Before you teach · about 90 seconds

Grade 2 · Day 1

L1 · Short a; consonants m, n, s, t, x

Today

p.3 — word building, one sound swapped at a time. 0 words, 25.0 minutes.

The one thing

tongue herevoice ON
/æ/ · short a

Open your mouth WIDE and pull your lips back like a big smile. Tongue low and forward — /a/, as in 'cat'.

They check it: Hand under your chin: this is the one where your jaw drops the most. Mirror: widest smile of the five.

Not in Arabic, Somali, Urdu. For those children this is a new physical skill, not a reminder. Do not let the column start until the mouth can make it.

Watch for

/ɛ/ (short e). The two are neighbours; the jaw is the difference.
As-Suffah Academy · Phonics · briefThen open the run sheet