LEARNING YOUR ALPHABET SOUNDS

---

   Introductory note.  Please listen

1. Alphabet sounds (these are at the top of the page. Reaching should begin with the learner knowing the sounds made by alphabet letters. Children can learn these far more quickly and easily than adults).

2. Background material that should be understood before embarking on the reading components below.

3. Letter blends (eg “spl” as in “splash”). A dyslexic learner can easily learn to recognise the same blend in different words if they first learn to recognise the blend on its own.

4. The 300 most common words. Once the learner knows these words, they can effortlessly decode 65% of all reading matter.

5.  Soft c and hard c (for example “certain” and “crunch”) and soft g and hard g (for example “gasp” and “gym”).

6. Alphabet sounds with some surprising spellings.

7. Different word contexts for the same sound, eg “o” in boat; tow; toe; grow; notes; though; soul; bowl.

8. Collecting, randomly, from TV, stories or other people, words that can become the learners own.

There is no need to buy or look for any reading material. Everything you need for these seven exercises is below but first, important information.

Firstly, 26% of all Y7 pupils have a reading age below their chronological age and are struggling to read their worksheets according to the internet. If you are a teacher or teaching assistant, even though this cohort of pupils may not be so disabled that their standard score is 75 or below (the average is 100), they may still be just disabled enough that bringing in their voice to help them learn will be helpful. As for the other three quarters, since it doesn’t take long to learn to read, using the resources listed above. I recommend that the whole class learns using their natural voice, as will be explained here. In any case, it’s fun.

Speaking of percentages, the first 300 common words, featured below, comprise 65% of all reading matter. This means that although the multi scanning technique (v easy) that is included in this page means slowing down for a word, there won’t be many words to slow down for: most will be common words. Also, the multi-scan is such a quick procedure that the dyslexic will barely notice it.

Who is dyslexic? Well, I do one-to-one screenings but my advice is to assume everyone is as the learning methods described here work for the non-dyslexic as well as the dyslexic and they consume very little additional time. On this subject I was once given a drama school student who was crippled with dyslexia. He did not believe he was dyslexic, however. It turns out someone in his classroom was more dyslexic than him. In fact many people are so well-compensated for their dyslexia that they don’t find out they are dyslexic until they are doing their PhD and becoming distressed as they are not advancing as quickly as their peers. If you want to know what signs would means you were dyslexic, go to “What is dyslexia?”

None of the above programmes will work unless the learner incorporates their own voice into every single learning routine. This can be done with zero disruption to any lesson because whispering works as well as the full voice. Also, the learner can speak very quietly, so quietly they are not heard in an exam hall, while hearing themselves clearly. How? They put their hands over their ears (to amplify the quietest voice), they then speak in the quietest voice possible. The voice can be heard loud and clear by the speaker but not by anyone else. This makes all the difference not just to learning but also to reading comprehension. See “reading for meaning” elsewhere.

What is the difference between the natural voice and reciting? Reciting is effortless: the brain does not have to think about the meaning. A natural voice requires a series of choices as to where to put the emphasis, what connectors to use and, if the learner wants to enhance the burden on processing meaning, consciously changing the rhythms and also different accents: all of these will necessitate semantic processing. If someone is not dyslexic then they are processing semantically and phonologically at the same sound. Not so the dyslexic: they are physically built to alternate between these two types of processing. If they have no semantic processing to do, they are built to remain with phonological processing and this alone precludes the word going into long-term memory. For an explanation, go to What is dyslexia?

I have taught dyslexic pupils in primary schools, secondary schools, a Home School, a specialised dyslexia school, a “special school” and privately while all the time I was developing the voice techniques. I had been lucky enough to see, early on, the difference the learners own voice made while also reading the research that explained it. All that is to be found in “What is dyslexia” on this website.  I went on to try out my techniques on dyslexics in a social work setting (I was a youth offending officer), FE colleges (I was the Skills for Life Coordinator at Enfield), universities (tutor and mentor) and a drama school (where dyslexic students were desperate to speed up their sight-reading skills for auditions and understand, better, what they were reading). I have also taught Irish apprentices and students at the Dublin Institute of Technology (known in Dublin as “The DIT”). 

