Whack the Word (or phonogram, or whatever!)

A friend of a friend (FoF)who is a remedial teacher in a local school, and also does private tutoring has taught me a few great tricks of the trade - games. Lots of fun, wild and whacky ones.

She teaches children to read using the original Spalding method. This was introduced by Romalda Bishop Spalding, whose book The Writing Road to Reading I have on my shelf. I remember my mum looking into it when I was little. She completed a Spalding course, but I'm not sure what became of it. It was to help some of us with our reading, I know that much.

Anyway FoF was saying some of the elite schools in Sydney where she used to work would only allow those who utilised the Spalding method were admitted to teach little ones to read. She is so passionate about the phonics system, and sees its benefits over and above the sight word method for both spelling and reading. She has been asked to do remedial work in the school to help those who are struggling with the sight word method.

I use LEM phonics to teach reading, which is based on the Spalding system.
To try to memorise these phonograms, FoF recommended a number of games, one of them being Whack the Phonogram.

Today I stuck the latest four or five phonograms on the wall. Then I grabbed a new, clean fly swot, called out the phonogram, and Possum whacked the correct phonograms.

We love it! What we love, we learn, really well!

Other games she uses are:
Brain Beans (jelly beans for great work)
Tongue Twisting Words
Snakes and Ladders (with phonograms)

The key is to keep the game short, and stop whilst the children are still having a GREAT time. Hey, this sounds familiar! Its a bit like reading only one chapter at a time, and resist the temptation to continue, even when the children are begging for more!

I have found this 'keep it short, keep it fun' method invaluable in the last few weeks in particular.

And from the depths of my memory, I hear my cousin, a wonderful infants and primary school teacher, saying always stop the game while they are having fun.

I find I can't wait for the next chapter of a book, using this method. It works for me. It works for the children, too!

PS I must remember to give the children a five minute warning as to when the game will end, to ease any frustration. It wouldn't be right to finish up without sufficient warning. I suppose it's to prepare them emotionally that the end is near! (Thanks Growing Kids God's Way!)