learning to read

by: Andrea Howell Chouhan

The ABC’s of Teaching Letters

What is the first step in teaching a child to read? Letters and sounds instruction is the key! In simple terms, for a child to learn to read independently and construct meaning from text – he needs to be able to identify words automatically. He can do this after he decodes unknown words. In order to reach this point, children have to first learn the 44 speech sounds of letters and more than 100 spellings that are made. Therefore, a child must first be able to identify letter names and then be able to produce letter sounds. Then, he will be ready to read! The next step is to implement a carefully planned and systematic presentation of explicit letter/sound teaching.

Which Letters Should Be Taught First?

The hardest question for researchers and professionals to answer is – “What order should the letters be taught?” Although there is not one universal answer to this question, there is great data to give professionals guidance in creating and/or implementing the necessary systematic order of instruction. Teachers everywhere successfully teach children to read. Children also learn differently. Quite honestly, there is no wrong order to teach letters. Many teachers follow the curriculum, which determines the letter order.

When deciding the order to teach the letters, please keep in mind what some research says.

What Does Research Say?

Some letters are harder to learn than others: U, Q, V
The following letters are most well-known by children, even if they have not been taught them: O, A, B
Children are most likely to learn the first letter of a their name more easily and quickly
Teach the letters in an order that allows a child to form many words with them (for example: C, M, A, T)
Begin with letters that make “simple sounds” that are easiest to stretch out and are easier to blend: M, S, F, R, N, L
Teach new sounds in small steps
Review previously taught letters and sounds
Introduce commonly encountered sounds before the infrequent sounds: For example, “A” occurs more commonly than “Q” or “V.”
Teach the letters that occur more frequently in most words. The most commonly occurring letters are: E, T, A, I, N, O, S, H, R, D, L, C
Introduce vowels early. A child must know the vowel sounds, in order to make and read words.
It is suggested to teach graphemes together, like C and H, C and K, T and H
Alphabetic order is not ideal because it does not address the needs listed above
Do not pair and teach together letters that are auditorily and/or visually similar: E, I and D, B
Introduce some continuous sounds early: M, S
One study suggests introducing lower case letters first, unless upper case letters are similar in shape: (Similar: S, s, U, u, W, w; Dissimilar: R, r, T, t, F, f) Note: I have always taught capital and lowercase at the same time: Ss, Rr, Tt, so I do not disagree with this study, I myself and just unfamiliar with its effectiveness
Do not teach similar looking letters together: b, d, p, q
Introducing letters in isolation may confuse some children about the purpose of letters in relation to words and reading
Some letters take longer to visually discriminate: t, a, e, o, s, i

Suggested Letter Order Instruction

As a teacher, I always used the “letter order” sequence that was outlined by my school. I wondered what reasonings were behind teaching letters in a certain way. So, I set out and discovered that research proves that there are various effective methods for teaching letters in a systematic sequence. Below are the compilations of my finding. The last column is what I created based on the feedback that I received from other educators who used each of these systems.

Letter Order Suggestions


Public School in Houston (No More Letter of the Week Method by P. Lusche)	Montessori Method (Montessori Matters by M. Carinato et.al)	Another Montessori Method (How to Raise an Amazing Child the Montessori Way by T. Seldin)	Right Track Reading (by M. Gagen)	Combined Curriculums (Montessori & No More Letter of the Week)
Letters Overview	s, m, t, a, p, f, c	c, m, a, t	c, m, a, t	Letters Overview and 1^st letter of childs name
Letters Overview and 1^st letter of childs name	r, b, l, I, g, n, d	s, r, i, p	s, f, r. n	Capital to Lowercase comparisons
Pp, Aa	h, j, k, w, o, u, v	b, f, o, g	n, l, e, b	Mm, Aa, Tt, Ss, Cc
Bb, Ll	y, z, x, q, e	h, j, u, l	i, h, d, g	Rr, Ii, Pp, Ff, Bb
Ss, Hh		d, w, e, n	o, k, p, j	Ll, Oo, Gg, Nn, Dd
Nn, Ww		k, q, v, x, y, z	q, u, x	Hh, Jj, Uu, Qq, Ee
Ee, Cc			v, w, y, z	Vv, Ww, Yy, Kk, Xx, Zz
Qq, Uu
Rr, Yy
Gg, Zz
Dd, Oo
Ii, Jj
Ff, Xx
Vv, Kk

Note: The first column shows how my school in Houston taught the letters. “No More Letter of the Week” was one resource, however, the letter order above was created by my school district.

The many resources below provide a plethora of suggestions for the sequence of teaching letters and sounds. So, glean what you will and happy teaching!

Sources:

http://www.readingrockets.org/blog/53818/?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=Hootsuite&utm_campaign=RRSocialMedia

http://livingmontessorinow.com/2010/09/07/in-what-order-should-you-introduce-letters-to-your-preschooler/

http://www.righttrackreading.com/teachphonemiccode.html

http://reading.uoregon.edu/big_ideas/au/au_programs.php

http://www.ciera.org/library/presos/2001/2001nrc/01nrcstahl/01nrcsta.pdf

http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/104134/chapters/phonics-and-word-study.aspx

Should Letter Sounds be Taught with Letter Names? (skypingreadingtutor.com)
What is the Best Website to Teach the Alphabet? (skypingreadingtutor.com)
How to Practice Preschool Letter and Name Writing (education.com)

As an educator and Master teacher, I always knew that writing and reading were inter-connected. Actually there are so many things that us educators already “know.” Over the past decade, though, research proves that so many of the things that we already “knew” are actually true. Here is some research to back up the fact that by becoming a better writer, you will become better at reading.

1. Writing forces a child to focus on forming letters correctly.
2. When children are learning and practicing writing words, messages and stories, they are also learning to read those words in their own writing and in books.
3. Writing left to right instills that practice and knowledge of reading left to right.
4. As simple as it sounds – reading and writing mutually reinforce each other!
5. Paraphrasing things on paper, like vocabulary word definitions or what was just read, actually helps increase Reading Comprehension!
6. When a child sounds out words when he writes, he is actually developing phonemic awareness at the same time. Phonemic awareness is a pre-reading skill!

Sources:
http://sturgeonl.hubpages.com/hub/Teach-Children-Writing-to-Boost-Reading-Skills
http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/search/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=ED278940&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=ED278940
http://www.nwp.org/cs/public/print/resource/329