nce words

Capture the interest of reluctant readers using videos of nce words

What do videos about how to get over a fence and bouncing stilts have to do with teaching reading and spelling of nce words?

I started teaching Special Ed in a boys high school in 1986 by supporting small groups of students who had “fallen through the cracks”. Some of them were extremely bright but needed support in their mathematics and/or English (i.e. reading and spelling).

My previous experience had been in teaching matric geology and high school and matric mathematics, but I had always loved helping students who were struggling. I wasn’t aware of any programs that addressed the basics that they had missed, so I started developing games with them. They were happy to help me invent and trial games for younger children. They didn’t seem to notice and/or mind that they were filling in essential gaps in their own knowledge at the same time.

One day, the mother of one of my Year 9 students was most excited. She had found a program that would help her son. It looked like a really good program, but he hated it. I determined that day that anything that I developed would, as far as possible, never be boring when I was addressing gaps in older students’ basic skills.

So, two weeks ago, on my oldest grandson’s 22^nd birthday, when one of his videos started to go viral, I asked him if I could use it in my program, Gilead Success with Phonics. Even though my program starts off for young children, by Levels 8 and 9 it is quite challenging. His video is called “How to get over a fence with style” (https://www.instagram.com/p/BkjSg1UAv5m/?taken-by=jiembasands). Given that he is a circus performer cum parkour enthusiast, I thought it might capture the interest of older reluctant readers.

I used it to illustrate “fence”, then “How to get over a fence”. I also added in some other simple, common nce words – dance, mince, since, prince, chance. His 9-year-old brother, a very bright reluctant reader, guessed which video I was going to include when he read “fence”. I hope it will capture the interest of other older reluctant readers who will still have the element of surprise. He thought the other words were useful and loved the video of “bounce” on the next page. In this he, albeit a couple of years younger, and two more of his brothers feature on bouncing stilts.

If you have trouble seeing the video, click here.

chance: Is there a chance that I can go to the zoo? Thanks to Zoodoo (Trevor Cuttriss, owner/manager), Tasmania, for permission to film.

“Bounce” video, copyright 2016 Mark Sands, Sands Family Circus. Used with permission.