CA1126015A - System for teaching phonics - Google Patents

Abstract

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE

An educational device for assisting in teaching phonics is disclosed. The device comprises a board which is provided with a plurality of individually shaped cavities.
There is a corresponding plurality of individually shaped inserts mating with the cavities on a one-to-one basis.
Cavities are arranged in discrete groups, the members of each of which, are proximate to all other members of the group and the inserts corresponding to each such group include a pictorial insert and at least one phonically quoted insert. In another embodiment of the invention, the inserts may be secured to a board, having no cavities, by means of magnets, fastening tape or the like.

Description

B~CKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A. Field of the Invention This invention relates to an appara-tus for assisting in the teaching of phonics.

B. Description of the Prior Art , .

The term '7phonics" refers to the method of teaching reading whereby students are taught to associate certain sounds or pronunciations with the pictorial representation of the letters of the alphabet or combination of such letters.
Writing was one of the early inventions of man and permits speech to be recorded by means of a series of arbitrary visual symbols. Speech so recorded may be retained for so long as the symbolic representation of the speech is not destroyed.
Writing and reading can be thought of as a coding and decoding process wherein speech sounds are converted into a sequence of arbitrary symbols (i.e. coded) and then re-converted into speech (i.e. decoded). The symbols selected to represent speech sounds are arbitrary. ~ew alphabets could be created if one so desired; however, the well known alphabets are the Roman alphabet (the one in which the specification is written), and the ~lebrew, Greek, Arabic and Cyrillic alphabets.
Employing an oversimplified example with the English language and Roman alphabet, it can be stated that specific sp~ech sounds or pronunciations are associated with each letter of the alphabet. For example, the letters D O G when presented in the foregoing sequence are pronounced "dog", each letter having a distinct sound or pronunciation. If any of the ~ ` ~
s letters is omitted, the resul-tant word (e.g. OG) is not pronounced "dog".
One o~ the very first tasks that is presented to the young school child is the acquisition of reading and wri-ting skills. The child must learn the sounds associated with the letters of the alphabet. Of course, it is assumed that the school child has a rudimentary knowledge of, in this example, English. A child with no ability in the language which he or she is to be taught to read must first overcome the major hurdle of learning that language.
Considering how very arbitrary the system of reading and writing is, it is not surprising that some children encounter difficulty and require either assistance or a novel approach to reading and writing. The inventor has had some twenty-two years experience in teaching reading to children in both the United States and Canada. Her personal experience confirms that there is a surprising fraction of school children and adults who encounter difficulty in learning to read. It should also be noted that, hereafter, little reference will be made to writing. Instead, emphasis will be placed upon reading. Although, in practice, reading and writing are taught at the same time so that the learning of each skill reinforces the other, the invention hereafter described is primarily concerned with reading and is not directly related to writing.
The inventor's thirty year old son has no literary memory and many persons, schools and institutions had given up all attempts to teach him to read. The invention described herein occurred to the inventor and was developed by her in an effort to teach her son to read using the phonics system.
Since his visual memory was normal, she found that by extending the symbol to a known and easily remembered picture he was able to retain the image of the symbol recalling it by means of the ~2çj~5 well known picture when necessary until he had mastered the memory of the symbol. Following this, it was realized by the inventor that her invention could also be employed for teaching phonics to young children or to adults and the inventor has found the invention to be suitable for this purpose.
In addition, in her experience as a teacher, the inventor was not satisfied with the reading aids which were available to her in the schools, because she found the aids to be inadequate for the task faced. Typically, reading was and still is taught using only illustrated textbooks. In the inventor's opinion, while such textbooks are essential to the teaching of reading, some pupils find the illustrated textbooks difficult because the use of books is remote from their previous experiences. In particular, the textbooks present solely visual representations of objects and words. As there is nothing to touch, feel or pick up, textbooks stimulate only the visual senses of the child. Many persons find it easier to learn if they are presented with a physical object which provides a direct link between a concept (e.g., the sound of a letter) and a visual representation (e.g., a letter of the alphabet).
The inventor is also aware of a card game used for teaching. In a typical example, one card of the game features a picture of a pig and the word PIG. ~ach individual card is vertically segmented. In the case of the word PIG, there is one segment or portion of the picture of the pig for each letter. When the segments are arranged in the correct sequence, the word PIG may be read and above it will appear the picture of the pig. (That is, the head and shoulders portion of the pig appears immediately above P on the card. The body portion of the pig appears above the letter I. Finally the rear portion of the pig's body appears above the le-tter G). In the inventor's view, the drawback to this type of game resides in the fact that it is really a spelling aid and not a device for teaching reading by the phonics method.
I,astly, the inventor ls aware of games for very young children which are essentially simplified jig saw puzzles. Such puzzles have remov-able inserts l~hich fit into uniquely shaped cavities in a game board.
I-lowever, such puzzles do not include any of the letters of the alphabet.
SUMMARY OF T~E INVENTION
The invention is directed to a system for use in teaching phonics.
The primary application of the invention is to teaching the sounds of the letters of the alphabet to pupils.
According to one aspect of the invention, there is provided an article of manufacture for use in assisting in the teaching of phonics. The article comprises a first plurality of picture elements, each picture element having an upper visible surface ~ith a depiction of an object thereupon.
There is a second plurality of symbol elements. Each symbol element has an upper visible surface with at least one letter of an alphabet thereupon, each element of the second plurality of elements corresponding to unique one of the picture elements. I,astly, a base surface is provided having a first and second plurality of recesses therein. Each recess of the first plurality has adjacent thereto unique recess of the second plurality of recesses. Each of the picture elements fits snugly into and is removably insertable into at least one recess of the first plurality of recesses. The corresponding symbol elements fit snugly into and are removably insertable into the adjacent recesses of the second plurality of recesses. The upper surface of the picture elements and symbol elements are readily visible when inserted into the recesses.
According to another broad aspect of the invention, there is provided an article of manufacture for use in assisting in the teaching of phonics comprising:

