Teaching Vowels, part 5

Five: Painting Vowel Images

The next step was to connect the sound and emotion with the written image. I was intrigued with a description Rudolf Steiner gave of painting emotions using colour, out of which the related forms could be made.

“...we do not begin by introducing the alphabet directly, nor reading as a subject, but... we start with painting. Consequently, when young students enter our school, we introduce them first to the world of flowing colors with watercolor painting.... The children learn how to work with paints, and through the use of color the teacher can guide them toward definite forms. With the necessary skill, the teacher can allow the shapes of the letters to evolve from such painted forms. In this way, the children gain a direct relationship to the various shapes of the letters. It is possible to develop the written vowels A or U so that first one paints the mood..., finally allowing the picture to assume the form of the appropriate letters. All teaching must have an artistic quality based on the pictorial element. The first step is to involve the whole being of the child in the effort of painting, which is subsequently transformed into writing.” (Steiner, 1996, P. 198-200)

Wanting to experiment with this concept, I began to research Goethe’s colour wheel, and match emotions to colours. The list below is of the colours I used for this project:

A - satisfaction, relief – yellow, gold-yellow

E - searching, reaching out – green, yellow-green

I – repulsion - violet

O – shock – red, vermillion

U - disgust, disappointment – blue, indigo

I chose the Grimm’s Fairy Tale, Sweet Porridge[1], as a context for the paintings, and the next main lesson block. Within the story, I identified the five emotions and an illustrative image for each of the five vowel sounds. As a variation, we painted the letter forms out of these story images with the designated colours for each emotion. This time the vowels were presented in a different order.  These vowel form paintings are illustrated below with a picture of the class paintings and a brief description. 

---

[1] See Appendix B for story with vowel verses.

Teaching Vowels, part 4

Four: Gestures, An Illustration of Written Forms

In the second part of the sibling scenario that was not included above, Steiner made a connection between the vowel shape and the expressed emotion of the vowel sound.

“When we draw the shape of the sound ee, it seems to point toward what has been understood….” (Steiner, 2000, P. 69)

In the above mentioned song, we used gestures to illustrate the emotions, but they did not all necessarily illustrate the vowel form. Now conscious of wanting to make a connection between the emotion and the vowel image, I began to add to some of our actions and gradually dropped some of the old ones. For the U we began to throw our hands up into the air, when we said ‘ŭh!’ For ‘I’, we stretched whatever was icky and sticky, and pulled our hands apart until they pointed straight up and down, making the ‘I’ shape with our bodies. The letter E also evolved, but not until we began the next activity. 

Teaching Vowels, part 3

Three: Songs, An Experience of Sound

To create a ‘greater sensitivity to…vowels’, Steiner recommended that the children experience the sounds in singing, and that teachers could even ‘invent a word….so that (the children) can get an ‘overhearing’ of (the sound).” (1997, P. 185)[1]  To introduce the individual sounds, their connection to an expressed emotion, and to include humour and a game-related component, I chose the song, “I like to eat Apples and Bananas”. We sang it first with the regular words, “I like to eat, I like to eat, apples and bananas”, and then each subsequent verse was sung with all the vowels changed to one common sound. Typically, the song is sung using the long vowel sounds, but for this purpose I used the short sounds. I introduced each verse to the children by connecting each short vowel sound to an emotion, and added illustrative gestures. The short ă was the emotion of sa-a-atisfaction, ‘like when your mom sits in a hot ba-a-ath after a long day’. We laid on the floor like we were in the bath and gave a long sigh, “Ăaaah...” For the next verse, we cupped our ear like we couldn’t hear what our friend was saying and questioned, “Ěh?” The emotion was one of reaching out. Third, we pretended that we had just walked onto, and touched with our hands, something that was icky and sticky, and lifted our hands and feet saying, “Ĭ-ĭ-ĭ-ĭ!” The short Ŏ was introduced by putting our hand into a ‘pot’ in the middle of our circle, the pot was ‘hot’, and we pulled our hands back quickly, saying, “ŏ-ŏ-ŏ!” The feeling was one of surprise or shock. The last verse was a feeling of ‘ugh!’ We slumped our shoulders, ‘ŭh!’ I began to use cards with the vowels written on them to allow the children to randomly draw the next verse we would sing. This was a subtle way for them to begin to make the connection between each sound and emotion, and the image. The song was silly, and the children loved it. Once these connections were established, the children were ready to be introduced to the written forms.

