Tag Archive for: ou/ow

It Takes More Than Individual Letter Sounds to Read and Write!

phonics posters

I sneakily took this pic at the end of snack the other day….
These 6 kids were engrossed in telling the Secrets (and trying to figure out the ones we haven’t learned yet!) The little guy in the stripes has become our unofficial “Word Jail Warden!” He can spot an ‘Outlaw Word’ a mile away! We will start ‘paroling’ some of them soon!”
Kjersti Johnson- Kindergarten Teacher

Phonics on Steroids: “Warp-Speed” Access
to the Reading & Writing Code in Kindergarten!

A Guest Post by Kindergarten Teacher Kjersti Johnson
Secret Stories® Phonics Secrets— Accelerating Access to the Code in Kinder!

As teachers, I think we have all had that moment when we sit down with one of our students and they completely knock our socks off! This post is all about one of those moments.

Yesterday, I had just gotten my afternoon class of kindergartners settled into our Dailies….they were spread around the room, some reading, some writing, some listening to books on iPod shuffles, and a few shopping for new books.

I looked around to see who I would confer with (one of my favorite times of the day, by the way!) I started with Abel.

Now let me tell you about a little kindergartner named Abel.

He is one of the sweetest little guys I know. He has an amazing smile, and he is also VERY excited about learning!

He is an English Language Learner who entered kindergarten knowing 7 letters and 0 sounds. He worked SO hard the first weeks of school to learn his ABC’s and by October, he knew ALL 52 upper and lowercase letters! (the Better Alphabet Song was a huge success!)

So back to yesterday……
I sat down next to him and asked him to read to me. That’s when he pulled out Arthur’s Halloween.

I looked at him and said, “Oh, this looks like a great picture read. Can you tell me a story to go with the pictures?” This is kindergarten after all, and it’s a tough book! He gave me a strange look, and then…….He was READING it!

Later in the day, I had him read it again so that I could video it, and here he is reading Marc Brown’s Arthur’s Halloween.


ELL Kindergarten in October—”Spotting Secrets” in Arthur’s Halloween 


“Was” …..?

No problem with the “head-bop” trick!
Secret Stories® Phonics "Head-Bop" Trick— No More Sight Words!
Secret Stories® Phonics Head-Bop Trick for Fickle Vowels


“Night”
….with its tricky /gh/?
Got it!

Secret Stories® Phonics — The "gh" Secret!
Secret Stories Phonics Secret— Positional Sounds of gh

“Before” ….?
Didn’t stump him. He saw that Babysitter Vowel® o telling e to say its name!  He also spotted /o/ and /r/ who can “never make up their minds when they get together,” and read it like a pro!

“Family” ….?
That Sneaky y® didn’t trick him!

Secret Stories Sneaky Y® Phonics Secret!
Sneaky Y® Phonics Secret

Then we got to “making”…. and guess who was able to use the Babysitter Vowels® Secret to figure out whether /a/ would be long or short?!
He knew it wasn’t right when he first read it, but then he remembered the Secret! (and please excuse me telling another student, TWICE, to go color their work! ;-)

ELL Kindergarten in October—Arthur’s Halloween with Babysitter Vowels®
Kinders Decoding Multi-Syllabic Words with Secret Stories® Babysitter Vowels®!
Secret Stories Babysitter Vowels®— How to Know Whether a Vowel Will Be Long or Short?

 

“House”….?
Rough-housing /ou/ and /ow/ saying “Owwwww!” No worries.

Secret Stories® Phonics — The "ou/ow" Secret!
Secret Stories® Phonics ou/ow Secret!

 

“Look and spooky”….?
Knowing the Secret, he switched sounds for /oo/ like a pro!

Secret Stories® Phonics — The "ou/ow" Secret!
Secret Stories® Phonics /oo/ Secret

I was BLOWN away! And so I made poor Abel read that page to everyone I could find! I was so proud of him! (and by the way, he is determined to read the whole book now, and I have no doubt that he will!)

This morning, I shared the video with my principal, our Dean of Students, and our LAP teacher. The question of how and when I use the Secret Stories in my class came up, and I thought to myself, “When don’t I use them???”

The Secrets aren’t limited just to “reading” time. We use them ALL DAY LONG,  which in half-day kindergarten, is only about 2 hours and 40 minutes. (Oh, did I forget to mention that I teach half-day kinder?!) That’s not very long, which is why getting the most bang for the buck in the short amount of time we have is critical. Secret Stories® makes what used to seem impossible EASY! (It’s like phonics on steroids!)

Literally not a moment that goes by that the kids aren’t spotting Secrets.

We look for Secrets in our poems…..

Secret Stories® Phonics Secrets — Spotting Secrets in Poems

We use yellow and blue for “popcorn” words. We “butter” the new ones and put blue dots under the ones that we already know. Then we use a green highlighter to find Secrets.

And honestly, I have to say, now that the kids know the Secrets, I spend almost no time at all on memorizing sight words, except for the small handful that really break the rules and have to go to jail, as most of the words the kids can just read.

We look for Secrets in Science….

How Secret Stories Babysitter Vowels® make reading BIG words EASY... even in kindergarten!

 

Look at the picture above to see how many variations of the word hibernate we found when reading our big book in our whole group Science lesson! One of the kids spotted the er Secret, then another spotted the /or/ and /ing/ Secrets, and we were off! Next came the Babysitter Vowels®, which they used to help them figure out whether the vowels would be long or short. Some students knew the Secret sounds immediately, and others had to check the posters first before sounding out each part, but they were all able to read all of the words— and write them!

No one was left out of the reading and writing fun because we all had one thing in common— we all knew the Secrets!  That day, we did more reading and writing in Science than in our designated reading and writing blocks, combined! What better way is there to show beginning learners what these Secret skills are actually for!

My favorite thing is what happened the following day when I was working with a small group and heard Abel yell from his seat across the room, “Mrs. Johnson! Mrs. Johnson! Look, I found the word hibernate in my book!”

And sure enough, he had.


Even for an ELL Kindergartner in October, sounding out the word hibernate with the Mommy E® was easy!

 

We use Secrets when we write…..

See the /ow/ and /ing/  in snowing and the /ou/ in mountains!

Secret Stories® Phonics Secrets in Writing
We look for Secrets when we read the directions on our math papers.

 

Words like draw and count with the “letters who love each other” (au/aw) and the “letters who don’t” (ou/ow) can’t fool us!

Secret Stories® Phonics Secrets in Math
Spotting Secret Stories® in Math!

 

My kids are OBSESSED with these Secret Stories! ......Secret Stories "ou/ow" Phonics Secret!
As usual, ou & ow are not getting along!
My kids are OBSESSED with these Secret Stories! ......Secret Stories "au/aw" Phonics Secret!
The “anniversary” of au & aw Valentine’s Day!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I almost never have to read the math story problems to my kids anymore because they can do it all by themselves using our Secrets!

Secret Stories® has opened up so many possibilities…..there seems to be no limit to what my kindergartners can do. It has really changed everything.

And while I do still have kids that are just chugging along at their own pace, like sweet little Abel, they are ALL sucking up the Secrets— even those who are not always ready to apply them. And that’s okay, because I know they have the “keys” in their pocket that they will need to unlock the words they want when they are ready, just like Abel did.

Secret Stories® Phonics Secrets— "Secrets Make Things Important!"
Transforming letters and sounds from skills they have to learn
into Secrets they want to know!

Thank you, Kjersti!

I can’t thank Kjersti enough for that deep dive into all of the wonderful things that she’s doing in her kindergarten classroom. I will be doing a part 2 “follow-up” to Kjersti’s post, so stay tuned! (You can catch another post by Kjertsti here!)

And if you haven’t tried the Secrets but would like to try sharing then with YOUR kiddos, you can download this mini-poster “appetizer” anchor pack FREE! 

 

Free Phonics Posters by Secret Stories

 

FREE Secret Stories® Phonics— Mini-Poster "Appetizer" Anchor Pack!

FREE Secret Stories® Phonics— Mini-Poster "Appetizer" Anchor Pack!

FREE Secret Stories® Phonics— Mini-Poster "Appetizer" Anchor Pack!

 

FREE Secret Stories® Phonics— Mini-Poster "Appetizer" Anchor Pack!

FREE Secret Stories® Phonics— Mini-Poster "Appetizer" Anchor Pack!

