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Improving Letter/Sound Recognition, Letter Production,

and Letter/Sound Recall Among 3 Struggling ELL Kindergartners

Xee Yang Fall 2007

Elementary Ed. 792 Seminar In CUlTiculum and Instruction Dr. Judith Hankes

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TEACHING LETTER SOUND RECOGNITION, LETTER PRODUCTION, AND LETTERJSOUND REC ALL

Xee Yang

A Seminar Paper Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of

Master of Science in Education

Curriculum and Instruction

University of Wisconsin Oshkosh Oshkosh, Wisconsin 54901

December 2007

Approval Date

First Reader: Snyuw:yaJg, MS

Second Reader: __ •'" '/Ll/r;L~, , ~ l D,-!-..,~~\(L~Judith Hankes, Ph. D. 7 T

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Abstract

Statement of the Problem

Situating the Problem

Literature Review

Methodology

Participants

Data Collection

Intervention

Fountas and Pinnell

Nine Categories of Leaming

Background

Month-to-Month Guides

Descriptions of Lessons

Data Analysis/Results

Conclusion

Future Implications

References

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" ABSTRACT

This study examines the use of repetition of the Fountas and Pinnell phonics

lessons of teaching letter sound recognition, letter reproduction, and letter/sound recall to

three struggling ELL students.

I implemented the Fountas and Pinnell phonics lessons in my classroom to

investigate ifby repeating phonics lesson plans would improve letter sound recognition,

letter reproduction, and letter/sound recall among my ELL struggling kindergartners. In

each meeting, students were taught a different skill and afterwards would have the

opportunity to apply the skill. Students were encouraged to share what they learned from

each lesson at the end of the time we had together. This helped to improve their self

esteem.

The outcomes of this study suggest that the three ELL struggling kindergartners

benefited from the repetitious phonics lessons.

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STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

I am a certified Elementary/ESLIBilingual Hmong teacher who, for two years

prior to the study reported in this paper, struggled with finding effective strategies for

teaching letter sounds and letter fonnation to my kindergarten English Language

Learners (ELL). I was motivated to conduct the study because my kindergarten ELL

students did not learn the letter sounds, recognize the letters, and fonn letters as quickly

as their English speaking peers. In an effort to resolve this problem, I created games to

help the ELL students with letter fonnation and sounds, but the games were not

beneficial. I conducted this study to investigate if repetitious phonics lessons would be

an effective tool to teach letter sounds, letter/sound recognition, and letter forn1ation to

kindergarten English Language Learners.

SITUATING THE PROBLEM

I am a certified Elementary/ESLIBilingual Hmong teacher. I am in my third year

of teaching English Language Learners (ELLs). Currently, I teach ELL at Gegan

Elementary School in the Menasha Joint School District. There are three full-time and

one half-time ELL teachers at Gegan.

The year that this study was conducted, the total ELL population consisted of 62

students. The home language of these students included Spanish, Hmong, and Albanian.

Of these 62 ELL students, I taught a total of25 students on a daily basis, and of these 25

students, three were kindergartners.

By the end of kindergarten, students are expected to read pattem books that have

some kind ofpattems along with being able to read some basic sight words. It has been

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detennined that if ELL kindergartners struggle with the basic recognition ofletters and "

sounds, they will have a difficult time reading and recognizing sight words.

In the past, my ELL kindergartners tested behind in most of the assessments given

by the teacher including letter fom1ation, letter recognition and letter sound recognition.

I feel that the kindergarten curriculum moves too fast for my ELLs. Because they are

English language leamers and are still acquiring English vocabulary and still leaming the

English language, it is understandable for them to be behind their English speaking peers;

however, some did not show a steady progression as expected. I attribute this problem to

the fact that ELL students are still learning English and need a lot of repetition, but

because the regular education .teachcr has many other students and many accountability

factors, slowing down is an unlikely option.

As the ELL teacher, I need to provide the repetitions they need. However, that

repetition must be designed to meet their specific needs. In the past, I used regular

classrooms materials and created games based on those materials, but this was only

slightly effective. I conducted this study to find effective strategies for teaching letter

recognition, letter fom1ation, and letter sound recognition to English language learners.

LITER"-TL'RE REVIEW

A great amount of English Language Learners experience reading problems in

American schools (Gilbertson & Bluck, 2006). Appropriate instructions are needed if

these students are to progress through school. This includes differentiation for the

individual needs of these students at their level and working towards an attainable goal.

