super speed letters and phonics
TRANSCRIPT
≈ SuperSpeed Letters & Phonics ≈A Power Teaching Alphabet Game
For New Learners ... of any age!
Chris Biffle
Crafton Hills College
Yucaipa, California
SuperSpeed Letters & Phonics, copyright Chris Biffle, 2007 2
≈ Contents ≈
Introduction 4
How To Play SuperSpeed Letters & Phonics to Teach the Alphabet 7
How To Play SuperSpeed Letters & Phonics to Teach Phonics 9
SuperSpeed Letters & Phonics to Teach Phonics Sample Page 10
Superspeed Letters & Phonics For One on One Tutorials 12
Superspeed Letters & Phonics 13
Superspeed Personal Record Stars 29
For more information about Power Teaching and SuperSpeed productscontactChris BiffleCrafton Hills College11711 Sand Canyon DriveYucaipa, California [email protected]
SuperSpeed Letters & Phonics, copyright Chris Biffle, 2007 3
≈ Introduction ≈
Power Teachers of Southern California is a grass roots
education reform organization founded by three instructors (Chris Biffle,
Jay Vanderfin, Chris Rekstad) in 1999. Since that time, we have presented
free teaching seminars to over 3, 500 educators representing over 120,000
students. So far as we can tell, our classroom management conferences,
offered four times a year at Crafton Hills College in Yucaipa, California,
are among the largest in the United States.
Videos illustrating our teaching strategies are available at:
www.YouTube.com/ChrisBiffle
and
http://www.teachertube.com/uprofile.php?UID=32259
More about our organization can be found at
www.powerteachers.org
In addition to offering education seminars, we also develop low cost
teaching materials focused on core knowledge (the state standards) and
basic skills (reading, writing and math.) Central to our approach is a great
deal of educational tomfoolery which produces some of the sweetest
sounds teachers ever hear, on task laughter.
SuperSpeed Letters & Phonics, copyright Chris Biffle, 2007 4
SuperSpeed Letters & Phonics is a game designed to teach
beginning readers of any age the alphabet and letter sounds. Versions of
this game have been successfully classroom tested by hundreds of students
since 1999.
SuperSpeed Letters & Phonics is appropriate for readers from
kindergarten through 3rd grade, and can be used in remedial work at any
grade. In addition, the game adapts superbly to the needs of home
schooling and/or English learners, including adults who are taking a
beginning reading course.
Though it is not meant to replace, but only supplement, traditional
phonics based reading systems, students can successfully play SuperSpeed
Letters & Phonics even if they have no knowledge of phonics ... or even
the alphabet!
As you will see, the pedagogical structure of the game teaches the
alphabet through intensive, clearly structured repetition.
If you let your students play SuperSpeed Letters & Phonics for only
a few minutes, several times a week, you’ll see substantial improvements in
overall letter recognition; gains of 20% -40% within a month are not
uncommon.
SuperSpeed Letters & Phonics is so entertaining that elementary
teachers can use it as a reward for good behavior! Students work hard in
class, to gain the privilege of playing SuperSpeed!!
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The letters in SuperSpeed Letters & Phonics are arranged
alphabetical order and divided into 26 levels. Each level introduces a new
letter. Every three levels, a Challenge repeats all the letters learned on
previous levels. When students have mastered Level 26, they can go on to
SuperSpeed 100 to learn the 100 most common sight words (contact Chris
Biffle at [email protected] for more information).
SuperSpeed Letters & Phonics, copyright Chris Biffle, 2007 6
How To Play SuperSpeed Letters & Phonics to Teach
the Alphabet
Playing SuperSpeed Letters & Phonics to teach the alphabet is quite
simple. Arrange your class in groups of twos. If you have an odd number
of students, you will pair with the extra student. Without telling your
pupils be sure that a weaker learner is always paired with a stronger
learner.
Begin by saying something like the following, “We’re going to play
SuperSpeed, a game you’ll love! When I say ‘go!’, one person in the
group reads the first letter, then the other person in the group reads the
next letter, and so on. Keep taking turns. If your partner doesn’t know a
letter, or mispronounces it, ‘helpsies’ is allowed. Say the word for him or
her. Keep taking turns, reading as fast as you can. I’ll say ‘stop!’ after a
minute. Mark your team’s record on the page and then I’ll give you
another try for a minute. Start over with the first letter you read, but
whoever started goes second and whoever went second, now goes first.
