About this activity
Sixteen vowel-initial words written the way they should sound: aaapple, uuup, ooopen, eeevery, uuunder, aaafter, aaalways, iiice cream, eeeat, ooover, eeeasy, aaask, ooorange. The stretched spelling is the cue — the vowel is drawn out so the student starts it gently rather than pushing it out, which is what an easy onset is.
How to use it in a session
Let the spelling do the instruction. Reading aaapple with the vowel stretched produces an easy onset almost automatically, which is quicker than explaining the technique. Once a word is easy, shorten the stretch until the word is normal length with the gentle start intact — that fading is the actual skill. Eight minutes covers the sixteen with fading on the easy ones.
What to listen for
Listen for the catch at the start. A hard onset has an audible click before the vowel, and it is the thing to point out first, in your own voice before theirs. Watch I am and ice cream, which are the two multi-word items here and are harder, since the technique has to be applied twice.
Carrying it home
Ask the family to listen for the start of words beginning with a vowel, not for the whole sentence. Apple, open, always and eat are frequent enough that one gets noticed most days.
Questions
- What ages is this for?
- Kindergarten through eighth grade — a wide range, because easy onset is taught at whatever age it is needed.
- Is it free?
- Yes, all sixteen cards play with no account.
- Why are the words spelled with repeated letters?
- The spelling is the cue. Stretching the first vowel makes a gentle start almost unavoidable, which teaches the feeling faster than an explanation does.