PARTS 1-14, POSTERS, AND MY AWESOME GRANDMA - 25% OFF THOUGH JUNE '25

Dear Friends, 

Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”® is on sale through June 30th.

Parts 1-14, the Educational Posters
and My Awesome Grandma are all on sale
at 25% off through the 30th of June.

Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”®  Parts 1-14 includes everything you will need for ALL your children’s reading, writing, and spelling success preschool through high school.

• Part 1 is Phonemic Awareness with 47 lessons that ensure every single one of your children, even those who are dyslexic, will have a strong knowledge of how sounds work in our language. This is THE foundation of all reading, writing and spelling success.

• Part 2 has all your assessments preschool through high school in one easy to assess place.

• Parts 3-14 is every phonics concept preschool through high school, taught with fun, creative multi-sensory activities that engage all parts of our children’s brains, including our dyslexics.

• The 44 Educational Posters go with the phonics concepts Parts 3-14.

• My Awesome Grandma is a fun and creative picture book with a surprise ending. It's all about consonant digraphs.

You can purchase Parts 1-14 separately or save money with these packages,

• Introductory Package Parts 1-3,

• Parts 1-14,

• Parts 4-14.

Again, 25% for through June 30th.
Go to silentelephante.com/store.
The code to use at checkout is 4X266WB.
Questions?? Call me at 208-859-4406 or email me at silentelephante@gmail.com.
  
Keep a song in your heart!
Linda

Video 3 - What are Levels 1, 2 and 3 and How Do They Get From Preschool to Highschool

50% OFF
PARTS 1-14,
THE EDUCATIONAL POSTERS
AND MY AWESOME GRANDMA.
through 3.25.2025
CHECKOUT CODE, W9WZVI
Afterpay is available

This is part 3 of our Exploring Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”®In Depth series.

The first video shares how a 3-year-old’s drawing of a smiling face sets something BIG in motion. (View it here.)

Video 2 is about YOU, and how Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”® is written so teaching with it is NEVER a struggle, furthermore, it’s FUN. (View it here.)

In this video we continue with how Silent Elephant “e”® is set up and we go into depth about how our kids move from preschool skills through high school skills with Levels 1, 2, and 3 in Silent Elephant “e”®.

Creating strong and solid neural pathways for ALL our kids, dyslexic, struggling or not, is the name of the game. With Levels 1, 2, and 3, they create greater and greater knowledge of how English works, building strong neural pathways that will be with them all their life. 

Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”® is about making absolutely sure ALL our kids, dyslexic or not, struggling or not, end up strong confident readers, writers, AND spellers who had fun on their way to success.

EVERY SINGLE CHILD learning to read, write and spell with Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”®  has been successful. That's 12 years of successful children! Most of them were profoundly dyslexic, struggling or totally non-readers. Now, they are all confident and happy at school, college or in their career.
😊

One of our latest graduates just shared that he had to write an essay in high school English and he scored 75 points out of 75 points! He was so proud. He had been a struggling reader, writer and definitely a struggling speller, but not anymore!

BTW, we will be doing a TikTok Live on Tuesday, March 18, at 11AM MDT @silent.elephant.e. Join us there to get your questions answered. 

Of course, I am always available at silentelephante@gmail.com and silentelephante.com has tons of info for you.
 
Keep a song in your heart!

Let's Talk About Dyslexia!!

Let's talk about dyslexia!

Dyslexia is NOT a disability that has to cause your child to be dependent on you always reading their schoolwork to them, or on them listening to all their schoolbooks on audio.

Your dyslexic child doesn’t have to be relegated to being dependent on audio books or the constant help from others all their life.

Case in point, the profoundly dyslexic young woman who graduated with a double major in neuroscience and chemistry in 4 years, who at the age of 14 DID NOT KNOW that cat has 3 sounds. Further, she didn’t have to listen to her college science textbooks on audio. She read them! She decoded. She processed them. She KNOWS them.

Dyslexia is NOT a disability that has to stunt a child’s life and make reading, writing and spelling difficult.

At Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”®, we don’t refer to dyslexia as a disability because it really isn’t. It’s just a difference. We refer to it as a learning difference, but it really isn’t a difference to your dyslexic child.

It’s just another way some brains can process print.

It’s the way their brain does process print.

All dyslexia IS, is their brain’s way of processing printed material (reading, writing and spelling) that necessitates us as their teachers to TEACH THEM TO READ, WRITE AND SPELL THE WAY THEIR BRAIN LEARNS TO READ, WRITE AND SPELL.

It’s just that simple.

Teaching them isn’t hard.

Actually, it’s easy, and much more fun than workbooks and circle the correct word. It’s active and engaging for us and them. It’s them learning and connecting the way their brain can learn and connect reading, writing and spelling.

When we teach them the way their brain learns words and sentences and connects meaning, it all makes sense to them right away. They don’t struggle.

If they have been struggling, with Silent Elephant “e”®’s structured processes they soon begin to relax and celebrate their successes. Watching them relax makes your heart sing.

As one 10-year-old profoundly dyslexic said so softly and with wonder, “I think I’m going to be able to read now!” And, boy, did she fly. She entered college 6 years later.

In Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”®, every single phonics concept (preschool through high school) is introduced with an activity that engages their whole dyslexic brain and their 5 senses so there is not one reading concept they will not understand or miss.

The dyslexic way of learning is NOT sitting in front of a computer screen, a workbook, or a typical worksheet trying to figure out what’s there and maybe being frustrated because the letters and words won’t stop moving around.

Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”® does have worksheets, but they're specifically designed for the dyslexic student. Their dyslexic brain needs consistency as they are learning new concepts. Every Silent Elephant “e”® worksheet is in the same format and font, with only one concept presented per page. This blog post explains more about our worksheets.

Even children who experience the letters and words shifting around will find the letters and words stabilizing when we teach them the way their brain processes them. Several wonderful success stories are in these blog posts. 😊

What is the dyslexic way of learning?

THE DYSLEXIC WAY of learning is active, because their brain can’t learn to read, write and spell unless it’s actively dynamically connecting the concepts with other learning in creative ways through their 5 senses. It can’t.

THE DYSLEXIC WAY of learning includes verbalizing and explaining – talking, sharing, teaching. Their brain processes their learning through talking about the concepts and words and explaining how they know a word is that word, how they know it’s spelled the way it is and how they know a sentence, or paragraph means what it means.

THE DYSLEXIC WAY of learning is their brain appreciating time to think, share, and explain what they are learning to read, write and spell. Their brain likes time to make connections to other learning, to understand them and enjoy them.

When we teach our dyslexic children the way their brain learns, they learn quickly and they have fun all along the way, which is also very important.

Watching them find their confidence is heart-warming.

Dyslexia is just a difference.

When we teach our dyslexic children to read, write and spell the way their brain processes print, they learn easily. They don’t struggle, they have fun and they’re set for life.

Through learning the way they learn with Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”®, 14 dyslexic students have been removed from special education because they no longer needed that support. They are free to read, write, learn and explore. 

They’re set for life!

Contact me here!

Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”® is Different

In this video, Crystal, one of our homeschool moms, shares how Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”® is different.  She didn't use Silent Elephant “e”® with her older kids and she's definitely noticing the difference in how her younger one is understanding phonics in both reading and spelling. 

Enjoy, and shoot your questions to us at silentelephante@gmail.com.

Linda

Let's Do That Again!!! It's SO Easy!

Let's do that again!!

In this YouTube Short, this happy little one easily spells new words because she is learning about digraphs with the magic hat (which she loves, BTW) and she learned her short vowels through song.
She's proud and eager for more.

Enjoy! :)

Learn more at silentelephante.com, and there is a ton of info on reading, writing and spelling and dyslexia on the blog, silentelephante.com/blog.

Contact me at silentelephante@gmail.com. I would love to visit with you. 

"Sh" is a Digraph, not a Blend, She Taught Her Class

 “Sh” is a digraph because when “s” and “h” are together
they make one new sound of /sh/.