 
 
 

 

 
Until Next Time,
Katie Garner :-)

Katie Garner— Keynote/Featured Education Speaker and Literacy Consultant

For a list of upcoming conferences, or for information on scheduling a school or district professional development workshop, click here.

 

Teaching Reading & Writing in Kindergarten

“I sneakily took this pic at the end of snack the other day…. These 6 kids were engrossed in telling the Secrets (and trying to figure out the ones we haven’t learned yet!) The little guy in the stripes has become our unofficial “Word Jail Warden!” He can spot an ‘Outlaw Word’ a mile away! We will start ‘paroling’ some of them soon!”

I received this adorable picture and description from kindergarten teacher, Kjersti Johnson, along with the following email…

I teach two sessions of half-day Kindergarten, with my morning class tied to our Intensive Support Class (4-8 fully inclusive kiddos) and my afternoon class with half ELL, plus a few in the am too!)

I knew the Secret Stories was a keeper last year when one of my Intensive Needs kids, who was really struggling with speech and connecting letters and sounds, pointed to his name and said, “Those letters are bad. They always stick out their tongues!” and then proceeded to make their sound! Or, when my little guy, who moved to my class mid-year knowing ZERO letters or sounds, was able to read through ALL the letter sounds mixed up, singing “____ says ______, ___-___-___!” after just a couple weeks of doing the “Secret Stories® Better Alphabet Song!”

With regard to the frustration over the controversy over what our youngest learners can and can’t do, I’ve always had high expectations for my kinders, and they have always risen to meet them, often soaring far beyond!

It has been a fight to pull Kindergarten into this century. I boxed up our basal six years ago when I started using Daily 5/Cafe in my literacy blocks. My students just took off! (It’s amazing what they can do when you put the right book in their hands.) But it was Secret Stories that really allowed me to take my kids to the next level!

I love when we sit down to read something and I ask what strategies we should use, as they always yell out, “Look for the Secrets!” They amaze me every day with the new words they can read and write! Oh, and I love how they are starting to revise their own writing! I put a binder clip on their writing notebooks so they can’t fill it all in in one sitting. When they want their clip moved, they have to look back and make revisions to show that they’re ready. They will tell me, “When I wrote this, I didn’t know the Secret about this word, but now I do!”

I loved reading Kjersti email about how she uses Secret Stories® in her kindergarten classroom so much that I asked her if she would be willing to share more in a guest post, and she agreed! (She has since written another guest post on how she uses the  Secrets for reading, which you can find here.) 

A Class of Kindergartners
A Guest Post by Kjersti Johnson

I have always believed that there is a strong tie between reading and writing. It is one of the reasons that we spend so much time doing both in my Kindergarten class. Usually, students are free to choose their writing topic, but once in a while I give them a prompt.

This past month, we began a Gingerbread unit. In it, we have a class Gingerbread Man that decides to travel the world. While he is on his trip, he sends us many different versions of Gingerbread stories to read. At the end of the unit, he returns to our class and asks the kids to write about their favorite story.

In past years, my kindergartners would have to rely on “kid-spelling” or I would have to take a lot of dictation, but not this year! Thanks to the Secret Stories, my kids were able to write like the big kids! The only help I gave was a word bank of words they might need, but I didn’t spell them….. they did!

They helped me spell words like: gingerbread, favorite, girl, cowboy, and because, and the rest of the words they spelled themselves! They were even able to write about why they liked the story! I was so proud of my kindergartners (not to mention blow away!) that I wanted to share a couple samples, as well as some Secrets used to spell some of the words they wrote!

Secret Stories® Phonics in Kindergarten Writing
Note the eu/ew Secret in the word crew! (plus the Sneaky Y®, Babysitter Vowels®, Mommy e®, or, oo, th, er/ir/ur, au/aw, & ou/ow Secrets!)

 

Secret Stories Phonics— Kindergarten Writing

Note the er/ir/ur Secret in the words “girl” and “her” (plus the Sneaky Y®, Babysitter Vowels®, Mommy e®, or, oo, th, ea, au/aw, sh, & ed Secrets!)

Transforming skills kids have to learn into Secrets they want to know!

Secret Stories® Phonics Secret "ER/IR/UR"
A future kindergarten teacher….

Secret Stories Phonics— Kindergarten Writing

Note the au/aw Secret in the word because (plus the Mommy e®, th, er/ir/ur, ea, Babysitter Vowels®, ey/ay, & sh Secrets!)

