Letter Sounds Sh and Zh (G)

Join the fun. Move, DANCE, jump and learn letter sounds. This award winning approach to learning uses African- Caribbean dance moves to dance out letter sound categories. Helping children to name, blend and clearly pronounce letter sounds. Recipient of the National Parenting Center Seal of Approval. "Learning phonics through movement is intriguing and energetic. Highly repetitive dance moves led by a pleasant instructor and her troupe of elementary school-aged students teach viewers to connect speech sounds with specific movements to the accompaniment of African drums. The stated goal of the program is to develop your child's reading skills through dance....Children are called in the Mandang language from West Africa to gather (Ago) and they respond, I am listening (Ame). A warm-up of the body and greeting the earth, sky, teacher, and friends precede each of the 19 lessons. Students are then taught an arm-scooping motion, for example, to indicate stretching sounds, such as mmm and nnn, Phonic groups are contrasted: fff with vvv, sss with zzz, and so forth. Consonant blends are next, and the combinations get trickier with time. Throughout, a goat-skin djembe beats the rhythm internalizing language sounds through movement may appeal to kinesthetic learners as one method of phonics education.The bright colors and clear graphics are a plus, and the multi-sensory approach is laudable. This program could supplement traditional phonics education, and children will enjoy getting up to dance." --School Library Journal