All too often, we hear people say that the English language doesn’t make sense and that spelling and word meaning “just have to be memorized.” This couldn’t be further from the truth! Our language does make sense…if you know the rules. For example, the word “have”follows the rule that English words should not end in <v>; therefore an <e> is added.
Let’s stop telling our students that our language is illogical, and let’s teach them the tools they need to easily break the code to read and spell thousands of words. Watch Executive Director Jennifer Hasser, M.Ed., explain more in our helpful video.
If you’d like to learn strategies that make structured literacy instruction more effective and memorable, attend our workshops. Our curricula and training program are accredited by the International Dyslexia Association (IDA) and the International Multisensory Language Education Council (IMSLEC).
This blog post highlights how the multisensory activities Kendore-trained teachers know and love can be altered to help students work on advanced concepts, including the syllable types (“REVLOC”). If you’ve attended our webinars or trainings, you may be familiar with these activities! If you would like to know more about our IDA and IMSLEC-accredited curricula and training program, check out our website or contact us.
Hot Lava: Multisyllabic Edition
Early in the curriculum, teachers learn how to use the Code Quest Consonant and Vowel decks to play Hot Lava to test their students’ automaticity. Quick recap: Set down a series of cards on the ground and ask your student to say the sound before hopping to the next card. If the student incorrectly identifies the sound, they fall into “hot lava” and have to go back to the beginning. Students love using their imaginations with this activity, pretending to meet a fiery demise when they misstep.
The Unlock REVLOC deck is perfect for Hot Lava! Lay down two or three syllable cards next to each other to form a multisyllabic word. Ask students to read the word and then hop on it to stay “safe.” Create a path of these words. Note that the words you form with the REVLOC cards do not have to be real words. Students need to practice decoding both real and nonsense words to know how to apply the syllabication rules you are teaching.
You can also create a path using a variety of single syllable cards. Ask the students to cross the “hot lava” by jumping only on a certain syllable type, or by naming the syllable type before they jump on the card. For a Hot Lava reminder, watch our demonstration video.
REVLOC Beach Ball Toss
This Kendore activity is an excellent way to get students up and moving while they practice identifying the six syllable types!
Place cards from the Unlock REVLOC deck inside the pockets of the Toss and Teach Beach Ball. Toss the ball back and forth and ask your student to read the card their left thumb lands on, then identify the syllable type. Advance to having the student read two cards next to each other on the beach ball so that they can practice decoding and smoothly reading multisyllabic words. Remember that having them practice reading real and nonsense words will help them build automaticity!
For a reminder about how to use the Toss and Teach Beach Ball, watch our demonstration video.
Syllable Tracking
Our Executive Director Jennifer Hasser, M.Ed., calls Sound Track “one of the most important exercises teachers can do with their students to teach reading prerequisite skills.” If you’re trained in our curriculum, you’ve been working with your students on Sound Track since their very first Kendore lesson. Now that they’ve been introduced to some of the syllable types, they can work on Syllable Tracking!
This activity follows the same structure as Sound Track, but now each rainbow token will represent one syllable. For example, if your students heard the word “backpack,” they would pull two tokens onto the track – one for each syllable in the word. Students will work on strengthening their memory skills by recalling a multisyllabic nonsense word, identifying which syllable is changing, and showing the change.