From the age of four and a half, the dyslexic learner is at their most ready to learn sound-symbol correspondence. A 6-year-old child generally learns 6-7 new words per day, (Wikipedia) with ongoing rapid vocabulary growth. By age 6, a child typically knows about 2,600 active words and 20,000-24,000 passive words.  The same Language facility generalises out to the learning of alphabet sounds and beyond, all of which take place with astonishing rapidity if the learner is under 10.

You are unlikely to know whether or not your child is dyslexic:  by treating them as if they are, however, you are guaranteeing success either way. It is a very small thing to integrate the voice into learning. The only difference to the usual standard learning routine for all children is this:

Using their own natural voice as part of any normal learning routine is all that is needed for the dyslexic learner to catch up fast

I have watched in astonishment, videos of expert teachers in synthetic phonics put on impressive performances that I’m sure must be effective for the non-dyslexic. Astonishment because everybody knows this does not work for dyslexic learners. I once attended an afternoon’s training in synthetic phonics out of curiosity. Out trainer was an educational psychologist. When asked how to adapt the method for dyslexic learners, she didn’t know. I spent both breaks explaining voice techniques to desperate teachers. 

Why is it impossible for dyslexics to learn word-based knowledge without using their voice? A detailed answer can be found in “What is dyslexia” but the short answer is this: the dyslexic is not programmed to remember the words they heard the day before by the time they wake up the next morning. The are programmed to retain a short-term memory version (a few hours) only. What they ARE programmed to be able to remember, long-term, (apart from visual and emotional memories) is what they themselves say. Once this is factored in the dyslexic and non-dyslexic are more or less equals for word-learning. 

Steps 1 – 6 on how to integrate the voice in order to learn to read - Click Here to listen

1. If the dyslexic learner wants to learn to read a word or blend this is what they do: they commit to, throughout the process, looking at whatever letter or letter blend they have selected.  At no time should they take their eyes off it for long.

2. They make a sound recording of the letter or word to be learned. Whatever it is, it should be repeated on the recording at least nine times. Alternatively, if you are learning more than one word or sound blend, you could incorporate them into a nonsense sentence which only needs a couple of repeats.

3. While the learner listens and looks, they hum. Humming is the only means of uniting both input and output. It is the method professional singers use to learn new tunes quickly. Humming is known to produce nitrous oxide in the nose which makes people feel happier.

4. The learner plays the word back again and this time they speak along to it while looking at the word or letter on paper. Although speaking naturally enables a dyslexic to learn, reciting does not. See “What is dyslexia?” for the explanation. Reciting will, however, work if the learner deliberately chooses a rhythm which they then counterpoint with another rhythm or speak in accents or speak slowly and quickly in alternation.

5. Next, the learner can speak in their natural voice while still looking at the letter or word on paper. Natural voice means the way we all choose where to emphasise the sounds and how to space them out. Since these choices are limited for nonsense sentences, best results come from putting on accents or varying the rhythm of what is being said.

6. Time for the test. If the learner has learned other words or letters, they can all be 

dictated onto a recording, the learner then plays the recording and writes the contents out from dictation. Then they mark themselves.

Best results come from showing the child the routine and then letting them get on with it alone, so at their own pace including the self-testing.  If this seems odd to you, remember: dyslexic children feel like failures however much you have protected them from this label. They have failed to meet adult expectations for literacy so many times that they will already be telling you they are much too tired.  If, however, you can encourage them and then let them work at their own pace, they will begin the work and, from there, work with increasing enthusiasm.  At the same time, you should be appearing at intervals and testing your leaner to keep the dopamine flowing. If nobody is watching at all, they will lose interest. 