 It always makes me giggle and burst with pride when one of my kiddos becomes so confident in their skills that they become the teacher. It’s such a good feeling, for them, for me and certainly for their parents.

Silent Elephant “e”™ is THE program that teaches reading (phonemic awareness, phonics, and comprehension), writing and spelling in a precisely organized, systematic, complete auditory, visual and kinesthetic way that ALL CHILDREN NEED, especially dyslexic and struggling learners.

It is THE program that makes the teaching and learning to read, write and spell interesting, fun and a sure thing. It engages their whole brain and all their senses every moment of every lesson.

Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e” is tried and true and that became apparent again when “Kathy”, the proud mom of “Julie”, one of my students, excitedly shared this wonderful story.

At the time, Julie was in second grade and because of Covid was on the computer for her reading class with her teacher and classmates. Her teacher told a child who was struggling to read the word “shade” that “shade” started with the blend “sh”.

Julie raised her hand and her teacher called on her. Julie politely explained to her teacher and classmates that “sh” is not a blend.

“If “sh” was a blend, it would make the Kindergarten sounds of /s/ and /h/ blended together smoothly. Then “shade” would sound like /s/ - /h/ - /long “a”/ - /d/.

“So, “sh” is a digraph, because when “s” and “h” are together they make one new sound of /sh/.

Julie continued teaching, “My tutor says that the letters in blends sound just the same as the sounds we learned for the letters in Kindergarten.

“But the letters in digraphs make new, different sounds, not at all like the sounds we learned in Kindergarten. Mrs. Jones and I say the digraphs are magical, because the letters magically change their sounds to become digraphs.”

Julie’s teacher was amazed, “Wow Julie, you explained that very well, very clearly. We’ll never get blends and digraphs mixed up again! Good job!”

Kathy beamed with pride and shared, “I was so impressed by how politely and meticulously Julie taught her teacher and her classmates!

“Everything she’s learned from you completely makes sense to her.” (Julie often said during a lesson, “Oh, that makes sense.” 😊)

Kathy smiled with pride and continued, “Julie teaches Silent Elephant “e” to anyone who will listen: me, her dad, her little sister, her grandma, her friends—everyone! Maybe she’ll grow up to be a teacher.”

I, too, felt so much pride!

Julie is a completely different girl than the one who began Silent Elephant “e”™. She is severely dyslexic and had already been placed in special education in the early part of first grade.

But there she was completely successful in her reading class, even on the computer. What Julie needed to become confident in her reading, writing and spelling was a precisely organized, systematic, complete auditory, visual and kinesthetic program, aka, Silent Elephant “e”™.

Students becoming a teacher is a common theme when you teach with Silent Elephant “e”™. It teaches them the way they learn, so reading, writing and spelling “makes sense” and it is easy for them to explain to others what they understand, even if they are severely dyslexic. Explaining why they know what they know is an integral part of the program.

Being severely dyslexic did not stop Julie from learning to read, write and spell. She is a confident student, never looking back, thanks to being taught the way her dyslexic brain learns. Thanks to Silent Elephant “e”™.  Within 3.5 years, Julie, as a first grader, went from frustrated at a Kindergarten level to an instructional 11th grade reading level at the end of her fourth-grade year of school! She is at the top of her class instead of the bottom of her class. She used to struggle with anxiety and depression. Today my heart is filled with joy seeing how proud and confident she is of herself!

Contact me here to explore how you can teach your kiddos with Silent Elephant “e”™ to give them the freedom of a solid reading, writing and spelling foundation that will set them up for life.

COOKIE SCIENCE!

COOKIE SCIENCE!

Hello Friends,

Woah! Here we are in the midst of the holiday season and things are speeding up.

Sometimes it feels like our kiddo's learning can get pushed to the back burner at this time of the year, but it’s so important to keep their learning active. Long periods not focused on what they have learned and are learning makes it hard for them to retain the information, especially if they have dyslexia or any other learning difference.
 
Here are ideas centered around the fun of baking holiday cookies which takes the fun of learning into life knowledge areas as it keeps what they’ve learned active and growing.