,. . .

(a) a first plurality of picture elements, each picture element having an upper visible surface with a depiction of an object thereupon;
(h~ a second plurality of symbol elements, each symbol element having an upper ~isible sur~ace, each element of said second plurality of elements corresponding to a unique one of said picture elements;
(c~ each symbol element having two sub-elements, the first sub-element having on its upper visible surface the first letter of the word which is the name of the object depicted on the picture element corresponding to said symbol element, the second sub-element having on its upper visible surface the remaining letters of said word; and (d) a base surface to which said elements may be secured, each element of said first and second plurality of elements including means for securing said element to said base surface with each symbol element adjacent its respective picture element.
According to a third aspect of the invention, there is provided an educational system comprising:
i. means for selectively displaying a picture symbol in a fixed position;
ii. means for selectively displaying a word representative of the picture symbol in a fixed position adjacent the picture symbol;
iii. said word being divided into two discrete elements, a first element comprising the first sound of the word and a second elemen~ compris-ing the remaining sound or sounds of the word;
whereby a pupil may be exposed serially to the picture symbol; to the first element to associate the first sound with the picture symbol; and to the complete word.
~he invention described herein provides a start for the child or other pupil in learning basic phonics. Using the invention as a game, the pupil is eased i~ a fundamental knowledge of phonics and, hence reading.

s Detailed Descriptlon of the Drawings In drawings which illustrate embodiments of the invention, Figure 1 is a simplified schematic plan view of a board constructed in accordance with the invention;

6a-,,,~ ,, Figure 2 is a side view of the board of Figure 1 taken along line 2-2 of Figure l;
Figure 3 is a schematic plan view of a board made in accordance with this invention including the removably insertable elements;
Figure 4 is a side view o:E the device depicted in Figure 3 along line 4-~;
Figure 5 is a top view of a simplified version of a board, picture elements and symbol elements;
Figure 6 depicts a top view of one of the boards actually made by the inventor; and Figure 7 illustrates a plan view of two representa-tive elements for use with the invention.

Detailed Description with Reference to the Drawings As seen in Figure 1, a schematic plan view of a board constructed in accordance with the invention, board 1 has therein a plurality of cavities or recesses 2. Figure 2, which is a side view of board 1 along line 2-2 of Figure 1 illustrates cavities or recesses 2. As seen in Figure 2, cavities or recesses 2 extend only part of the way through board 1.
Figure 3 is a schematic plan view of a board constructed in accordance with the invention which illustrates removably insertable elements or inserts 3. Each element or insert 3 has a flat bottom and top surfaces. There is a removably insertable element or insert 3 of the same shape and depth as the corresponding recess 2 for each of the recesses 2 of board 1. Removably insertable elements or inserts 3 may be readily removed by hand from cavities or recesses 2 if elements 3 are made slightly smaller in length and width than recesses

2. It is also very helpful to provide elements 3 with a small s notch along one of the edges thereof to assist in removing elements 3 from recesses 2. Figure 4 is a side view of board 1 along line 4-4 of Figure 3 and illustrates elements or inserts

