Praktise Makes Purfict?

 

       I know my title is spelled wrong but I have a point. Little phonemic awareness is like music no harmony, ham no bread, ying no yang!  No phonemic awareness leads to a string of sounds but no structure.  It really hit home for me when I heard my English language learner speaking one day.  I introduced several single syllable words and she repeated them beautifully. As soon as I introduced a word with 3 syllables, she just mushed all the sounds together. In other words, she took a guess and gave it her best shot; based on what she has been exposed to. And that's when it occurred to me, she doesn't know those sounds in the syllables. This was a great teaching moment for us. I wrote the word out and sounded out each letter for her.  Once she saw it, she was able to pronunciate it more effectively every time she read the word again. So children must know that letters have sounds. They need to see it, hear it, and even feel it in many different fashions. As they grow, they will realize that those sounds make all sorts of words.

Need TPR? Whole Brain Teaching

 

  Whole Brain Teaching is a strategy created and developed by Chris Bifle.  It is a  strategy that helps students to engage all parts of their brain in instruction. Its a great way to enforce some TPR (Total Physical Response).  WBT (Whole Brain Teaching) has several techniques: 5 rules, Class/Yes, Teach/Ok, Brainies, Mirror/Mirror with words, etc...... I have been using this strategy for the past 8 years. Their are tons of videos on the techniques I have mentioned. So in a nut shell! Why TPR (Total Physical Response) in your classroom. It's extremely engaging, fun, ensures learning is taking place, and decreases time for off task behavior.  Check out this video of Chris Bifle and some Whole Brain Teaching in action:  https://youtu.be/JJw9mzCtWbk