    THE SCIENCE OF COOKIES    

The science of cookies is both yummy and “Wow, so that’s how cookie dough becomes cookies in the oven? I didn’t realize all of that!” 

1. This video brings all the steps happening in the oven from cookie dough to yummy cookie into view with simple explanation and art. It’s fun for every age. I enjoyed it.

1. This article adds to the info in the video. It goes into greater depth about exactly what is happening in the oven to that cookie. It gives you a lot of background info and will be perfect for your older kiddos.

1. Practicing reading and phonics –
   When your dough is becoming cookies in the over, you could use this article for reading and phonics instruction. Have your kiddos mark the vowels, digraphs, blends and syllables, then read the article.

1. The science -
   Comparing and contrasting the information on the video with the article sets their new science knowledge more firmly in their brains.

1. The next exploration into cooking science could be, “How does it get from raw ground beef to a hamburger on my bun?” or “How does is get from raw turkey to something we can’t WAIT to enjoy.” This exploration opens so much more science. 😊

 We’ve done science and reading, let’s take cookie baking into math. 

1. This recipe gives you both the standard and metric measurements for making the cookies.

2. This opens wonderful discussions and comparisons between the two.

Now let’s think Social Studies -
This recipe also opens comparison of cultures and countries. It’s from Great Britain, and the cookies are referred to both as biscuits and cookies for both countries. This opens the doors for learning about another culture, another country and how their customs are different from ours even though they are English speaking.
 
Have fun with these three. It’s been fun finding them for you.
I can’t wait to hear about your experiences.
 

Enjoy your children’s bright-eyed eagerness as you make memories this Holiday season. 

Contact us here with questions and thoughts. I’m eager to hear about your adventure with cookie science.

Keep a song in your heart!

Every Child Deserves the Joy and Freedom of Reading - gift for you!

Every Child Deserves the Joy and Freedom of Reading

With all my heart I extend to you this thank you gift! 

I truly appreciate that you are with us on our Silent Elephant “e”™ journey to ensure that EVERY CHILD experiences the JOY and FREEDOM of READING.
 
That is my passion. That is my WHY!
 
EVERY CHILD experiencing the FREEDOM and JOY of READING has been my passion, my why, for as long as I can remember, even before I realized my daughter was dyslexic. That realization just added fuel to the fire inside me.
 
I’ll say it again – EVERY CHILD DESERVES THE FREEDOM OF BEING ABLE TO READ, whether they have learning differences or not. (See my blog post It Shouldn’t Take 6 Years)

As you know, reading opens up every child’s world. It gives them the ability to explore and choose like nothing else can. It provides options. It paves their way.
 
I have had the privilege of watching student after student fly free because of Silent Elephant “e”™.  I am proud of Silent Elephant “e”™. I am even more proud of these confident and happy young people whose lives were completely changed because of Silent Elephant “e”™, such as the young 16-year-old who is starting college early. (More about her later.)
 
Now, back to your thank you gift!
 
I wanted to give you something to show how much I appreciate you for sharing my passion for EVERY CHILD HAVING THE FREEDOM OF READING.
 
My thank you gift is a PDF of Silent Elephant “e”™ ‘s  Lesson 51 - Vowel Digraph “ui” makes a long /oo/” also called Juicy Juicy.
 
I named my Silent Elephant “e”™ lessons with names that strike curiosity and interest in our students and also tells them what they will be learning. This name makes them giggle and it begins their multi-sensory process of learning “ui” and of having that knowledge at the ready for the rest of their lives when they come up against an unknown ”ui” word.
 
Juicy Juicy gives you a clear idea of how Silent Elephant “e”™ teaches a new phonics concept by activating all parts of the brain through fun whole child/whole brain activities. In Juicy Juicy these fun activities stimulate their senses as they learn that “ui” makes a long /oo/ sound.
 
Your gift includes the entire 7-page Juicy Juicy lesson beginning with your directions and their introduction using their sense of sight, smell, and taste. The lesson then continues with learning “ui” words, their meanings and using those words in sentences to develop comprehension. You will also see how we use Silent Elephant “e”™ markings to indicate phonetic concepts. This is another way multi-sensory learning is integrated throughout Silent Elephant “e”™. Each color and symbol has particular meaning which activates the parts of the brain involving symbology and color.
 
