Module 3: Activity 2

I think the activity displayed in the video is tremendously helpful and necessary in a child achieving phonemic awareness. At Auburn, we were taught to educate in this manner, and not only do I think it is an organized and effective method, but I have seen the rewards from teaching in an individualized, more focused manner like this. I believe activities like this allow the student to enter at his or her own pace, taking each sound and letter one at a time, and doing their best at their current level. The wonder of working one-on-one allows for each individual student to receive the unique instruction they need. It is a great exercise to review letter-sound correspondences, see the correct spelling of words, and then putting together all they have learned to read the words aloud in a smooth, together manner.

             I think letterbox lessons or different exercises like the one shown in the film, allow a reader to build confidence when faced with a new text with unknown words in them. It creates a foundation to help students reading abilities. Of course, students need to be reading books to become more proficient, but initial exercises like the one in the video, help provide the building blocks to be able to eventually read the book in a fluent-like manner. I find this technique to be extremely successful and beneficial in helping a child become a proficient reader.