Reading Success Mini Books Initial Consonants Scholastic

INITIAL CONSONANTSTwenty Interactive Mini-Books That Help Every

Child Get a Great Start in Reading

by Mary Beth Spann

New York • Toronto • London • Auckland • Sydney • Mexico City • New Delhi • Hong Kong

S C H O L A S T I C

BPROFESSIONAL OOKS

Reading Success Mini-Books

Reading Success Mini-Books: Initial Consonants © Mary Beth Spann, Scholastic Teaching Resources

Scholastic Inc. grants teachers permission to photocopy the mini-books from this book forclassroom use. No other part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part, orstored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechan-ical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission of the publisher. Forinformation, write to Scholastic Inc., 555 Broadway, New York, NY 10012.

Cover design by Jaime Lucero and Norma Ortiz

Interior design by Ellen Matlach Hassell for Boultinghouse & Boultinghouse, Inc.

Illustrations by Rusty Fletcher

ISBN: 0-439-08678-7

Copyright © 1999 by Mary Beth Spann. All rights reserved.


Contents Introduction

Assembling the Mini-Books . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

How to Use This Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Introducing the Mini-Books in Class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Mini-Book Extensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Generating Family Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

The Mini-BooksMy Book of Words Beginning with Bb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

My Book of Words Beginning with Cc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

My Book of Words Beginning with Dd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

My Book of Words Beginning with Ff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

My Book of Words Beginning with Gg . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

My Book of Words Beginning with Hh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

My Book of Words Beginning with Jj . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

My Book of Words Beginning with Kk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

My Book of Words Beginning with Ll . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

My Book of Words Beginning with Mm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

My Book of Words Beginning with Nn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

My Book of Words Beginning with Pp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

My Book of Words Beginning with Qq . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

My Book of Words Beginning with Rr . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

My Book of Words Beginning with Ss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

My Book of Words Beginning with Tt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

My Book of Words Beginning with Vv . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

My Book of Words Beginning with Ww . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

My Book of Words Beginning with Yy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

My Book of Words Beginning with Zz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47



IntroductionWelcome to Reading Success Mini-Books: Initial Consonants. This book pro-vides a fun and easy way for young children to experience beginning conso-nant letters and sounds. When used as a regular part of a balanced approachto literacy—one that includes reading, writing, speaking, and listening—these mini-books will provide children with an easy-to-understand, concretefoundation for single consonant sound/symbol mastery.

Research tells us that children learn letter sounds best when they’re pre-sented in a meaningful context. Each initial consonant mini-book introduceschildren to a group of simple, illustrated words that feature the same initialconsonant letter and letter sound. Each mini-book offers children the chanceto practice writing and reading these words, and provides a simple reviewactivity so children can test themselves on what they’ve learned.

The books’ small size means they are a breeze for young students to com-plete, store, collect, and keep. They help give children a sense of mastery andownership over the letters they are learning. In a way, these mini-books serveas children’s own print-awareness progress reports. As chil-dren successfully work through the books, it’s easy for themto see how each one represents an important step on theroad to reading.

Assembling the Mini-Books 1. Make a double-sided

copy of the mini-book pages.

2. Cut the page in halfalong the solid line.

3. Place pages 4/5 ontop of page 2/7 asshown.

4. Fold the pages in halfalong the dotted line.

5. Check to be sure that the pages are in the proper order and then staple them together along the book’s spine.

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My Book of WordsBeginning with Bb


How to Use This BookThis book contains 20 six-page mini-books—one book for each initial conso-nant letter sound in the English alphabet (with the exception of X). How youintroduce and share these books with children will largely depend on how youintroduce the beginning consonant sounds in general. But no matter how youchoose to use them, you’ll find these mini-books to be small, but powerfulpage-turners. Here are some ideas for putting them to work in your classroom:

Pre-assemble Mini-Books as NeededInstead of asking children to assemble these books in class, you may want toassemble a complete class set ahead of time. This prep-step allows studentsto focus their attention on the mini-books’ content, rather than on construc-tion. Remember: Parents who are unable to volunteer in the classroom maywelcome this task as something they can work on at home.

Let the Books Serve YouHere are some quick tips for making the mini-books as successful part ofyour reading routine:

• If you introduce alphabet letters in a particular sequence to the wholeclass, you might introduce the mini-books in that same sequence.Each student, or small groups of students, may then work on the sameletter mini-book simultaneously.