"Identifying when and how to proyide modification is not a simple task given the limited

validity of assessments and few empirically validated interventions for ELL students"

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(August & Hakuta, 1997, p.35). In addition, teachers are not sure ifpoor performance is "

due to the lack oflanguage skills or due to a learning disability. Because of this. making

accurate decisions that enhance instructions for English Language Learners is challenging

(Garcia, 2000).

Literacy is a key to learning in schools. It allows children to access the

curriculum. Knowing the letters of the alphabet is one of the first steps in learning to

read (Ehlel1 & Neal, 2007). "Those children who find reading and writing difficult in the

early stages of education often perform poorly on academic measures" (Dodd & Carr,

2003, p. 128). The achievement of literacy skills is dependent on sufficient oral language,

including phonological awareness, along with knowing and understanding visual symbols

and books (Stothard, 1996). Recent research, however, suggests that "delayed

acquisition of foundation literacy skills is traceable to a delay in acquiring letter-sound

knowledge (Duncan & Seymour, 200, p.145). Treiman and Broderick (1998) stressed the

need for awareness of letter sound understanding and the different ways it can be

evaluated. They do not believe that there is only one way of assessing alphabet

knowledge by asking students to label letters.

Letter-Sound Recognition

"Letter recognition is one of the foundation skills for reading" (Dodd & Carr,

2003, p. 129). Children must learn the correlation between letters and sounds in order to

move on to spelling and reading written words. They need to process and understand the

different features of any plinted letter. This can be difficult for students who do not have

prior exposure to the printed letters (English Language Learners). As Dodd and Carr

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(2003) stated, lettf,fr sound recognition can be measured by asking children to scan a letter

grid and find the grapheme matching a spoken letter sound.

Letter-Sound Recall

Letter sound recall is the ability to rehieve phoneme sounds. It can be measured

by asking children to say the sound the letter makes, indicating a written letter (Dodd &

Carr, 2003). It requires the student to distinguish a letter from a visual, recognize it,

retrieve the sound of the letter and say the sound of the letter. This makes "greater

demands on children's cognitive, linguistic and speech sound articulation processing

abilities and should therefore develop after letter-sound recognition" (Berko-Gleason,

1997, p.246)

Letter Production

According to Dodd and Carr (2003) "letter production differs from letter-sound

recognition and recall because it requires the interaction ofletter-sound knowledge and a

printing response" (p.129). Children process what they hear of the phoneme,

differentiate it from other phonemes, retrieve the formation of the letter from memory,

and use motor control to form a letter using a writing utensil (Gilbertson & Bluck, 2006).

Hall (1998) stated that writing docs not occur naturally. Rather it must be taught where

the skills come from literacy exposure.

The Phonics Lessons/or Kindergartners by Fountas and Pinnell explore the four

main types of infol111ation described above: phonemic awareness, letters and sounds,

reading words, and early reading concepts. Each of these types is essential for

developing an efficient early reading process. In the series, there are one hundred brief

mini-lessons. These mini-lessons help children understand, learn about and effectively

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use letters, letter sourWs, and words. Each lesson is carefully plan and organized. It

surrounds a single language principle. The lessons include a range of instructional

approaches including demonstration and explicit teaching to support children's

independent work.

After researching the critical aspects of early phonics instruction, I decided to

implement Fountas and Pinnell's curriculum with three low achieving kindergartners.

The methods and results of my implementation efforts are described below.

METHODOLOGY

Participants

When this study was conducted, I was v"'0r1..ing with three kindergarten English

Language Learncr:,. :lll Spanish spcakers and boys. According to the ACCESS Test (a

test designed to test for English Language ability) two of the students were at levelland

one was at level 2. The levels range from 1 to 6. These students were the lowest

achieving kindergartners of the students that I worked with.

Data Collection

There were two different fonns of data that were collected in this study. Pre and

post kindergarten tests were given to all three students. The kindergarten test was a

district test that consisted ofletter recognition of upper and lower case, letter sound

recognition, number identification from 0-50, number forn1ation, and common sight

words. In addition to the district pre and post assessment data, I also kept a journal of my

observations after each lesson.

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Intervention

Fountas and Pinnell

Each book of minilessons of the Fountas and Pinnell offers multiple planning

tools that help the teacher select lessons that align with student needs based on the Word

Study continuum. The mini lessons focus on content and delivery. The minilessons

usually take about 10 minutes of explicit instruction and an additional 15 minutes for

application activities. They are designed to help teachers address the pmticular needs of

the children he/she teaches.

