Reading with short "o"

Teaching reading skills is all about patterns, as earlier blogs attest. Introducing the short sounds of vowels is always best with little "tricks" to help the student remember the rules better. When using the short "o" sound, the reader lets his/her jaw drop to produce the appropriate sound of the letter. If the student puts his/her fingers on the side of the face as the short "o" sound is made, feeling the face muscles drop often helps the reader to remember how the face will feel when the sound is made correctly. The resulting sound is most like an "ah" as in the word jaw, which also helps the student to remember the sound. Practicing the sound by repeating words modeled by the teacher, re-enforces the sound for the student. Once again, flashcards will be useful in mastering the skill. Write short "o" words, one to a card, for the reader to practice with the teacher at first, then independently. Start with the basic three letter words, then begin to introduce words with blended sounds at both the beginning and end of the words.

dog-- -mop--- not--- rod--- top--- bog--- lot--- pod--- hop--- fog--- tot--- hog

moss--- pond--- drop--- plot--- frog--- blond--- spot--- stop--- rotten--- prod


Begin to use the words from all the vowel flashcards at this point to make up sentences using as many words as possible in each sentence. If you have a very quick student learner, begin to write those sentences down for the reader to read back to you. After the student feels comfortable with reading the sentences you have written, have the learner begin to write the sentences independently. After working on the vowels to this point, the student should be recognizing the patterns and anticipating what activity will follow. One more vowel to go! Then the reader can really start to explore the way language is developed and reading skills are attained.