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
