Sound Linkage: An Integrated Programme for Overcoming Reading Difficulties

The updated edition of this successful resource has been developed to support children with reading delays and dyslexia. It contains a phonological training programme, an explanation of how this programme can be embedded within a broader reading intervention, a standardised test of phonological awareness and a methodology to grade childrens reading books.

Key features:

• This third edition has been revised throughout to include the latest developments in the field
• These resources have been used with a wide range of children and found to be suitable for use with any reading-delayed children, irrespective of cognitive ability and age
• All activities are accompanied by a set of photocopiable record sheets, a set of pictures, and an appendix of additional activities useful in helping children master a particular skill or to reinforce existing learning
• The ten sections of activities within the guide include: identification of words and syllables; identification and supply of rhyming words; identification and discrimination of phonemes; and blending, segmentation, deletion, substitution and transposition of phonemes within words.

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Table of Contents

Acknowledgements x

Foreword xi

About the companion website xii

Introduction 1

Test of phonological awareness 3

Programme administration 10

• Phonological training activities 10
• Phonological linkage activities 12

Section 1 Identification of words as units within sentences 15

• Activity 1 Introduction to the concepts of 'beginning', 'middle' and 'end' 16
• Activity 2 Comprehension of the concepts of 'beginning', 'middle' and 'end' in sentences 16
• Activity 3 Transferring the concepts of 'beginning', 'middle' and 'end' to an aural activity 17
• Activity 4 Production of initial, final and medial words in sentences of two to four words 18
• Activity 5 Matching counters to words in sentences of two to five words 19

Section 2 Identification and manipulation of syllables 21

• Activity 1 Introduction to syllabic rhythm in poems (A) 22
• Activity 2 Introduction to syllabic rhythm in poems (B) 23
• Activity 3 Syllable blending (two to four syllables) 24
• Activity 4 Introduction to syllable segmentation 25
• Activity 5 Segmentation of words into syllables (two to four) 26
• Activity 6 Syllable counting in words of two to four syllables 27
• Activity 7 Syllable deletion 28

Section 3 Identification and supply of rhyming words 29

• Activity 1 Introduction to rhyme 30
• Activity 2 Discrimination of pairs of rhyming and non-rhyming words 31
• Activity 3 Supplying rhymes (A) 31
• Activity 4 Supplying rhymes (B) 32
• Activity 5 Supplying rhymes (C) 33
• Activity 6 Rhyme supply (riddles) 35
• Activity 7 Discrimination of one of three words that rhymes with a target word 36

Section 4 Identification and discrimination of phonemes 37

• Activity 1 Introduction to 'saying a word slowly' 38
• Activity 2 Picture sound association (initial sounds of words) 38
• Activity 3 Word pair discrimination 39
• Activity 4 Identification of initial sounds in words 40
• Activity 5 Identification of final sounds in words 42
• Activity 6 Identification of medial sounds in words 44
• Activity 7 Discrimination of two of three words with the same initial sound 46
• Activity 8 Introduction to the concept of 'same end' sound 47
• Activity 9 Discrimination of two of three words with the same final sound 48
• Activity 10 Discrimination of two of three words with the same medial sound 48
• Activity 11 Discrimination of word pairs with the same initial sound 49
• Activity 12 Discrimination of word pairs with the same final sound 50
• Activity 13 Discrimination of word pairs with the same medial sound 51
• Activity 14 Discrimination of one of three words with the same initial sound as a target word 51
• Activity 15 Discrimination of one of four words with a different initial sound 52
• Activity 16 Discrimination of one of three words with the same final sound as a target word 54
• Activity 17 Discrimination of one of four words with a different final sound 55

Section 5 Phoneme blending 57

• Activity 1 Production of words from two to four sounds 58
• Activity 2 Production of words from two sounds 59
• Activity 3 Production of words from three sounds 59
• Activity 4 Production of words from four sounds 60
• Activity 5 Production of words from five sounds 61
• Activity 6 Sound linkage Blending of two sounds 62
• Activity 7 Sound linkage Blending of three sounds 63
• Activity 8 Sound linkage Blending of four sounds (initial blends) 64
• Activity 9 Sound linkage Blending of four sounds (final blends) 66