Since Juicy Juicy is a 7-page PDF please email Nina at nina.silentelephante@gmail.com to let her know where you would like her to send your thank you gift.
 
Again, THANK YOU so much for being a part of this wonderful EVERY CHILD GETTING TO LEARN TO READ journey with us! We look forward to hearing how you and your kiddos enjoyed Juicy Juicy.
 
As always, we love hearing your thoughts and answering your questions. Contact us at silentelephante@gmail.com or nina.silentelephante@gmail.com, or call me at 208-859-4406 or Nina at 208-860-3125.

Once Learned Through Experience, It's Theirs Forever

When Learning is Fun, It’s Easy and It Stays!

The eyes of the young boy hunched over his last worksheet in Part 14 moved effortlessly word to word. His hand stretched into the colored pencils spread in front of him with a smooth motion as he chose the next color he needed to mark the decoding in the next word.
 
Shaun quickly and confidently used different colors and different symbols to mark prefixes, suffixes, root words, consonant digraphs, consonant blends, consonant twins, the sounds of “c’s” and “g’s”, vowel diacritical markings, syllable division and accent marks.
 
He did all of this from memory.
 
By repetitively using colors to mark prefixes, suffixes, root words, consonant digraphs, consonant blends, consonant twins, the sounds of “c’s” and “g’s”, vowel diacritical markings, syllable division and accent marks, Shaun easily put the “puzzle pieces” in a word together to find meaning.
 

Example of a Level 3 worksheet with phonetic markings for decoding.

The Silent Elephant “e”™ colors and phonetic markings Shaun chose to indicate how to decode words are not random markings taught in isolation.
 
Instead, the phonetic markings and the colors used to mark them are the logical outcome of the fun, multi-sensory activities that Shaun experienced as he learned each phonetic concept. More importantly, he had fun learning the concept and the markings.
 
These activities included acting, puppetry, cooking, games, singing and many other multi-sensory activities that set the phonetic concepts firmly in multiple parts of Shaun's brain.
 
In Silent Elephant “e”™, every phonetic concept is introduced with a multi-sensory activity.
 
As he finished his worksheet, he began to glow with pride and as he raised his head, his bright smile beamed at me. He was proud.
 
Shaun was so calm, so in control, so meticulous and so very pleased with himself as he flew through that worksheet marking word after word, reading each sentence effortlessly with expression and comprehending completely.
 
He knew that he knew how to decode and read every word on that page, and he knew that he comprehended everything he read.
 
He also knew that just two years before, he wasn’t even able to read at a first-grade level and now here he was reading at a 9th grade level, 4 years ahead of his grade level.
 
He knew school was easier now and getting easier all the time.
 
He also knew that he is profoundly dyslexic and that learning to be calm and focused had been hard. He knew that learning to read, write and spell through the fun activities in Silent Elephant “e”™ had not only helped him find calm in learning to read, but helped him understand what he hadn’t been able to understand before. 
 
Looking up from his worksheet, his bright smile told me the truth of all of this.
 

Example of a Level 2 works showing phonetic markings for decoding.
Each marking takes their mind back to the activity they experienced to learn that concept.

Let’s ask those questions that come to mind, WHY was Shaun able to make such fast progress with Silent Elephant “e”™? WHY was this profoundly dyslexic young boy able to move from primer to 9th grade in two years?
 
It’s because Silent Elephant “e”™ is experiential, it’s multi-sensory, it’s fun.

It teaches the whole child through fun activities that activates all parts of their brain through their senses, thus “wiring” their brain with memories of these fun activities and with the knowledge learned during them to decode unfamiliar words. It teaches them the way they learn best – through fun experiences.

Long after he completes Silent Elephant “e”™, Shaun’s brain will retrieve memories of the fun activity he experienced while learning the phonetic markings associated with each learned phonetic concept. His brain will retrieve this knowledge when he needs to decode any unfamiliar word.