In the Teacher's Guide, there is a Lesson Selection Map, a catalog oflessons by

Continuum category that suggest time of year for use. The Month-by-Month Planning

Guides outline a year of instruction. In addition to listing instructional routines and

lessons, these planning guides also identify expected competencies in the Assessment

column.

At the kindergarten level, picture cards are used for sorting, matching, and

playing games. Picture cards are used as a strategy to help students connect words and

sounds. They are used to help support the beginning reader.

Nine Categories of Learning

All the minilessons are based on one of nine Categories of Leaming. They are as

follows; Early Literacy Concepts, Phonological Awareness (Phonemic Awareness),

Letter Knowledge, Letter/Sound Relationships, Spelling Pattems, High Frequency Words,

Word Meaning, Word Structure, and Word Solving Actions. The principles of Early

Literacy Concepts help students distinguish between plint and pictures and understand

the purpose of print in reading and writing. Students use letters to \\Tite a message and

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use left to right directionality of print. They understand what makes a sentence and can "

distinguish between "first" and "last" in writing.

The Phonological Awareness Principle help students hear and recognize word

boundaries and be able segment sentences into words. Students also learn to hear and

connect rhyming words, syllables, blends, and segment words into phonemes.

Letter Knowledge refers to the skill of identifying letters, recognizing letters in

words and sentences, and fonning letters. This Principle specifically addresses the

understanding of the concept of a letter, being able to distinguish letter forms, producing

letter names and recognizing uppercase and lowercase letters. In addition students also

learn to make connections between words by recognizing letter placement and use

consistent motions to fornl letters.

Letter/Sound Relationships help students recognize that letters represent

consonant or vowel sounds. Students not only learn the different sounds of each

consonant or vowel but also learn that sounds are also connected through letter clusters

(cr, str, st, bI), consonant digraphs (ch, sh), and vowel combinations (ea, oa).

The Spelling Pattern Principle teaches students to examine the way simple words

and syllables are put together. These include the consonant-vowel-consonant pattern, the

consonant-vowel-consonant-silent e pattern, and the consonant-vowel-vowel-consonant

pattern.

Students are also taught to recognize and use high frequency words with one or

two letters. They leam to locate and read high frequency words in continuous text and

also being able to recognize and use high frequency words in writing. These are paris of

the High Frequency Words Principle.

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The Word J\/ft;aning Principle includes the teaching and exposing of children to

common concept words that children are often expected to know how to read and spell.

Students are exposed to synonyms, antonyms, and homonyms. Students learn to

recognize and learn concept words of color names, number words, days of the week, and

months of the year.

The Word Structure Plinciple teaches students to understand the concept of

syllables, recognize and understand simple compound words, and understand the concept

of contractions, plurals, and verb endings. These skills help students learn how words are

related to each other and how they can be changed by adding letters, letter clusters, and

larger word parts.

In the Word-Solving Actions Principle, students are taught the strategic moves

that readers and writers make when they use what they know of the language system to

help solve words. Some strategies within this Principle include using what is known to

solve words, taking words apat1 to solve them, and making connections between and

among words to solve them.

Background

In the regular kindergarten classroom the teacher used the Fountas and Pinnell

resources to teach phonics. She followed the schedule of what should be taught each

month according to the schedule set in the Fountas and Pinnell phonics lessons text book.

She taught at least one phonics lesson each week.

The three English Language Learners in this study were pulled at least 5 times

each week for repetition and addition of phonics lessons with me. The students are

pulled for 30-45 minutes each time. I taught phonics lessons from Fountas and Pinnell

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according to what needs to be taught every month making sure that my teaching is a "

repetition of what they already were exposed to in the classroom. In addition, I

reinforced the letter that they learned each week in the regular classroom.

I began my intervention by reading the introduction of the Month-to-Month

Planning Guides. I learned that there are two types of goals taught each month that are

integrated into the lessons (1) routines that should be taught and reinforced for behavior

management and easy flow within the classroom, and (2) phonological awareness or

attendance to print.

In the September Month-to-Month Planning Guide, the lessons help children

attend to print and at the same time build a sense of community. There are many lessons

focusing on using the students' names. These lessons help develop phonological and

print awareness. Because this is many of the students' first exposure into the classroom,

the lessons for September also focus on routines and taking care of the classroom. Basic

classroom routines include sitting, moving, listening, getting a turn to speak, joining in

for singing, chanting, listening to a story, participating in shared reading and interactive

writing, using and putting materials away, familiarity with class activities such as "circle

time", using the name puzzle and the name chart (locating, matching, etc.), and working

together in structured play centers.

