The names of letters should not be formally taught until their sounds are thoroly fixed in mind; otherwise the names and sounds will be confused.  Pupils who begin by “learning their letters” will be found spelling out a word (naming over the letters) in order to arrive at the pronunciation.  Attention must be focused on the sounds only, at first.  When the consonant sounds are mastered by every member of the class, and they have gained some proficiency in pronouncing words by blending these with the short and long vowel sounds, the names of the letters may be taught, and the alphabet committed to memory in order.

While as a rule, most children learn the majority of the letters incidentally by the end of the first year, it often happens that some remain ignorant of the alphabetical order until they come to use the dictionary, and are greatly handicapped.

To Associate the Name of the Letter With Its Sound.

(1) The teacher names the letter as she points to it and the children give the corresponding sound; (2) As the teacher sounds the letter, pupils name the letter sounded. (3) Repeat with the letters erased from the board.

Oral spelling may begin after the sounds have first been mastered—­and as soon as the names of the letters are taught.  Spell only the phonetic words at first.  The lists of families of words which have been written from dictation may now be spelled orally.

The spelling recitation may be both oral and written, but written spelling should predominate the first year.  Unphonetic words should be taught by visualizing—­getting the form of the word as a whole.  The teacher writes the word on the board in free rapid hand, pupils observe for a moment, getting a mental picture of the form; the word is erased by the teacher, and reproduced on the board by the pupil.

While oral spelling aids the “ear-minded” pupil and gives variety in the recitation, written spelling should predominate for the reasons that (1) in practical life, spelling is used almost wholly in expressing thought in writing; (2) the eye and hand should be trained equally with the ear.  It is often true that good oral spellers will fail in writing the same words for want of practice. (3) In the written recitation each pupil can spell a greater number of words and in less time than is possible in oral spelling.

SEAT WORK

1.  Distribute pages from magazines or old readers and let pupils underline words beginning with a certain consonant (the one being taught).  If different colored pencils are used, the same pages can be used a number of times.  When the “m” sound is being taught let all words beginning with that sound be marked with black; at another seat work period, words beginning with “b” are marked with “green;” and again, words beginning with “f” sound are marked with blue pencils, etc.