Reading

sentence and story-based understanding of language.  This is a big step on the road to reading and most students in pre-k/kindergarten programs work here through the end of the traditional 10 month school year.

Digraphs are two consecutive letters that create one sound. As the child approaches consonant blends with the Blue Level series, the introduction of digraphs, also…

The Phonetic Command cards are a great way to add context and movement to language activities. This activity consists of 4-6 boxes or baskets with action words and sentences on them. Beginning with 3 letter verbs and advancing through multi step activity sentences, this work is a great way to handle rainy days, groups of students who need movement, and can be an excellent multi sensory tool for memorizing sight words.

Phonetic Flash Cards are another exercise designed to familiarize students with the concept of naming and linked sounds to create words. This activity is a series of 5x7 flashcards on a tray with pictures on one side and the names on the other. Vowels are colored blue and consonants are in red. As students become more familiar with exercises such as this, the Montessori Guide will introduce more group exercises like the memory game and students can work together to write the name pictured on the card.

The Phonetic Reading Books are great exercise to help build reading confidence through a series of progressively more challenging booklets. Beginning with words one one page and pictures on the opposite, students are invited to create their own booklets as well after mastering some of the ones available.

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.

Pink Level is the second step in the Montessori Programed Reading Material with a focus on three letter words with vowels. What makes this particular activity unique is the approach to understand and recognize vowels and their importance in word building. Students are able to focus on words, one vowel at a time, building upon their knowledge until they are able to recognize and understand the role the play in linking consonants together to form familiar words. While you can find packages online, creating this work yourself is entirely possible but can also be quite difficult to find some of the smaller objects. Like most of the teacher-made activities, it relies entirely on your creativity and interest in finding those special items that attract the student to experiment and grow their understanding of phonetic sounds.