
Author: Elaine Kirn-Rubin
Suitable for: K-8, Secondary, Young Adult, Adult
What It Is: 32 separate Bingo Games with 320 Boards displaying words contrasting sounds and spellings + 32 Sets of Caller Cards + four 60-page books of pedagogy, instructions, ideas, reproducibles, and reference lists
Why You Need It: New--and even experienced readers--as well as learners of English as a Second Language who complain that "words aren't pronounced the way they're spelled" can benefit greatly from exposure to phonics (the correlations between the 40 or more sounds of the spoken language and the 26 letters of the alphabet used for spelling them). Lacking the time or resources to embark on a full course of instruction, they can acquire the major patterns of the system through pedagogically constructed games like those of Phonics Bingo.
What it Does: At four levels of "difficulty" to address learners' various stages of ability, the whole package of 32 Bingo Games:
"teaches" the pronunciation and spelling of a total of 688 vocabulary items, carefully chosen to represent nearly all spellings of all sounds of American English, through comparison and contrast of items arranged in "minimal pairs" and groups
starts out at the beginning and systematically progresses to mastery with:
- 72 simplest examples of the most Basic Sounds = Letters Patterns, arranged into 8 games of nine picture items each, with sounds-symbols + words charted for reference below
- 108 commonly-used, illustrated one-syllable words typifying Beginning phonics patterns, organized into 8 different games of ten 16-item grids each, with pedagogy at the bottom of each of its 80 Boards
- 200 sample Intermediate-Level vocabulary items with visuals, including some with grammatical endings, in 80 25-box arrangements with sound-symbols vs. regular spellings listed underneath
- 288 one- and multi-syllable Advanced words showing nearly all regular, less common, unusual, and exceptional spellings, arranged into ten 36-box grids of eight distinct games, above listings of contrasting phonics patterns plus irregular and exceptional spellings
- epitomize the advantages of Phonics-based preparation, lessons, interaction, practice, testing, and follow-up. Benefits emerge effortlessly from word-level lessons and activities to improve participants' pronunciation, reading, and vocabulary skills.
- show teachers and language learners how to best acquire and further their abilities with and beyond the hands-on materials, providing game rules and leveled variants as wells as steps to follow before, during, and after game play. These may include ideas for playing Small-Group, Card-Less, Meaning-Clue, Do-It-Yourself, and Learner-Created Bingo/Lotto; applying Caller Cards to Matching or Rhyming-Word activities; conducting "Spelling Bees" and phonics-based "Spelling Tests"; and using reproducible "Mastery Checks" that take little space but assess mastery of all relevant patterns and principles
- make useful reference information easily available with reduced-sized copies of all Bingo Boards cited in Teaching Notes; concise, level-appropriate Mini-Courses of explained and charted phonics patterns and rules for tutors, helpers, and everyone else; sequenced Reference Lists of targeted Vocabulary Items, often with supplemental listings of Rhyming Words & Homophones to extend their usefulness
- helps educators and learners meet or exceed standards of Common Core, ELA (English Language Acquisition), ESL (English as a Second Language) and other curriculum standards--through naturally occurring feedback, cooperation, and competition but a minimum of stressful extra work, tedium, or anxiety.