We also wrote about How I Ate My Gingerbread Man (after eating them of course!) Once again, I was blown away by how they used the Secret Stories they knew to figure spellings for words they wanted to use in their writing… not just “word wall” and “word family” words, but ANY words! I loved watching them stop and look at (or even walk over to) our Secret Wall!

This next paper was written by one of my ELL students. When assessed in September, he knew seven letter names and zero sounds. Thanks to Secret Stories Better Alphabet Song, he was able to identify all of the upper and lower case letters, as well as their sounds by October!

He now also knows all of the Secrets and is using them to read and write! (On a side note, I had taken a leap of faith and done as Katie suggested, which was to begin telling the Secrets from Day 1, so as to acquire them simultaneously with the individual letters and sounds and though I’d never done that before with kinders, I am now a BELIEVER!!!

Teaching Phonics for Beginning Writing

To write the stories they want to tell, kids need access to the “whole” code, not just bits and pieces of it!

Here is what he wrote….. independently! (And yes, I was in tears when he showed me!)Secret Stories Phonics— Kindergarten Writing

If you look carefully, you can see where he had erased and added more sounds after re-reading it, and then realized that it didn’t make sense. He also went back and changed “hed” to “head” because he said it “didn’t look right.”

As Katie often says, “experience is the best teacher,” and because this little guy knew lots of Secrets, he was reading up a storm, which is how he knew that the word didn’t “look right.”

And I especially love how this next little guy added a “crunch, crunch, crunch” at the end!

Secret Stories Phonics— Kindergarten Writing

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am just so proud of my kindergartners, I could burst, which is why I wrote to Katie! And with only HALF of the school year under our belt so far, I can’t wait to see where we by the end of this year!

We are so thankful to Katie Garner for sharing the Secrets with us!
Kjersti Johnson/ Kindergarten Teacher

You can read Kjersti’s second guest post on Secret Stories® for  reading, here.


Secret Stories® Phonics for Teaching Beginning Writing

“Kindergarten Writing on STEROIDS!” 
If you would like to start sharing the Secrets with your class, you can download this free mini-poster sample set, along with the “Write Like They Read” Zoo Keeper Strategies, which is like a magic trick for helping beginning learners understand that they need to “capture” as many sounds as they can in words they want to write. (Watch two short clips about the ZooKeeper Strategies for beginning writers here and here.)
Free Secret Stories Phonics Posters Sampling Set
FREE Secret Stories® Phonics Mini-Poster Sample Pack
FREE Secret Stories® Phonics Mini-Poster Sample Pack
FREE Secret Stories® Phonics Mini-Poster Sample Pack
FREE Secret Stories® Phonics Mini-Poster Sample Pack
FREE Secret Stories® Phonics Mini-Poster Sample Pack
Download the FREE Mini-Poster Sample Pack and Start Sharing Secrets Tomorrow!
FREE Secret Stories® Phonics Writing Strategy Pack—"Zoo Keeper and M&M Quizzes"
Click here to download the FREE ZooKeeper Beginning Writing Strategy Pack!
And to all subscribers, you should have received a free download link in your email for the Secret Stories® Guided Reader, My Class, so be sure to grab it fast before it expires!
Secret Stories® Phonics Guided Reader— My Class
Secret Stories® Phonics Guided Reader “My Class”
Secret Stories® Phonics Guided Reader— My Class
Secret Stories® Phonics Guided Reader— My Class
Secret Stories® Phonics Guided Reader— My Class
Until Next Time, 
Katie :-)
Katie Garner Literacy Consultant— Secret Stories® Author

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Katie Garner Education Keynote Speaker and Secret Stories® Phonics Author
For a list of upcoming conferences, or for information on scheduling a school or district professional development workshop, click here. 

