Author: Elaine Kirn-Rubin
Suitable for: 5-8, Secondary, Young Adult, Adult
What It Is: 2 packs of Picture/Word Cards arranged into 105 "Quartets" (sets of four-of-a-kind vocabulary items beginning with the same initial consonants) + 88-page Activities & Ideas Book of product descriptions, pedagogy, preparation + activity steps, game rules with variations, reference lists, integrated skills lessons, and more
Why You Need It: Although many English words begin with single consonant sounds & letters that are always pronounced and spelled the same, there are also a good number of items beginning with
- digraphs, pairs of letters representing single sounds, such as ch, sh, ph, th, wh
- consonant blends or clusters, combinations of sounds represented by sequences of letters that often go together, like cl, fr, sk, thr, sch, and many others
- less common/unusual spellings for some sounds, as in c = /s/, ch = /k/, x = /z/
- consonant spellings that include "silent letters," such as gn = /n/, kn = /n/, ps = /s/, wr = /r/.
Intermediate & Advanced Initial-Consonants Cards display many items with these features, which are marked as particularly "challenging." They're also covered in the pedagogy and references of the Activities & Ideas Book.
What It Does:
- at Intermediate Levels, shows pictures and words that start with the initial consonants from Basic and Beginning decks—as well as cl, cr, dr, fl, fr, gl, gr, pl, pr, q, sl, sm, sn, sp, sr, st, str, sw, th, tr, v, y, z. These mostly one-syllable items have regular, but less common, spellings (letters in sequence) than those in lower-level materials. Additional Advanced spellings of initial consonant sounds and combinations in one- and multi-syllable words are chr, kn, ph, sc, sch, shr, sk, spl, spr, sq, thr, tw, wh, wr, x.
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includes a few sets of words that begin with the same letter(s)—c, ch, sc— but different sounds—/k/ vs. /s/, /ch/ vs. /k/, /sk/ vs. /s/. Very unusual (exceptional) spellings, starred (*), appear in gray boxes. Nearly all possible (clusters of) initial consonants are covered.
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advances vocabulary learning in the same four Categories of Meaning as lower-level materials--People/Animals, Places, Things, Actions/Activities, but offers many "Challenge" words, including the names of people and places, especially when it was "a stretch" to come up with appropriate vocabulary
- further develops ability to build vocabulary (with attention to parts of speech, meanings, and usage) through well-planned but flexible lessons, activities, and follow-up
What It Can Help You Do:
- have self-teaching material on hand for breaks in routine that don't waste time because they further acquisition of phonics and spelling patterns while improving pronunciation
- engage competitive spirits in cooperative learning by enabling learners to really "play cards"--as in classic (children’s) games like P-I-G, Snap or Slap-Jack, Snip-Snap-Snorem, Memory or Concentration, Go Fish, Old Maid, Rolling Stone, Linger Longer, I Doubt It, Rummy, Bridge, and many other popular pastimes involving matching and sequencing items
- prepare for, reinforce, review, and help others retain material through additional activities that require little or no preparation, such as Fill-In Spelling Tests; Initial-Consonants Lotto/Bingo, the Game of Categories, Sounds & Letters Hunts, online research, riddle-like "Vocabulary Quizzes," beyond-the-materials Brainstorming, Path-Board games, composition writing, and whatever else inspires and works.
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3 Page TOC and 6 Sample Pages
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