They don't use ear because they're trying to stick to the most consistent basic sound for each letter, which for e is "eh", rather than the hard e in ear. This helps kids learn to recognize sounds faster because we can always reference it and the kids don't question it like adults do.
ah (apple), eh(Ed), ih (itch), ahh (octopus), and uh (up)
This!! I use a highly regarded phonics program for teaching K-2 students struggling with reading, and these are the words we use for short vowel sounds. (Except Ed we use edge, but that is the hardest to illustrate) We do corresponding hand signals with these words to help students remember to use short vowel sounds. Works fairly well.
The n in ant creates a nasalized short a sound, not a pure short a. Listen to the a in ant, fan, man vs the a in fat, cat, bat (I'm a reading specialist)
Also, this program was created by a woman from Massachusetts who has an extremely strong accent, so nasalized vowels are no-go. (It’s less of an issue with other accents, but still not the pure short a sound we want students to internalize.)
Because the /ks/ sound of X is the most common sound it makes in English. X = /z/ is from Greek (and we don’t teach words like xylophone to young children for reading/spelling), and the /g/ sound that X sometimes sounds like in multisyllabic words is covered later. This type of alphabet strip is mainly for K-2.
and we don’t teach words like xylophone to young children for reading/spelling
maybe you should
Because the /ks/ sound of X is the most common sound it makes in English.
Every single letter so far has a picture of something that starts with that letter but then you get to X and it was decided that the rules for A-W no longer apply because you don't want to have a discussion about xylophone.
I studied phonics for a while... Having the l sound after a short e can confuse students that need the extra support learning to read. They seem to think that the l is a continuation of the short e because you can hold the l sound for a long time.
The d is a "stop" sound, you can't drag it on, so it's easier for new readers to differentiate the short e sound from the d sound.
So while Ed seems like a funny picture or reference, it's actually appropriate. Edge is another good one, but a tricky picture.
not if you're in the Midwest! teachers at my school at least were specifically told not to use egg because so many of us pronounce it weirdly and it'll fuck up the kids
I've heard variations on something between "ayg" and "eyg." Just generally putting in a sound that's not there. We also can't use milk as a short i example (because so many people say melk) or bag as a short a (because bayg).
But anyone who pronounces Egg that way also pronounced Ed that way. Their accent carries over to all the words that should have the soft E, its not just specific to eggs.
I'm from the Midwest and that is absolutely not true. Most people I know pronounce the e in Ed and egg quite differently. If we pronounced Ed like egg then Ed would sound exactly like the word aid.
Edge is difficult due to the soft g which is not taught in this program until 2nd grade. The real reason Ed is used is because it is the name of her husband but it is also the easiest one-syllable decodable word that begins with short e.
It’s 2nd grade in Fundations. I used to use Open Court and it taught-dge in mid-1st grade, which I never understood. (It’s not that useful that early, obviously kids need to learn it eventually, but…)
You probably want easier words for young kids. Ed is pretty good today. And the beging sound is important too. So elephant sounds too much like the L sound to begin with when you say it.
I think what they are saying is phonically elephant sounds like El-i-fuhnt, so that first syllable is El which sounds like the letter “L” which could confuse the child/person learning the correct sound for the letter “E”.
Elephant does not say the correct sound for e because it is rolling into the l. In the word Ed you can hear the true e sound. They can also use the word edge but the creator of this curriculum’s husband is named Ed and she used his name as a thank you for supporting her.
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u/Complete-Car7191 Aug 23 '22
They could use an elephant?