Embedded picture mnemonics: flashcard size
10 Replies
I’ve had many requests for a flashcard-sized version of our Embedded Picture Mnemonics, so (finally, sorry, I was moving house) here they are.
Embedded picture mnemonics are drawings of letters embedded in a picture of something with a name that contains that sound. The classic example is a snake in the shape of a letter S.
Mentally linking two abstract concepts (a speech sound and its letter/spelling) to the point where one automatically evokes the other is hard work, and typically requires hundreds of repetitions.
Embedded picture mnemonics incorporate a hint of the sound in each letter/spelling, to help build sound-spelling connections in memory. These connections need to be strengthened by writing letters/spellings in words while saying the relevant sounds, and using decodable books and other practice materials which follow your phonics teaching sequence.
Like the A4-sized version of these embedded picture mnemonics, this smaller version can be used to gradually build a Sound Wall with children, depicting each of the sounds of English, and adding words illustrating the different ways each sound is spelt these are taught. Photos of children’s mouths saying each sound can also be included.
Beginners can also learn to build and change words using the Embedded Picture Mnemonic cards, as in the following video:
Please note that there’s only one Embedded Picture Mnemonic for each sound, except for the sound /k/, since it is represented by the letters C, K, Q and is part of the sound combination represented by X (/ks/). This set is intended to teach beginners a spelling for each sound, since awareness of sounds tends to be the hardest part of learning to read and spell, and the reason many children fail. Once children can recognise all the letters, you should be able to add additional spellings without needing extra mnemonics for them.
I hope you like these cute illustrations, which were devised with talented, tolerant, patient, Melbourne illustrator Cat MacInnes (www.catmacinnes.com), and find them helpful in teaching young children phonemic awareness and basic phoneme-grapheme correspondences.
10 responses to “Embedded picture mnemonics: flashcard size”
Leave a Reply
The Spelfabet shop has affordable, downloadable spelling teaching resources.
Thank you so very much!
You’re welcome!
Why would you use long vowel sounds for picture cues? Orange for o? Flower for f? A blend? Wouldn’t a single sound be a better cue? Are these used for some other purpose?
I’m not sure I understand what you mean. I have mnemonics for both “short” and “long” vowel sounds, there are a total of 19 vowel mnemonics. I did try to find a picturable word that started with just /f/ not /fl/ or /fr/ but “fan” is hard to work into the shape of an ‘f’, and “fog” is too much like “cloud” which we used for /ou/, “fat” is not really politically correct, “fun” is hard to draw and everyone’s idea of it is different, etc etc. These mnemonics are just meant to be used to help kids learn a spelling for each sound, and to be aware of all the sounds of spoken Australian English. All the best, Alison
Wow! These are really neat! Would they work for American English too?
It depends on your accent I suppose, if you’re in Boston they might be perfect, but if you’re in Alabama then they probably need some tweaking. I’m not an expert in US English (though I did teach a course called American English at a Mexican university in 1997) but perhaps ask one?
Once I order the cards how long will it take to arrive? I am so excited to use them!
These are electronic downloads that you print yourself, so as soon as you’ve bought them they should be available to download. Alison
These are great! This may be a silly question, but how come there isn’t a picture for “ir” or more of the long vowel combinations (ai, ay) etc.? Thanks! Me
Hi Meghan, we have one mnemonic for each PHONEME, not for each grapheme, as these mnemonics are meant to be for beginners, to help them firstly learn a sound for each single letter and secondly learn that there are more sounds than letters, and be exposed to one spelling for each additional sound. The set has three extra items, for the redundant letters q, k and x, the main sounds for which are already in the set but I knew people would keep asking me why those letters were left out, so I included them. Once kids know a sound for each letter and how many sounds there are in total, they should not need mnemonics, they should be able to cope just with the letters. The sound /er/ is represented by ‘ur as in burn’, we had ‘ur as in surf’ in the last set but lots of people in the USA and UK were getting them and I decided that Aussie kids probably know more about surfing than the average American or British kid. Hope that all makes sense, all the best, Alison