---

[1] See Appendix A, Section 3, under Singing to Teach Vowel Sounds for complete quote.                

Teaching Vowels, part 2

Two: Vowel Sounds, An Expression of an Emotion

Steiner indicated that children coming to school would not feel an automatic connection to the alphabet and writing, and that it is our job, as teachers, to create in the child an awareness of an emotion inside them that could then be connected to the sounds and their written forms.

“As teachers, we ourselves must be able to live in a world of imagery. For example, let’s imagine that we have to teach a young child to read. Consider what this implies—the child is expected to decipher signs written or printed on paper. In this form they are completely alien to the child. Sounds, speech, and vowels that carry a person’s feelings and are inwardly experienced, are not alien to the child.” (Steiner, 1996, P. 198)

This is easily understood, if one considers a language with which they are not familiar. Indeed, as a non-Arabic speaker, I look at Arabic writing and have no connection to its meaning, in fact, I couldn't pick out one letter from another, nor could I tell you how many letters there are - it is completely foreign to me. So too, is our writing to non-reading children. According to Steiner, it is the teacher’s job to help the children develop a connection to the letters, and this connection differs for consonants and vowels (Steiner, 2000, P.67). The children will connect to the consonants if they are taught as images formed from objects, the F from the image of a fish or the W from the image of waves (Steiner, 2000, P. 3). On the other hand, children will connect to the vowels if they are related to an expression of an emotion. This was clear in the example he gave of the child listening to a sibling and, coming slowly to understand what he or she was saying.

“Think what would happen if your brother or sister came to you and said something you did not understand at first. After a while you begin to understand what is meant. Then what do you say?” One of the children may answer, or you may have to point out that they would say, “ee” (i in German).” (Steiner, 2000, P. 69)

In lectures given to German-speaking teachers, Steiner provided examples for each of their vowels. The following German pronunciation guide has been borrowed from the footnote on page 19 in Practical Advice to Teachers. Examples (Steiner, 2000, P. 2) are provided to further understanding of connecting emotions to the sounds:

O (pronounced like the English long o, as in order) – astonishment

U (pronounced like the English long u, as in blue) – fear and anxiety

A (pronounced like the English aw, as in Father) – admiration and wonder

E (pronounced like the English long a, as in eight) – resistance

I (pronounced like the English long e, as in me) – approaching something

Although provided in his German tongue, connections could also be related to English vowel sounds and their expressed emotions for English-speakers. In his lectures given in England, Steiner indicated that the English sounds are “somewhat differently connected with our feelings,” and that, “children should learn to develop the sounds…from the way their own feelings are related to them.” (Steiner, 1995a, P. 102) It follows therefore that English speaking teachers will need to create their own examples to connect their students to the vowels. In fact, my ‘own feelings’ did not ‘relate’ to the A and E in the same way that Steiner provided in an example (Steiner, 1995a, P. 102)[1], and I began to make a list of emotions which I identified to be expressed by our short vowel sounds. This list altered and evolved as I presented my thoughts and received feedback from colleagues, and was further fine-tuned as I stood before the children and received feedback from them. This is the list that was developed during this project (The first two sounds are drawn out, the last three are short exclamations.):

a - satisfaction, or happiness

e - listening or reaching out gesture

i - repulsion

o - shock

u - disgust or disappointment

My first goal was to create a common experience that would introduce these sound/emotion connections to the children.

