Note: Download a PDF version at WordsAhead.com
A. SENSORY INPUT
In language patterning for human brains, sound input precedes visual input. Before birth, it has been shown that the mature fetus can discriminate between sounds in the environment. Nonetheless, language arts protocols in classrooms will commonly show an implicit bias in favor of visual information, which is easily observable for any given activity. Does your focus go first to what is SEEN (as in “see-say”)? Or to auditory data (as in heard, said, spelled, read)?
Learning always benefits from multi-sensory input, but all commercial products based on Aa-Bb-Cc alphabet letters will necessarily manifest a visual bias. Common A-B-C products include not only the colorful alphabet displays in classrooms, but also children’s television shows with dancing letters, learn-to-read books and educational toys. Phonics programs themselves, although claiming to bring the sounds of language front and center, may become visual-based experiences.
A Letters-to-Sound approach < visual > defaults to what is SEEN:
• Students are taught to read by sounding-out (decoding) letters.
• Students are taught that letters make sounds. What does this letter say?
• Sounds have “letter” names, ie. Short-Aa, Long-Aa, Hard-Cc, Soft-Cc, etc.
• Practice is predominantly via workbook pages.
But parents, tutors, teachers and tablets can reorganize their minds/algorithms to track a path of sound-parsing wherein precise pronunciation becomes the pivotal portal for learning. Sound-spelling will become an activity of utmost importance.
A Sounds-to-Letters approach < auditory > defaults to what is HEARD.:
• Students will be taught that letters manifest pre-existing speech sounds.
• Using the noncommercial WordsAhead materials, sounds are given code-names
based on their phonetic placement on a Sound Map.
• Practice will involve hearing individual sound-units contained in syllables and words.
• Students will be taught to entone each sound before asking “How do I spell-out
these sounds?” Pronunciation practice will come before spelling, and
spelling before both reading and creative writing.
B. CRUCIAL DATA-SETS
Are you able to “geyser-up” your imagination and creativity so the following information becomes “non-trivial”? Provide a sturdy infrastructure for all language arts activities with the following two auditory tasks for learners (alphabet letter names, phonemic discrimination) and two visual tasks (speech sound names, grapheme discrimination). Go for it!
(1) HEAR alphabet letter names
This data set is usually learned by singing the Alphabet Song, then by chanting alphabetical order. When you need to typeset the names of letters (different than printing the letters themselves) use the following:
“ayeee” for Letters Aa
“beee” for Letters Bb
“seee” for Letters Cc
“deee” for Letters Dd
“eee” for Letters Ee
“eff” for Letters Ff
"jeee” for Letters Gg
“ayeee-tch” for Letters Hh
“ah-eee” for Letters Ii
“jayeee” for Letters Jj
“kayeee” for Letters Kk
“el” for Letters Ll
“em” for Letters Mm
“en” for Letters Nn
“oh” for Letters Oo
“peee” for Letters Pp
“cue” for Letters Qq
“are” for Letters Rr
“ess” for Letters Ss
“teee” for Letters Tt
“you” for Letters Uu
“veee” for Letters Vv
“double-you” for Letters Ww
“ex” for Letters Xx
“wah-eee” for Letters Yy
“zeee” for Letters Zz
“ayeee” for Letters Aa
“beee” for Letters Bb
“seee” for Letters Cc
“deee” for Letters Dd
“eee” for Letters Ee
“eff” for Letters Ff
"jeee” for Letters Gg
“ayeee-tch” for Letters Hh
“ah-eee” for Letters Ii
“jayeee” for Letters Jj
“kayeee” for Letters Kk
“el” for Letters Ll
“em” for Letters Mm
“en” for Letters Nn
“oh” for Letters Oo
“peee” for Letters Pp
“cue” for Letters Qq
“are” for Letters Rr
“ess” for Letters Ss
“teee” for Letters Tt
“you” for Letters Uu
“veee” for Letters Vv
“double-you” for Letters Ww
“ex” for Letters Xx
“wah-eee” for Letters Yy
“zeee” for Letters Zz
(2) HEAR speech sounds (phonemes)
Use SOUND MAP at WordsAhead.com to teach all sound units.
Speech sounds are produced with either voiceless or voiced breath which is articulated using tongue, lips, teeth, etc. WordsAhead identifies 15 vowel sounds and 24 consonant sounds. Easy activities for hearing speech sounds include listening to rhyming words, singing the “Vowel Song” and parsing sound-units as shown at < cloudspelling.blogspot.com >.