Something I heard recently is that a dyslexic student found that adopting an operatic voice for exam revision helped. The fact is that any adaptation at all of the voice will make an important positive difference, as explained in “What is dyslexia?” When it comes to revising, first students read for meaning (see elsewhere on this website) and then they say, aloud, what they want to learn. The procedure is called “talking to the wall” for obvious reasons.

HOW I KNOW VERY LITTLE TESTING IS NEEDED FOR LEARNING TO READ

1) In the early days when I taught reading, I used to insist pupils revised the reading work they had done with me for homework. I had just one pupil who never did homework. I had believed he was doing the reading revision but then found out he had been pretending he was for weeks. By the time I found out, though, he was able to keep up with the rest of his class when, before, he couldn’t read at all.

2) Something I remember happening with secondary school class of twelve Year 9s I was teaching to read using this method:  half-way through the term, I found them all waiting outside their classroom, looking embarrassed. Their spokesperson explained to me that they did not believe they could possibly still remember what they’d learnt in the first week. My answer was to ask them all to get out their exercise books and open them up on the first page where their first words had all been written out. I then invited them to read all the words there. They read them and looked a little perplexed as none of them had a problem with the words there, but then I reminded them why those words were there. They had been selected because they had not been able to read them. Could they read them now? Yes! I have never seen so many smiles in one classroom. It was a shock to them that they could remember something they had not revisited for over a month. They were used to having their memory fail them, only because they were used to attempting to remember without using their natural voice.

WHAT CHILDREN SHOULD UNDERSTAND ABOUT THEIR BRAIN CAPACITY

When I was a child, too small to be able to reach the bathroom light pull, I was given a torch instead which I misused for reading under the bedclothes. I learnt the first verse of Kubla Khan off by heart with that torch one evening. If someone had explained to me that learning the second verse the next night was possible without forgetting the first verse, I would have learnt all the verses but I was limited by the belief that I had just learnt all my brain could hold.  I wish I’d learnt that whole poem but now I never will. So please explain to your learners that, far from the brain only being able to hold a finite amount of information, it is like a muscle: the more you give it to learn, the more its ability to learn will develop. The torch battery inevitably ran out and I remember finding my way to the bathroom in the dark and standing beneath the light-pull with my hand stretched up, expecting to grow tall enough to reach it. The moral of that story? Children have a hypothesis for everything and it is rarely the correct one!

If you find it hard to believe your learner will pick up reading quickly using the traditional methods included here, see the video of Felix on the home page. By the time Felix began secondary school he was as capable as all his non-dyslexic friends. The voice is a crutch which, once woven into practice, leaves the dyslexic able to function with complete independence. This applies to students as well as you will hear from Charlita on the home page. Felix is one of over 1,000 dyslexic learners I have taught to function independently.  By then, Felix could also articulate the voice techniques as well as if he was a teacher. The email from his mother is also there on the Home page:  Felix graduated with a First and is now employed as a music engineer, also playing drums for two bands.

Why is it better to learn sounds and blends before whole words?

As explained in “What is dyslexia?” featured on this website, a person may have surface dyslexia or phonological dyslexia (see What is dyslexia? for an explanation). At the further extremes of dyslexia, the person does not think in words although they are capable of switching to that mode. Most are not even aware they don’t think in words but, if you were to ask them if they would “hear” in their minds, the names of any of ten friends who walked past them in a corridor and the answer would be no: they would not even think about their friends’ names.  It is these dyslexics who are going to have the most difficulty remembering names or with general word-finding. If you teach were to teach such a dyslexic how to read and spell the word “end” and then, a few hours later, you asked them to read the word “blend” and they hadn’t learnt “bl”, they will tell you, “I don’t know that one”.   These are the dyslexics for whom alphabet sounds and letter blends need to be learnt by rote: they will never be “picked up” as is the case with non-dyslexics. Even if a dyslexic knew “bl” and “end”, many would need to consciously connect them using what I call the multi-scanning technique.