3 when inserted in recesses 2 of board 1.
It should be noted that the shape selected and arrangement of elements 3 and recesses 2 in board 1 is arbitrary. The shapes depicted in Figures 1 through to 4 are intended to be illustrative only. Note also that the terms "elements" or "inserts" are employed interchargeably herein as are the words "recess" or "cavity".
In summary, there is provided a board 1 having recesses 2 with matching removably insertable elements 3. The board 1 and elements 3 may be made from any suitable material.
In the version of the invention actually constructed and used by the inventor, the board 1 and elements 3 were constructed from wood.
~ laving described in detail the construction of board 1, further details are now presented with reference to Figure 5.
In Figure 5, which is a top view of a drawing of a very simplified version of the board, the removably insertable elements for the board 1 are of two types:
1. Illustrated or picture elements such as those numbered 4 and 8 which have a picture or other representation of an object applied to the uppermost surface thereof. Please note that for ease of reference the term "picture element" will be used to describe those elements that have a picture of an object on the upper surface thereof.
2. Inserts carrying ymbolic information such as those denoted by the numerals 5, 6 or 7 which have either a word on their uppermost surface or a portion of a word. In the case of element 5, an entire word appears (viz. DOG) on the surface of 2~5 the element. Element 30 consists of the sub-elements 6 and 7 and inserts such as those designated by numerals 6 or 7 will be referred -to as sub-elements. In sub-elements 6 and 7, the first letter F of the word FISH appears on sub-element 6 and the remainding le-tters ISII appear on sub-element 7. There is, of course, no requirement that the word be written upon only one or two sub-elements or inserts. Three, four or more sub-elements could be employed if desired. Elements bearing letters of the alphabet or other symbols will be referred to as "symbol elements", or as phonically coded inserts. The term "sub element" refers to an element piece such as sub-element 6 or 7 which features only a portion of a wordO The term "element" refers to an insert which consists of a single insertable piece or a plurality of sub-elements.
In Figure 5, a picture element 4 or 8 illustrated with an object is placed immediately adjacent to element 5 having a word written thereon. Illustrated picture element 4 corresponds in shape to a recess in board 1 and is removably insertable into the recess. The symbol elements adjacent to the picture element of the board have applied to the upper surface thereof the name of the object depicted by the illustration. In Figure 5, the word DOG appears on element 5 which is located next to picture element 4, element 4 having a drawing of a dog thereon. The word FISH appears on the upper surface of sub-elemen-ts 6 and 7, which comprise element 30.
Immediately adjacent to element 30 is element 4 having a picture of a fish. LETTER F is placed upon sub-element 6 whereas letters ISH appear on sub-element 7.
Figure 6 depicts one of the boards made by the inventor and is essentially similar to Figure 5 except that in Figure 6 there are many more pictures and words than appear on the board of Figure 5. For each recess of the board, there is 61~

a uniquely shaped insertable elemenk. Boards such as those of Figure 6 have been actually used by the inventor for teaching reading. Further, in Figure 6, all of the symbol elements consist of two sub-elements. The first sub-element bears the first letter of the name of an object, the remaining letters of the name being applied to the second sub-element. In Figure 6, nine letters oE the alphabet are depicted, namely, I, J, F, 0, S, N, E, Z and Q. For a complete set of all twenty-six letters of the alphabet, two additional boards having nine letters and eight letters together with the associated drawings are required.
Figure 7 illustrates a representative picture element 20 which features a drawing of an elf on one surface thereof.
Sub-element 21 has the letter E applied to its upper surface and sub-element 22 bears the letters LF on its upper surface.
Symbol element 23 consists of sub-elements 21 and 22.
A comment with respect to the selection of the pictures for the picture elements is necessary. For members of a given society, the depictions or pictures chosen are somewhat arbitrary, it being understood that the pictures are of objects which are familiar to the child or other pupil. Further the names of the objects should be monosyllabic. If the objects are not well known to the pupil, the learning of phonics will be impeded. (For example, under ordinary circumstances, one would not construct a version of the invention featuring depictions of relatively unfamiliar machine parts such as cams, gears, flanges, fins, rivets, beams, etc.). Nor would complex multisyllabic words such as "electrical relay", "transistor", "capaciter" to be suitable for teaching phonics.
In addition, the society in which the pupil lives restricts the nature of the depiction which may be used. As an ~2~ LS

example, if jet aircraft are not well known to a given society, then a depiction of a "jet" is unsuitable.
The present invention is not limited to the embodiment of Figures 1 through to 6. For example, instead of board 1, a sphere with pieces removably insertable from recesses in the surface thereof might be employed. The essential concept is that there are picture and corresponding symbol elements on a visible surEace. Other variations or modifications of the embodiment of the invention described above include the following:
1. The shape of the board need not be rectangular, it could be round, oblong or any other suitable shape. Likewise, the shape of the elements is not unique.
2. For blind students, the picture elements and symbol elements may have raised or indented surfaces. With reference to Figure 6, and as an example, the shape of the seal's body in the picture of the seal might be raised and the letters of the symbol elements likewise raised so as to be distinguishable by touch. Indeed, instead of the letters of the Roman alphabet, Braille symbols might be employed on the surface of the letter elements.
3. To provide tactile stimulation, the elements may be covered with cloth or sand paper or other materials similarly suitable.

