BLENDING SOUNDS

In order to prepare our students to read it is very important to work on blending sounds.
These are different ways to do it.

• THE CLASS READING MATCHINE. Choose 4 students in the class. Three of them will be the sounds of a word and the fourth one will be the reading matchine. The teacher gives each student a sound and they have to say their sound one after the other. The fourth student will put the three sounds together. You can also do it with the letters written down on a piece of paper that they will hold.

• Work on the COMPUTER. I enclose some of the games I have come across.

STARFALL

KIDS PHONICS

KENT NGfL

LETTERS AND SOUNDS

GETTING KIDS TO LISTEN TO THEIR MATES

Many times we ask our students to work in pairs and ask questions to their partener.
But afterwards we tend to ask individually what they think about it.

Let's make a twist in this practice. We want to make sure they use the language and at the same time we want them to get used to listen to their mates when they work in pairs.

I will give an example.

GROUPING:   In pairs.

HOW TO DEVELOP THE ACTIVITY:
Ask your partener "What's his/her favourite day of the week and why"
Give them 2' to practise.

CHECKING: Ask the students about their parteners, not about themselves.

First time you do it may be difficult for them but if you try 2 or 3 times you will be training them to listen to their mates, asking for a purpose, and thinking of other people instead of themselves.