Support your students struggling with phonics by using tap lights. Hope King came up with the idea in her second grade classroom when some of her students were having difficulty sounding out words and began to lose interest in trying.
To use the technique, she gives students a word and has them tap a light on for each sound in the word (i.e. br-ea-d for bread). Then has the students spell the word with magnetic tiles. After they spell the word, this teacher taps off the lights in front of the sounds they spelled correctly, letting students know which sound they misspelled and should try again.
We think your students will love using these tap lights as much as Hope’s students do. Try using them for other reading activities such as practicing syllables or think of a way to use them in different subject like math or science.
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