4. As the essential concept behind the invention is the association between pictures and the sounds of letters of the alphabet, it will be appreciated that it is not mandatory that the board or base surface have recesses therein. As one example, the board might be metal and the elements secured thereto by magnetic means. As a second example, strips of ~ELCR0 (trade mark) fastener may be employed to attach the elements to the board.

13L2~5 ~. Although the embodiment described in detail concerns the English language, it is self evident that the invention is restricted neither to the English language nor to the Roman alphabet. A French language version could be readily devised as could versions for non-Roman alphabets.
6. A "book" form of the invention may be constructed using cardboard boards and elements. Several boards can be bound together to form a book. Books having cardboard pages are well known to manufacturers of children books.
The foregoing completes the description of the construction or manufacturing details of the board, which is an embodiment of the invention. The use of the board as a teaching aid for reading is now discussed.
As considered previously, the purpose of the invention is to serve as a teaching aid for assisting in teaching reading by phonics. One of the important skills that must be acquired by the child (or adult who is learning to read) is -the association of the sounds or pronunciation of letters of the alphabet with the alphabetic symbols.
It is recommended that boards, such as the one depicted in Figure ~, be used as hereafter discussed for teaching a child.
First, each picture element and each initial letter sub-element are removed from the board and the appropriate letter sub-element is placed next to the corresponding picture element. For example, if the picture element illustrates a bear, the sub-element having the capital letter B thereon is placed next to the picture element. The name of the object illustrated by the picture elemen-t is then pronounced stressing the initial sound. In the case of the word l'bear", the sound of the letter B is emphasized (i.e. "buh" and not "bee"). The picture element is then placed in the recess in the board and ~ 12 -~6;:3~5 in doing so the teacher or instructor repeats the initial sound and name, as "b bear" or "buh bear". The letter sub-element having the letter B -thereon is then picked up and the B sound is once again repeated (viz. "buh"). It is important at this stage to use the sound of the letter ~ tviZ. buh) and not the name of the letter (viz. bee). Also the student should not be confused and led to believe that the letter B is the word for BEAR. Af-ter sufficien-t repe-tition the student will learn to associate the letter B with the sound "buh", pronounced as it is, for example, in the word BEAR. Thus, when the letter B is seen in another word the pupil knows that this symbol ~B) is pronounced as "buh".
The above process is repeated with each initial letter sub-element at each pi.cture element until the recesses in the board are filled. The entire process is repeated many times until the pupil learns to associate each initial sound with a picture and, then, learns the connection between the pictures and the counterpart initial letters. In time, the child will learn the pronunciation of the various letters of the alphabet.
It cannot be overstressed that for children the use of the board must be a game. Use of the board must be a pleasure and a treat. The learning of phonics is incidental -simply a by-product of playing the game. If the board is used in a serious fashion or the child treated harshly, the desired results will not likely be obtained. Further, as soon as the child shows some disinterest, the board should be put away to be looked at at a later date.
After the child has learned the sound of all of the first letters of words which appear on the board, he or she can be introduced to the remaining letters of the words. However~
the primary use of the invention is to teach studen-ts the sound of the firs-t letters of the words appearing on the device. For example, suppose that the pupils have learned to recognize the letter E and its sound, having become accustomed to the board of Figure 6 and the word ELF. The students might then be asked to find the other words which include the letter (viz. JET, SE~L, ZEBR~, etc).
Three boards are employed in order that all 26 letters of the alphabet may be presented to the child (e.g. two boards of nine letters and one having eight letters). After one board is co~pleted, and thoroughly understood by the child, the next board having further letters of the alphabet as the first letter pieces can be taken up for play. Additional boards having the digraphs (e.g. OA, EE, CK and so on) or families of words with common endings may also be constructed.
(A typical family oE words is DISH, FISEI, WISH or GET, JET, BET, SET).
As discussed above in detail, it is self-evident that there is nothing particularly unique in the selection of words or pictures which appear upon the boards. The only guideline which should be adhered to is that familiar objects whose names are mono-syllabic words, of a simple nature and which are easily recognized should be utilized.
In the inventor's experience, the use of her invention has a positive effect on speech skills, particularly for children. Repetition of the names of the objects represented assists young children in learning to speak. Also, handling of the elements provides the pupil with a sense of dimension.
Further modifications and variations of the device described herein will occur to those skilled in the art and the scope of this invention is intended to be limited only by the claims appended hereto. As another example, the recesses and elements need not be uniquely shaped. They could all have the same shape and the recesses of the board also colour coded so that correspondin~ elements and recesses may be readily located. Other modifications or variations were described above.