Shaun’s anxiety is gone; he will always feel confident that he has the skills to support him as he moves into high school, college and adulthood.
 
When children learn to read, write and spell experientially through fun, meaningful, multi-sensory activities, learning WILL be FUN AND FAST and it WILL STAY with them.

Contact us here or call us at:

Linda Katherine Smith-Jones   208-859-4406       or Nina Henson   208-860-3125

THEY DO HAVE MULTIPLE SOUNDS AND FOR A FUN REASON –

THEY DO HAVE MULTIPLE SOUNDS AND FOR A FUN REASON –

How to Easily Teach the Multiple Sounds of CONSONANT DIGRAPHS (Second Part) 

Multiple sounds of consonant digraphs can be confusing to readers. However, they become understandable and not confusing at all when you clarify them through research and activities that help your kids realize how amazing our English language is. 

The English language is a “melting pot” that has developed over hundreds of years to include digraphs and words from many languages. Exploring England, Greece, Italy, France, the Netherlands, and the Germanic countries by utilizing maps, books, food, plays, drawing and stories will excite your children as they learn the origins of the consonant digraph sounds.

Pique their interest in the history of the English language as an ever-changing entity using the multi-sensory activities below: 

·       Girls dress in fancy dresses as princesses and boys wear Bobby hats as they act out plays depicting life in England imagining castles, red telephone booths, and double-decker busses.

·       Children love discussing that Greece is not “greasy” and learning where the name came from! I hear oohs and aahs as we look at Greek architecture. I hear oohs and aahs as we look at Greek architecture.

·       Don’t we all love Italian food! Spaghetti for a special class party is a hit! Serve French croissants for dessert. Say “grazie” in Italian and “merci” in French.

·       Christmas time is a perfect time to learn about the Netherlands by showing pictures of St. Nicholas, sleighs and wooden shoes.

·       Use maps to study the old Germanic countries and compare them with the boundaries of countries of today. 

After all of these fascinating activities, children are anxious to learn which of our words come from these interesting places in the world and, more importantly, they have a “hook” to help them remember the many sounds of consonant digraphs. Plus, you are beginning to instill a love of language in your children. What a marvelous, ever lasting gift to give them!

In my last post in this series, I shared examples of teaching the hard and soft sounds of “th” and I shared the need to teach all sounds of a digraph when you begin teaching it. So, I have to follow my own instructions and finish telling you that “th” has a third sound of /t/. 

The /t/ sound of “th” is from the Greek language in words such as thyme and Thomas. I always let children smell thyme and suggest they ask Mom or Dad to add a bit to their hamburgers or meatloaf at home.  

In one part of my Silent Elephant “e” lesson, the soft and hard sounds of “th” are connected in an unusual way adding to our exploration of the different countries that have added to the beauty of English. Explore with the children how the soft “th” in “teeth” becomes the hard “th” in “teethe” when Silent Elephant “e” is added to the end. This is a mix of Germanic and English. Other examples are bath/bathe, breath/breathe, and cloth/clothe.  

Now, let’s look at origins of other digraphs. The consonant digraph “ch” has three sounds. Notice that the three sounds all come from different languages.

1. /ch/ as in child—English (They are a child. Have them point to themselves, draw a picture of themselves and title it “I Am a Child”.)

2. /sh/ as in machine; crochet—French (My boys especially love “machine”!)

3. /k/ as in school—Greek (Children draw pictures of their school. If appropriate, children draw a picture of a Christmas tree to celebrate Christ’s birthday.)

The consonant digraph “gh” has three sounds:

1. /f/ as in laugh and cough—Dutch, Germanic (Children draw an open mouth on their consonant digraph papers and act out a cough and a laugh.)

2. /silent/ as in thigh, knight—Germanic, English (Touch thighs; pretend to be a knight dueling a dragon!)

   /silent/ as in sleigh—Dutch (Oh, those poor children in the Netherlands have to write 4 letters just to make a long “a” sound and there is not even an “a” in “eigh”! Oh, my goodness!)

