How to Teach Phonics | Page 9

did.") Put your right hand in. (not "put chure") --you, and you, and you. (an' Jew.) Father will meet you (meat chew) at the station. The leaves turned to red and gold. (red Dan gold) "No matter what you hear, (what chew) no matter what you see, Raggylug, don't you move." (don't chew) Tender flowers come forth to greet her. (gree-ter) It is not at all (a-tall) like the mother bird.
Have the pupils practice such exercises as:--
Did you? Don't you? Would you? Should you? Could you? (Not "did Jew," "don't chew" etc.) Where shall I meet you? (not meat chew) When shall I meet you? She sells sea shells.
Pupils usually have difficulty with words ending in sts, dth, pth. Lists of such words should be drilled upon:--
Nests, vests, posts, hosts, boasts, fists, mists, frosts, length, breadth, depth.
"He thrusts his fists against the posts, And still insists he sees the ghosts."
(If necessary show the pupils how to adjust the vocal organs to make the different sounds.)
m, n, ng (nasal)
p, b, w, m (lips) f, v (lips and teeth) t, d, s, z, n (tongue and hard palate.) j, ch, (tongue and hard palate-back) k, g, ng (tongue and soft palate.) y, l (tongue, hard palate and soft palate.) p, b, d, t, j, k, h, g, ch (momentary) w, f, v, s, l, r, y, th, sh (continuous)
The majority of children learn the sounds by imitation and repetition. The above is to help the teacher in giving the sounds correctly.

SECOND YEAR

_I. Review Single and Blended Consonants, Digraphs, Short and Long Vowels, and All Phonograms._

II. Continue Pronouncing Exercises, Teaching New Phonograms.
Continue word study by the analytic-synthetic process. These phonic drills will deal largely with the new words that occur in the daily reading lessons.

III. Syllabication.
In mastering the pronunciation of new words, pupils should acquire the habit of analyzing them into syllables.
The ear must be trained to hear syllables, they should be _separately pronounced, and clearly imaged_. This makes for effective spelling later. Most of the difficulties in spelling are removed when the habit of breaking up a complex word into its elements is acquired.
re mem ber ther mom e ter sep a rate in de pen dence dan de lion mul ti pli ca tion beau ti ful re frig er a tor
IV. Teach the Long Vowel Sounds.
We have found that the short vowels predominate in the English language. The long vowel sounds come next in frequency. When the child has mastered the letters and combinations representing these two sounds, he is able to recognize a large majority of the phonetic words in our language.
Phonetic words follow definite rules of pronunciation. These rules are not to be formally taught in the first and second years, but pointed out by examples, so that the visual and auditory image may be associated.
To illustrate: When there are two or more vowels in a word of one syllable, the first vowel is long, and the last silent, as: came, leaf, coat, rain.
"When there is one vowel in the word and it is the last, it is long," as: me, he, fly.
All vowels are short unless modified by position.
Have the children notice the effect of final "e" upon some of their short vowel words. These lists will furnish good pronunciation drills.
mat mate bit bite tap tape pan pane rod rode fad fade fat fate hat hate mad made can cane pin pine rat rate not note rob robe pet Pete man mane din dine dim dime cap cape fin fine spin spine hid hide mop mope kit kite hop hope plum plume rip ripe tub tube cub cube cut cute tun tune
Call attention to the vowel digraphs in the same way: ea, ai, oa, ay.
deaf seat bean neat leaves meat heat peach lean please eagle clean eat seam teach mean stream glean read squeal wean
While there are exceptions, as in the words "head" and "bread," the digraph "ea" has the sound of long "e" in nearly three-fourths of the words in which it occurs and should be so taught. The visual image "ea" should call up the auditory image of long "e." When the child meets the exceptions the context must be relied on to aid him.
Likewise in the following list, the new fact to be taught is the digraph "ai" having the long sound of "a." Blending the initial and final consonants with this, the pupil pronounces the new list of words without further aid.
rain chain faith daisy wait main paint daily nail brain faint plainly pail drain snail waist pain claim frail complain pain train praise sailor aim plain quail raise maid braid sprain trail mail
The digraph "oa" and "ay" may be taught with equal ease the first year. There is no reason for deferring them; they should be taught as soon as the children