I know, I know, it’s a bit on the unconventional side—teaching a letter sound with a little skit about a grandma who can’t hear and is always saying “Eh??”
But, it works.
Several of you have asked me, “What’s the grandma story?” “What does grandma hiss mean?” and other related questions. Excellent questions. Let me explain.
Today—September 20—I introduced the letter Ee and its short sound. It is undoubtedly one of the hardest sounds for kindergartners to get exactly right. It’s too close to /a/ and too close to /i/. The grandma story seems to help students realize that this sound is “special” and also helps them get it right.
See the video above to see how I take on the persona of an old grandma to teach the short e sound. My students are enthralled when they see me change character back and forth between their regular teacher and this old grandma who can barely walk, barely see, and barely hear. I can tell from their faces that they love imagining how I might really be like this some day, that I might be someone who used to teach kindergarten and used to spend her days with children, someone who is now too old to teach but still loves children
I sincerely hope that this video is not offensive to any elderly people. I know perfectly well that there are “old” people out there who are healthier than I am, more active than I am, and who probably see and hear better than I do. I also realize that there are grandmothers who are one or two decades younger than myself (who is not yet a grandma).
In addition to helping students learn the short e sound, calling letter e “the grandma letter” will come in handy in other ways. Already, during small group instruction, when we see the letter e in letter combinations to blend
em
re
ep
I’ll give cues such as
grandma lips
rainbow grandma
grandma popcorn
What are you talking about? you might ask.
This. This is what I’m talking about.
“Grandma lips” signals students to cup their ear and say /e/ and then put their lips together and say /m/. Try it. em
“Rainbow grandma” is a quick way to cue students to make the /r/ sound and a rainbow arc and then the /e/ sound. re
“Grandma popcorn” will help students more quickly say /e/ and then /p/. ep
Could you just use cues like edge or echo or elephant or whatever you use to teach the letter Ee? Of course! But I’m pretty sure if you act out the grandma story, the short e sound will more readily stick with students.
My students beg me for the grandma story throughout the entire school year and then wait on pins and needles, slightly hoping and slightly terrified that I might pause before them and ask, in my shaky voice, “What’s your name, little girl?”
Additionally…
The grandma story can help students remember the names of letters. Some of the toughest letter names to remember are f, l, m, n, and s. Why? Because all of these letter names start with the short e sound rather than the sound the letter makes. Students might know the letter’s sound but that doesn’t mean they can pull up the letter’s name.
So for those who are just not getting them, I start giving them really goofy clues.
grandma teeth
grandma lips
grandma nest
grandma hiss
I model how with these clues you always start with your hand up by your ear, like the grandma who can’t hear. And then you quickly move it into the next position. For grandma teeth, it’s a quick motion from ear to top teeth on the bottom lip and that makes ef. Grandma lips is em. Grandma nest is en. Grandma hiss is es.
This silliness is something that only a few of your students will need. Probably your Tier 3 students. I do it every year with one of two of my intervention students, those that for the life of them cannot remember the letter names.
Sorry, not sorry. I never promised to be a conventional teacher or to share conventional teaching methods, just a teacher who has learned so many tricks over the years. And grandma is one of them. Try it, if you dare.
P.S. I just added grandma as one of the many selections in my picture alphabet card collection for the letter Ee. What do you use?
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