What is the multi-scanning technique

Imagine you are dyslexic and can’t read the word “crocodile”.  Dyslexics will scrutinise long words for long periods and get nowhere for the same reason that it’s possible to eat a whole pineapple but not by putting the whole thing in your mouth.

Once, as part of an interview, I was asked how quickly I could find out how many pupils in a class had dyslexia. I picked out the phonological dyslexics in minutes by asking the pupils to read this word:

“Abracadabrashabra.”

No phonological dyslexic would be able to read it although a surface dyslexic might but not instantly. And yet if you took the most disabled dyslexic and asked them to use their voice you would hear: 

Ab

Abra – abraca – abracadab – abracadabra – etc

In seconds, the dyslexic would be able to tell you the word. 

What is going on? A dyslexic can remember a sound easily that they have said but not that they have thought. A non-dyslexic could break this down in their mind but not a dyslexic.

Their voice is operating like a scanner that scans, first the beginning of the word and then the beginning with the bit that comes next: always going back to the beginning.

So here is “crocodile”.  

Croc (spoken aloud)

Croca (spoken aloud)

Crocad (spoken aloud)

Crocadile (spoken aloud perhaps two or three times while the speaker listens)

Any word can be successfully tackled in this way if it is divided up and read as above. Even some irregular words, although they will not sound precisely as they are spoken, will still sound similar enough for the learner to be able to hear their similarity to the word in question. To give you an example, a teenager in an FE college where I was teaching who did not know his vowel sounds read the word “detective” to me as follows:

Det

Detoc

Detoctive

The learner said “detoctive” to himself two or three times, aloud at which point he could hear its similarity to “detective.”  Watching him was like watching someone try and understand a foreign word: suddenly he “got it”.

The story of how I learned the multi scanning technique

I have taught well over a thousand people with dyslexia and, of those thousand, just one had somehow found and adopted the multi scanning technique. He was a highly intelligent teenager and I was assessing his reading. He read a whole page with a very good speed and good comprehension and yet there are about ten words where he seemed to be stammering. Later I realised that he had mastered the multi scanning technique brilliantly and I now realise he might well have invented it. I still remember his name: it includes the letters y, m, n and r. If you’re reading this and you’d like to be acknowledged by name for inventing a technique that will help dyslexic learners until the end of time, let me know because your brilliance has been making a difference to dyslexic learners who would otherwise still be in despair. Learners such as the one I will not tell you about below.

The story of how the multi scanning technique transformed the life of a student within five minutes

This multi scanning technique transformed, in the space of five minutes, the life of one of my students at the Dublin Institute of Technology. He was a young man on a course to be a chef who had given everything he could to try and learn to read and what he had learnt was all of his sounds and all of his blends and yet he still couldn’t read and this is because he couldn’t join up the sounds so I taught him the multi scanning technique and within a few minutes he was reading a page of text. We realised that, with just that one technique he would always be able to read anything he wanted.  This transformed his life.

NB Dictionary.com will pronounce words for you and provide their meaning.

Reading programme guide

1. Alphabet sounds (these are at the top of the page. Reaching should begin with the learner knowing the sounds made by alphabet letters. Children can learn these far more quickly and easily than adults).

2. Background material that should be understood before embarking on the reading components below.

3. Letter blends (eg “spl” as in “splash”). A dyslexic learner can easily learn to recognise the same blend in different words if they first learn to recognise the blend on its own.

4. The 300 most common words. Once the learner knows these words, they can effortlessly decode 65% of all reading matter.

