How to Apply the Drills Below
These drills can be used in multiple ways depending on the age of children and how to make them fun with competition. All of these drills can be used for pretty much any level.
A.) Young Students: The "Best" student can play a fast simple active game throughout the drill... Ex (shoot a basketball, throw a dart, roll a dice for points, try to hit the teacher with a dodge ball...)
* If a student is not behaving appropriately, the teacher can write their name on the board to show they lose a chance to play the sporty games until they are behaving appropriately... Then erase their name.
B.) Have all students start the drill in the starting position (sitting on floor, standing up, standing on line) The best student throughout the drill may return to their seat. The drill ends when a team or the entire class has returned to their seats.
* If a student is not behaving appropriately, the teacher can have the student move from their seat back to the starting position... (can penalize the team, not only the student that is misbehaving)
C.) Give points to students or team for doing the drill better (if using points, have an ending to the drill such as first student, or team to 7 points wins)
* If a student is misbehaving, the teacher can erase or take away points from that student or team.
**With all drills, make sure all students are doing exactly what you want, whether it be repeating after the teacher, doing actions or sitting nicely. With the above game aspect, this is for fun but, mainly used to enforce good behavior in a positive way.
These drills can be used in multiple ways depending on the age of children and how to make them fun with competition. All of these drills can be used for pretty much any level.
A.) Young Students: The "Best" student can play a fast simple active game throughout the drill... Ex (shoot a basketball, throw a dart, roll a dice for points, try to hit the teacher with a dodge ball...)
* If a student is not behaving appropriately, the teacher can write their name on the board to show they lose a chance to play the sporty games until they are behaving appropriately... Then erase their name.
B.) Have all students start the drill in the starting position (sitting on floor, standing up, standing on line) The best student throughout the drill may return to their seat. The drill ends when a team or the entire class has returned to their seats.
* If a student is not behaving appropriately, the teacher can have the student move from their seat back to the starting position... (can penalize the team, not only the student that is misbehaving)
C.) Give points to students or team for doing the drill better (if using points, have an ending to the drill such as first student, or team to 7 points wins)
* If a student is misbehaving, the teacher can erase or take away points from that student or team.
**With all drills, make sure all students are doing exactly what you want, whether it be repeating after the teacher, doing actions or sitting nicely. With the above game aspect, this is for fun but, mainly used to enforce good behavior in a positive way.
Phonics
Phonics Song
Sing the phonics song every class with students until they can sing the song without the video. As an example the teacher can test students by asking...
"The A says"... students complete the line of the song... aaaaa and its says AAAAA and it says Ah Ah Ah Ah Ah.
"The G says"... students complete the line of the song.... ggggg and it says jjjjj
This is especially important for the vowels (AEIOU) as they have multiple sounds.
I use 1 finger to show the "short sound" of the vowel "a" as in cat. And 2 fingers to show the "Long sound" of the vowel "A" as in Late.
This is helpful because the song sings the short sound first... 1 finger... and the Long sound second... 2 fingers.
This also translates into reading words later, because if there is 1 vowel, it is usually the short sound. If there are 2 vowels, usually it is the Long sound.
When students are sounding out new words and use an incorrect vowel sound, simply have the class sing that vowel's song.
Example. The word is "AT". The student says "ATE". Have the class sing "The A says" aaaaa and it says AAAAA and it says AhAhAhAhAh.
Then students should be guided to count how many vowels are in the word as a clue, or to simply try a different "A" sound.
Hopefully after years of this song, students will flawlessly say the sounds of the letters, and this will translate into them being better readers in the future. Students that can read words at home to review a lesson, or learn new words on their own at home out perform poor readers easily. Create great readers of your students, and you will find learning language becomes much easier for students, and Teachers!
Step 1 Drills: Drills that have students repeat after the Teacher.
Class to Solo Repeat:
Prepare the Phonics lesson on the board. Can be as simple as individual letters, to difficult words.
Have the class repeat after the teacher. After a few examples choose 1 student to repeat by him or herself. If he or she is good, he/she is the "winner". Continue saying and repeating the examples with the class, and every few, stop to choose 1 student to repeat alone. When All the students have completed the drill, the drill is done. This should be fast and simple, ~3-5 minutes.
