Phonetic Word Baskets

Phonetic Word Baskets are a great way to introduce or reinforce concepts in the Montessori Programmed Reading Material. This work consists of a series of baskets, each containing 10 word slips. Students will work with each basket which corresponds to the concept they are currently learning by reading the word slips, and if they are ready, copy them to a sheet of lined paper. This can be a great way to introduce 3 letter phonetic words, consonant blends, double consonants, compound words, or assess a student’s readiness to progress to the next level of their language development.

Materials

• Four baskets containing at least ten word cards in each basket.  The cards are 2” by 2.5” and are folded in half long ways.  The words are written in black.
• There is a reservoir of words to provide frequent changes.

BASKET 1 (pink level)– The basket contains three letter phonetic words such as the ones listed below:

• Pig, cup, job, sat, lot, it, tag,
• sum, hog, hug, bug, fun, jam,
• sit, tug, ham, box, pot, pit, and rag.

BASKET 2 (blue level) – The basket contains four or more letter phonetic words with consonant blends.

• Stamp, bump, fled, plum, crib,
• Frog, plan, prom, stilt, jump,
• Hunt, lift, rest, stop, step,
• Lift, stand, drum, plum, and raft.

Basket 3 (green level) – The basket contains phonetic words with double consonants.

• Cuff, jacks, track, still, gruff,
• Peck, muff, ruck, pocket, mitt
• Miff, clock, stuff, rocket, mock,
• Smell, well, tell, bell, spell,
• Glasses and quack.

BASKET 4 – The basket contains phonetic words ending in “y” as well as more complex phonetic words and words with more than one syllable.

• Daddy, rocky, candy, jolly, hamlet, handy, lilly, mommy, trumpet, lemon, banana, puppy, pumpkin, craftsman, platinum, silly, sticky, blanket, flannel, and pastel.

Points of Interest

• Making two consonant sounds together.
• Seeing that the “y” may be pronounced “e” at the end of a word.
• Reading longer words having two syllables.
• Seeing that double consonant sounds are only pronounced once.

Control of Error

• Child’s own knowledge (vocabulary.)
• Another child.
• Teacher.
• Equipment.

Direct Aims

• To introduce consonant blends.
• To introduce double consonants.
• To introduce “y” sounds as “e.”
• Preparation for reading and spelling.
• Introduction to words as an entity without associating them to objects or pictures.

Indirect Aims

• Preparation writing sentences.
• Further development of an awareness that words have vowels and consonants.
• Enrichment of vocabulary.

Aditional Exercises

• TBA

Extensions

• TBA