---

[1] “Ah! A is always the expression of astonishment, wonder. Or again, a fly settles on my forehead; I say: E (Eh). That is the expression of warding off, doing away with: E.” The letters ‘ah’ in English can be pronounced like ‘a’ as in cat. The same two letters were also used in the translations of the lectures given to describe the German sound ‘aw’ (as in Father). Sadly, Steiner did not provide us with a word-example to clarify his pronunciation. It is further puzzling when he identifies the expressed emotion as astonishment and wonder for both languages. Did he mean that astonishment and wonder can be expressed by both sounds, aw and a?

Teaching Vowels, part 1

In 2013, I researched Steiner's indications for teaching vowels for the purpose of teaching reading. In researching this paper, 13 of Steiner’s essential books on education were examined. References were found in eight of the books. I compiled and organized the excerpts, and developed a list of 5 considerations for Waldorf teachers. I used these considerations to guide my planning and program for my grade one students. This and the next several posts will include excerpts from my research paper. Let's begin!

One: The Importance of Correct Pronunciation

According to Steiner, a child’s ability to identify vowel sounds, and to apply this knowledge, is founded on the teacher’s correct pronunciation.

“…when we converse with the children, if we are careful to pronounce long what is long, short what is short, sharp what is sharp, drawn out what is drawn out, and soft what is soft, we shall create for them the necessary foundation for correct spelling.” (Steiner, 200, P. 174)

The first vowel sounds that a child needs, the short sounds, are: a as in cat, e as in net, i as in bit, o as in hot, and u as in hut. While searching for appropriate material for short vowel instruction, I found it necessary to do what so many Waldorf teachers do every day – create my own. I began by seeking out Steiner’s indications for vowel instruction. 

Teaching Reading: An Integrated Introduction to Consonant and Vowel Letters

This is my third year teaching grade one, a rare opportunity for a waldorf teacher. I am also a student in the Master's of Education, Waldorf Teacher Training program at Antioch University. The first year I taught grade one, I taught the capital letters through pictures that are ubiquitous on pinterest, and focused my research energy on what Steiner had to say about teaching vowels for the purpose of teaching reading. 

This year, I am researching the general introduction and instructional practices of teaching reading, and continue to integrate my research on vowels in my practice. You have stumbled on my journey. 

First: Upper or Lowercase?

Steiner gave examples of both. Neither were to illustrate the importance of either, but to illustrate the importance of the letters and sounds evolving from an image or feeling (in the case of the vowels). In Practical Advice to Teachers, Steiner gives an example of using a picture, then the lowercase letter f to represent the first sound of fish.

I decided to begin an experiment; I began this year by teaching the lowercase letters to my grade ones, in the order they are presented in Jolly Phonics. 

1. The letter s, introduced through a Chilean folktlale, Delgadina and the Magic Snake. 

2.  The letter a, introduced through the Grimm's Fairy Tale, Sweet Porridge. The story was revisited each time a vowel is introduced in the sequence. 

3. The letter t, introduced through the Bantu tale, The Name of the Tree 

(L'Arbe Ungali in French)

4. The letter i, introduced through Sweet Porridge.

5. The letter p, introduced through a native american tale, Little Possum. (A story of which I am especially fond because we presented it as a group in my training.)

6. The letter n, introduced through the Grimm's Fairy tale, Spindle, Shuttle and Needle

7. The letters c and k, introduced through the classic children's story, chosen for its fairy tale quality, Millions of Cats. 

8. The vowel e, introduced by revisiting Sweet Porridge.

9. The letter h - house, introduced through The Brementown Musicians. 

10. The letter r - rainbow, introduced through The Rainbow Bird

11.The letter m - mountain, introduced through Simeli Mountain

12 The letter d - dog, introduced by revisiting The Brementown Musicians (I really wanted to introduce the d by using a dragon, but ran out of time to find a story....)

13. The letter g - goat, introduced through The Golden Saucer 

14. The vowel o, introduced by revisiting Sweet Porridge

15. The vowel u, introduced by revisiting Sweet Porridge

16. The letter l - light, The Golden Saucer

17. The letter f - fish, The Fisherman and His Wife

  

18. The letter b - boat, The Fisherman and His Wife