Whenever an individual speech sound is to be articulated – as opposed to calling out that sound’s name – enclose the sound’s code within [brackets]: “Say this sound.”
Letters Mm are used to manifest only one sound: [C33]
If you blend [C23] and [V08], you will say the word “go.”
Hear four sounds in the word “build”: [C17] [V02] [C37] [C19]
What’s my word? [C26] [C38] [V07] [C25] My word is “thrive.”
Letters Ii may spell three sounds: [V02] “pig”; [V07] “hi”; [V10] “ski”
You won’t hear [C32] if Letters Hh are part of a vowel spelling pattern.
Examples: V03/ough bought; V06/aigh straight; V07/igh sigh;
V08/ough though; V11/augh taught; V13/ough bough
You may already be using other phonological awareness activities to help learners hear speech sounds.
(3) SEE speech sound names
According to whichever approach you choose, teach sound names.
For a visual-based Letters-to-Sounds approach, use Short-Aa Sound, Bb-Sound, Hard-Cc Sound, etc. along with other phonics terminology.
For an auditory-based Sounds-to-Letters approach, WordsAhead created an easy SOUND MAP to show coded speech sound names. Vowel Sounds (left side) are named V01 through V15. Consonant Sounds (right side) are named C16 through C39.
Each sound shows a sample sound-spelling. Example: Letters Pp for [C16]
Letters on the Sound Map are only hints; many other sound-spellings are used in English vocabulary words. Learners who are familiar with WordsAhead may prefer a SOUND MAP which shows no sample spellings. Young learners will become able to quickly point and call-out speech sounds names as easily as they are able to point and call-out letter names.
New names for sound-units shown on the SOUND MAP are meant to replace phonics language Short-Aa, Long-Aa, Hard-Cc, Soft-Cc, etc. Make it clear that ABCs are not Speech Sounds.
Sound Names will be typeset plainly, like this:
The word “go” has two sounds: [C23] [V08]
“Ceee-two-three” is how you pronounce C23; "ceee-twenty-three" is OK.
“Veee-oh-eight” is how you pronounce V08.
"Veee-one-five" is how you pronounce V15; "veee-fifteen" is OK.
"Ceee-one-nine" is how you pronounce C19; "ceee-nineteen" is OK.
"Ceee-three-nine" is how you pronounce C39; "ceee-thirty-nine" is OK.
"Veee-one-five" is how you pronounce V15; "veee-fifteen" is OK.
"Ceee-one-nine" is how you pronounce C19; "ceee-nineteen" is OK.
"Ceee-three-nine" is how you pronounce C39; "ceee-thirty-nine" is OK.
The sounds for “build” are [C17-V02-C37-C19].
“Ceee-one-seven” is how you pronounce C17; "ceee-seventeen" is OK.
“Veee-oh-two” is how you pronounce V02.
“Ceee-three-seven” is how you pronounce C37; "ceee-thirty-seven" is OK.
Point to these sounds on your Sound Map:
[C26-C38-V07-C25] What’s my word?
“Ceee-two-six” is how you pronounce C26; "ceee-twenty-six" is OK.
“Ceee-three-eight” is how you pronounce C38; "ceee-thirty-eight" is OK.
“Veee-oh-seven” is how you pronounce V07.
“Ceee-two-five” is how you pronounce C25; "ceee-twenty-five" is OK.
(4) SEE alphabet letters (graphemes)
Remember that sound-spellings will not be used whenever your lesson is simply for auditory discrimination.
Teach upper and lower case letters shown in Section A “Hear alphabet letter names.” Letters always manifest sound-units in Section B; it’s their job.
Teach upper and lower case letters shown in Section A “Hear alphabet letter names.” Letters always manifest sound-units in Section B; it’s their job.
A huge range of letter shapes and sizes are available. Whenever you refer to alphabet letters, preface with the words “Letter” or “Letters” and show both upper- and lower-case units whenever possible. Lists of grapheme(s) may be enclosed in slashes, like this: Letters /a, e, i, o, u/; Letters /A, E, I, O, U/.
Other examples when slashes may be helpful:
Letters /ui/ spell-out [V02] in the word build.
*Cloud-Spelling* uses Letter y for [V02] in the word gym.
