Here are the characteristics that one must know to better teach those pesky vowels.
The /a/ sound /æ/
The vowel is a jaw vowel made with the voice on. (Have students feel the sound made by touching their throat).
The /e/ sound /ɛ/
This vowel is a tongue vowel (it rises ever so slightly) made with the voice on. (Have students feel their mouth widen and tongue lift as they feel the sound made in their throat).
*The /a/ and /e/ are often confused by young children. Calling attention to tongue placement helps demonstrate differences.
The /i/ sound /ɪ/
This vowel is a tongue vowel (it rises ever so slightly) made with the voice on. (Have students feel the sound made by touching their throat and feel the tongue placement).
The /o/ sound /ɔ/
This vowel sound is a jaw vowel made with the voice on. (Have students feel the sound made by touching their throat and place hand under chin to feel the jaw drop).
The u sound /ʌ/
This vowel sound is a jaw vowel made with the voice on. (Have students feel the sound made by touching their throat, call attention to the differences between the o and u jaw placements).
Using mouth cards and hand signals as mentioned above help children learn the correct mouth placement as they practice and practice voicing vowel sounds. The differences become clear as students feel the changes that happen within their own mouth. Make sure to pass out mirrors so students will be able to visually see the differences.
Be patient. It takes a lot of listening and voicing practice to conquer these separate and distinct (pesky) vowel sounds. And remember that with all phonemic awareness practice, English Language Learners will get it, don't give up on them! But it will take added patience and practice as some of these sounds are not even made in their native tongue. Your patience and continued practice will pay off. As with all pre-reading skills, if added emphasis is placed on oral-phonemic practice until mastered, the transference to the written word will be very easy.
As you spend a week or two reviewing vowel sounds, you might want to check out our new vowel practice early learning essential. This packet also contains the sign language hand cards, mouth placement cards, vowel sound cards, and a vowel song poster and pocket chart cards. With the great low price of $4.00, you will be on your way to vowel sound victory.
Also available at Teachers Pay Teachers!
Help young readers easily learn vowel sounds using these tried and tested tips and activities!
Here are some other effective products to help your students master those pesky vowels.
Also available at TPT.
Product Description
CVC Word Work
Are your students like mine and need continual practice with CVC words? From my young kindergartners to the oldest of my reading intervention students, everyone benefits from practice with vowel consonant vowel patterns
The Contents of the CVC packet are all written in a scripted format for easy delivery.
Trace the Vowel Practicing Vowel Sounds
Flower Garden Sorting CVC Words
Memory Garden Reading and Matching Mixed Vowel Words
Watering Flowers Writing CVC Words
Whack-it Reading and Whacking CVC Words
Roll and Write Writing CVC Words
© Kathy Crane Kindergarten Kiosk
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Also available at Teachers Pay Teachers!
This 36 page workbook, Part 3 in a series, provides phonics practice that focuses on vowel sounds. Both short and long vowel sounds are featured. Six pages are devoted to each vowel. They include:
A short vowel identification page
A short vowel choose the word page
A long vowel identification page
A long vowel missing letter page
A match-up page featuring the short and long vowel sounds
A short vowel/long vowel identification page
The 10-part Phonics Prep Series is designed to meet the needs of early readers.
Also available at Teachers Pay Teachers!
Perfect Alphabet Posters Sound Cards to create that anchor for future phonics success.
Have you been looking for just the right alphabet posters sound cards? Well look no further. Kids love these catchy songs, sung to the tune “Miss Lucy Had a Baby.” Why are they all the same tune? Well that is the hook! You know how a song gets stuck in your head and it won’t go away? Kids quickly learn their letter sounds using this unique format.
This set of cards match our product
This companion packet contains alphabet and picture cards that are suitable for a word wall, nearly 200 high-frequency word cards, student size word wall cards, and a chant to promote letter-sound knowledge.
These cards will look great as your anchor alphabet displayed around the room or can be compiled as a book. Two fonts to choose from.
© Kathy Crane
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Also available at Teachers Pay Teachers!
One of the goals of the Common Core Strands of Phonics and Word Recognition is to help students use sounds to read words. Working with consonant and vowel sounds, Nonsense Words, CVC words, and high frequency words helps students move into reading.This packet includes lessons, games, and worksheets to help your students decode real and nonsense words.
Also available at Teachers Pay Teachers!
Product Description
Letters on the Bus
Vowels on the Bus
Review or introduce important vowel sounds using this catchy song sang to the familiar tune "The Wheels on The Bus!" As you do, practice handwriting formation of vowels (or letters) using these inviting workbook pages. Use individually or staple on the left to make a small "The Vowels on the Bus" or "The Letters on the Bus" workbook using the blackline cover provided.
© 2011 Kindergarten Kiosk
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Alphabet Center Dots and Push Pin Letters
Sticks and Curves Developmental Handwriting Worksheets
Alphabet Zoo Handwriting Worksheets
Lowercase Handwriting Worksheets
Uppercase Handwriting Worksheets
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Letter sound cards make great wall or anchor cards.
This adorable set of letter sounds cards will be just the anchor your early learners will need to learn their alphabet letters and sounds.
***These cards contain three decorative versions for choice. And an additional version that states the animal only, not the name.
*Some letters offer more than one choice as requested.
Also available at Teachers Pay Teachers!This packet includes six lessons to help your students understand the concept of phoneme isolation and fulfill Common Core Standard RF.K.2d.
All Kindergarten Kiosk Products are also available on Teachers Pay Teachers!
Also available at Teachers Pay Teachers!
Word Building CVC Cards: Includes 6 cards for each vowel.