In the October's Month-to-Month Guide, the lessons focus on helping students

recognize that there are separate words in sentences and hearing rhymes, beginning

consonant sounds, and syllables. In addition to teaching these activities explicitly, it is

suggested that teachers also integrate these activities into other literacy based centers

such as listening centers and poem books. The lessons in October also focus on

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" reinforcing the routines that have been taught in addition to the following: using the word

wall, matching picture cards, using the pocket chart (placing pictures, taking them out,

highlighting words or letters using plastic), putting together cut-up s-;ntences, saying

words and clapping syllables, saying words slowly, and word by word matching.

In the month of November, the lessons focus on working independently in centers

(listening, puzzles, games, looking at books, drawing, and writing), sorting picture cards,

and lotto using pictures to match. The phonological goal of these lessons is to help

children hear beginning sounds of words, learn letter fonns, distinguish letters from one

another by their features, and connect beginning sounds and letters.

At the time of this research I was able to get through the lessons from September

to November. Although, I did not begin my interventions until October, I decided to go

back to the September Month-to-Month Guide and started at the very beginning. I did

this because I knew that the lessons 'were already taught in the classroom and the

objective of my interventions is to re-teach what the classroom teacher already taught to

reinforce the goals and objectives within each lesson. I taught a total of twenty-one

lessons in a 10 week period.

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• September Month-to-Month Guide

Lessons

Essential Literacy Concepts: 1 Recognizing Names (Name Chilli)

Essential Literacy Concepts: 2 Learning Your Name (Songs and Chants)

I Phonological Awareness: 1 I Hearing Rhymes (Songs and Poems)

Phonl )logical A 2 Hearing More Rhymes (Poems)

Letter Knowledge: 1 Exploring Letters (Letter Play)

Letter Knowledge: 2 Recognizing Letters (Magnetic Letters)

Letter Knowledge: 3 Learning Letters (Names with Stars)

Letter Knowledge: 4 Learning Letters (Name Puzzle)

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Goals/Objectives

Students will be able to read their names and locate it in text.

Students will be able to build and write their names.

I Students will be able to say the names ofletters in their names.

Students will notice and talk about the similarities and differences among letters.

Students will be able to perform basic classroom routines .

. on poems. songs,

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October Month-to-Month Guide

Lessons

Essential Literacy Concepts: 3 Hearing Words in Sentences (Cut-Up Sentences)

Phonological Awareness: 3 Hearing Rhymes (Picture Sort)

Phonological Awareness: 4 Hearing Syllables (Picture S0l1)

Phonological Awareness: 5 Hearing Syllables (Chant)

Phonological Awareness: 6 Hearing, Saying, and Clapping Syllables (Picture Sort)

Phonological Awareness: 7 Saying Words Slowly to Hear Sounds (Picture-Word Match)

Letter Know ledge: 5 Recognizing and Naming Letters (Alphabet Linking Chart)

Goals/Objectives

Students will be able to hear and identify rhyming words.

Students will be able to match rhyming pictures

Students will be able to match pictures of words that begin the same.

Students will be able to say words to hear and clap syllables .

• Students will be able to identify the number of syllables in a word.

Students will be able to say words slov.'ly to hear one sound.

Students will hear words in a sentence.

Students will hear and identify beginning sounds in words.

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November Month-to-l\lonth Guide

Awareness: 8 • Hearing Beginning Sounds (Picture Match)

Phonological Awareness: 9 Hearing Beginning Sounds (Picture Match)

Letter Knowledge: 6 Making Letters (Art Material)

Letter Knowledge: 7 Learning Letter Forn1s and Names (Letter Match)

Word Solving Actions: 1

I Making Connections Between Names and Other wo~r~d_S_(N_am_e_L_o_t_to_)_______--1

· Word Solving Actions: 2 Using Letter/Sound Analysis (Writing Words)

Goals/Objectives

Students will be able to match more pictures of words with the same sound at the I beginning.

I Students will be able to match letters by looking at their features.

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· Students will be able to say words slowly to hear more than one sound.

Students will be able to say most letter names.

Students will be able to construct words in writing using known letter/sound relationships.

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Descriptions a/Lessons .. Early Literacy Concepts I: Recognizing Names (Name Chart)

Previous to teaching the lesson, I prepared cards for our pocket chart with

students' first names. The print was large enough for all students to see while they sat on

the rug. I began this lesson by explaining to children that they are going to bc working

with their names. In alphabetical order, I held up each student's name, said it, and asked

the students to repeat it. Then I had each student put his name on the chart as I pointed to

the place. I said, "This is Bryan's name. Bryan's name starts with a B. Say B,yan.

