I Like Peter. I Like Jane.

Goodness me, it has been so long! Many apologies for the long absence of updates - been working on several projects at school and I have also recently gone back to uni.

But here is a little update on what I am currently working on at school. It is a reading program with my 2A learners (low proficiency learners). When I took them last year, most of the children barely knew their alphabet. We spent the whole year just learning the sounds and shapes of A - Z.

I introduced Peter and Jane to them last year (will write a lengthier post on this Peter and Jane series soon) but they only started reading the books on their own this year. They are familiar with the characters and could name Peter, Jane, Pat, Mummy, Daddy.

For those who are unfamiliar with the series, Peter and Jane books have been around for over 40 years. I grew up following their adventures at the beach, at the sweets shop, playing with Pat in the water and enjoying great picnics at the farm. The lifelike illustrations are difficult not to love and children are always eager to turn the pages so they could see what Peter and Jane are up next. The books are graded 1A - 12A, with each level introducing keywords gradually. The keywords are repeated in various contexts, making it easier for children to learn how to read these words without realizing that they are actually learning how to read.

I made copies of the book and stick them up on the softboard. Every morning from 720 - 740, I sit with the children as we read 3-4 pages of the book. It usually takes them about a week to read 4 pages fluently.
My main objective is for them to achieve reading fluency. I will go into comprehension later. At the moment, we are only focusing on recognition of keywords and being able to read the words out loud with confidence. I personally feel that once a child is able to read with confidence, he or she will be further motivated to explore the text on his or her own.

I will document the steps of doing this reading program in greater detail. I think most schools in Malaysia are supplied with at least one set of the Ladybird Peter and Jane series so do give it a try.

Teaching The Alphabet

One of the challenges in teaching reading is having learners of different capabilities. In my 2A class (equivalent to a Pemulihan class), I have some learners who have acquired basic vocabulary such as shapes, colours, numbers and greetings. A handful, however, have yet to master the alphabet.

Without a mastery of the alphabet, the learners find it difficult to complete even simple tasks such as copying and spelling. Therefore, I have decided to put these learners in my focus group in the next few months and try out the following:

Teaching the alphabet to young learners.

1. Invest in a phonics music CD. I bought one from MPH (produced by Pelangi) for about RM15. The songs teach learners the English sounds of all letters in the alphabet.

2. Sing one or two songs at the beginning of the lesson. Create a distinct hand gesture for each sound. Repeat this in each lesson, using different letters. You may want to put a limit at 3-4 letters each week.

3. Have picture cards of items beginning with the letters you have done. Paste these cards all over the classroom. For example, after having taught the letter 'a' (taught here, meaning having exposed the child to the sound of the letter 'a' as well as how the letter 'a' looks like), you may have pictures of apples, ants and arrows in the classroom.

4. Take time to spell the words on the cards out loud, emphasizing on the target letter. For example, when spelling m-a-t, elongate the sound of /m/. You will notice that after a while, learners will be able to guess the sound of words by just looking at the first letter. For instance, a child who sees the word "moon" might not be able to read the whole word but he may be able to produce the "mmmm" sound because he recognises the initial /m/ sound.

5. Allow learners to form the letters using different materials. Crayons, colour pencils and plasticine work wonders. Introduce learners to different ways of writing the letters. You may print out the letters in different fonts or write them in wriggly or zig-zaggy manner. If your learners can recognize these wriggly letters, it shows that they have understood the consistency of each letter shape.

6. Motivate the learners by having a competency chart in the classroom. Write the children's name and have columns for all the letters. Once a child has mastered a particular letter, allow him or her to put a tick on the column.

Let me know how this works in your classroom!