Sound and Word Atlas ยท For teachers
Sounds first: a circle for each sound.Red for the vowel sounds.A swoop for each syllable: leg, o, mor, phic.Bars where letters spell a single sound: or and ph.Then the letters.A cup over a short vowel, a bar over a long one.Seams where the parts join: lego + morph + ic. The o ends its part, so it says its name, as in go.
Legomorphic Notation
A set of marks and colours drawn on ordinary spelling, so that what a reader usually works out alone is there for everyone to see.
From note to notation
notenot(e) + ate → notatenotat(e) + ion → notation
The silent e sends a vault back, so the o says its name.The e drops at the seam, and the a of ate takes over its job.The e drops again. The i of ion takes over the vault, and says sh with the t, right across the seam.
The route at a glance
The route has thirty-two steps in eight bands. Each mark enters with the first word that needs it, and the verb kernel runs through every band. Open a step to see its words marked, the marks it brings in, and the pages in Carney's survey that back it.
Each word is shown with its letters in colour: red for vowels, green for sh, th and ch, black for the rest.
Sounds and syllables
Steps 1 to 4
Units
Steps 5 to 8
Jobs across letters
Steps 9 to 12
Morphemes
Steps 13 to 15
Single vowels
Steps 16 to 19
Under constructionVowel teams
Steps 20 to 23
Under constructionMore units
Steps 24 to 26
Under constructionFamilies
Steps 27 to 32
Under constructionReading the marks
Twelve marks, each drawn alone on one word. A step page shows a word with all its marks at once.
One circle under each sound: red for a vowel sound, black for a consonant, green for sh, th, ch
One swoop under each syllable
A cup over a vowel that keeps its short sound
A bar over a vowel that says its name
A bar under letters that spell one sound: black for consonant units and for doubled letters, boxed or not, green for sh, th, ch, red for vowel units
A red bar under a vowel and its r, with the vowel red, the r black and one circle
A box around the vowel protector at work: a pair or cluster with a vowel after it, which it stops from reaching back. A pair keeps its bond bar when the box comes; a cluster has none
A dotted ring around a silent e
An arc from an e, or a vowel after one consonant, back to the vowel it makes long
A small arc under the letters from e, i or y to the c or g it softens
A half-arc that ends in a red X where a box stops the vault
A dotted line between morphemes
(Under construction: next, the legend in full, with the rule behind each mark.)
What’s here
The route
32 steps in 8 bands, with 237 different words, 220 of them marked. Each step page has its words, the marks it brings in, and the pages in Carney’s survey that back it.
To print and present
Printable cards for the ELP high-frequency words and all of Dolch’s sight words are on the Word cards page, and Word lists shows where the ELP words come from. The first session of the staff series, with its handouts, is under Presentations.
The notation
About explains the notation and its name, Definitions has its words, and Credits names the writers it draws on.
(Under construction: steps 16 to 32 are a first draft, and a few words show in plain letters until their marking is settled. Next: the legend in full, the word families and the teaching routines.)