(Students responded) Say B is for B'JJan. (Children responded). Bryan, put your name on

the chart." I repeated this for all three students. Then we read the completed name chart

together. Students were asked to take their name cards from the pocket chart, glued it on

a piece of paper, wrote their names underneath, and drew a self portrait.

Early Literacy Concepts 2: Learning Your Name (Songs and Chants)

First, I wrote the lines of the song "Happy Birthday to You" on strip pieces of

paper and put them in the pocket chart. I left the name part in the song blank. I made

cards with students' names large enough for them to see when they sat on the rug. In this

lesson, I informed students that they will be learning to read their names as they sing and

chant. Then we leamed the song. Once the students were confident with the song, I

introduced the enlarged written form of the song on the pocket chali. We did a shared

reading of the song. I selectcd a student's name card and put it in the blank spot on the

written lines. I pointed to each word, read up to the name and then let the students read

the name. Afterwards, I asked the students to talk about how they "read" the name.

repeated this process with all name cards and asked the students to talk about how they

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"read" the names. )'he students applied the skill they learned by reading a smaller

version of the song, writing their names on the blank line, and illustrating it.

Phonological Awareness I: Hearing Rhymes (Songs and Poems)

I informed students that they will be learning a song that will help them know

about rhyming words. I taught students the song "If You're Happy and You Know It,

Clap Your Hands." 1 introduced the song by singing it with the students. We diverted

from the song and I asked them to think about the words sheep and jeep. I pointed out to

students that they rhyme. I said each word and help students recognize that the two

words sound alike at the end. The last parts of the words are the same. Then I introduced

the song "Did You Ever See?", a song that is the tune of "If You're Happy and You

Know It, Clap Your Hands." We sung it several times, using one or two more pairs of

rhyming words. I invited the students to suggest their own rhyming words to put in the

blanks.

Phonological Aw"areness 2: Hearing More Rhymes (Poems)

In this lesson, 1 introduced the poem of "Jack Be Nimble" by reading it aloud to

the students without showing the print. I emphasized the enjoyment of the language, the

rhythm, and the rhyme. Then I showed the print of the poem to the students. I said the

rhyme, one line at a time, having the students repeat after me. After we did this two times,

I invited the children to say the verse with me. I reread it 2 more times so the students

would become familiar with it. 1 gave the children a copy of the poem to glue on a piece

of paper and draw a picture to go with the poem.

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Letter Kno\vledge 1: Exploring Letters (Letter Play) •

In this lesson students learned about letters by using magnetic colored plastic

letters. I placed a variety of letters on a magnetic board and asked the students what they

noticed about them. I showed the students that they can put letters together to make

words. I made all three students' names and simple words such as I, am. cat. Then I

gave students directions to "play" with the letters. I gave examples of how they can

"play" with the letters; sort them, make words, or match letters. Students shared what

they did with the letters.

Letter Knowledge 2: Recognizing Letters (Magnetic Letters)

In this lesson students learned more about names and shapes of letters. I put some

magnetic letters of band r on a magnetic board. I made sure students were able to see

what was on the board. Then I wrote a b on a white board using the following language;

"I'm going to make a letter. (I made a b making sure the line is thick and black). This is

a b. Say b. \Vhisper b. To make b, pull down, half up, and around. This is a lowercase

b. \%0 can find a b on the alphabet chart? Who can find a b on the name chart?"

Next, I found b on the magnetic board that had the band r magnetic letters. I

placed the b away from the r. I asked all three students to corne up and find other b' s on

the magnetic board of letters. When the students placed the b they found away from

other letters, we said the name of the letter. We repeated the same process with the letter

r. Once I felt students understood and can distinguish between band r, I demonstrated a

sorting activity on a T\vo-Way SOli sheet. Students were given a Two-Way sort sheet and

a cup of b's and r's. Students smied the letters.

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Letter ~owledge 3: Learning Letters (Names with Stars)

The objective of this lesson was to teach students how to notice the parts ofletters

in their names. I wrote my name on a white board. As I did this, I used language to

describe how I fom1ed the letters. I pointed out features such as circles, slants, tunnels,

long sticks, and short sticks. I showed the students how to use their name cards and with

a finger traced over the letters in their names. Students applied this skill by outlining

their names with stars on the name card and glued it on the bottom halfof a larger sheet

of paper. Then they drew a self portrait on the top half of the paper.

