Presentation by Olive Douglas to the National Department of Education – Programme for Foundation Phase.

Why does English seem so difficult? English was derived from many different tribal languages. Let’s look at this map. Here is Europe, with all the tribes that were roaming around and battling to get more land. The Romans Conquered England in about 200 BC. They brought their language Latin which was derived from Greek. Latin became the language of the wealthy. The common people still spoke ……. When the Romans left in about 400 AC the tribes in Europe saw England as a land to conquer. So began all the invasions from the Norsemen, the Germanic tribes, the Jutes, the Danes & the As the conqueror always brings their own language, you can understand there was a great mix up of languages. The final invasion came in 1066 when the French conquered England. So French was the language of the King and his Lords. The ordinary people spoke a form of early English but it was only the educated wealthy people who could write. Gradually it changed but even after that people could choose how they wanted to spell a word. It was only in the 1800s that English was Standardised.

Europe 200 BC – 400 AD

Barriers to learning Create positive feelings in the child before they have a chance to become negative. Red ink = negative feelings Understand the mistakes Teaching CONCEPTS must be done in Mother Tongue. Are they using valid spellings but not the correct choice? Such as hoal for hole. Both spellings sound the same but only the first is correct. The child needs praise and then to be told, if in doubt use the Silent ‘e’ spelling because there are more words with this spelling.

Alphabet First learn the Sounds of the alphabet by singing it to the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. Use an Alphabet freeze or make one collecting pictures to stick on the freeze. Then write the name of the picture before the letter. – ball (b) not b for ball. This is easier because the picture comes to mind first and then the sound. Create as many alphabet sequencing activities as possible You need card for this activity. If you do not have any, ask the Learners to bring an empty cereal box or any other kind of box to school. Cut the card to about 20cm by 10cm. Then ask them to write their name on it in big writing. Now you can ask any child to come out whose name begins with a, then b, all the way through the alphabet. For some letters there may be no children. How can we show that these letters are still in the alphabet? Have the children any ideas? Perhaps we could have chairs to represent these missing letters. For some letters there will be a number of children. How can we sort this out? Tell the learners to look at there second letter and help them to sequence the second letter. This is really important Dictionary Work. It is VITAL to create a positive attitude to Dictionary Work because it is not only for looking up the meaning of words but many other things such as finding friends in the phone book, looking up information etc.

Ask sequential questions Before you start, remember these are Concept questions, so be sure to translate into Mother Tongue -which letter comes before… -which letter comes after -which letter comes between. Make sure they really understand these concepts. Ask them which letter come after p, which letter comes before q, which letter comes betweet d f? Give many, many variations.

Consonants and Vowels Some letters are VOWELS and some CONSONANTS. Here are the VOWELS a e i o u and y The y is a 'Sometimes' vowel. At the beginning of a word it is a Consonant – yes In the middle of a word it is Vowel – tyre, type At the end of a word it is a Vowel – my, fly, try All the other letters in the alphabet are consonants. I have taught 9 year olds in Durban who did not know which letters were vowels and which consonants. This absolutely vital Words can be thought of as Sandwiches. Take the word Cat. The two consonants are the slices of bread and the Special Vowel is the nice tasty jam. Tap the table lightly for the c and t but loudly for the c. Get the children to do this. The physical sequencing helps them feel it.

What are Syllables Syllables are parts or chunks of a word. When we clap Sipho we do it like this -Si/pho When we clap Noki we do it like this – No/ki Now is the time to stress that you cannot teach English the same way you teach local languages because English cannot be taught 2 letter by 2 letters.

Auditory Recognition of Syllables Use the Learners’ name cards. Get the Learners to clap their names. Ask the learners with:- 1 syllable names to stand on your right. Those with 2 syllable names in the middle Those with 3 syllable names on your left.

Ask a few of children from each line in turn to write their name on the board. Then ask them to circle their Vowels. What can they learn from this. Every clap/syllable has at least one vowel. You cannot have a word without a vowel. Make sure they have understood this concept.

Syllables can be Closed or Open Closed syllables are like sandwiches. Take the word cat. The Consonants are the bread at each end and the Vowel is the nice tasty jam in the middle. The Syllable is closed because there is a Vowel at the end keeping the Vowel sound short.

3 Letter Basic Word Chart If you look at this handout you will see a line of endings at the top and a column of possible beginnings. These are brought together to make 3 letter words. This gives lots of work for clapping syllables and hearing rhyming which is so important in learning to spell.

Marking Vowels It is really good to teach learners to mark vowels in words, because:- 1. it helps them to read and to spell 2. once they have an adult dictionary this is the way words are marked and it helps you to pronounce the words. Use the 3 Letter Basic Word Chart. Write some of these words on the board and ask the learners to copy them in their book and mark the vowels with a breve – căt (like a little saucer)

Consonant Digraphs & Blends Still looking at the 3 Letter Basic Word Chart See how many words you can make using ch, sh & th plus the endings. Then do the same thing with the l, s & r blends. There is no complication with long vowels or 2 syllable words. But the learners can make many, many words and use their dictionary to be sure they are proper words Handout with digraphs and blend

Open Syllables Open Syllables have long Vowels as there is no consonant at the end. hĕn mĕn nŏt gŏt But hē mē nō gō Note- the Vowels in the bottom row are marked with a long line called a Macron These word are example of an open door letting the sound out and closed door keeping the sound in. Lets click the short vowels and open our arms for the long vowels. Once learners are working with 2 syllable words this is extremely helpful. Music is Mu / sic, stu / dent I am often asked if apple is pronounced apple or aple. If the Educator understands for it to be aple it must be written with one p. As it is written with 2 p’s it is closed in so it must be a short vowel. These things may seem very easy and not very important but they form a sound foundation for when the learner is using longer words.

