Sound in Motion: An Approach in Teaching Letter Sounds

Abstract

INTRODUCTION

Teaching beginning reading in Kindergarten requires a lot of patience and creative thinking on the part of the teacher. We all know that in this stage their little minds are still young and their retentions are still poor. That is why repetition is being encouraged in teaching them how to read. Teaching the children to read early and well has multiple benefits and is the key to your child's academic future. The main reason is that reading is at the heart of all formal education. To be able to learn how to read a child must know first the basic skills in reading. Knowing the letter names and letter sound is one of the basic skills in learning how to read. In this study, we adapted a technique by using body movements in teaching phonemes to have mastery of the sounds of the letters as well as to develop children's listening skills, which in turn helps them improve articulation, and vocabulary skills, auditory memory, phonemic awareness, and early literacy with an innovation that was grounded by theory and evidence

METHODS

Pre and post-assessment test was used in the study. Technique of using body movements in teaching phonemes to pupils was adapted. This was designed to know the effectiveness of using Sound in Motion in teaching phonemes. By applying this innovative technique, we gradually analyzed and examined its effectiveness through different stages. The pre-assessment where each was asked to say the letter sound of each letters of the alphabet using a flash card, the utilization of the approachin teaching letter sounds which was included in their routine before the class starts, and the post-assessment in which the children were asked to say the sounds of each letter individually to know if progress occurred.

RESULTS

The pupils' response to this new approach was highly acceptable. This greatly helped the children mastered the sounds of the letters which in turn made it easier for them to blend sounds, produce syllables and words, and finally be able to read phrases and sentences.

DISCUSSIONS

The results revealed that using Sound in Motion in teaching letter sounds significantly affect the way the children learn letter sound knowledge. It is therefore recommended by the researchers to use SIM in teaching letter sounds to kinder pupils.