Simplified phonics in the sequential steps to reading

An educational device for aiding in the teaching of the mechanics of reading which employs color coded cards using three colors to facilitate teaching and learning the alphabet, the sounds the alphabet letters represent, subsequent word attack skills and necessary sight words.

This invention relates to a color coded system and an apparatus displaying 
said system for imparting the sequential instruction and information for 
learning how to read the English language through phonics. 
The English language is one of the most difficult to learn to read because 
of the varied sounds of the letters with little, if any, correlation of 
the letters to the sounds produced. This lack of uniformity of sounds 
often leads to one learning to read by rote and/or complex rules rather 
than by a simplified systematic method. 
The prior art affords a wide array of attempts to present a systematic 
presentation of simple words. For example, Webster's Seventh New 
Collegiate Dictionary, G. C. Marriam Co., 1961, pages 15a through 21a, 
presents a system virtually unusable for those just beginning to learn to 
read the English language. 
Other systems known in the art include U.S. Pat. No. 1,280,930, which 
discloses a device for forming words; U.S. Pat. No. 3,290,800, which is an 
alphabet game; U.S. Pat. No. 3,823,492, which discloses a means for 
teaching sight words; U.S. Pat. No. 3,715,812, which discloses an attempt 
to clarify the pronunciation of a word by color coding each individual 
letter of the alphabet, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,774,319, which is an apparatus 
for teaching handicapped people especially the blind. 
Reading, writing and spelling are not three separate and distinct subjects 
to be taught in isolation. Rather, they are essential and inseparable 
components of literacy and the foundations for literacy should be laid in 
the pre-school, first and second year of school. 
If English were a hieroglyphic language, it would make sense to use only a 
whole-word memorization (look-say) method, but English is a predominantly 
phonetic language and the obvious way to teach it is with phonics. 
Phonics, when taught properly, is a method by which children learn to read 
and spell correctly in the same lessons. They learn to hear the different 
sounds in the spoken words and learn to write the corresponding letters in 
proper left-to-right order. In other words, they learn to spell correctly. 
Reading and writing should go hand in hand because when taught together, 
each reinforces the other in the child's mind. 
Children learning by the look-say method have, at best, only a hazy motion 
of why words are pronounced as they are. They have, therefore, only a hazy 
notion of how words should be spelled. 
The present invention provides a novel and easily understood system for 
teaching phonics comprising a color coded system employing only three 
different colors, preferably the three primary colors, i.e. bright red, 
bright blue, and bright yellow (those colors which are most readily 
distinguished by colorblind students). It contains, on individual cards, a 
display of letters of the English alphabet, a picture or pictures and word 
examples of said pictures using the initial sound as the phonic sound 
being studied. Each letter being marked with said color or colors wherein 
said color indicates the phonetic characteristics of said letter. The 
color coding divides the alphabet into four main divisions for ease of 
teaching basic phonics. The letter-sets of pictures, words, and further 
sequential letter attributes can be arranged in many fashions; for 
example, on a triptych type device or a parallelogram shaped device, or 
any other shape.