Letter Knowledge 4: Learning Letters (Name Puzzle)

I gave students a manila folder with their names written inside it. I ananged the

students in a circle so they can place their folders flat on the t100r in front of them. I

demonstrated how they can build their names by putting cut-up letters together to fonn

their names. Students put together their names, mixed up the letters, and made their

names again three times. Students shared what they noticed about their names.

Early Literacy Concepts 3: Hearing Words in Sentences (Cut-Up Sentences)

In this lesson, students learned about writing and reading sentences. On the first

day of this lesson, I asked the students to generate ideas that we can write together

regarding what we do in kindergatien. We had a discussion and came to a consensus on

the first sentence. I wrote it word by word on a sentence ship. I reread each sentence a

couple oftimes, telling the students to watch how I pointed at each word. I pointed out

that I started reading on the left. I counted the words (modeled) and pointed out the

period at the end. We came up with two more sentences. I asked the students where I

needed to start writing and where to start the next word in the sentence (appropriate "

spacing).

On the second day, I displayed the lines of the message written on the sentence

strips in the pocket chart and read them. Then I took out all but the first sentence strip

which read "We read books in Kindergarten." 1 cut up one of the sentences that was

taken out into parts and had the students help me put the words back to form the sentence

again, carefully paying attention to the capital letter and period. 1 provided students cut

up versions of the sentences on smaller paper. They applied the newly learned skill by

putting the sentenees back together again and drawing a picture.

Phonological Awareness 3: Hearing Rhymes (Picture Sort)

I used picture cards of a bee, tree, cat bat, car, star, fish, dish, fan van, snake, rake

and lined them up by each other in two columns on a pocket chart. 1 had the students say

the labels of the pictures. I pointed out that the endings of these pictures rhyme. I

provided sheets of rhyming pictures for the students to say, cut, match, and glue on a

Two-Way sort sheet.

Phonological Awareness 4: Hearing Syllables (Picture Sort)

In this lesson, students were told that they would learn about the parts they can

hear in words (syllables). I displayed pictures of a bird, monkey, and elephant in the

pocket chart. I asked the students to say the name of each of the three pictures and clap

when they hear each syllable. Each time, I asked the students to tell me how may

syllables they heard. rdemonstrated as necessary.

I supplied pictures to students. Working together students placed the key pictures If

at the top of each column of a Three Way sort sheet. I had them say and sort the pictures

according to how many syllables were in the word.

Phonological Awareness 5: Hearing Syllables (Chant)

I introduced a chant (I love pizza. Yum, yum, yum. I love pizza in my tum). I

said it enough times that the students were able to join in comfortably. When the

students said the chant, I had them clapped the food word while saying it. I demonstrated

clapping with other food words until clapping became part of the chant. Once the chant

was learned, I asked the students to vary the chant using other foods.

I gave each student an "I love ... " rhyme book. In the book, I left blanks for the

food words. I asked the students to write or draw their food in the blanks and then read

the book to a partner clapping the food words when they came to them.

Phonological Awareness 6: Hearing, Saying, and Clapping Syllables (Picture Sort)

I began this lesson by showing pictures representing one syllable, two syllables,

and three syllables. We said and clapped to the syllables. Students applied the skill by

using a Two-Way sort sheet to say and sort pictures representing two and three syllable

words.

Phonological Awareness 7: Saying Words Slowly to Hear Sounds (Picture-Word Match)

I placed pictures of a dog, a moon, a cat, a bear, and a sun on the pocket chart. I

had written cards displaying the label for each picture. I showed the picture of a dog and

said it slowly not sef,'l11enting the sounds. I asked the students to say it with me slowly

and asked if they can hear some of the sounds. I showed the word dog. I asked if that

could be the word dog. Once the students responded, I asked ho\v they knew. I repeated

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vvith all five words. Students were given a Two-Column sheet. Students placed a picture "

on the left side and tried to write some letters for the sounds they heard in each word on

the right side.

Letter Knowledge 5: Recognizing and Naming Letters (Alphabet Linking Chart)

This lesson gave the students another exposure of how to read the alphabet

linking chart. First, I read the chart letter by letter, using a pointer-A-a, B-b. C-c. I

infonned students that it was one way of reading the chart and asked them to read it with

me. Next, I demonstrated reading every other letter and asked students to read with me.

Then I read the uppercase and lowercase letters and said the names of the pictures: A-a­

apple, B-b-bear, etc. Students joined me as I repeated. The students worked together

and took turns reading the chart in different ways.

