Zoophonics Atlantic Headstart Programs 2010 Helen Bernard-Ward

Objectives Demonstrate how Zoo-phonics works Show how to implement the Program Become active participants Show how successful the program is Demonstrate a lesson Show how to do an Assessment

Rationale “There is now ample evidence that letter-sound instruction facilitates learning to read compared with methods with little or no phonics instruction” p. 422 of Handbook of Early Literacy Research

Research shows that children that have a well-developed phonological awareness when they come to school have a head start in making sense of how sounds and letters operate in print. This is why it is important to teach sound awareness in the preschool years.

The value of mnemonics for teaching letter-sound relations to children is supported by evidence. The motivational value of associating interesting characters or hand motions and incorporating this into activities and games that are fun is important for promoting young children’s learning. p Report of the National Reading Panel: Teaching Children to Read Reports of the Subgroups

What is Zoo-phonics? A fun way for young children to learn sounds using signals. The program uses animals in the lowercase letters to help children learn the shapes and sounds of the letters. Using body movements for each animal letter helps “cement” the phonemic information into memory.

Why Zoophonics? Positive feedback and good results Introduced and used in some daycares and preschools Positive results for learning challenged students Actions are related to what the animal does in real life –easy to remember Actions involve the whole body – helping lock the shapes and sounds into memory

Feedback from First Nation and District 16 Teachers Children love the animals! Animals are a hook – motivational Vowels are acquired quicker and easier – long and short vowels are less confusing Begin reading and writing earlier Children are able to use an alphabet chart more independently during writing Opportunities for integrating oral language

Essences of Zoophonics 1.The animals, drawn in the shape of lowercase letters, help the children remember the shapes and the sounds of the letters. The significant names of the animals teach the sound.

2. Letter sounds are taught before letter names. 3. Lowercase letters are taught before capital letters. 4. The body movements (Signal) for each animal letter helps “cement” the phonemic information into memory.

5. The alphabet is taught sequentially, as a whole entity, “a-z”. The alphabet is not fragmented. 6. Short vowels are taught before long vowels.

7. Phonemic patterns (at, bat, fat, sat, etc.) are taught first rather than random word lists (of, it, then, was, because). 8. High frequency words are taught phonemically, not by sight. 9. Phonics is taught as an integrated part of the language arts process

Layout of Preschool program Read “Getting Started” section Start with Daily Lessons Look at objectives for the week – generally a letter a week-Literacy Selection & Phonemic Awareness/Pre-Writing Experiences Literature selections are good Choose the activities best suited to your group

Throughout the program Do alphabet warm-up each day with cards - song #3 on CD has good tempo to learn; Zoo-robics #6 is fun Teach from “A-Z” until students have mastered the signals, sounds, and alphabet sequence Focus is on the letter sound and animal before the letter name Students signal and sound when decoding

What about the stuffed animals? Not necessary but recommended because : Makes the alphabet more personal Can play with the animals – more engaging and fun; so more opportunity for hands-on learning Get to “meet” the animals Puppets are good too

Parent Information Send home pages to inform about Zoo-phonics signals Introductory Letter to explain the program Animal letter grid so they can practice

Actions continue to be crucial! Students appear to acquire advanced letter-sound relationship more easily and quickly. Teachers report that it appears when you teach a phonetic rule or “chunk” with the action, repeatedly, the students are able to access their motor memory to assist in reading and spelling unknown words – more carry-over into actual reading and writing.

Picture this! Preschool and Classroom teachers, Literacy Clinicians, parents, and resource teachers all using the same anchors and cues to give the consistent instruction to all students in the district.

Zoo-phonics Preschool Kit Componets Adventures in Learning Teaching Manual Adventuresome Kids CD-Rom Large Animal Alphabet Cards (LACS) Small Animals Cards Capital Animals Cards Zoo-Music Collection on CD, “Music That Teaches”

Signal Practice Video Alphabet Grids Zoo-Phonics Signal Poster Activity Worksheets Level A…not recommended for use… Animal Alphabet Puppets*

Meet the Cast of Characters Signal Practice Video Using Large Animal Alphabet Cards honics.htmlhttp://dirtdoog.dyndns.org/katie/zoop honics.html Fun with song…. “Come Meet Us At the Zoo.

webPutt-Putt’s Zoo-phonics (Zoophonics) Page

Results of Using Zoo- phonics!!! Your kids will learn their letters and sounds in two weeks!! Doesn’t that sound amazing!!!