QUICK SHOPPING
Rainbow Phonics
Colorful. Multi-sensory. Systematic. Fun! What more can you ask from a playful approach to phonics - maybe a corresponding iPad app? Well, this program has that option at well. At the heart of the program is the set of Magnetic Letters
.Soft-foam 1 1/8" magnetic letters [84 total: 19 consonants (no q or z), 5 vowels, 11 digraphs, 12 vowel digraphs, 5 changeable vowel sounds, 6 r-controlled vowels, and 5 split vowel digraphs (silent e)] are in a clever box that includes a built-in magnetic-board easel and an elastic band to keep it all together. Letters are lower-case modern handwriting style and color-coded so it is easy to tell a "b" from a "d" and to separate the digraphs from the vowel digraphs. An included chart shows which letters to introduce weekly through five progressions, taking the student from readiness through advanced vowel and consonant digraphs. This could be an easy-to-use, stand-alone letter set or coupled with the Landscapes and Readers Sets, provide lots of practice and reinforcement.
The Landscapes and the Readers work together with the Word Farm series providing an introduction to three and four letter CVC words (Progression 2) and the Word City series providing more advanced digraphs (Progression 3). The Landscape sets include six magnetic landscapes each with a suggested set of letters or letter groups from the Magnetic Letters set. Letters are used to build words within a "frame" (dotted line like in handwriting books); words to build are suggested by pictures that correspond to the readers. Each picture also includes a flap with the word printed below which allows for self-checking. The Reader sets include six colorful, eight-page, small-size (5.5" x 6.5") paperback books (heavy, smooth finish paper). By introducing the words using the Landscapes and reinforcing the words by reading the stories, students build vocabulary and word decoding skills.
While the Magnetic Letter set could be used through 2nd/3rd grade phonics skills, Word Farm provides typical K skills and Word City is K/1 skills. Video demonstrations are available on the publisher's website. The free iPad app (available at the Apple® App Store) provides additional practice with accompanying audio presentation of sounds and words. ~ Janice