Phonological Awareness 8: Hearing Beginning Sounds (Picture Match)

I explained to students that they will be learning about beginning sounds in words.

I placed a picture card of a moon on the pocket chart. I asked the students to say the

word moon slowly to hear what sound is at the beginning of the word. I showed students

other cards that had m at the beginning and asked if students could hear the 111 sound.

also showed other picture cards that did not have the m sound such as duck and dog. We

played a game. I showed students cards and asked them to say the words. If it began

with the m sound then we put the card on the left column, if not then we put it on the right

side.

Students had the 0ppOliunity to apply this skill. They were given a Two Way sort

card and picture cards. They sorted the pictures with the 111 sound in the left column and

without the 111 sound in the right column.

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I

I supplied pictures to students. Working together students placed the key pictures If

at the top of each column of a Three Way sort sheet. I had them say and sort the pictures

according to how many syllables were in the word.

Phonological Awareness 5: Hearing Syllables (Chant)

I introduced a chant (I love pizza. Yum, yum, yum. I love pizza in my tum). I

said it enough times that the students were able to join in comfortably. When the

students said the chant, I had them clapped the food word while saying it. I demonstrated

clapping with other food words until clapping became part of the chant. Once the chant

was learned, I asked the students to vary the chant using other foods.

I gave each student an "I love ... " rhyme book. In the book, I left blanks for the

food words. I asked the students to write or draw their food in the blanks and then read

the book to a partner clapping the food words when they came to them.

Phonological Awareness 6: Hearing, Saying, and Clapping Syllables (Picture Sort)

I began this lesson by showing pictures representing one syllable, two syllables,

and three syllables. We said and clapped to the syllables. Students applied the skill by

using a Two-Way sort sheet to say and sort pictures representing two and three syllable

words.

Phonological Awareness 7: Saying Words Slowly to Hear Sounds (Picture-Word Match)

I placed pictures of a dog, a moon, a cat, a bear, and a sun on the pocket chart. I

had written cards displaying the label for each picture. I showed the picture of a dog and

said it slowly not sef,'l11enting the sounds. I asked the students to say it with me slowly

and asked if they can hear some of the sounds. I showed the word dog. I asked if that

could be the word dog. Once the students responded, I asked ho\v they knew. I repeated

,'"--'

Phonol09ical Awareness 9: Hearing Beginning Sounds (Picture Sort)

I explained to students that they would be leaming more about the sounds they

can hear in words. I had the students say the word hear slowly. While they said the

word, I asked them to think about the sound at the beginning of the word. Once the

students told me \','hat sound is at the beginning of the word bear, I said the word banana

and asked them to think about what sound is at the beginning. I asked the students if they

could hear the same sound at the beginning in hear and banana. I repeated the same

procedure with hand m words with hat and moon. Students applied this skill and were

given a set of pictures and a Three Way sort sheet. Students put the pictures of the bear,

hat, and moon on the top. Then they took the remaining picture cards, said the words,

and placed the pictures in the correct columns.

Letter Knowledge 6: Making Letters (Art Material)

I began this lesson by making the letter g on the big paper chart. I said the name

of the letter and demonstrated how it is formed. I made the letter again, inviting the

students to describe the verbal path with me as I wrote it. I made the letter several times

using crayons and colored markers. I asked students to find the letter g on our alphabet

chart. Then, I demonstrated how to make g one more time.

With an 8 112" by 11" piece of paper and some cut out squared pieces of tissue

paper, students reproduced a letter they knew. They made the letters by folding and

gluing tissue paper to the penciled outline of a letter. Students shared.

Letter Knowledge 7: Leaming Letter Fonm and Names (Letter Match)

Before the lesson, I told students that I am going to teach them more bout letters.

I displayed a poem titled Room 145. On top of each word, I wrote a letter. I read the

poem once to the ~tudents and asked them to tell me what they noticed (letters, alphabets,

letters they know) in the poem. I told students that each letter has a name and pointed to

each letter saying the name at the same time. I reread the poem then asked the students to

read it with me.

Next, I passed out letter strips and a cup of magnetic letters. Students picked

letters from the cup, said the name of the letter, and placed it underneath the letter written

on the letter strip. They worked in pairs.

Word-Solving Actions 1: Making Connections Between Names and Other Words (Name

Lotto)

I explained to the students that they were going to use their names to learn about

other words. I displayed the name chart and we read the names together. I made a

connection between Benji's name and the word boy. I asked students if they can tell me

what is similar about Benji's name and the word bo:v. We distinguished the difference

between lower case and upper case b. I stated that regardless if it is lower case or upper

case b, it still starts with a b. We made additional connections between other students'

names and other words. Students applied the skill by playing a name lotto game.

