Making Words Kindergarten and First Grade 2.0

This application includes 50 lessons designed to help students build spelling skills and develop phonemic awareness. The format and word sequencing were created by Patricia Cunningham and have been praised for their ability to engage students in an educational yet enjoyable manner. The audio narration was provided by Adam Ghassemi, a professional voice-over artist with over a decade of experience. During the development of this application, we gathered feedback from various educators on effective strategies for presenting these activities to students.

The complimentary version of the app offers three lessons, while the full version is available for purchase through an in-app transaction. The app is intended for independent student use, yet it can also be beneficial when utilized under the guidance of a teacher or family member to explore word families with the student(s). Speech-language pathologists and special education teachers will find value in the structured sequencing within each lesson.

The top three reasons educators value this application are:

1. It features 50 engaging and interactive lessons focused on developing phonemic awareness, phonics, and spelling skills with students.
2. It provides a concise approach to identifying phonological units and patterns within words.
3. It fosters student awareness of word similarities that aid in the development of writing skills.

Each lesson centers around a primary letter pattern and consists of multiple words conforming to that pattern, which students are required to spell. The initial lesson covers the 'at' word family, where students arrange letters into designated spaces by dragging them from the bottom. The app automatically verifies the correctness of the word once all letter spaces are filled. Audio support is available for clear instructions, encouraging students throughout the process. Upon successfully spelling the target word, students are prompted to spell the subsequent word in the sequence.

The app keeps track of any errors made by students during each lesson. Upon completing a lesson error-free, students earn three stars displayed on the home screen. Two stars are awarded if fewer than three mistakes occur, while only one star is given for three or more errors. This tracking system allows teachers and parents to easily monitor student progress and completed lessons on the home screen. To reset all stars to zero, simply click the 'Reset Stars' button.

Making Words has gained recognition for its effectiveness in helping students recognize similarities among words and enhance their spelling and phonics skills. By focusing each lesson on a single word family, the app aids in developing students' understanding of letter patterns. A review section is presented after each set of word families for reinforcement. For instance, following the families at, am, ad, ap, and an, there is a review lesson provided.

We would greatly appreciate hearing about how you are implementing this app in your classroom or at home. Please contact us at [email protected]

Thank you for your valuable feedback.

• More about Patricia Cunningham and Phonemic Awareness

Patricia Cunningham originated the Making Words activity while collaborating with Title I teachers in North Carolina. In 1991, she authored "Phonics They Use: Words for Reading and Writing," presently available in its fourth edition.

According to Allyn and Bacon, phonemic awareness encompasses the ability to identify that words consist of distinct sounds and manipulate those sounds. Phonemic awareness is an auditory skill involving recognizing words with similar beginnings, rhyming words, and understanding sound segmentation in words (e.g., c-a-t has three sounds). It plays a crucial role in early reading success as it precedes phonics instruction. Phonics instruction focuses on associating specific consonant letters with their common sounds, essential for reading unfamiliar words and spelling accurately. Unlike phonemic awareness that involves both visual and auditory components, phonics knowledge requires students to link letters with their corresponding sounds visually.