Claims (13)

THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE PROPERTY
OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:

1. An article of manufacture for use in assisting in the teaching of phonics comprising:
(a) a first plurality of picture elements, each picture element having an upper visible surface with a depiction of an object thereupon;
(b) a second plurality of symbol elements, each symbol element having an upper visible surface having at least one letter of an alphabet thereupon, each element of said second plurality of elements corresponding to a unique one of said picture elements; and (c) a base surface having a first and second plurality of recesses therein, each recess of said first plurality having adjacent thereto a unique recess of said second plurality of recesses, each of said picture elements fitting snugly into and being removably insertable into at least one recess of said first plurality of recesses, said corresponding symbol elements fitting snugly into and being removably insertable into said adjacent recesses of said second plurality of recesses, the upper surface of said picture elements and symbol elements being readily visible when inserted into said recesses.

2. An article as recited in claim 1 wherein each symbol element has depicted on the upper surface thereof the letters of the word which is the name of the object depicted on the upper surface of said corresponding picture element.

3. An article as recited in claim 2 wherein each symbol element consists of two or more sub-elements, each sub-element - Page 1 of Claims -having at least one letter of the alphabet thereupon, said sub-elements when arranged in the same sequence as the letters of said word fitting snugly into the recess of said second plurality of recesses adjacent to the corresponding recess for said picture element.

4. An article as recited in claim 3 wherein there are two sub-elements, the first sub-element having on the upper surface thereof the first letter of the word which is the name of the object, and the second sub-element having the remaining letters of the word which is the name of the object thereupon.

5. An article as recited in claims 1, 2 or 3 wherein each recess of said two pluralities of recesses is uniquely shaped and for each recess there is a corresponding uniquely shaped element.

6. An article as recited in claim 4 wherein each recess is uniquely shaped and for each recess there is a corresponding uniquely shaped element.

7. An article as recited in claim 6 wherein said elements and sub-elements are planar and of uniform thickness and said recesses are of the same depth as the thickness of said elements, each recess having the same cross sectional shape as said corresponding uniquely shaped element, said smooth surface being substantially flat.

8. An article of manufacture for use in assisting in the teaching of phonics comprising:
(a) a first plurality of picture elements, each picture element having an upper visible surface with a depiction of an object thereupon;
(b) a second plurality of symbol elements, each symbol element having an upper visible surface, each element of said second plurality of elements corresponding to a unique one of said picture elements;
(c) each symbol element having two sub-elements, the first sub-element having on its upper visible surface the first letter of the word which is the name of the object depicted on the picture element corresponding to said symbol element, the second sub-element having on its upper visible surface the remaining letters of said word; and (d) a base surface to which said elements may be secured, each element of said first and second plurality of elements including means for securing said element to said base surface with each symbol element adjacent its respective picture element.

9. An educational system comprising:
i. means for selectively displaying a picture symbol in a fixed position;
ii. means for selectively displaying a word representative of the picture symbol in a fixed position adjacent the picture symbol;
iii. said word being divided into two discrete elements, a first element comprising the first sound of the word and a second element compris-ing the remaining sound or sounds of the word;
whereby a pupil may be exposed serially to the picture symbol; to the first element to associate the first sound with the picture symbol; and to the complete word.

10. The system of claim 9 wherein the first element displays a letter and the second element displays the remaining letter or letters of said word.

11. The system of claim 9 wherein the first element displays a group of letters forming a sound, and the second element displays the remaining letter or letters of the word.

12. The system of claim 9 wherein the means for displaying the picture symbol and the word representative of the picture symbol comprise a board having first and second recesses therein, the picture symbol closely fitting the first recess and the word elements closely fitting the second recess.

13. The system of claim 12 wherein there are a plurality of picture symbols and words on a single board, each word being representative of a respective adjacent picture symbol and being divided into two elements, and mating recesses for all said picture symbols and word elements.