Enunciation
from The Diary of a First Grade Teacher
Enunciation is the act of speaking clearly. Kindergarten and first grade teachers stress enunciation because – among other reasons - we are teaching children to read.
When a student sees a word, it’s important that they pronounce it correctly, as well as distinctly. We are helping them form good habits that will serve them for a lifetime.
My Students Help Each Other
Weesie said, “Teacher, we went shopping last night... at the shopping mall. And guess what I learned!
I learned how to ride the es-ca-tater!”
“The WHAT?” Loegan interjected.
“The ESca-TATer! I rode it up to the TWOed floor!”
“Oh,” he laughed, knowingly, and then corrected her. “Say it like this... ES-ca-VAtor. You rode on the ES-ca-VATE-OR.
PE Coach
When the P.E. coach arrived at our classroom door – ready to take them outside for the first time - I told my first graders, “Remember to keep your name tags on for Coach. He has many new students, so it’s hard for him to know everyone’s name right now.”
Stevie sprang from his seat and ran over to him. With his finger, he motioned for Coach to bend over.
He was right in the coach’s face when he shouted, “STEVE-EEE.”
Coach stepped back, looking bewildered.
“How’s that?” Stevie asked. “BET CHA WON’T FORGET ME NOW!”
What does PE mean?
Later, as Coach led the front of the line out of the classroom, Weesie - standing near the end of the line - asked me, “Now, what does P.E. mean? Help me ‘member.”
Stevie - lover of enunciating - spun around, eager to assist her. “I know!" He stuck his face right in front of hers and articulated, "GYM-NAS-TICS!”
Everybody Knows That!!!
Yes, first graders are young, naïve and innocent, but there’s so much they already know ...
Ben was telling me that when his mom gets a headache, she takes a BC powder.
Clarissa said, “What does B.C. mean?”
Loegan said, “Betty Crocker, of course!”
Then, Joe Joe – surprised and angry at her (for who knows why) - jumped aboard, too, yelling, “EVERYBODY KNOWS THAT … That’s a OLD one!”
A Challenge for You and Your Children
Just for fun - here’s another challenge for you ...
If you can raed this, tnahk a taceehr!
"Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are. The olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteers be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses, and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe."
Okay, here’s the translation:
If you can read this, thank a teacher!
“According to research at Cambridge University, it doesn't matter in what order the letters in a word are. The only important thing is that the first and last letters be at the right place. The rest can be a total mess, and you can still read it without a problem. This is because the human mind does not read every letter by itself, but the word as a whole.”
Amazing, huh? And we always thought spelling was important!
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