Letters /i_e/ sometime represent [V02]: I live in California.
Letters /i_e/ sometime represent [V07]: The hills are alive.
C. EXPLICIT STRATEGIES FOR ENCODING SOUND-UNITS
Depending on your situation, display *CloudSpelling* using one of several options. In all cases, the sound-code (V01-C39) and letter-spelling (AaBbCc) will be inseparable. Learners benefit from knowing auditory/visual components simultaneously. Pronunciations will vary depending on a person’s native tongue and culture. Pronunciations listed here are common in Southern Californian.
(1) [Note: "toggle-up" typesetting was lost in blogger... sorry]
W or ds A h ea d’s “toggle-up” style will make vowel spellings obvious. Every vowel sound is voiced with strong duration. Sing them out loud!!
V01/a h a t
V01/a_e d a nc e
V01/ai pl ai d
V01/au l au gh
V02/i sh i p
V02/i_e g i v e
V02/ie_e s ie v e
V02/e pr e tty
V02/ee b ee n
V02/ei forf ei t
V02/o w o men
V02/u b u sy
V02/ui b ui ld
V02/y g y m
V03/o d o t
V03/o_e g o n e
V03/oa br oa d
V03/ou c ou gh
V03/ough th ough t
V03/ow kn ow ledge
V04/u c u p
V04/u_e j u dg e
V04/e th e
V04/a a bout
V04/o o f
V04/oe d oe s
V04/o_e l o v e
V04/oo fl oo d
V04/ou y ou ng
V04/o_ue t o ng ue
V05/e b e ll
V05/e_e e ls e
V05/ea h ea d
V05/a a ny
V05/ai s ai d
V05/ay s ay s
V05/ie fr ie nd
V05/u b u ry
V05/ue g ue ss
V06/a_e c a n e
V06/a b a by
V06/ai ai r
V06/ai_e r ai s e
V06/ay d ay
V06/e_e th e r e
V06/ea w ea r
V06/ei th ei r
V06/eigh eigh t
V06/ei_e b ei g e
V06/ey th ey
V07/i_e k i t e
V07/i ch i ld
V07/ie d ie
V07/ia tr ia l
V07/ig s ig n
V07/igh l igh t
V07/uy b uy
V07/eye eye
V07/y tr y
V07/y_e t y p e
V08/o_e c o n e
V08/o g o
V08/oe t oe
V08/oa oa t
V08/oa_e c oa rs e
V08/oh oh
V08/oo d oo r
V08/oo_e M oo r e
V08/ou f ou r
V08/ou_e c ou rs e
V08/o_ue v o g ue
V08/ough th ough
V08/ow ow n
V08/owe owe
V08/eau b eau
V08/eo G eo r • gia (“toggle-up” first syllable only)
V08/eo_e G eo rg e
V08/ew s ew
V08/a w a rn
V08/aw dr aw • er (first syllable only)
V09/u_e t u b e
C39V09/u_e u se
V09/u tr u th
C39V09/u h u man
V09/ue bl ue
C39V09/ue val ue
V09/ui s ui t
V09/ui_e j ui c e
C39V09/eau b eau ty
V09/ew ch ew
C39V09/ew f ew
V09/o d o
V09/o_e m o v e
V09/oe sh oe
V09/oo t oo
V09/ou y ou
V09/ough thr ough
V10/ee f ee t
V10/ee_e ch ee s e
V10/e m e
V10/e_e e v e
V10/ea t ea ch
V10/ea_e p ea c e
V10/ei w ei rd
V10/eo p eo ple
V10/ey k ey
V10/ie th ie f
V10/ie_e p ie c e
V10/y an y
V11/a b a ll
V11/a_e a r e
V11/au f au lt
V11/au_e p au s e
V11/augh c augh t
V11/aw s aw
V11/awe awe
V11/e e nsemble
V11/ea h ea rt
V11/ua g ua rd
V12/oo h oo k
V12/o w o man
V12/ou c ou ld
V12/u p u sh
V13/ow d ow n
V13/ow_e dr ow s e
V13/ou ou t
V13/ou_e h ou s e
V13/ough b ough
V13/hou hou r
V14/oy b oy
V14/oi j oi n
V14/oi_e ch oi c e
V15/ir g ir l
V15/ear ear th
V15/er h er
V15/er_e n er v e
V15/ere w ere
V15/or w or k
V15/or_e w or s e
V15/orr w orr y
V15/our c our age
V15/ur h ur t
C39V15/ur f ur y
V15/urr p urr
V15/ure s ure
C39V15/ur p ure
Sound-spelling lists might use underlining for emphasis:
C22/c cat
C22/cc soccer
C22/ck pack
C22/ch school
C22/k kiss
C22/lk chalk
C22/qu liquor
For emergent learners, use upper-case larger letters:
C23/G V08/O = GO
C17/B V02/UI C37/L C19/D = BUILD
C26/TH C38/R V07/I_E C25/V = THRIVE
See more at < cloudspelling.blogspot.com >
Word-families are typeset using sound names:
Call this the [V03] Family instead of “o family” or “Letter /o/ set”:
pop, bob, tot, cock, mom, etc.