You’ll be trying to beat your previous record. Tell your teammate right
now how badly the two of you want to keep breaking your records!”
Only two additional rules need to be added.
1. Every time the game is replayed, the team starts at the beginning
SuperSpeed Letters & Phonics, copyright Chris Biffle, 2007 7
of whatever level (or Challenge) they ended in.
For example, the first time Jane and Juana play, Jane, starting for her
team, begins at Level 1, and the team, taking turns, reads to the 5th letter in
Level 3. Juana then starts for her team and the team, taking turns, reads to
the 10th letter in Level 3. The next time Jane and Juana play, they begin
at the first letter in Level 3. This assures you that teams receive plenty of
repetitions on all their letters. Whenever students achieve a new starting
level, and they will frequently, you should encourage them to give
themselves a merry cheer.
2. When players break personal records, they should place a
checkmark inside a new personal record star on page 29. You may be
surprised at how much your students enjoy creating, and sharing!, a visual
record of their own achievements.
Now, here is a very important point. Students love to play SuperSpeed Letters & Phonics because they love to set and break personal records. Teams are never competing against each other, but against their own previous best effort. Thus, the learning goal is set at exactly the right level, no matter the team’s ability. The only standard they must exceed is the one they set for themselves the last time they played the game. Until you try SuperSpeed Letters & Phonics in class, you won’t believe the enthusiasm your students will have while playing. Students love the feeling of being record breakers, and the unique structure of SuperSpeed Letters & Phonics gives them this feeling over and over.
SuperSpeed Letters & Phonics, copyright Chris Biffle, 2007 8
How To Play SuperSpeed Letters & Phonics to Teach
Phonics
Teaching phonics, letter sounds, with SuperSpeed Letters & Phonics
is quite simple. Simply use the rules for teaching the alphabet described in
the previous section, but tell your students now you want them to make
letter sounds. Thus, instead of saying the letter “A”, they will make the
“A” sound (short “A”) and so forth. When your class knows all the
letters and letter sounds, you can ask them to go back through the game
and, at every vowel, make both the short and long vowel sounds.
Now, let’s look at the unique pedagogical structure of SuperSpeed
Letters & Phonics.
The first three levels are on the following page.
SuperSpeed Letters & Phonics, copyright Chris Biffle, 2007 9
Level 1: A, aA, a, A, a, A, aLevel 2: A, a, B, bA, a, B, b, A, a, B, bA, a, B, b, A, a, B, b
Level 3: A, a, B, b, C, cA, a, B, b, C, c, C, c, C, c A, a, B, b, C, c, C, c, C, cA, B, C, a, b, cChallengeA, B, Ca, b, cC, B, Ac, b, a
the first line identifies all the letters in a level
the last letteris the newletter forthe level
the new letteris highlighted and repeatedmore frequently than any otherletter on the level
Every Challenge repeatsall previous letters; thus, for example, the Challenge after Level 14 repeats all 14 previous letters.
the last line repeats theletters in alphabetical order for both upper and lower case.
SuperSpeed Letters & Phonics, copyright Chris Biffle, 2007 10
And that’s all there is to it!
Playing SuperSpeed Letters & Phonics is an ideal reward for good
behavior in class. Wouldn’t you rather see your students eagerly
mastering the alphabet than giving them candy? The game literally takes a
few minutes ... and the most common comment we hear from teachers is
“My class loves it!”
Students, effortlessly, receive hundreds of repetitions reading letters
while setting and breaking team records. The goal is not to break another
team’s record, but to surpass your own team’s previous best mark. Even
better than increasing reading speed, players of SuperSpeed Letters &
Phonics are rewarded with one of the most deeply powerful lessons in
education: I can set and break personal records. I can always do better
than my own previous best.
If you want to make the game simpler for your students, limit the
timed sessions to 30 seconds. Because there are increasing numbers of
letters at higher levels, you may want to increase the time limit to 90
seconds from about Level 15 onward.