The triptych type device, with stand or as a folding display rack, is 
comprised of three panels 1, 2, and 3, which can be made of various 
materials including wood, plastic or metal with hinge 4, 5 fastening one 
panel to another and having adjustable legs 6, 7, 8, 9, of wood, plastic, 
or metal. The panels serve as support for cards 10. The cards have an 
operative or pair of operatives adjacent their upper edges which are in 
registry with one another and are adapted to receiver rings 11 which are 
mounted on said panels, perpendicular to said panels to permit cards to be 
flipped front to back. 
The device can be employed without the legs and could be mounted, for 
example, on a wall or other suitable surface. The devices can be of any 
size and the size will depend mainly on where the device is to be 
employed. For example, desk size devices can range in size from about 20 
inches to about 52 inches or more in length wherein the card size is from 
about 1.times.2 inches to about 2.times.4 inches with the panels being 
proportionate in height and width. 
A stand is preferred for classroom use in group instruction and is from 
about 17 inches to about 45 inches high to permit the instructor to sit or 
stand behind or beside the device and face those being instructed. The 
panel can be of any height but for normal classroom use, a height in the 
range of from about 5 inches to about 10 inches or more is satisfactory. 
Likewise, the length of the panels can vary widely; however, I have found 
that for storage, transportation and especially presentation, the length 
of the panels should preferably be in the range of from about 20 inches to 
about 35 inches. 
FIG. 4 shows a most convenient size device as one on a collapsible frame 12 
having a total height of about 18 inches and a total width of about 20 
inches; metal rods 13 having replaced the panels 10 and the rows having 
been tiered for compactness. 
FIG. 5 shows a side view. 
In FIGS. 4 and 5, the corresponding parts to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 have been 
given the subscript "a." 
Each row in FIG. 4 contains nine sets of flip-cards for a total of 27 sets 
of cards. There is one set of instructions and 26 sets of color coded 
flip-cards corresponding to the 26 letters of the English alphabet. Each 
letter-set starts with a card containing a letter of the alphabet and 
proceeds systematically through that letter's sound or sounds to words and 
the sequential word attack attributes of that particular letter. 
The dimensions of the cards employed on a classroom device can be of any 
convenient size, but will normally be from about 2 inches to about 5 
inches in height and of sufficient width to permit the 27 sets of cards to 
fit side by side on the three panels or the tiered rods. The size cards 
which I have found the most convenient are about 2 inches wide and 
graduated in height in the sets from about 2 inches to about 4 inches. 
Each card contains a color code which color can frame B or and or otherwise 
mark the entire card or portion thereof, but bands at the top and/or 
bottom of the card are preferred. The color is preferably a primary color 
either red, yellow or blue as described above. The cards can be printed 
and can also, for kinesthetic learning, have raised, flocked or sanded 
surfaces. 
The present invention now permits the presentation of phonics and word 
attack skills in a simplified, visual, logical, unified and sequential 
manner so that those desiring to learn to read the English language are 
not bewildered by the numerous sounds and abstract concepts, but can 
easily grasp through the color coded alphabet the pronunciation of words 
by the phonetic method. 
The sequence of cards in each of the 26 letter-sets contains the capital 
and lower-case letters, a way to write the letters, the letter symbols as 
a pair, a picture and word example for the letter and the subsequent word 
attack attributes that build on each letter. 
This invention relates to a color coded device employing three different 
colors for teaching phonics which comprises a display of the letters of 
the English alphabet wherein the cards are grouped as follows: 
I. The cards containing the consonant letters B, D, F, J, L, M, N, Q, R, V, 
X and Z, with a picture and word example using the initial sound of each, 
are color coded with one color, preferably a primary color and more 
preferably blue, to denote that for the beginning reader each of these 
letters has a consistent sound. 
II. The cards containing the consonant letters C, G, H, K, P, S, T and W 
with a picture and word example using the initial sound of each are color 
coded with a second color, preferably another primary color and more 
preferably yellow to denote that said letters usually have more than one 
pronunciation including H and K which are sometimes silent. H is a 
troublesome letter. It represents the sound "huh", as in house, except 
when it follows the letters C, G, P, S, T or W and then it changes the 
basic sounds these letters make. The letters C and G have both hard and 
soft sounds. K has a consistent sound, but is silent when it is followed 
by N. W is silent when followed by R. 
III. The cards containing the vowel letters, A, E, I, O and U with a 
picture and word example using the sounds represented by the vowels, are 
color coded with a third color, preferably another primary color, and more 
preferably red. A, E and I each have four sounds, O has five sounds and U 
has three sounds. 
IV. Lastly, a card containing the letter Y, with a picture and word example 
using each sound represented by Y, is color coded with two colors, 
preferably two primary colors and more preferably yellow and red to denote 
that Y is a consonant that can also act as a vowel and has three sounds. 
It, therefore, must contain the colors designated to Group II and Group 
III. 
It is to be understood that for Groups I, II and III, the color identifying 
each must be different from the other. 
Use of this device affords not only a means for display, but also affords 
easy access for both teacher and student and can be manipulated easily by 
the pupil. Both the triptych design and the tiered rack offer a device 
which is easily stored and easily handled. 
As with all good teaching systems, certain psychological aspects about this 
device enhance its value. Though the device can be any size, the preferred 
size mentioned above is primarily for use in teaching pre-school, first 
and second grade youngsters to read. This size device permits the smaller 
child to actually use the device by flipping the cards thereby making 
learning to read not only easier, but also more enjoyable. The teacher is 
constantly maintaining eye contact with the student which increases the 
concentration of the pupil. The flip cards provide not only the teacher, 
but more importantly the pupil with a gauge as to what he has learned, 
what he must learn next and how much farther in the learning-to-read 
sequence he still must go, thereby helping to maintain interest, show 
progress, yet not overwhelm the student. 
Those skilled in the art will recognize that many varying and different 
embodiments may be made within the scope of this invention and it is, 
therefore, understood that the details given herein are illustrative only 
and not limiting.