Making sound sense
Ranjeeta Prajapati
A classroom today consists of a heterogeneous mix of students with different cultural and language skills. Therefore knowledge of English becomes necessary for each one of them as the most used medium of communication. But the problem is English doesn’t come easy to all. Some are quick to grasp the language and some lag behind.
I too had problems with English as a kid. The group interested in English used to enjoy the subject, while for the rest of us the language was so foreign that we would distract the whole class humming this song we made up –
English makes me sad
English makes me cry
Oh God almighty
Nothing hits our mind
Even though we try try try.
When I started my career as a teacher, my own struggle to learn the language helped me empathize with my students, most of who did not comprehend English well. I worked hard to make English easy and effective. Through some research and trial and error, I realized that language teaching is best done by first introducing children to the sounds of the letters of the alphabet.
I started with phonics and divided it into three levels
1st level – Nursery and kg 1
Only one sound of each letter of the alphabet.
E.g. Aa says ae as in apple.
2nd level – kg 2 and class 1
Different sounds of letters c, g, x, y (consonants)
a e i o u (vowels)
Letter c has two sounds
c as in k in cat, cow, cot
c as in s in city, centre
Letter g has two sounds
g as in g in girl, garden
g as in j in ginger, giraffe
Letter x has five sounds
x as in (ks) in relax, wax, box
x as in (gz) in example
x as in (z) in xylophone
x as in (gsh) and (ksh) sounds should be discussed in class 2 (third level)
Letter y has three sounds
y as in (e) as in tasty, salty
y as in (i) short sound as in gym
y as in (i) long sound as in my, fly, spy
Vowels
Letter a
Aa says ae as in ant, alligator
Aa says aa as in arm, answer
Aa says aye as in aeroplane, able
Aa says uh as in agree, attend
Aa says aw as in water, talk
Letter e
Ee says ae (short sound) as in engine, egg
Ee says ee as in eagle, easy
Ee says aw as in envelope
Ee says uh as in earth
Letter Ii
Ii says aaee as in find, ice cream
Ii says e (short sound) as in ink, India
Ii says uh as in firm, bird, sir
Letter Oo
Oo says aw as in orange
Oo says oh (letter name) as in oval
Oo says uh as in Monday
Letter Uu
Uu says uh as in umbrella
Uu says oo (short sound) as in push
Uu says u (letter name) as in uniform, united
I also discuss different sounds like ch, sh, ing, ck, etc., with my kg 2 and class 1 children and also emphasize on word building side by side.
I emphasize the sounds, then teach the kids how to make words with the help of the sounds and emphasize on breaking the word to understand how to spell it. Breaking the word is so important, just as in hindi we do sandhi vichchhed.
E.g.: pat: p + at
Bat: b + at
Once they understand how to make words with the help of sounds, they don’t have to learn the spellings of all the words. They write with the sounds. And the words which don’t go according to phonics, my students learn the spellings.
Another strategy I use to develop their vocabulary is sing rhymes. Children love rhymes. This is a very good method of enhancing a child’s vocabulary and sentence formation.
As a teacher, I want my children to understand the meaning of the rhyme. So before reciting a rhyme, I first narrate a story to tell the children the meaning of the rhyme. Then I discuss new words with them, tell them the meanings. Once I see that children are clear with words, I play the rhyme on the digi board. Sometimes the children are so excited, they come forward with their own tunes. This gets children involved in their learning and constant repetition helps them develop a vocabulary bank.
Before I wrap up, I would like to request my dear teachers and parents to practice this regularly for the betterment of their kids.
The author is a teacher in Sunbeam School, Indira Nagar, Uttar Pradesh. She is the Activity Incharge of classes 3 to 7. She can be reached at ranjeetaprajapati.vns@gmail.com.