Sound out the Word (Slow to Fast): Simple to Difficult words
Prepare the phonics words on the board. The Teacher will sound out the word slowly, saying each individual sound of each letter. The class will then repeat the same sounding out of the word slowly together. Then the Teacher will choose one student to try to say the word quickly and correctly.
Example: The Teacher says "C-A-T" The students repeat "C-A-T". Then choose one student to try to say the word correctly... Cat!
If the student is correct, great, if incorrect, try a different student, or sound out the word again with the class.
Step 2 Drills: Drills that have students repeat after the Teacher but try to catch when the Teacher makes a mistake
Catch the Mistake:
Prepare the phonics words on the board. The Teacher will sound out each word slowly, and then say the word at an appropriate speed. Students will then repeat after the teacher in the same fashion, sounding out the word slowly, and repeating the word correctly.
Example: Teacher: S-L-EE-P Sleep Students repeat: S-L-EE-P Sleep
Every few examples the Teacher makes a mistake, and students must try to "catch" the mistake.
Example: Teacher: F-L-A-G Flug...
Teachers can make easy mistakes using consonants (Blag instead of Flag) or difficult mistakes using vowels (Flug instead of Flag)
When the teacher makes a mistake it is the teachers choice of what students should do, the choices are endless...
Clap hands, sit on the floor, switch chairs, yell NO WAY!, drop a hula hoop, jump over a line... By changing these, the game is endlessly new and fun.
The winner can be the fastest student.
The winner can be the fastest team.
The loser can be the slowest student.
*** Mistake games engage students to pay attention much better, and still has students repeating after the teacher for practice. But be sure that the majority of words are spoken correctly. If every word is a mistake, students will not learn well, and will likely just get confused.
Step 3 Drills: Drills that have students sound out, and say words by themselves
Solo Student: Each student Sounds out and says a word on the board. If they are correct the are a "Winner".
Ex. Word is STEAL... Student says S-T-EA-L Steal
If incorrect they must try again later after other students try.
This drill can have students say 1 word, or multiple words depending on class size and time.
Team Perfection: Each Team takes turns trying to sound out and say the list of phonics words on the board together as a team perfectly. If the slightest mistake is made, that team loses, and the other team gets to try. The drill continues until 1 team wins.
Mistakes can be not speaking together, Mispronouncing a word, not standing nicely, too slow to stand up with their team, not standing on the line, not talking loudly...
The more strict the teacher is in this game, the more fun it is. The goal is for the teacher to try to find mistakes, to switch and have the other team have a try. By switching back and forth many times, all students get to practice a lot, and also listen to the other team to try and fix their mistakes.
Change 1 Letter: Write 1 word on the board in large oversized letters. Choose students to try to sound out the word and say it correctly. When a student has said the word correctly, change 1 letter or add a letter to change the word. Continue the drill so all students have a chance to try.
Example: BAD - SAD- SAP- SIP- TIP- TAP- TAPE-CAPE-CAP- CUP-CUT-CUTE-CUBE-TUBE-LUBE...
*If difficult, after each student "Wins" have the class repeat the word after the teacher, and then change a letter for the next word.
Sing the phonics song every class with students until they can sing the song without the video. As an example the teacher can test students by asking...
"The A says"... students complete the line of the song... aaaaa and its says AAAAA and it says Ah Ah Ah Ah Ah.
"The G says"... students complete the line of the song.... ggggg and it says jjjjj
This is especially important for the vowels (AEIOU) as they have multiple sounds.
I use 1 finger to show the "short sound" of the vowel "a" as in cat. And 2 fingers to show the "Long sound" of the vowel "A" as in Late.
This is helpful because the song sings the short sound first... 1 finger... and the Long sound second... 2 fingers.
This also translates into reading words later, because if there is 1 vowel, it is usually the short sound. If there are 2 vowels, usually it is the Long sound.
When students are sounding out new words and use an incorrect vowel sound, simply have the class sing that vowel's song.
Example. The word is "AT". The student says "ATE". Have the class sing "The A says" aaaaa and it says AAAAA and it says AhAhAhAhAh.
