πŸ”Ž

    Symbol Courses

    The first track of courses in Pictures Are For Babies introduces the student to individual symbols used in the language, from letters to punctuation marks. The general procedure is roughly the same for all the symbol courses. Specific instructions for each course are provided in the sections below. The general procedure is as follows:

    • Each lesson contains multiple examples, which start as hidden. The tutor first looks at the lesson header to check if the lesson is a Reading or Dictation lesson.
    • For reading lessons:
      • The tutor clicks on the first example to reveal it and shows it to the student.
      • The student should quickly and automatically identify the symbol by name and sound (in the case of letters). If the student does so, the tutor clicks on the "βœ—" button to mark the example as correct, which turns into a "βœ“".
      • Repeat this process for all the examples in the lesson.
      • After the student goes through all the examples, the tutor performs an intervention to teach the student about the symbols they missed. Instructions for this intervention are provided in the specific course sections.
    • For dictation lessons:
      • The tutor clicks on the first example to reveal it and reads it aloud to the student.
      • The student should quickly and automatically write the symbol on a piece of paper, notebook, or some other writing surface. If the student does so, the tutor clicks on the "βœ—" button to mark the example as correct, which turns into a "βœ“".
      • Repeat this process for all the examples in the lesson.
      • After the student goes through all the examples, the tutor performs an intervention to teach the student about the symbols they missed. Instructions for this intervention are provided in the specific course sections.

    Symbols 1πŸ”—

    The first symbol course introduces the student to lowercase letters. The criterion for mastery is that the student quickly and automatically identifies the letter by name and sound. The tutor can prompt them by asking "What is this letter?" and "What sound does this letter make?". Ideally, the student can also name a word that uses the letter, but that is optional. The tutor should still mark the example as correct even if the student provides only the correct name and sound.

    When making consonant sounds, the tutor should clearly enunciate the sound without adding an extraneous vowel sound at the end. For example, when saying the letter 't', the tutor should say /t/ and not tuh (/tΙ™/). The vowel sounds are the short sounds of the letters that are used in simple consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) words, such as 'cat', 'pet', 'sit', 'dog', and 'cup'. To help tutors and students, example answers and words are provided for each letter below. The list is also available when clicking on the "Open Instructions" button in the lesson header. Tutors and students are free to come up with their own example words if they wish.

    • a (This is the letter 'a', pronounced /Γ¦/, as in 'apple')
    • b (This is the letter 'b', pronounced /b/, as in 'bat')
    • c (This is the letter 'c', pronounced /k/, as in 'cat')
    • d (This is the letter 'd', pronounced /d/, as in 'dog')
    • e (This is the letter 'e', pronounced /Ι›/, as in 'elephant')
    • f (This is the letter 'f', pronounced /f/, as in 'fish')
    • g (This is the letter 'g', pronounced /g/, as in 'goat')
    • h (This is the letter 'h', pronounced /h/, as in 'horse')
    • i (This is the letter 'i', pronounced /Ιͺ/, as in 'insect')
    • j (This is the letter 'j', pronounced /dΚ’/, as in 'jaguar')
    • k (This is the letter 'k', pronounced /k/, as in 'kitten')
    • l (This is the letter 'l', pronounced /l/, as in 'lion')
    • m (This is the letter 'm', pronounced /m/, as in 'monkey')
    • n (This is the letter 'n', pronounced /n/, as in 'nest')
    • o (This is the letter 'o', pronounced /Ι‘/, as in 'octopus')
    • p (This is the letter 'p', pronounced /p/, as in 'pig')
    • q (This is the letter 'q', pronounced /kw/, as in 'queen')
    • r (This is the letter 'r', pronounced /r/, as in 'rabbit')
    • s (This is the letter 's', pronounced /s/, as in 'snake')
    • t (This is the letter 't', pronounced /t/, as in 'tiger')
    • u (This is the letter 'u', pronounced /ʌ/, as in 'umbrella')
    • v (This is the letter 'v', pronounced /v/, as in 'van')
    • w (This is the letter 'w', pronounced /w/, as in 'window')
    • x (This is the letter 'x', pronounced /ks/, as in 'box')
    • y (This is the letter 'y', pronounced /j/, as in 'yellow')
    • z (This is the letter 'z', pronounced /z/, as in 'zebra')

    The symbols inside the slashes are part of the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) and unambiguously represent sounds. It is not necessary to learn the IPA, it is used here to make the difference between letter names and sounds clear. Their meaning can be inferred from the example words provided.

    Symbols 1 InterventionπŸ”—

    When the student finishes the lesson, the tutor should perform an intervention to teach the student about the symbols they missed. For lowercase letters, the intervention primarily consists of teaching them the name and sound of the letter. For dictation lessons, the tutor should also show them how the letters are handwritten and ask them to write them a few times.

    If the score remains low after a few attempts at the same lesson, the tutor should consider using additional methods to help the student learn the letters. Tutors can check the score of the lesson in the lesson header. Some additional methods include:

    • The tutor writes the letters on a piece of paper to show the student how they look in handwriting. Bigger sizes are recommended. The student then traces the letters with a finger.
    • Include more example words to help the student associate the letter with its sound. Try to stick to concrete words that the student is familiar with (animals, plants, food, etc.).
    • Use clay or Play-Doh to mold the letters to include a tactile component.

    Symbols 2πŸ”—

    The second symbol course introduces the student to uppercase letters. The criterion for mastery is that the student quickly and automatically identifies that the letter is the uppercase version of a letter. For example, upon seeing the letter 'M', the student should say "This is the uppercase version of the letter m" or "uppercase m". Because students are only introduced to uppercase letters after mastering lowercase letters, it is optional to ask them to name the sound of the letter or an example word.

    Symbols 2 InterventionπŸ”—

    The intervention for uppercase letters is the same as for lowercase letters.

    Symbols 3 and onwardsπŸ”—

    From the third symbol course onwards, the student is introduced to other symbols commonly used in written language, such as commas, periods, question marks, and so on. Below is an example:

    ,

    This symbol is called a comma. It is used for:

    1. Separating parts of a sentence.
    2. Setting off introductory words or phrases.
    3. Separating clauses that are joined by words like β€œand” or β€œbut.”

    Examples:

    • I bought apples, oranges, bananas, and grapes.
    • After the meeting, we went for lunch.
    • She was tired, but she kept working.

    The symbol is shown first, followed by a description of its name, common uses, and examples of real sentences using the symbol. When scoring a reading lesson, the tutor only points out the symbol in the first line. The criterion for mastery is that the student quickly and automatically identifies the symbol by name. For dictation lessons, the tutor says the name of the symbol and the student should write it down quickly and automatically.

    Symbols 3 InterventionπŸ”—

    The intervention for symbols is similar to the one for letters. The only difference is that the tutor reads the description of the symbol, its uses, and the examples to the student. The tutor points out the symbols in the examples. It is not necessary for the student to memorize the uses or to be able to read the example sentences.