 


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Secret Stories® Phonics — Cracking the Reading Code with the Brain in Mind!
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The more tools learners bring to the table, the more value they are able to take away…

In order for learners to take full advantage of the daily literacy experiences we provide in the classroom, they must be given access to as much of the “code” as possible, as soon as possible!
Knowing just 26 letter sounds and a handful of sight words doesn’t get you very far in reading OR writing, even in Kindergarten! I mean, seriously, how much could YOU write with only 26 individual letter sounds and 10 sight wordsNot to mention, how much could you actually READ? (Note that I said “read,” not memorize!)
Secret Stories® Phonics — Accelerating Early Learner Access to the WHOLE Phonics Code!
No matter how many rich, literacy activities and experiences we provide daily for students in our classrooms, they are of minimal value to those without enough skills to fully partake in them!
Secret Stories® Phonics Posters— The "ph" Secret!

Easy!  Just toss out some Secrets!


FREE Secret Stories® Phonics Mini-Poster Anchors "Appetizer" Pack!
FREE Secret Stories® Phonics Mini-Poster Anchors “Appetizer” Pack!

In conjunction with my guest posts on Mrs. Jump’s Class Blog, let’s take a peek at some KINDERGARTEN writing and see how knowing the phonics Secrets maximizes the “instructional-bang” for the buck in their writing!

As stated at the top of this post, the more tools (i.e. “pieces of the code”) that early learners bring to the table, the more value they take away from daily reading and writing experiences. So why delay divvy-out “bits & pieces” like a waitress when you could share all of the reading and writing Secrets they need on a BUFFET?

Secret Stories® Phonics — "Don't be a "phonics-waitress".....Build a BUFFET!!"
 “Don’t be a “phonics-waitress”…..Build a BUFFET!!”

Secret Stories® Phonics — Kindergarten Writing with "ay/ey" and "ou/ow" Secrets!
 

Notice the “ay” Secret in the word play, above? Watch the video clip below to see how EASY it is to teach…
and notice the Sneaky Y® Secret in the smartly-spelled word batterey in the sample, below. 
Secret Stories® Phonics — Kindergarten Writing with Sneaky Y® and "er, ir, ur" Secrets!
 

The er, ir ur Secret is easy-peasy to teach….
….and even EASIER to learn, as this little kindergartner demonstrates, below!

 
And then there’s the ar-Secret with Superhero A!
Secret Stories® Phonics — Kindergarten Writing with "ar" and "ie" Secrets!

 

Notice in the last two samples above, the Outlaw Words, one and there, depicted as “mug-shots” for posting on the class Word Jail (the Secret Stories®-version of a “Word Wall”)
Learn the trick for reading words like was, want, from, of, come, love, some, from, etc... with the "Head-Bop" Trick for Fickle Vowels!
Learn the trick for reading words like was, want, from, of, come, love, some, from, etc…
with the “Head-Bop” Trick for Fickle Vowels!

The Secret Stories® Word Jail is reserved for words that are truly “un-figure-outable”…. not random sight words, as most are easily decodable for learners who know the Secrets…. even in kindergarten!

Secret Stories® Phonics — Stanford Brain Study on Sight Words— "No More Memorizing!"
For more on writing with the Secrets, check out the video below and download the FREE Secret Writing Pack underneath!
FREE Secret Stories® Phonics "Zoo Keeper" Strategy Pack for Beginning Writers!
FREE Secret Stories® “Zoo Keeper” Strategies for Beginning Writers
Kids can’t read OR write about their pet mouse with only 26 individual letter sounds and a handful of sight words! They need ALL of the code to do ANYTHING with it, and from the earliest possible grade levels! Check out these kindergartners and see how easy it is to break down those grade level walls that delay learner access to the code!
My kids are OBSESSED with the Secret Stories!!
Mrs. Mac’s students, looking up the “ie” Secret in the SECRET STORIES book! 
(She hadn’t shared that one yet, but the kids said they needed it NOW!!!)

I received the series of short video clips from Mrs. Mac and her class on Halloween, along with the very excited caption- “And we have READERS!!!” 

 
For more posts by Mrs. Mac, click herehere, here and here!
And if you would like to try sharing Secrets with your students, you can download this mini-poster “appetizer” pack FREE! 
Free Phonics Posters by Secret Stories
FREE Secret Stories® Phonics Mini-Poster Pack
Until Next Time,
Katie :-)

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Secret Stories® Makes Phonics Make SENSE!

Try a “taste” of the Secrets with YOUR class 
and see the difference they make!
Click to Download the FREE Secret Stories® Mini-Sample Poster Pack!

 

For a list of upcoming conferences, or for information on scheduling a school or district professional development workshop, click here. 

 


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Did you know that if you had a fever and cough, it could be the plague,
or pneumonia…or maybe just the flu? Actually, it could be a lot of things.

Word Doctor Cognitive Flexibility for Exceptions

Word Doctor Training

Because doctors know that the plague is the least likely cause of your symptoms, and that the flu is the most likely, they will probably go with the flu first and then work their way through the “next most likely” options, as needed.

Medicine is not an exact science, and doctors must use what they know to determine what’s most likely to be effective. They work through these options based on a hierarchy of likelihood.

Like medicine, the English language and is not an exact science, and while phonics is the key to learning how to read, it often takes a binary form, with words either falling squarely under under the “rule” or the “exception” categories. However, when we align abstract phonics skills with human behaviors that mirror kids’ own behaviors, their “most” and “next-most” likely sounds become easily predictable, even for kinders….and even if they’re exceptions!

Good word doctors armed with the Secrets can “treat” these so-called exceptions by employing the same cognitive flexibility that doctors apply when diagnosing patients. The first thing a good word doctor must know is that there are only so many different sounds a letter or phonics pattern can make. Their sounds are not random, even though they may appear that way sometimes.

Just like the old saying “Apples don’t fall far from the tree,”  letters don’t fall far from their sounds. For example, you will never see the letter q say “mmm,” or the letter k say “duh,” or the tion phonics pattern say “ing”….

Secret Stories® Brain Based Phonics

 

…as contrary to popular belief, letters don’t just lose their little letter-minds and run amok! All they do (and it’s usually the vowels that do this) is make a sound that they’re perfectly capable of making, but it’s the NEXT most likely one! Watch the video clip below to see what I mean!

 

When working with patients, doctors must use what they know to figure out what they don’t. The must think analytically and diagnostically. “What’s the best course of attack? What should I try first, and if that doesn’t work, what should I try next?”  This process continues until all options are exhausted and there is nothing left to try. That’s when the patient is sent to a specialist who can “recognize” what’s too difficult to diagnose. (Much like exceptions that can’t be decoded must be memorized.)

Just like real doctors, word doctors need to use the Secrets they know to figure out the parts of the words that they don’t. They must practice the same cognitive flexibility that doctors use when sounding out unknown words- “What else can it be? What else could I try?” This type of analytical, problem-solving is akin to “thinking outside the box,” and for kids to do this effectively they must first know what’s IN the box. In other words, they must know the phonics Secrets!

 

phonics exceptions

This is why earlier and faster access to the code is so important for beginning and struggling readers, as only once kids know what’s IN the box are they able to think outside it!

The Secret Story of ou/ow…
Ou & ow play really rough and someone always gets hurt and says— “Oooowww!”
(like in the words: how, now, round, house, etc.)
But, flying overhead is Superhero O, who happens to their  all-time, favorite superhero, ever! Whenever he flies by, they will always stop dead in their tracks and yell—“O! O! O!” That’s why the default sound for ou/ow is the long o sound!
(like in the words: know, though, blow, dough, etc.)

Secret Stories ou ow diphthong

The Secret makes sounding out the words with this phonics pattern easy, even in kindergarten!  Words like how, now, about, around, know, grow, though, etc., that are commonly found on sight word lists don’t have to memorized, as kids can just READ them!  Plus, because it relates back to what kids already know and understand, they can learn (and start using) the ou/ow Secret even if they haven’t yet mastered all the individual letters and sounds.  yet because it makes sense to them.

Alternatively, memorizing a sight word can take multiple repetitions and seemingly take forever for some students to master, especially if there is little home support. More importantly, memorizing a sight word lets you read ONE word, whereas knowing a Secret lasts you read thousands!

Consider the word you…

The ou isn’t doing what it should according to the Secret. Even still, its sound hasn’t fallen too far away… at least not so far that a good word doctor can’t still figure it out.

And here’s how…

1.  First, try the most likely Secret Stories sound for ou (as in house)….. NOPE, it didn’t work!

2.  Next, try the individual sounds for the letters and ….. BINGO!!! We got the word!!

In this case, we got it on the second try.

Now, had we not struck gold on our first “out-of-the-box” attempt, we could have worked our way further down the list of possible sound options and turned this puzzle into a sort of problem-solving/critical thinking game….

3.  Try the sounds of other Secret Stories patterns with o or  u, like the Secrets for oo, oi/oy or ous. For example, in the word could, the ou is making the default-sound for oo (as in book) and kids who know the oo Secret might try that sound as one more possible option.

oo phonics story

Thinking Vowels® / Head-Bop

And of course, the Thinking Vowels® head-bop trick is another great word doctor-tool to help kids decode those otherwise “undecodable” words, like of, come, love, some, what, was, etc.. (Learn more about Thinking Vowels® here or click on the picture below for the video.)

Word Doctor: Thinking Vowels

4.  It’s the PLAGUE!  It requires a specialist! When we’ve exhausted all options and have no more tricks up our sleeve, we must surrender to the word, which means we have to memorize it!

Why Not Just Memorize These Tricky Words?

Here’s why— because it is within this “figuring-out” process that cognitive flexibility is strengthened and opportunities for deep learning lie! Not just learning how to read, but learning how to think! Our brain is a pattern-making machine, and this patterning process of thinking-through all available options is its natural way of doing things. “If not this, then that…” Our brain is continually “patterning-out” the best  available options in everything that we do…

We think… “I’ll park in the front, but if I can’t find a space, I’ll try the back, and if that doesn’t work, I’ll try the next lot over. If I can’t find anything there, then I’m giving up and going home, as I’m too tired to walk that far.”

We don’t think….“If I can’t park in the front WHAT WILL I DO?
This is similar to the way kids often deal with words that are exceptions, throwing their hands up in surrender whenever the letters aren’t making the sounds that they should.

However, this is not the brain’s system for learning. Our brain always has a back-up plan, a “next most likely” option to try if the first one doesn’t work. Much like the way doctors diagnose patients. They don’t just try one course of attack and then throw their hands in the air and give up. And good word doctors can’t either.

 

Secret Stories® Brain Based Phonics
 

“Human beings are pattern-making machines. That’s a key to our survival instinct— we seek out patterns and use them to predict the future. Which is great, except when the pattern isn’t there, then our pattern-making machinery is busy picking things out that truly don’t matter.”

—Seth Godwin, author of Looking for Patterns (Where they don’t Exist

The Brain is a “Pattern-Making” Machine

Our brains are hardwired to look for patterns, and the Secrets are patterns— not abstract letter patterns, but patterns of behavior that are designed to mimic learners’ own behavior.  The ability to classify incoming information quickly into categories (based on the patterns we know) means the brain can use easier rules to deal with the new input, which is less stressful than always having to deal with things that haven’t been seen before. Knowing the Secrets equips inexperienced beginning and struggling learners to identify the best course of action when sounding out new words, and not knowing the Secrets means having to say, “It just is… It just does… You just have to remember….” when they can’t read or spell a word.

Secret Stories® Brain Based Phonics

Another benefit to reading words rather than just memorizing them is that it sparks more optimal brain circuitry, as evidenced by numerous studies, including a recent one by Stanford University Professor, Bruce McCandliss, which you can read more about here.

 

Stanford Sight Words Study
Decoding Sight Words with Phonics Secrets
Just to be clear, there are a small handful of words that cannot be decoded and must be memorized, but they are few and far between for kids who know the Secrets. Consider the fact that for every word that kids memorize, that’s one less opportunity to practice the decoding skills you’re working so hard to teach. And even more importantly, it’s one less opportunity to flex their “critical thinking/problem solving” muscles and reinforce the cognitive flexibility that’s needed for more advanced decoding.

It just is. It just is. You just have to remember.

Before you read any further, watch this video.


It’s easy for teachers to empathize with Ricky’s struggle to read words like: boughs, through, rough, cough and enough. Like many students in our guided reading groups, Ricky diligently attempts to decode what seem to him to be ‘un-decodable’ words and becomes understandably frustrated in the process. Ultimately, Ricky just closes the book and gives up, convinced that the sounds letters make just don’t make sense. Many of our students feel the same way.

In the same way that a doctor works through various options to heal a patient, we can do the same to “heal” the words that are stumping Ricky…. or at least to help make them more “figureoutable!” ( I know it’s not a word, but I really like it!)

