Can you spot Dinaroo and her friends and see what they have found in the dump? Can they recycle it? Or make something new? Written by two leading psychologists, the engaging, colourful, fully illustrated alphabet story in the first part of this book is accompanied by an extensive workbook section. Here you find exercises, in the form of games, to develop the important component skills needed for reading and learning about printed letters. Together you and the child will be able to practice the phoneme (speech sound) awareness and other fundamental language skills that are so important, and often difficult to acquire, for young children who may have dyslexia or speech and language problems. My Special Alphabet Book will provide the vital early support these young children need in literacy. It also includes a user-friendly guide for parents and teachers, as well as extension activities to build awareness of environmental issues.
Dr Valerie Muter is a clinical and research psychologist with a special interest in children's early cognitive development, particularly in relation to language and literacy, and is an Honorary Research Associate at University College London. She has published two books for professionals and three books for parents in the fields of literacy disorders and school readiness. Dr Helen Likierman is a clinical child psychologist, former primary school teacher, author (she and Valerie wrote two books to help parents with their pre-school child's development to get them ready for school and a parents' guide for school-age children who might have specific learning difficulties) and parent of two. She has long been concerned with problems of waste and pollution. Jane Dorner is an author and illustrator.
About this Workbook Who we are Why we have written this Workbook What's inside this Workbook Things to remember when reading this Workbook The Alphabet Recycle Story How to use this book What is Dyslexia? What are Developmental Language Difficulties? What skills do children need to start to learn to read? How to read the Alphabet Recycle story to a child Introducing the Activities Part 1: Phonological awareness/sounds activities Activities Activity 1: Words and sounds Activity 2: Syllable Segmentation Activity 3: Phoneme Segmentation Activity 4: Rhyme Production Activity 5: Alliteration Activity 6: Identifying End Sounds in Words Activity 7: Sound Blending; Part 2: Linking Letters to Sounds (The Linkage Games) Activities Materials for Activities 8-11 Activity 8: Easy Level Activity 9: Middle Level 1 Activity 10: Middle Level 2 Activity 11: Hardest Level Activity 12: Finger Tracing Activity 13: Linking letters and sounds - two letters together Part 3: Learning to Listen Activity 14: Following instructions Part 4: Language Activities Activity 15: Expanding vocabulary Feeling words Doing Words (verbs): Describing Words (adjectives) Activity 16: Learning Some Difficult Words and Concepts Activity 17: Asking 'Wh' Questions (who, where, why and when) Activity 18: Asking How questions Activity 19: Developing Narrative Activity 20: Making simple predictions Activity 21: What am I? Part 5: Harder Sound Activities Activity 22: Taking Away Beginning Sounds from Words Activity 23: Taking Away End Sounds from Words Part 6: Harder Sound and Letter Linkage Activities Activity 24: Linking letters and sounds - three letters together Part 7 Harder Listening Activities Activity 25: Spot the mistake Activity 26: Spotting target words in a story Story 1 Story 2 Part 8: Extension Language Activities Activity 27: Expansion and Recasting Activity 28: Reflection and Reinforcement Activity 29: Understanding Rules of Grammar Activity 30: Describing Daily Routines Part 9: Drawing Shapes and Writing Letters Activity 31: Copying Shapes Activity 32: Learning to Write Letters Part 10: Green Awareness/Eco Activities Activity 33: What are things made of? Activity 34: Using waste things Activity 35: Sorting the rubbish Cut-out 1 Cut-out 2 Cut-out 3 Cut-out 4
I would strongly recommend any educator, specialist teacher or parent to use this book which introduces the alphabet and the letter-sound correspondences so vital to successful reading development. It also presents the concepts and materials in a fun and topical manner which will hold the attention of the child. -- Dr Kevin Smith, Professional Development Co-ordinator of the Professional Association of Teachers of Students with Specific Learning Difficulties (PATOSS) This is a lovely book! It is also special in embracing the important principle that language is the foundation of literacy. Complete with beautiful illustrations, and an important environmental message, the book acknowledges the need to build phonological awareness and oral language skills in concert. Parents and children can together enjoy activities including the key components of reading for meaning: phonological awareness, active listening, vocabulary enrichment, questioning, inferencing and story-telling. Based on the insights of two psychologists with extensive clinical experience, the book is aimed at children with dyslexia, acknowledging that many such children have language difficulties. However, the book can be recommended to all parents and grandparents who care about literacy. -- Professor Maggie Snowling CBE, President of St. John's College, University of Oxford