So when we clap student – we say stū/dent. Looking Ahead! We have just seen lots of little words which are Open Syllables with Long Vowels but what about words like student? Remember Long Vowels always say their name. So when we clap student – we say stū/dent. The u is still at the end of the syllable as in he or no so it says it’s long sound Workbook 2 and CD 2d deals with Spelling of 2 Syllable words where the first syllable is closed or open Long Vowel Chart - spelling like ai, ee, ea, igh, oa, ow, ew etc And much more

Auditory Recognition of Open & Closed Syllables Open your arms wide for long vowels Snap your fingers for short sounds. Listen to the word and decide what to do. ˉant me cat bed sky be dry -fly cot so get did he go Activity

Double Decker Sandwiches These look difficult but are very easy. Great for lots of positive feelings! Sunset batman button cobweb comment convent cotton crimson plastic rabbit tablet trumpet Find the two vowels. Divide between the 2 middle consonants

Silent ‘e’ The Vowel 'e' is a very, very special letter, because it changes the sound of the first vowel in the word. It makes the first vowel say its long sound I say Silent ‘e’ because it tells you it is Silent, rather than Magic or Fairy e

cub + e = cube hat + e = hate hop + e = hope mat + e = mate Read these words – at + e = ate bit + e = bite cub + e = cube hat + e = hate hop + e = hope mat + e = mate not + e = note pin + e = pine pip + e = pipe rat +e = rate rid + e = ride us + e = use We have all been teaching this for a long time but this activity really gets the learners’ brain going. Then they can mark the first words with a breve and the Silent ‘e’ words with a Macron. Now we can play Silent ‘e’ Happy Families

Double Dudes

we must double certain letters. We are here to remind you that in a 1 Syllable word, + a Short Vowel +1 Consonant we must double certain letters. -ck, -ff, -ss, -ll,

-ack -eck -ick -ock -uck Add consonants back deck kick dock buck Add the vowels -ack -eck -ick -ock -uck Add consonants back deck kick dock buck pack neck lick lock duck sack peck pick rock luck And many more. You can do this with all the endings –ff, -ll and -ss. Then add blends! Thee are many activities making words, dictionary work, checking words with the dictionary. Putting words in sentences, reading sentences.. And Double Dudes Happy Families Games

Triple Dudes In a 1 Syllable word after a Short Vowel use: - dge for the (j) sound tch for the (ch) sound Again, add a vowel, add 1 consonant or blends and you have lots of words.

Games Make card games Happy Families Matching Pairs – a memory game

Plurals For more than one of something we usually add ‘s’. But words that end in –ch, -sh, -ss, or x. we must add ‘es’. Games Box Time! Memory Matching Pairs Game s or es

At the moment these games are for words like: - church – churches lunch - lunches brush – brushes dish - dishes dress – dresses miss - misses fox – foxes box – boxes Not words like peach – peaches because we haven’t learnt these Long Vowel Spelling yet

Words Ending in y If the Word ends in Vowel y add s tray trays If the word ends in Consonant y take away the y and add ies. Lorry Lorries

Suffixing Suffixes are added to the end of a word to make a new word or new meaning We need to know if the Suffix begins with a Vowel or a Consonant. All the Consonant Suffixes are just added to words – ly, less, ment, ty, ness, ful, ly, s. So no problem with spelling

We can also add two Consonant Suffixes together. Hopefulness, helplessness Hopefully, hopelessly Note, a cup is full 2 Ls But a cupful of flour 1 L So hopeful + ly = hopefully

Here are some vowel suffixes This time we must think! Here are some vowel suffixes -ing, ed, est, er When we add these suffixes, must we just add it or do we double the last letter as in ‘shopping’?

Answer! If it is a 1 Syllable word With 1 vowel + 1 consonant Double the last letter. shop is 1 Syllable, has 1 vowel & 1 consonant DOUBLE = shopping Note, this does not necessarily apply to 2 syllable words. It depends if the stress is on the first or last syllable. Open – stress on first syllable – don’t double – opened Blossom – stress on first syllable – don’t double – blossomed Admit – stress on 2nd syllable – double – admitted

Adding Suffixes to Silent ‘e’ Words Now we are going to add Vowel and Consonant Suffixes to Silent 'e' Words. So we must: - DROP the 'e' before a vowel suffix Keep the 'e' before a Consonant Suffix

amaze + ing - drop e amazing amaze + ment - keep e amazement bake + er - drop e like +ed - drop e pale + est love + ly pave + ment shade + y use + ful wide + er write + ing

ble, dle, cle, dle, fle, gle, ple, stle, tle, zle, All set to go! Now we are ready to learn – The Long Vowel Chart Other digraphs – ou, ow, au, aw, oi, oy French endings – ble, dle, cle, dle, fle, gle, ple, stle, tle, zle, Vowel r spellings Hard and Soft c and g The (shun) spellings station, television, magician Endings ous / us, ick / ic, able / ible etc Silly ‘o’ and much, much more with GAMES!

But Let’s make a game