Then students should be guided to count how many vowels are in the word as a clue, or to simply try a different "A" sound.
Hopefully after years of this song, students will flawlessly say the sounds of the letters, and this will translate into them being better readers in the future. Students that can read words at home to review a lesson, or learn new words on their own at home out perform poor readers easily. Create great readers of your students, and you will find learning language becomes much easier for students, and Teachers!
Step 1 Drills: Drills that have students repeat after the Teacher.
Class to Solo Repeat:
Prepare the Phonics lesson on the board. Can be as simple as individual letters, to difficult words.
Have the class repeat after the teacher. After a few examples choose 1 student to repeat by him or herself. If he or she is good, he/she is the "winner". Continue saying and repeating the examples with the class, and every few, stop to choose 1 student to repeat alone. When All the students have completed the drill, the drill is done. This should be fast and simple, ~3-5 minutes.
Sound out the Word (Slow to Fast): Simple to Difficult words
Prepare the phonics words on the board. The Teacher will sound out the word slowly, saying each individual sound of each letter. The class will then repeat the same sounding out of the word slowly together. Then the Teacher will choose one student to try to say the word quickly and correctly.
Example: The Teacher says "C-A-T" The students repeat "C-A-T". Then choose one student to try to say the word correctly... Cat!
If the student is correct, great, if incorrect, try a different student, or sound out the word again with the class.
Step 2 Drills: Drills that have students repeat after the Teacher but try to catch when the Teacher makes a mistake
Catch the Mistake:
Prepare the phonics words on the board. The Teacher will sound out each word slowly, and then say the word at an appropriate speed. Students will then repeat after the teacher in the same fashion, sounding out the word slowly, and repeating the word correctly.
Example: Teacher: S-L-EE-P Sleep Students repeat: S-L-EE-P Sleep
Every few examples the Teacher makes a mistake, and students must try to "catch" the mistake.
Example: Teacher: F-L-A-G Flug...
Teachers can make easy mistakes using consonants (Blag instead of Flag) or difficult mistakes using vowels (Flug instead of Flag)
When the teacher makes a mistake it is the teachers choice of what students should do, the choices are endless...
Clap hands, sit on the floor, switch chairs, yell NO WAY!, drop a hula hoop, jump over a line... By changing these, the game is endlessly new and fun.
The winner can be the fastest student.
The winner can be the fastest team.
The loser can be the slowest student.
*** Mistake games engage students to pay attention much better, and still has students repeating after the teacher for practice. But be sure that the majority of words are spoken correctly. If every word is a mistake, students will not learn well, and will likely just get confused.
Step 3 Drills: Drills that have students sound out, and say words by themselves
Solo Student: Each student Sounds out and says a word on the board. If they are correct the are a "Winner".
Ex. Word is STEAL... Student says S-T-EA-L Steal
If incorrect they must try again later after other students try.
This drill can have students say 1 word, or multiple words depending on class size and time.
Team Perfection: Each Team takes turns trying to sound out and say the list of phonics words on the board together as a team perfectly. If the slightest mistake is made, that team loses, and the other team gets to try. The drill continues until 1 team wins.
Mistakes can be not speaking together, Mispronouncing a word, not standing nicely, too slow to stand up with their team, not standing on the line, not talking loudly...
The more strict the teacher is in this game, the more fun it is. The goal is for the teacher to try to find mistakes, to switch and have the other team have a try. By switching back and forth many times, all students get to practice a lot, and also listen to the other team to try and fix their mistakes.
Change 1 Letter: Write 1 word on the board in large oversized letters. Choose students to try to sound out the word and say it correctly. When a student has said the word correctly, change 1 letter or add a letter to change the word. Continue the drill so all students have a chance to try.
Example: BAD - SAD- SAP- SIP- TIP- TAP- TAPE-CAPE-CAP- CUP-CUT-CUTE-CUBE-TUBE-LUBE...
*If difficult, after each student "Wins" have the class repeat the word after the teacher, and then change a letter for the next word.
Vocab
Step 1 Drills
Step 2 Drills
Step 3 Drills
Step 2 Drills
Step 3 Drills