Blends-Again!

Please feel free to repost- but would you please link back to me : )

http://www.memosfromamultisensoryteacher.com/

Wow- it has been awhile since I have posted.  There has been a lot going on and I could not find time to get my posts up.  But I have been taking pictures and videos of the happenings in class to share with my blog friends.   So as we are winding the school year, we have been doing a lot of review.  Blends (initial and final) are still bugaboos for some of my kiddos.  

For those of you familiar with Orton-Gillingham, you have probably seen the "blending drill pack."  Well this was my little addition to the process.  I had posted earlier about adding small sticky notes in order to create a "button" for each sound that the student could "push" as they said the sound.  The above video is an example of how I would complete this activity.

For Parents- This is a GREAT review tool for the summer and easy to make on notecards.  

For Teachers- this is a GREAT and quick warm-up for a lesson.

For OG Tutors- I complete this right after my Visual and Auditory Drills.

I hope this is helpful.  I promise more to come-more often.  Thanks for your patience!

Candi : )

Blends....urgh!!!

 Hi Everyone!

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Thank you! In first grade we are learning to decode new words, building new reading and writing skills, and everything is going along smoothly until....you add initial and final blends.  The bug-a boo of many firsties! 

For my Orton tutors, teachers, parents, and friends I use the blending drill pack that you may have seen in training, at school, or for homework.

Those of you who are not familiar with the blending drill pack you can of course make these with colored notecards. Prior to practicing with students, place colored sticky tabs on the blend cards- one for each sound in the blend.

1. Pull a vowel and have the student say the long and short sound.
2. Pull a consonant and place it following the vowel.  Remind students the vowel will now be short    because it is "closed in" by a consonant (closed syllable).
3. Then have students "push the button" (sticky) for each consonant sound followed by the vowel and final consonant.
4.  Then have students slide two fingers underneath blending the whole syllable/word together a second time for a smooth read.
5.  Flip the blend card for a new word.
*Double check possible word combinations beforehand....sometimes a word combination might surprise you.*

You can do the same thing with final blends. You can also change the syllable type and vowel sound.
I have found this really helps students see the two (or more) sounds in the blend, and aids them in pulling them apart and putting them together again.  It is also helpful when they are reading a word in text with a blend....I will place a small dash under each consonant and they "push the button" with their pencil.

This exercise will also help when they go to spell words with blends.  Below is a picture of how I do this exercise in class.
(We label the vowels with dots, and consonants with c.) They always have to "swoop" back under the word to blend and read smoothly.
Happy Blending!  : ) Candi