Teaching Letter–Sound Connections With Picture Mnemonics:Itchy's Alphabetand Early Decoding

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Abstract
The authors explored Itchy's Alphabet as an innovative approach to teaching letter–sound connections through multisensory cues. This is the initial demonstration of this instructional method for increasing students’ sublexical skills (letter identification, letter–sound knowledge, and phonological awareness). To examine the effectiveness of the program, the authors chose 3 kindergarten classrooms as intervention and comparison classes. The authors chose the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (R. H. Good, D. Simmons, E. Kame'enui, R. A. Kaminski, & J. Wallin, 2002) to monitor early decoding progress because of its unique ability to assess and monitor young children's acquisition of early reading skills. Results show that Itchy's Alphabet, combined with hands-on manipulatives, was strongly connected to children's grasp of sublexical skills. Test scores indicated gains for all children including those who were at risk, children who received special education services, and typically developing children.

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