Word Family Fun - Book 1

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Word Family Fun Book 1

It is a magical moment when children experience the feeling of reading success. Word Family Fun Book 1 has been meticulously designed for children with Down syndrome and other developmental delays to provide immediate and multiple successes as students recognize how quickly they can increase their reading vocabulary with the mastery of work family skills. Success is the key!

Word Family Fun Book 1 is based on word families created with a phonogram, the regular word pattern found in words. An example of a phonogram is an. Add different letters and an becomes man, pan, ran, tan - all rhyming words. In order to provide the greatest student success, word families and base words have been selected from previously mastered sight words in both Reading Series 1 and 2, as well as Spelling Books 1 and 2.

Activity Page 1

Teaching phonetic skills should occur concurrently with sight word review. Phonetic instruction in isolation is strongly discouraged. Students experiencing educational challenges often are easily distracted. Requiring a student to stop and sound out words may distract the child, consequently decreasing reading fluency and comprehension.

Each phonogram corresponds directly to a sight word identified in Reading Hook and Beginning Sight Word Series 1 and 2, as well as Spelling Student Book 2. Each word family lists the student Spelling Book 2 spelling unit in which the phonogram was first introduced. Integrating reading, spelling, and word families increases the student's ability to independently succeed with word attack skills during reading.

Activity Page 2

Activity Page 2 provides a picture for each new word label and a filll-in-the-blank sentence. Never assume that a child has understanding for any word label unless you, yourself, have taught it. A visual, or picture, for each word label provides meaning for each word created.

A sentence containing a blank is located beneath each picture. Fill-in-the-blank sentences require an increase in student attention, use of context clues, and provide essential distributed practice for know short-term and long-term memory deficits.

Activity Page 3

At the top of Activity Page 3 is a story. All words created with a common phonogram appear in bold letters, visually cueing students to look for common letters. The directions state: Read. Initially the story must be read out loud. This affords the educator an opportunity to evaluate student progress and requires the student to apply a multisensory approach to reading.

At the bottom of the page is a picture integrating illustrations for words in the selected word family. The directions state: Color. Three frequently unfamiliar words are identified. Multiple experiences with new word labels target student needs for a reduced repetoire of language labels. Practice in transferring a mastered skill in one setting to a new and different setting (transfer of learning), and deficiencies in short- and long-term memory.