Call this the [V01+C34] Family instead of “-an family” or “/an/ set”:
pan, plan, ban, tan, Dan, Jan, can, clan, fan, van, than, Stan, man, Nan, ran, etc.
D. SAMPLE EXERCISES
[Note: Formatting for these lists are better in PDF]
(1) Substitute the Initial Sound
(1) Substitute the Initial Sound
C16/p pack... change to C17/b back
C18/t trip... change to C19/d drip
C20/ch chew... change to C21/j Jew
C22/c coat... change to C23/g goat
C24/f face... change to C25/v vase
C26/th thigh... change to C27/th thy
C28/s sue... change to C29/z zoo
C30/sh shop... change to C32/h hop
C33/m mail... change to C34/n nail
C36/w weed... change to C37/l lead
C38/r rude... change to C39/y you’d
(2) Find Words with Split-Spelling Letter /Ee/
Letter /Ee/ is always part of the vowel-spelling, not /-ce/, /-ge/, etc.
cVc have C32/h V01/a_e C25/v
cVc give C23/g V02/i_e C25/v
cVc gone C23/g V03/o_e C34/n
cVc love C37/l V04/o_e C25/v
cVccc selves C28/s V05/e_e C37/l C25/v C29/s
cVc make C33/m V06/a_e C22/k
cVc write C38/wr V07/i_e C18/t
cVc vote C25/v V08/o_e C18/t
ccVc prune C16/p C28/r V09/u_e C34/n
cVc these C27/th V10/e_e C29/s
cVcc false C24/f V11/a_e C37/l C28/s
cVcc pulse C16/p V12/u_e C37/l C28/s
cVc house C32/h V13/ou_e C28/s
cVc noise C34/n V14/oi_e C29/s
cVc purse C16/p V15/ur_e C28/s
(3) Substitute Final Sounds
C16/p flap... change to C17/b flab
C18/t/ bit... change to C19/d bid
C20/tch etch... change to C21/dg edge
C22/ck lock... change to C23/g log
C24/ff luff... change to C25/v love
C26/th teeth... change to C27/th teethe
C28/c face... change to C29/z faze
C30/sh ash... change to C22+C28/x ax
C33/m them... change to C34/n then
C34/n win... change to C35/ng wing
C37/ll all... change to C38/r are
(4) Find Words Ending with Letters /-le/
Note: V12/e and C37/l are written in reverse.
apple V01/a • C16/pp V12C37/~le “pull”
little C37/l V02/i • C18/tt V12C37/~le “tull”
boggle C17/b V03/o • C23/gg V12C37/~le “gull”
subtle C28/s V04/u • C18/bt V12C37/~le “tull”
settle C28/s V04/e • V12C37/~le “tull”
able V06/a • C17/b V12C37/~le “bull”
idle V07/i • C19/d V12C37/~le “dull”
ogle V08/o • C23/g V12C37/~le “gull”
Google C23/g V09/oo • C23/g V12C37/~le “gull”
beetle C17/b V10/ee • C18/t V12C37/~le “tull”
waddle C36/w V11/a • C19/dd V12C37/~le “dull”
hurdle C32/h V15/ur • C19/d V12C37/~le “dull”
(5) Syllabification
Divide whole words into separate syllables according to what is HEARD (SOUND UNITS), not according to base words. Do not split a double-letter spelling, because the sound is not stuttered.
