See and Learn
First Written
Words
- Activities
See and Learn First Written Words - Guide to the activities
Activities
For full details, see the instructions for each activity by
following the links.
Progressing through the activities
See and Learn First Written Words follows on from the
previous step, See and Learn
First Word Pictures.
The focus of See and Learn First Written Words is on teaching
reading to promote the understanding and use of two 'key' words together
in phrases. All of the individual words used in See and Learn First
Written Words were introduced as pictures in
See and Learn First Word Pictures. This ensures
that your child only learns to read the words that he or she already understands.
The reading activities begin with Matching
First Written Words for the first set of words. Your child
is taught to read the words in
sets of four, using the following sequence of three activities:
- Matching First Written Words,
then
- Selecting First Written Words,
then
- Naming First Written Words
When you have completed this sequence of three activities with the first set of
four words, you then repeat it with the next set of words, while also including words
previously used to provide your child with ongoing practice.
Your child will need repeated
practice for developing and maintaining his/her early sight reading.
When you have completed the sequence for all four sets of four
words, the final activity - Matching
First Written Phrases to Pictures - checks your child's understanding
of all 16 words in two 'key' word combinations, using a selection of phrases
from the previous reading activities and some additional ones.
This pack is designed to be completed at the same time as See and Learn More Word Pictures
which will help increase your child's vocabulary. When you
have completed both of these steps, you will be ready to move on to the next stage
See and Learn First Sentences.
Following your child's lead
The activities in See and Learn First Written Words give
your child the opportunity to learn to read independently. Some children will learn
to sight read quickly, others will make slower progress.
If your child takes more
time to develop his/her sight reading skills, he/she will still benefit from reading
in a 'supported way' by being read to and encouraged to copy. In this
situation, move through the first three activities
supporting your child with as much help as necessary, focusing on reading the different
books to your child, rather than developing a sight vocabulary. In the final activity,
read the two 'key' word combinations to your child to check his/her understanding.
It is important that your child demonstrates his or her understanding of the two
'key' word combinations before you move on to
reading sentences in the next step of See and Learn.
About the two 'key' word phrases
When they have a vocabulary of around 50 words, children begin to join two 'key'
words together in combinations such as "daddy gone" or "dog eating".
See and Learn First Written Words introduces
34 phrases consisting of two or three words incorporating two 'key'
words, such as "on the table" or
"cat is sleeping" (key words indicated in
bold). When your child starts using these phrases, he or she is likely to use just
the 'key' words - ie "on table" or "cat sleeping" -
before being able to say all of the words. When your child is at this stage, encourage
them to learn the full sentence by repeating the entire phrase back to him or her,
as this will help teach the correct grammar for the phrase.
Making your own supplementary resources
See and Learn First Written Words does not
include materials for your child's own name or 'mommy' and 'daddy'. We
recommend that you create your own materials for teaching your child
his/her own name, and other
familiar names such as 'mommy' and 'daddy'. An effective way to
do this to use photographs to make 'personal books' showing these familiar
people eating, drinking, sleeping, etc. Your child is likely to find these personal
books very motivating.
Recording your child's progress
Use the First Written Words record sheets to
record your child's progress through the activities and plan his/her practice sessions.
Common questions
Before starting any of the activities,
read the answers to these common questions about the See and Learn
Language and Reading program: