The sounds must be given distinctly and correctly by the teacher, and she should insist on perfect responses. Good reading is impossible without clear and distinct articulation.
1. Analyze Known Words in Teaching the Consonant Sounds.
For the first lesson teach perhaps two consonant sounds. Suppose the words "ball" and "red" are chosen to be analyzed as words familiar to the class. (Selected from the reading lessons as the ones best known and most easily remembered.)
Write "b all" on the board, and pointing to the separated parts, sound slowly several times. Pupils repeat. Teacher say, "Show the letter that says 'b.' The part that says 'all.' Write "b" under "ball" thus:
| b all |
| b |
Pupil sound "b" several times, as it is written elsewhere on the black board.
Proceed with "red" in the same way. Keep these two forms,
| b all | r ed | ||
| b | r |
before the class, asking frequently for the sounds until thoroly fixed in mind.
For the second lesson, review "b" and "r" and teach one or two new consonants. It is better to have short and frequent lessons at first, than to present too many sounds at once, resulting in confusion.