3. /g/ as in spaghetti—Italian

     /g/ as in ghost, ghoul, ghastly—Germanic (If appropriate, children draw ghastly looking Halloween pictures of ghosts and ghouls.)

The consonant digraph “rh” comes from the Greek language in words such as: rhyme, rhythm, rhubarb, rhinoceros, and rhombus. (Enjoy eating delicious rhubarb with your children, drawing a picture of a rhinoceros, figuring out what a rhombus is, clapping rhythms and reading books and poems that rhyme!)

I have included many more exciting and brain stimulating activities for you in Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”. You won’t run out of activities and ideas! 

If you have further questions about teaching consonant digraphs, feel free to contact us.

Linda Katherine Smith-Jones                            Nina Henson 

MULTIPLE SOUNDS OF CONSONANT DIGRAPHS - Part 1

MULTIPLE SOUNDS OF CONSONANT DIGRAPHS

(First Part) 

After so many years of teaching Kindergartners through eleventh graders—yes, I’m VERY OLD—I have learned the value of teaching ALL the sounds a consonant digraph can make when I first introduce a consonant digraph. Then I know my students won’t be surprised by an unknown sound of a consonant digraph.  

Here are a couple of examples of how I introduce and teach two consonant digraphs.  

In English we make two sounds of the “th” consonant digraph: the “soft” unvoiced sound (as in “thin”) and the “hard” voiced sound (as in “that”). 

Using the Silent Elephant “e” sight word method, I teach the following high frequency voiced “th” words quickly, as children will need them in primary reading:

the                        that                      they                      this                              there

their                      them                    then                      these                              than

those                    though                 thus                       thou                              thee

Then I tell children this hint: “Use the unvoiced sound for ALL the rest of the “th” words.” 

The “wh” consonant digraph also has two sounds. It makes the “h” sound for 5 special words in this special story that children and I have fun acting out: 

(Knock on the door.)

First character: “Who is it?”

Second character: Says his/her name.

First character pretends he/she didn’t hear: “Whom did you say?”

Second character: Says his/her name again.

First character puts his/her hands on his/her hips and looks concerned: “Who’s going to eat my whole (shape hands in a circle) pie? (Pause) But whose pie is it?”

Second character: “Yours. So, you get to eat it, unless you’d like to share.”

(Everyone giggles!)

When I tutored from my home (before COVID), one of my little boys always jumped up and said, “Will you share your pie, Mom?” 

The children and I act this funny story out until they have these 5 words learned. We practice listening to the /h/ sound in the words as we write them.  

The second sound of “wh” is /hw/. 

To teach the /hw/ sound, I have children put one of their hands with the palm facing their mouth close in front of their mouth. We say the word “wag” and feel the consonant “w” sound on the palm of our hand. We discuss that we can barely feel any air on our hand. 

Next, we keep our hand in the same place and say with strong feeling, “Where have you been? What were you doing? Why are you so late? When were you supposed to be home?” We discuss that we can feel lots and lots of warm air blowing on our hand! They love this activity and instantly understand the difference in the 2 sounds.  

This activity is also helpful in Spelling, if your children are wondering whether to spell a word with a “w” or a “wh”, have them put their hand in front of their mouths to discover if they hardly feel any air or if they feel lots of warm air blowing on their hand. They need to spell a word with “wh” instead of a “w” when they feel lots of warm air blowing on their hand. 

When we are teaching a particular consonant digraph, we can emphasize the most common sound(s) in our lesson for the day, but we should always teach and/or review ALL sounds. 

Once children know that a particular consonant digraph has multiple sounds and they learn each sound right away, they are not surprised or frustrated when suddenly a sound pops up in a word that they were not expecting. Instead, children will be anxiously waiting to learn to read new words with ALL of the sounds!         

I will share more teaching strategies for teaching the “ch” and “gh” consonant digraphs next time. In the meantime, have fun with the multiple sounds of “th” and “wh”! 

If you have further questions about teaching consonant digraphs, feel free to contact us.

Linda Katherine Smith-Jones                            Nina Henson