Helping young children crack the code to reading and spelling with the help of these Crack The Code word cards.
Every year I've taught I've had children who are able to learn the individual sounds letters make in words but can't then recognise the same sounds even in short words without difficulty when reading or trying to spell them.
You often hear of teachers referring to cracking the phonics code. The above is a perfect example of how hard learning to read and spell is - something we can forget as adults.
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He held up six cards with different symbols on them - 🝜 🜘 # ⇄ ⛒ 🝢 then he said each symbol made a sound. The first symbol 🝜 made a /s/ sound like in snake. The second 🜘 an /a/ sound like in ant and so it went until we had SATPIN, typically some of the first sounds we teach.
After introducing each symbol and sound, he then used them as flashcards asking us to repeat the sounds we'd just been introduced to.
It was a blunt way of making a point.
It was hard...
And we ask our children to do this all the time.
Some master all the sounds letters make quickly while for others, it's a struggle. Some just need extra time and extra practice.
So we teach and practice, practice, practice and practice some more. And in my classroom, that means speaking, making, doing, watching, stamping, moving, writing...
Literacy centers are my jam and I use them to help children consolidate their learning which is why I added this activity to our literacy groups.
It allows children to practice identifying beginning sounds but who have yet to master blending the initial sounds together to make simple words.
Using the simplest CVC Crack The Code cards first, the children need to say the word pictured one at a time then either write the letter down or use a magnetic letter to begin building the word.
Once all three sounds have been found, they can 'crack the code' by blending the sounds together to work out the secret CVC word.
Developing strong oral language skills in the first years at school are key to successfully learning to read and write so our first focus using these crack the code cards is that but later, I also encourage my literacy groups to record the word they have made and ask them to read them back to either myself or a classmate to allow further practice at blending the sounds together.
When they are ready for more of a challenge, I switch in these CVCC word cards to crack the code.
With one more sound to blend, they are more difficult but achievable once they're practiced on the CVC word pack.
The next challenge are those trickier blends found at the start of words. The br/cl/dr/sl/sp/tr blends like those found in words like clap, twin and spot.
They're not digraphs (two letters working together to make one sound) but can be harder for children to stretch out and hear for spelling and reading.
These crack the code cards makes it easier to isolate the individual sounds before blending them back together to make a word with a CCVC pattern.
They have already made such a difference to some of my children's ability to identify individual sounds and given them the confidence to attempt to decode then blend the sounds in unfamiliar words when reading.