• For an individualized approach, in which each child comes to knowalphabet letters at his or her own rate, you may make the books avail-able to children on an “as-needed” basis. Perhaps you can display analphabet border at children’s eye level, with a supply of mini-booksstored in envelopes pinned beneath each consonant letter, or set up aconsonant learning center, stocked with the mini-books. When individ-ualizing, keep a mini-book checklist showing which ones each childhas completed. Be certain to schedule student/teacher conferences soyou can assess and celebrate children’s progress.

• As children learn how to read and spell the words in the mini-books,consider transferring the words to word wall lists. Invite children towrite and illustrate additional words for each list. Encourage childrento refer to their mini-books and/or word walls when writing stories andbooks of their own.

6Reading Success Mini-Books: Initial Consonants © Mary Beth Spann, Scholastic Teaching Resources

Introducing the Mini-Books in Class1. Show children how a book is constructed and what they are expected to

do on each page.

2. Work through one mini-book together.

a. Read the cover together. Demonstrate how to use the “Name” line.Call attention to the configuration of the upper- and lower-case lettersprinted there.

b. Call attention to the picture and word on each page. Focus children’sattention on the print feature of each word by inviting them to sharetheir decoding strategies.

c. Demonstrate how to copy the word on the line provided. Suggest tochildren that if they think they already know how to spell the word,they can try and cover the word below the picture and write the wordwithout peeking.

d. Show how the back-cover activity serves as a self-checking reviewpage. (Tip: The back cover can also serve as a screening page. If yoususpect a child already knows how to read, spell, and write all thewords in a mini-book, you can ask him or her to complete this pagebefore completing the whole book. That way you’ll know if the childneeds to move on to a mini-book that is at a more appropriateinstructional level.)

Mini-Book Extensions • Meet periodically with each student to review mini-books together. To

organize their mini-book collections, give each child a large metalloose-leaf ring. Punch a hole in the upper left-hand corner of eachcompleted mini-book and slip each one onto the ring. Store collections 7

Recommended ReadIn his comprehensive resource book, Phonics From A to Z: A PracticalGuide (Scholastic Professional Books, 1998), reading expert WileyBlevins recommends a phonics sequence for introducing letters andsounds. Because this must-have book offers explanations and rationalesfor all aspects of phonics instruction, it is very helpful in guiding the useof phonics mini-books.


in a multi-pocketed shoe bag (hanging on a wall or from a doorknob),or hung on wall hooks.

• A tree trunk and branches decorated with a few paper leaves makes anice bulletin-board backdrop for displaying new books (before addingthem to the rings). Just tack individual books to the branches so theyresemble leaves. Title your display “Leaf Through a Mini-Book!”

• Set aside class time for children to take turns sharing one book of theirchoice.

• Designate one day a week as “Mini-Book Take-Home Day” so childrencan share their growing library with family members.

• Provide blank mini-books so children can write and illustrate theirown ideas. Children may want to compile initial-consonant mini-bookswith a theme (for example, Foods Beginning with Letter G). For inspi-ration, guide children to student dictionaries and nonfiction glossaries.

• Look for other opportunities to build awareness of initial consonants asthey appear in literature and in the everyday world:

• Go on letter walks, looking for signs featuring words beginning witha particular consonant.

• Highlight initial consonants you find in newspaper and magazineads, poetry, pocket chart selections, and stories.

• Share books featuring titles and characters whose names begin witha particular target consonant.

Generating Family Support1. When familiarizing families with instructional materials and strategies

you plan on using to teach reading and writing, introduce phonics mini-books as part of your overall approach.

2. Emphasize that a well-balanced program includes phonics plus manyother strategies for reading, speaking, listening, and writing with chil-dren. Share specific examples of how you include these components inyour program.

3. Invite families to extend learning at home by reading aloud togetherevery day, by calling attention to the print that fills their days, and byreviewing school work—including mini-books—with their children.

8Reading Success Mini-Books: Initial Consonants © Mary Beth Spann, Scholastic Teaching Resources

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fork

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guitar

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home

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juice

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kite

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lemon

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mouse

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nose

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window

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yolk

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zone

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Reading Success Mini Books Initial Consonants Scholastic