Minnesota Public Schools (MPS) ACADEMICS ADVOCACY GROUP

 

You may find the MPS academic advocacy group website here.

I read 3 of the articles on the website and wonder why the Americans keep saying the same things again and again and expect different results.

In one of the 3 articles, I listened to a video clip that you may listen to here.

The teacher in the video, as in many other websites and videos, says that the vowels are special in that they have a long sound and a short sound.

She gives the following examples:

‘A’ as in apple (short sound) and ‘A’ as in ape (long sound).

‘E’As in egg (short sound) and ‘E’ as in eel (long sound)

‘I’ as in iguana (short sound) and ‘I’ as in ice (long sound)

‘O’ as in octopus (short sound) and ‘O’ as in ocean (long sound)

‘U’ as in umbrella (short sound) and ‘U’ as in unicorn (long sound)

The long sounds of the vowels are sounds of the names of the letters.

Of course, this is better than teachers not teaching the kids the short sounds and the long sounds.

I have written that one of the three reasons why about 20% of kids shut down from learning to read is the fact that they get confused when they come across sounds of the letters (vowels as well as consonants) that they have not been taught. All a teacher needs to do is to mention that almost all letters in the English letters represent more than one sound.

Having learned the short sounds and long sounds of the vowels many smart kids shut down from learning to read when they come across letters representing different sounds.

The letter ‘A’ represents at least another three sounds as in:

‘A’ as in agree, allow

‘A’ as in arc, arm

‘A’ as in all, awe

Similarly, the other vowels too represent more than the 2 sounds (short and long sounds) mentioned in the video clip.

Those interested in why kids shut down from learning to read may listen to my videos 6,7,8 and 9 at 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCS4SwCk6j0PkVAVHmKhk8qA

Any parent from MPS with kids in grades 1 to 3 who are unable to read at grade level may contact me for free guidance on how to get their kids to read at grade level.