5.  Soft c and hard c (for example “certain” and “crunch”) and soft g and hard g (for example “gasp” and “gym”).

6. Alphabet sounds with some surprising spellings.

7. Different word contexts for the same sound, eg “o” in boat; tow; toe; grow; notes; though; soul; bowl.

8. Collecting, randomly, from TV, stories or other people, words that can become the learners own.

3. Letter blends.  Click Here to Listen

I perfected this section on letter blends when I found myself teaching drama students to sight read. They needed to be able to read as fast as their non-dyslexic competitors in order to get  compete for parts. One of my students went to work for the Royal Shakespeare Company she and I would work on these over Skype. I recommend you teach a few at a time and put them in nonsense sentences to take the edge off the boredom of having to learn them.

1  aby as in baby  abby abbey ate fate ain rain ar are ay may au autumn 

2  b br branch c ch chain ca cab cl clear cr crow cu cup ci circle cious delicious cient ancient cial special  cian magician cy cycle ce once cue cue  co company ci circle

3 d dge edge dw dwarf  e ea tea ee free er taller ew few f fl flew fr frog 

4  g gy gyrate gu gull ga gave gi give go going gh rough ghost gl glow gr grow h i ie tie ion notion j k l m mp lump nce once nch inch nt won’t nk think ng young gynaecologist

5  o oa boat ote note oe toe ow tow  n nd end  oy boy oi point ou out oise noise  or for p pr pray pl please ph phantasy q r 

6 s sc scene scr scratch st stay str straw sw swat spl splash sh she sion procession shr shred sl slip sm smash sn snatch sp spill squ square st stay str straw 

7  tr tree tw twig th the thr three tient patient ough tough tion edition tial partial tious cautious ture capture 

8 u us fuss ue value ute mute uate evaluate une June udge nudge utch clutch  ury jury v w wh what x y z 

4. The 300 most common words. WHICH COMPRISE 65% OF ALL READING MATTER 

Click Here to Listen  

Edward Fry, Rutgers University Reading Centre

"The New Instant Word List" from the December issue of 

The Reading Teaching.

The first 12 constitute 25% of all reading materials

100 words = 50% of all reading matter

300 words = 65% of all reading matter

First 12 common words

a)a and he I in is it of that the to was  (yes, those were the first twelve common words). All the other common words are continued after the sentences which are featured next, as explained.

The remaining common words are listed below these sentences which are what should be prioritised.

THE SENTENCES BELOW WERE ALL CONSTRUCTED USING THE COMMON WORDS. BECAUSE COMMON WORDS ARE BORING, TAUGHT ONE-BY-ONE, I SUGGEST THAT, FIRST, THE LEARNER MASTERS THESE SENTENCES AND, AFTERWARDS, THE MARK UP WORDS THEY STILL CAN’T READ AND SOMEBODY MAKES NEW SENTENCES FOR THEM

He was and is our only cat. No. I mean, my cat

Tom is one or two years too old to go to nursery, maybe three or four.

He is and always was one of about four cats out of the original eight.

Tom is too old to get it right all the time

If they call Tom he won’t hear 

Tom said he could come so I know he is about to

Tom was pleased enough with the colour.

Tom likes music but likes to eat more.

There are a few more things to point out that Tom goes about doing.

Tom’s answer to how much he has eaten is, a few.

Don’t expect Tom to give you the right answer.

Tom is shy because he is little.

Tom got a house point because he was once naughty.

The answer is because there were once just a few cats around.

Tom is as glad to be with people as he said.

Your cat has said some words about Tom that each of us heard.

Many more cats know what year it is.

Tom is glad for the people who own him to use olive oil but only on their 

own food.

We stand by Tom. You are welcome to find some cats yourself.

Tom goes out and so do his friends. 

As soon as Tom is hungry, he will eat. 

MORE INDIVIDUAL COMMON WORDS

The next 20 words, below, combined with the 12 above, constitutes 33% of all reading matter

all as at be but are for had have him his not on one said so they we with you

Next 68 words, with the previous 32, constitute approximately 50% of all reading matter

about an back been before big by call came can come could

did do down first from get go has her here if into just like little

look made make me more much must my no new now off

only or our other out over right see she some their them then there this 

two when up want well went were what where which who will your old. 

300 words = 65% of all reading matter

Group 1

the of and a to in is you that it he was for on are 

as with his they I at be this have from.

Group 2 

or one had by word but not what all were we 

when your can said there use an each which she do 

now their if

Group 3 

will up other about out many then them these 

so some her would make like him into time has look 

two more write go see

Group 4 

number no way could people my than first 

water been call who oil now find long down day did 

get come made may part over.

Group 5

new sound take only little work know place 

year live me back give most very after thing our just 

name good sentence man think say

Group 6

great where help through much before line 

right too mean old any same tell boy follow came 

want show also around form three small set

Group 7

put end does another well large must big 

even such because turn here why ask went men read 

need land different home us move try

Group 8

kind hand picture again change off play spell 

air away animal house point page letter mother 

answer found study still learn should America world high

Group 9 

every near add food between own below 

country plant last school father keep tree never start 

city earth eye light thought head under story saw

Group 10

left don't few while along might close something

seem next hard open example begin life always 

those both paper together got group often run important

Group 11

until children slide feet car mile night walk 

white sea began grow took river four carry state once 

book hear stop without second late miss

Group 12

idea enough eat face watch far Indian real 

almost let above girl sometimes mountain cut young

talk soon list song leave family body music colour

4. Soft and hard C & G words:  Click Here to Listen

These need to be learnt along with the common words in order to enable the reader to differentiate instantly between SOFT C and HARD C and, after that, soft g and hard g

All of the words below can be decoded using the “Multi-scanner” technique and the learner should try out the two initial sounds: since there are only two they will soon realise that this is not as daunting a task as it first looks.

1. cynic   cygnet   crisp  

clam citizen   circle   cinema   

2. certain   cereal   centre   

cell   cedar   cup   crunch   

3. cot   coffee   coat   clip   

clap   civil   city   circus   

4. cider   cent   cement   

cellar   cape   cat   cake   

can   cease   cut

__________________

Final Big Sounds: SOFT G/HARD G

1. gasp  gin  gyrate  gypsy  

gymnastics  gym  guy  guide 

2. guest  guess  grub  green  

grass  grape  grand  goat  

3. glove  glass  giraffe  

ginger  giant  German  

germ  

4. geography  gentleman  

gentle  genius  general  

5. gender  gem  gate  gash 

gas  gang  game

6.  Alphabet sounds that are sometimes, but not always, spelt as they sound

Click Here to Listen

A  any, all, at, after

B  big, rubber

C circle can cider certain could

Ch chip, match

D dude, rubbed, dove 

E every eat 

F fat, stuff, phone, tough

G rag; haggle; ghost 

H hot, home

I  in, it, lip

J jet, jelly, gentle, barge fudge 

K kite; cut; duck; Christmas

L  lip, full, sample, label, people, navel

M man; simmer; numb; autumn

N know; nut; pneumonia; sinner; gnat

O often, otter, other

P help; happy; hope

Qu  Queen

R rat, right, carry, rhino, there 

S sip, glass, cent, voice, house, castle, science

Sh  shop, machine, sugar

T top, tip, table 

Th Thursday, thing, they

U  us, undo, up

V very, nerve 

W  wig, when 

X  fox, exit, Xmas, kiss 

(the letter X sounds like the word “kiss”)

Y  yes, yesterday, yipee

Z  zip, buzz, is, choose, snooze, xylophone 

7. Same sounds in different words, Click Here to Listen

eg “o” in boat; tow; toe; grow; notes; though; soul; bowl.

