Early Phonics - Magnetic Letter Game

When a child looks at a word, he or she will visually recognize a part of the word and put it together with the way the word is used in the context of the sentence. Here are 3 easy words that will take only one middle sound. We will change the beginning letter first and make a new word. We will use the short A sound as the medial sound.

SAY "'A'...AS IN 'CAT'. THIS IS THE SHORT SOUND OF A."

Child

BAG....CHANGE FIRST LETTER TO T...TAG

TAG...CHANGE THE FIRST LETTER TO S...SAG

SAY, "YOU KNOW 'BAG', NOW LET'S CHANGE THE LAST LETTER."

BAG...CHANGE THE LAST LETTER TO..T...BAT. continue changing the last letter or the first letter.

You may take the other vowels and change the beginning and ending letter to make new words.
Write the new words on the back of an old business card or an index card and place in an envelope marked, "My New Words". You can keep a list of all new words on the refrigerator, with a star, to reward your child for making new words.

As your new reader becomes familiar with words made with vowel sounds (long, sounds like the letter, or short sounds) you may introduce larger pieces of words.
Sometimes they are called, "Chunks".

Here is a list of "chunks" that you can use with an older reader. When you use magnetic letters and change the end of a word, or the root of the word, and also change the first letter or last letter, you will create a phonogram, or rhyming word. They are sometimes called, "word families" or "spelling patterns. Starting with A, put each letter in front of the chunk and see if it makes a word. Use a dictionary to confirm that you have made a word, or for the definition. For Example, ( ale- bale, dale, gale, kale, male, pale, sale, tale)

ade, ace, air, ain, ale, aught, ave, ead, ealth, east, eek, eeze, est, ick, ight, ill, inch, ode. omp, ool, oke, uge, ube,
unch, um (these are just a few)

Using magnetic letters to help your reader learn about words, and their sounds and patterns, will help them memorize the middle of the words. They will become more fluent readers. Your child's eyes will begin to recognize the pattern made with the magnetic letters and will soon will want to take out the letters to build more words. To keep it simple, use a metallic cookie sheet for the magnetic letters, the refrigerator, or any other flat surface that is accessible. You both can build new words anytime. Make sure your child reads the word for you, and uses it in short sentence. Have fun!

Early Phonics - Magnetic Letter Game

Mary D. Bogin is a 30 year veteran teacher. Integrating art, reading, and writing has been her method of teaching literacy. Visit http://www.learntoreadsite.com for more great methods on teaching reading to children and adults.