SuperSpeed Letters & Phonics, copyright Chris Biffle, 2007 11
Playing SuperSpeed Letters & Phonics For One On
One Tutorials
It is easy to adapt Superspeed Letters & Phonics to special needs of
individual students. The adult, or more experienced reader, simply takes
the role of one of the two players. “Helpsies,” of course, is still
encouraged. Whenever one member of a team does not know a letter, the
other member should provide help. In fact, it is often entertaining if the
more experienced reader makes mistakes on purpose to let the less
experienced reader provide assistance. For variety, simply have
beginning readers name the letters on their own, as fast as possible.
Encourage them to keep breaking personal records.
SuperSpeed Letters & Phonics, copyright Chris Biffle, 2007 12
Level 1: A, aA, a, A, a, A, aLevel 2: A, a, B, bA, a, B, b, A, a, B, bA, a, B, b, A, a, B, b
Level 3: A, a, B, b, C, cA, a, B, b, C, c, C, c, C, c A, a, B, b, C, c, C, c, C, cA, B, C, a, b, c
ChallengeA, B, Ca, b, cC, B, Ac, b, a
SuperSpeed Letters & Phonics, copyright Chris Biffle, 2007 13
Level 4: B, b, C, c, D, d
B, b, C, c, D, d, D, d, D, dB, b, C, c, D, d, D, d, D, dA, B, C, D, a, b, c, d
Level 5: C, c, D, d, E, eC, c, D, d, E, e, E, e, E, eC, c, D, d, E, e, E, e, E, eA, B, C, D, E, a, b, c, d, e
Level 6: D, d, E, e, F, fD, d, E, e, F, f, F, f, F, fD, d, E, e, F, f, F, f, F, fA, B, C, D, E, Fa, b, c, d, e, f
SuperSpeed Letters & Phonics, copyright Chris Biffle, 2007 14
Challenge
A, B, C, D, E, Fa, b, c, d, e, fF, E, D, C, B, Af, e, d, c, b, a
Level 7: E, e, F, f, G, gE, e, F, f, G, g, G, g, G, gE, e, F, f, G, g, G, g, G, gA, B, C, D, E, F, Ga, b, c, d, e, f, gLevel 8: F, f, G, g, H, hF, f, G, g, H, h, H, h, H, hF, f, G, g, H, h, H, h, H, hA, B, C, D, E, F, G, Ha, b, c, d, e, f, g, h
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Level 9: G, g, H, h, I, iG, g, H, h, I, i, I, i, I, iG, g, H, h, I, i, I, i, I, iA, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, Ia, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, iChallenge
A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, Ia, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, iI, H, G, F, E, D, C, B, Ai, h, g, f, e, d, c, b, aLevel 10: H, h, I, i, J, jH, h, I, i, J, j, J, j, J, jH, h, I, i, J, j, J, j, J, jA, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, Ja, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j
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Level 11: I, i, J, j, K, kI, i, J, j, K, k, K, k, K, kI, i, J, j, K, k, K, k, K, kA, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, Ka, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, kLevel 12: J, j, K, k, L, lJ, j, K, k, L, l, L, l, L, lJ, j, K, k, L, l, L, l, L, lA, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, La, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, lChallenge
A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, La, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, lL, K, J, I, H, G, F, E, D, C, B, Al, k, j, i, h, g, f, e, d, c, b, a
SuperSpeed Letters & Phonics, copyright Chris Biffle, 2007 17
Level 13: K, k, L, l, M, mK, k, L, l, M, m, M, m, M, mK, k, L, l, M, m, M, m, M, mA, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, Ma, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m
Level 14: L, l, M, m, N, nL, l, M, m, N, n, N, n, N, nL, l, M, m, N, n, N, n, N, nA, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, Na, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n
SuperSpeed Letters & Phonics, copyright Chris Biffle, 2007 18
Level 15: M, m, N, n, O, oM, m, N, n, O, o, O, o, O, oM, m, N, n, O, o, O, o, O, oA, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, Oa, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, oChallenge
A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, Oa, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, oO, N, M, L, K, J, I, H, G, F, E, D, C, B, Ao, n, m, l, k, j, i, h, g, f, e, d, c, b, a
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Level 16: N, n, O, o, P, pN, n, O, o, P, p, P, p, P, pN, n, O, o, P, p, P, p, P, pA, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, Pa, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p
