My First Words Scrabble is a thought-provoking game for elementary school
students with an emphasis on learning new vocabulary and simple spelling
principles. This unique game introduces the students to these basic English
principles while enabling them to make their own decisions concerning
word-building in an enjoyable and interesting way.
The cards to the game were developed in conjunction with a Montessori
nursery school according to Montessori guidelines. The merits of the
Montessori system with My First Words Scrabble means that the game is
designed so that children not only touch English with their hands but also
immediately know if they have chosen the right letter for any word on the
cards because the shape and color of the background will guide the child. In
other words, the teacher or the parent does not need to tell the children what
to do; the game encourages the players to be proactive.
There are 15 spelling cards arranged in categories, such as school, home,
farm, outside, long/short vowels, blends, etc. There are four levels of
difficulty, so all students should start with the first level, which
consists of the farm, school, outside and
in my home cards. Players look at a picture on the spelling card and try to
insert the color tile letters which only fit into the correct spelling
sequence. Since all the tiles are color-coded and the spelling activities
are self-correcting, the child can "discover" how to spell naturally and enjoyably.
After the child has
accomplished this task, the teacher can then read the word, after which the
child can repeat. The teacher can also ask the child, "Please spell CAT" or
"How do you spell CAT?" and the child can look at the letters and spell the
word for the teacher. With higher level students, or with small groups, the
students can ask each other the questions.
The parent or teacher can select words from level one and review them in
class lessons. Once they have been mastered, the children can move to the
next level. With My First Words Scrabble, the students not only learn to
read and spell the 60 most basic words in the English language but also
learn basic phonics spelling principles in a natural and fun way. They can
learn how to "sound out" words with the help of the parent or teacher.
Some of the words the children learn how to construct are as follows:
Animals: cat, hen, pig, fox
School: pen, bat, drum, six
Outside: sun, web, rod, frog
Kitchen: bun, milk, pot, jug
Body: foot, lips, back, hand
Transport: car, ship, van, bike
Short Vowels: tap, fan, leg, shed, van, zip, dog, sock, fork, cow, mug,
bush
Long Vowels: bone, cake, pea, leaf, bowl, lion, gold, nose, beak
My First Words Scrabble is appropriate for small classes or private and
semi-private lessons with young children. It is a novel game in that it
empowers students to learn how to spell and read words independently with
very little adult supervision.
Helene Jarmol Uchida
Helene Jarmol Uchida is a veteran teacher with teaching, curriculum
development and teacher training experience in the U.S., Greece and Japan.
She is the director of the Fukuoka-based
Little America English Schools
and lectures at Fukuoka Kyoiku Daigaku. She holds the LATEM seminars every year
in cities throughout Japan and is also the author of 'The Challenge Book',
an interactive English book and CD especially created for Japanese elementary school students.
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