First, we need to learn a Secret…

Secret Stories® Brain Based Phonics
Click here to learn the gh Secret

The Secret Story of gh 

Gh will make different sounds, depending on where they are in line (i.e. in a word)

When they are at the FRONT, they’re glad!

There, they make the hard g sound, saying….

 “Gosh, this is great!  We get to go first and get in before anyone else goes!” 

(ghost, ghoul, ghastly, etc…)

When they are in the MIDDLE, and surrounded by lots of other letters,

they are silent and are too afraid to say anything and make NO SOUND at all

(sight, thought, straight, etc…)

When they are at the END, they’re not at all happy and they always complain.

Here, they make the fff sound, saying….

“This is no fun! We’re so far away it’ll take forever for us to get to the front!”

(rough, enough, cough, etc…) 

Playing Word Doctor

A Reading/ Phonics Word Doctor

bough

No problem with the ou as it is doing just what it should (see ou/ow poster up above)

But gh is a different story, as it is not making the sound that it should, which is “fff.”  So let’s try one of the only TWO other sounds that it can make, and voila! We got it! The gh is silent! The gh Secret is everything that’s IN the box when it comes to all of the possible sounds that gh can make, making it easy for learners to deduce the next most likely options when it doesn’t do exactly what it should!

 

rough
Luckily in this word, gh is doing exactly what it should. However, just like in the word you (at the top of the post) ou is not making the sound that it should, but all good word doctors know that the vowels are the “eyes, ears, nose and throat” of a word, so they know to always check the vowels first whenever something’s wrong. If they try the both the long and short sounds for and then u, they would ultimately “get” the word, as only the short u is heard, and o is not saying a word. This is actually pretty common for one vowel in a pair to sometimes divert to its individual sound while other remains silent. You’ll see it happen again in the next two words as well, so it’s pretty handy for word doctors to know about! On a side note, gh is doing exactly what it should at the end of a word, so there’s no issue there.

cough
Just like the in the word above, ou is not making the sound that it should. Only the short o is heard and u is not saying a word. And again, the gh is doing exactly what it should.

enough
Once again, the ou is not making the sound that it should, as only the short u is heard and o is not saying a word. And once again, gh is doing exactly what it should.

though
In this word, it’s gh that’s acting up, as it’s not making the sound that it should at the end of a word, BUT…its sound is still easily predictable. There are only 3 possible sounds that gh can make, so any good word doctor knows to work through the most likely option first, and then try the others until they “get” the word.  And luckily, this time ou is well-behaved!

through
Now this one’s a little trickier— bordering between being “fun to figure out” and “just easier to memorize!” I would probably go with the latter for this one, but it is gratifying to know that with a whole lot of cognitive flexibility, we CAN crack this word if we really want to!

Granted, the ou is not making the sound that it should, nor is it making the o or u sound, but like the word you that was mentioned at the top of this post, it IS making the sound of its “cousin” oo. And by cousin, I mean a Secret that looks like it’s a “relative” as they share common letters, which in this case is an o. Using this “hierarchy of likelihood” to work through the most, next most and finally “if all else fails” options mirror the brain’s system for learning, and it’s great critical thinking practice for young word doctors.

Word Doctor Secret Stories

But we’re not done yet, as we still have that same little problem that we had above with gh, but it’s nothing that a good word doctor can’t fix! However, it does require an extra analytical step to crack the word, which may be one too many to make it worthwhile. Thus, this word may be worth the extra time, energy and space in the brain that’s required to memorize it.

Secret Stories® Brain Based Phonics

The video clip below shows a group of first graders playing “Word Doctor,” applying critical analysis and diagnostic thinking to make sense of the word light. While they already know how to read the word, they want to know WHY I isn’t saying his name when Mommy E® and the Babysitter Vowel® is in sight.

For a quick overview of the Superhero Vowels® and their “short & lazy” sound disguises, watch this video.

Secret Stories Phonics Posters

Secret Stories Mommy E and Babysitter Vowels - Syllable types

As mentioned above, the vowels are the most likely culprits when words just won’t “sound-out” correctly. Remember that they are the eyes, ears, nose and throat of words, which is why good word doctors always check them first, as they’re the best “window” into what’s going wrong. 

decoding exception words
Learn more word doctor strategies for tricky vowel sounds here, including the Hungry Thing and the Hungry Thing Returns.

How to Read Words that are Exceptions

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