Word Solving-Actions 2: Using Letter/Sound Analysis (Writing Words)

I explained to the students that they are going to learn how to listen for sounds so

they can write words. I showed a picture of a hat and said the word slowly. The students

repeated the word after me. I asked the students what they heard first and wrote the letter

on a whiteboard. Then I filled in the middle letter (a), and asked what they heard at the

end. We repeated this procedure with the words hat. hike, box, hus, mop. net. pig. sun,

rug. and l1'eh.

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I gave stude~ts a Two-column sheet and some pictures. Students glued the

pictures on the left, said \\That it is slowly, and wrote the sounds they heard on the right

creating a word.

Data AnazrsislResults:

Upon the completion of interventions using the Fountas and Pinnell Series, I

found two major changes. First, the improvement in student sound recognition, letter

production, and letter/sound recall. From the pre and post assessments, I found that

students improved in all these three areas. For example, one of the three students came

into kindergarten knowing only the first letter in his name (b), did not know any letter

sounds, and could not produce any letters. When the post assessment was given, he was

able to identify nineteen uppercase letters, twenty-one lowercase letters, eighteen letter

sounds, and produced sixteen letters. Another student came into kindergarten knowing

how to spell his name but could not identify or recall any letters or letter sounds. When

given the post assessment, he identified twenty-three uppercase letters, twenty-six

lowercase letters, twenty-five letter sounds, and produced twenty letters. The third

student came in as the highest of the three. Before the interventions, on the pre­

assessment test, he identified five uppercase letters, seven lowercase letters,two sounds,

and was able to produce the letters in his name. When he was given the post assessment

after the inten:entions, he identified all upper and lowercase letters, all letter sounds,

hvelve sight words, could produce all letters, and \vas beginning to vnite words to fom1

scntences independently using beginning, middle, and end sounds.

The second change after interventions was overall enjoyment, self estecm, and

application ofleamed skills in the regular classroom. Before the interventions, students

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seemed disinterested in activities happening in their regular classroom. After and during -the interventions, students were more willing to partieipate in whole !,1fOUp and small

group activities. The classroom teacher and I have noticed that their writing has

improved and students are applying the skills when needed in other areas.

At the end of the interventions, I felt better about how I was meeting the needs of

my struggling ELL kindergartners. I stopped running from all directions trying to

develop new games and find new resources. In contrast to previously working with

kindergartners, I felt more organized. Using the Fountas and PinneJl Series provided me

directions of how I needed to focus in my teaching and what early literacy skills needed

to be taught at what time of year.

Conclusion

I have shared the results of my study with my ELL colleagues and they are

implementing the interventions with the kindergartners they work with. The kindergm1en

classroom teacher I work with has asked me if she could group some of her regular

mainstream students with the three ELL students I work with and have them be included

in the interventions in my classroom.

Students have made increases in their literacy skills and have carried and applied

those skills far beyond my classroom. They have begun to learn and secure the skills

needed to be good readers. The regular classroom teacher has commented on how they

are more willing to pm1icipate and be part of the class. I am proud to share their success

with others.

,.

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Future implications II

I will continue to use the Fountas and Pinnell Series with my kindergartners in the

future; although, I would begin the lessons right away at the beginning of the year so I am

on track with the month-to-month guide. In this study, I was able to apply the

interventions of suggested lesson of September, October, and November and was one

month behind; although. I am continuing the series throughout the year.

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REFERENCES

Dodd, Barbara, and Alex CaIT. "Young Children's Letter-Sound Knov.·ledge." ===:".

Speech and Hearing Services In Schools 34 (2003): 128-37.

Berko-Gleason, J. (1997). The development ofLanuage. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Neuman, Susan B. "Connecting Letters and Sounds." Scholastic Early Childhood Today

20.6 (2006): 20-21.

Massengill, Donita , and Mary Lou Sundberg. "A Unique, Neurologically Integrated

Approach Designed to Simultaneously Teach Letter Sounds and Fonnations."

Reading Improvement 43.3 (2006): 111-27.

Von Drasek, Lisa. "Alphabet Books for Everyone." Teaching PreK-8 34.2 (2003): 79-80.

John, Bluck, and Donna Gilbertson. "Improving Responsiveness to Intervention for

English-Language Learners: A Compmison of Instructional Pace on Letter

Naming Rates." Journal of Behavioral Education 15 (2006): 131-47.

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