Level 17: O, o, P, p, Q, qO, o, P, p, Q, q, Q, q, Q, qO, o, P, p, Q, q, Q, q, Q, qA, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Qa, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, q
SuperSpeed Letters & Phonics, copyright Chris Biffle, 2007 20
Level 18: P, p, Q, q, R, rP, p, Q, q, R, r, R, r, R, rP, p, Q, q, R, r, R, r, R, rA, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, Ra, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, q, rChallenge
A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, Ra, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, q, rR, Q, P, O, N, M, L, K, J, I, H, G, F, E, D, C, B, Ar, q, p, o, n, m, l, k, j, i, h, g, f, e, d, c, b, a
SuperSpeed Letters & Phonics, copyright Chris Biffle, 2007 21
Level 19: Q, q, R, r, S, sQ, q, R, r, S, s, S, s, S, sQ, q, R, r, S, s, S, s, S, sA, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, Sa, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, q, r, s
Level 20: R, r, S, s, T, tR, r, S, s, T, t, T, t, T, tR, r, S, s, T, t, T, t, T, tA, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, Ta, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, q, r, s, t
SuperSpeed Letters & Phonics, copyright Chris Biffle, 2007 22
Level 21: S, s, T, t, U, uS, s, T, t, U, u, U, u, U, uS, s, T, t, U, u, U, u, U, uA, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, Ua, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, q, r, s, t, uChallenge
A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, Ua, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, q, r, s, t, uU, T, S, R, Q, P, O, N, M, L, K, J, I, H, G, F, E, D, C, B, Au, t, s, r, q, p, o, n, m, l, k, j, i, h, g, f, e, d, c, b, a
SuperSpeed Letters & Phonics, copyright Chris Biffle, 2007 23
Level 22: T, t, U, u, V, vT, t, U, u, V, v, V, v, V, vT, t, U, u, V, v, V, v, V, vA, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, Va, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, q, r, s, t, u, v
Level 23: U, u, V, v, W, wU, u, V, v, W, w, W, w, W, wU, u, V, v, W, w, W, w, W, wA, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, Wa, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, q, r, s, t, u, v, w
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Level 24: V, v, W, w, X, xV, v, W, w, X, x, X, x, X, xV, v, W, w, X, x, X, x, X, xA, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, Xa, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, q, r, s, t, u, v, w, xChallenge
A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, Xa, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, q, r, s, t, u, v, w, xX, W, V, U, T, S, R, Q, P, O, N, M, L, K, J, I, H, G, F, E, D, C,
SuperSpeed Letters & Phonics, copyright Chris Biffle, 2007 25
B, Ax, w, v, u, t, s, r, q, p, o, n, m, l, k, j, i, h, g, f, e, d, c, b, a
Level 25: W, w, X, x, Y, yW, w, X, x, Y, y, Y, y, Y, yW, w, X, x, Y, y, Y, y, Y, yA, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Ya, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, q, r, s, t, u, v, w, x, y
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Level 26: X, x, Y, y, Z, zX, x, Y, y, Z, z, Z, z, Z, zX, x, Y, y, Z, z, Z, z, Z, zA, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Za, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, q, r, s, t, u, v, w, x, y, z
SuperSpeed Letters & Phonics, copyright Chris Biffle, 2007 27
Challenge
A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Za, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, q, r, s, t, u, v, w, x, y, zZ, Y, X, W, V, U, T, S, R, Q, P, O, N, M, L, K, J, I, H, G, F, E, D, C, B, Az, y, x, w, v, u, t, s, r, q, p, o, n, m, l, k, j, i, h, g, f, e, d, c, b, a
SuperSpeed Letters & Phonics, copyright Chris Biffle, 2007 28
≈ SuperSpeed Personal Record Stars ≈ Place a checkmark in a star each time you break a personal
record!
SuperSpeed Letters & Phonics, copyright Chris Biffle, 2007 29
SuperSpeed Letters & Phonics, copyright Chris Biffle, 2007 30
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When the Challenge above is successfully completed, go on
to SuperSpeed 100, to learn the 100 most common sight words.
For more information, contact Chris Biffle at:
909-389-3338 (office)
SuperSpeed Letters & Phonics, copyright Chris Biffle, 2007 32