1. Sounds like “a”  

Cat; mat; fat; bat

2. Sounds like “O” 

Note; boat; tow; toe; grow; though; soul; bowl

3. Sounds like “A” 

Ape; rain; say; stake; they;  eight;  paper; vein; straight

4. Sounds like “ar” 

Glass; jar; far; bar; car

5. Sounds like “aw” 

Fraud; law; walk; fork; fought; fort; taught

6. Sounds like “o” 

Pot; swat; not;  got

7. Sounds like “ee” 

Chief; meet; seat; funny;  she; petite;  variation; receive; Eve; key

8. Sounds like “I” 

Kite; pride; wild; night; fly; height

9. Sounds like “er” 

Faster; turn; girl;  work; learn; dollar; favour;  centre

10. Sounds like “u” 

Tub, touch, some, Monday

11. Sounds like “ow” 

Ow; cow; out; drought.

12. Sounds like “oy” 

Boy; soil; boil; foil

13. Sounds like ”U”

Mule;  pupil; few

14. Sounds like “e” 

Bed, bread, said, friend

15. Sounds like “i” 

In; myth; within, trim

16. Sounds like “oo” 

Boot; blue; new; super; suit; flute; soup; shoe; do; through

17. Sounds like “oo” 

Cook; would; put

8. Word-learning. The routine below has already been described at the beginning of this document. It enables the fast learning of letter blends and whole words.

Steps 1 – 6 on how to integrate the voice in order to learn to read

1. If the dyslexic learner wants to learn to read a word or blend this is what they do: they commit to, throughout the process, looking at whatever letter or letter blend they have selected.  At no time should they take their eyes off it for long.

2. They make a sound recording of the letter or word to be learned. Whatever it is, it should be repeated on the recording at least nine times. Alternatively, if you are learning more than one word or sound blend, you could incorporate them into a nonsense sentence which only need a couple of repeats.

3. While the learner listens and looks, they hum. Humming is the only means of uniting both input and output. It is the method professional singers use to learn new tunes quickly. Humming is known to produce nitrous oxide in the nose which makes people feel happier.

4. The learner plays the word back again and this time they speak along to it while looking at the word or letter on paper. Although speaking naturally enables a dyslexic to learn, reciting does not. See “What is dyslexia?” for the explanation. Reciting will, however, work if the learner deliberately chooses a rhythm which they then counterpoint with another rhythm or speak in accents or speak slowly and quickly in alternation.

5. Next, the learner can speak in their natural voice while still looking at the letter or word on paper. Natural voice means the way we all choose where too emphasise the sounds and how to space them out. Since these choices are limited for nonsense sentences, best results come from putting on accents or varying the rhythm of what is being said.

6. Time for the test. If the learner has learned other words or letters, they can all be dictated onto a recording, the learner then plays the recording and writes the contents out from dictation. Then they mark themselves.

You are now well on your way to becoming a fluent reader. Something I did as a schoolgirl, which is effortless and very effective, was to buy a blank note book and write in it, whatever words I came across I thought I might like to use myself in the future. Next to the word I would write a sentence containing the word. I would test myself on these words from time-to-time. It enabled me to master the words I most liked. We wear words like clothes. They tell people more about who we are than clothes do: each word I collected became part of who I was. I have found, as a teacher that, whereas the under-10s will soak up new words like sponges, teenagers want to use, understand and own words the way I once did. I once demonstrated a “clever sentence” to a class of Y10s. We had been studying “Educating Rita.” Rita was a hairdresser who wanted to be demonstrably more educated. I turned to the class and said, “She would probably like to be able to say, “Your sarcastic insinuations are too obnoxious to be appreciated because of the audacity of your verbosityhttps://soundcloud.com/esther-de-burgh-thomas/6-step-voice-technique-6?in=esther-de-burgh-thomas/sets/dyhttps://soundcloud.com/esther-de-burgh-thomas/6-step-voice-technique-6?in=esther-de-burgh-thomas/sets/dyslexia&si=604de27a5b2c4a909692a9a8ff6fccfc&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharingslexia&si=604de27a5b2c4a909692a9a8ff6fccfc&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing.” The toughest boy in the room politely requested that I write that sentence up on the board and the whole class silently copied it down.