a • bout V cVc
ha • ppen cV cVc
rea • ding cV cVc
cla • pping ccV cVc
stre • tching cccV cVc
va • ca • tion cV cV cVc
te • le • phone cV cV cVc
se • ttle • ment cV cVc cVcc
bro • cco • li ccV cV cV
a • lli • ga • tor V cV cV cV
e • le • va • tor V cV cV cV
i • llu • stra • tor V cV cccV cV
e • du • ca • tion V cV cV cVc
Mi • ssi • ssi • ppi cV cV cV cV
te • le • vi • sion cV cV cV cVc
ma • the • ma • tics cV cV cV cVcc
dic • tio • na • ry cVc cV cV cV
e • lec • tri • ci • ty V cVc ccV cV cV
per • so • na • li • ty cV cV cV cV cV
re • fri • ger • a • tor cV ccV cV V cV
mul • ti • pli • ca • tion cVc cV ccV cV cVc
re • spon • si • bi • li • ty cV ccVc cV cV cV cV
(6) Affixes Shown in Word Lists –
Use either punctuation, (parentheses) or {brackets}
When a word ending Letter E-e needs a suffix /-ed/ or /-es/, leave the base word’s Letter E-e and add the last letter:
care{d} phone{d} tune{d} care{s} phone{s} tune{s}
Show how Letter E-e is dropped before adding the suffix /-es/ when pronounced [V05] [C29]:
ace ac(-)(es) aces
price pric(-)(es) prices
rose ros(-)(es) roses
choose choos(-)(es) chooses
piece piec(-)(es) pieces
Show how Letter E-e is dropped before adding the suffix:
judge judg(-)(ment) judgment
fame fam(-)(ous) famous
hike hik(-)(ing) hiking
code cod(-)(ify) codify
vote vot(-)(er) voter
refuge refug(-)(ee) refugee
interfere interfer(-)(ing) interfering
pure pur(-)(ification) purification
Show how Letter Y-y is swapped for Letter I-i before adding a suffix:
carry carr(-)(i)(ed) carried
silly sill(-)(i)(est) silliest
copy cop(-)(i)(er) copier
study stud(-)(i)(ous) studious
cherry cherr(-)(i)(es) cherries
cry cr(-)(i)(ed) cried
Show when the last letter is doubled before adding the suffix:
pat pat(t)(ing) patting
dim dim(m)(er) dimmer
hot hot(t)(est) hottest
fun fun(n)(y) funny
bet bet(t)(er) better
Use either (parentheses) or {brackets} to show prefixes:
{a}typical, {ab}normal, {acro}phobia, {anti}social, {be}grudge, {bi}weekly,
{bio}fuel, {counter}intelligence, {de}compose, {demo}graphic, {dis}respect, {dys}functional,
{endo}scope, {equi}lateral, {ex}change, {extra}ordinary, {fore}see, {homo}phone,
{hyper}tension, {hypo}tension, {im}possible, {infra}structure, {inter}office, {intra}venous,
{mal}function, {mega}byte, {meta}cognition, {micro}scope, {mis}interpret, {mono}rail,
{multi}purpose, {neo}classic, {non}fat, {omni}present, {ortho}scope, {para}professional,
{peri}scope, {poly}theist, {post}script, {pre}determine, {pro}active, {proto}type, {quasi}judicial,
{re}name, {retro}active, {semi}colon, {sub}standard, {super}natural, {syn}thesis,
{tele}phone, {trans}oceanic, {tri}angle, {ultra}soft, {un}happy, {under}wear, {uni}form
Use either (parentheses) or {brackets} to show suffixes:
kiss{able}, accept{ance}, free{dom}, pay{ee}, pray{ed}, toast{ed}, teach{er}, smart{est}, color{ful}, sing{ing}, fool{ish}, patriot{ism}, moral{ist}, real{ize}, capital{ization}, effort{less}, soft{ly}, govern{ment}, counsel{or}, danger{ous}, drive{s}, awe{some}
E. OBSOLETE TERMINOLOGY
When you choose and use *CloudSpelling*'s heard, said, spelled, read, you will not need to use the following terminology:
a letter’s “sound” (letters don’t make sounds; letters spell sounds)
bossy-r
closed syllable
decodable words (all words are encodable and decodable)
digraph
hard sound
letter pairs
letter teams
letter-sound correspondences
long sound
Magic-e
non-phonetic words
open syllable
phonic symbol
r-controlled vowel
schwa
short sound
sight words
silent letters, specifically “silent-e”
soft sound
sounding-out words
spelling-sound correspondences
the sound of a letter
unlearnable