Section 6 Phoneme segmentation 69

• Activity 1 Production of the initial sound of target words 70
• Activity 2 Production of the final sound of target words 70
• Activity 3 Production of the medial sound of target words 71
• Activity 4 Introduction to the concept of breaking up a word into sounds 72
• Activity 5 Introduction to segmenting a word while pushing counters into boxes 73
• Activity 6 Phoneme counting with two to four counters (A) 74
• Activity 7 Phoneme counting with two to four counters (B) 75
• Activity 8 Segmenting words into sounds 75
• Activity 9 Sound linkage Discrimination of two of three words with the same initial 'sound' 76
• Activity 10 Sound linkage Discrimination of two of three words with the same final 'sound' 77
• Activity 11 Sound linkage Discrimination of two of three words with the same medial 'sound' 79

Section 7 Phoneme deletion 81

• Activity 1 Introduction to the concepts of 'missing from' and 'without' 82
• Activity 2 Introduction to the concepts of 'taken away' and 'left' in relation to sounds in words 83
• Activity 3 Specification of the initial sound deleted from a word 85
• Activity 4 Specification of the final sound deleted from a word 85
• Activity 5 Specification of a medial sound that has been deleted from a word 86
• Activity 6 Deletion of the initial sound of a word to produce another word (A) 87
• Activity 7 Deletion of the initial sound of a word to produce another word (B) 88
• Activity 8 Deletion of the fi nal sound of a word to produce another word 89
• Activity 9 Deletion of the medial sound of a word to produce another word 89
• Activity 10 Sound linkage Discrimination of a word produced by deleting the initial sound from a stimulus word 90
• Activity 11 Sound linkage Discrimination of a word produced by deleting the final sound from a stimulus word 92

Section 8 Phoneme substitution 95

• Activity 1 Introduction to the concept of changing the beginning item of a sequence 96
• Activity 2 Revision of the concept of 'first sound in a word' 96
• Activity 3 Changing the initial sound of a word 97
• Activity 4 Phoneme substitution (initial sound) 98
• Activity 5 Phoneme substitution (final sound) 98
• Activity 6 Phoneme substitution (medial sound) 99
• Activity 7 Sound linkage Substitution of initial lettersphonemes in words 100
• Activity 8 Sound linkage Substitution of final lettersphonemes in words 102
• Activity 9 Sound linkage Substitution of medial lettersphonemes in words 103

Section 9 Phoneme transposition 105

• Activity 1 Defining the concept of backwards (using pictures) 106
• Activity 2 Defining the concept of backwards (in relation to words) 106
• Activity 3 Defining the concept of backwards (in relation to sounds in words) 107
• Activity 4 Reversing the sequence of sounds in a word 108
• Activity 5 Introduction to spoonerisms 109
• Activity 6 Spoonerisms 110
• Activity 7 Sound linkage Reversing the sequence of sounds in a word 111
• Activity 8 Sound linkage Spoonerisms 112

Section 10 Phonological linkage activities 115

• Instructions 116
• Establishing a link between sounds and the written form of words 116
• Using letters as clues in text reading 117
• Multisyllabic words and words with suffixes and prefixes 118
• Playing with words 118
• Sound Linkage Theoretical background to the programme 120
• Phonological awareness and learning to read 120
• The Hatcher, Hulme and Ellis study 121
• Evidence from subsequent studies for the effectiveness of 'reading with phonology' programmes 126
• Using sound linkage as one component of an integrated approach to teaching reading 128
• Grading children's early reading books 132
• Summary 132
• Test development and standardisation 133

Appendix 1 Additional activities 142

• Section 2 Identification and manipulation of syllables 142
• Section 3 Identification and supply of rhyming words 142
• Section 4 Identification and discrimination of phonemes 143
• Section 5 Phoneme blending 144
• Section 6 Phoneme segmentation 145
• Section 7 Phoneme deletion 146
• Section 8 Phoneme substitution 146
• Section 9 Phoneme transposition 146

Appendix 2 Table of percentages (observed score possible score) 100 148

Appendix 3 Grading children's early reading books 149

Sound linkage training programme Record Sheets 156

• Record Sheet A Test of phonological awareness 156
• Record Sheet B Identification of words as units within sentences 158
• Record Sheet C Identification and manipulation of syllables 160
• Record Sheet D Identification and supply of rhyming words 162
• Record Sheet E Identification and discrimination of phonemes 164
• Record Sheet F Phoneme blending 171
• Record Sheet G Phoneme segmentation 174
• Record Sheet H Phoneme deletion 177
• Record Sheet I Phoneme substitution 180
• Record Sheet J Phoneme transposition 183

References and Bibliography 185