What Are Continuous Vowel Sounds
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What Are Continuous Vowel Sounds

When learning, or teaching, English pronunciation, there are many factors to consider and even more rules to remember. Students can easily feel overwhelmed and confused. It’s best to start teaching pronunciation with easier sounds, such as continuous sounds. But what are continuous vowel sounds? Continuous sounds are sounds with a continuous flow from the mouth…

Can A Schwa Be Stressed?
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Can A Schwa Be Stressed?

A schwa is a mid-central vowel sound, characteristic of a very relaxed vowel sound. You pronounce it like the first vowel sound in the English word /about/. How a schwa is produced, stressed or unstressed, depends on the language and the specific definition of the sound. A schwa is pronounced as a neutral, relaxed, and…

The Orton-Gillingham Order To Teach Letters
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The Orton-Gillingham Order To Teach Letters

As a speech therapist and teacher myself, I understand entirely and advocate the importance of teaching and facilitating reading skills. This skill paves the way for other literacy and learning abilities later in life.  The Orton-Gillingham approach to teaching reading describes a specific order for teaching letters and reading in general. The Orton-Gillingham order to…

The World Is Your Oyster
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The World Is Your Oyster

Have you ever come across this phrase, maybe you are studying English literature and this has been in one of the texts you are reading. The world is your oyster certainly makes an appearance in Shakespeare’s works. Maybe you have been set the question in school to define what “the world is your oyster” means,…

Why Are R Controlled Vowel Sounds So Confusing For Students
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Why Are R Controlled Vowel Sounds So Confusing For Students

I’m sure many adults have forgotten all about these controlled syllables that they learned at school!  However, many children have difficulty learning and being able to grasp the concept of R-controlled vowels.  Why are these vowels so confusing for students? R-controlled vowel sounds are confusing to students because they sometimes read differently to what they…

Which Graphemes Should Be Taught First
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Which Graphemes Should Be Taught First

I am sure many parents are not always confident when they need to help their children learn and understand graphemes.  I always found it daunting to teach my children to spell when hearing a different sound!  So, which graphemes are taught first? Graphemes that should be taught first are the most common single-letter graphemes (t;…

Why to Use Kinesthetic Movement In The Classroom – 6 Ways to Uplevel Your Teaching
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Why to Use Kinesthetic Movement In The Classroom – 6 Ways to Uplevel Your Teaching

Incorporating kinesthetic movement in your classroom is an easy way to improve literacy outcomes before your child even realizes they’re learning. For years now research has shown that not every child learns the same way. However, still, in classrooms all over the world children are expected to sit, listen and learn. If we know its…

How to Introduce Poetry to Kindergarten Children.
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How to Introduce Poetry to Kindergarten Children.

”Old McDonald had a farm E-I-E-I-O,” can you remember learning this nursery rhyme and other similar rhymes when you were a child?  Thinking back, this was my these nursery rhymes were my first introduction to poetry. it wasn’t introduced as such but it does bring up the question to how to introduce poetry to Kindergarten….