'~'!\,t KEY METHOD 
 
 of 
 
 TEACHING THE MECHANICAL PHASE OF 
 
 PRIMARY READING 
 
 BY 
 
 KATHLYNE J. LIBBY 
 
 OF THE MINNEAPOLIS PUBLIC SCHOOLS 
 
 SCHOOL EDUCATION COMPANY 
 
 PUBLISHERS 
 MINNEAPOLIS. MINNESOTA 
 
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THE KEY METHOD 
 
 OF 
 
 Teaching the Mechanical Phase of 
 
 READING 
 
 BY 
 
 KATHLYNE J. LIBBY 
 
 OF THB MINNEAPOLIS PUBLIC SCHOOLS 
 
 V 
 
 SCHOOL EDUCATION COMPANY 
 
 Publishers 
 
 Minneapolis Minnesota 
 

 
 JUL 1 lyu:? 
 
 Oovyri^iii £.1111 y 
 
 / 2. / r.r 2- 
 copY a. 
 
 COPYBIGHT 1905 
 BT KATHLYNE J. LlBBY 
 

 TO THE TEACHERS 
 
 For years pointing fingers have been turned toward 
 the primary department as the source and cause of the 
 poor reading of the pupils in the upper grades and high 
 school. 
 
 Among these may be found many primary teachers. 
 Not that they feel that they are wholly to blame, or that 
 they have utterly failed in their work. No, far from it. 
 It is doubtful if the teachers in any other grade expend 
 as much time, energy, and thought on the teaching of 
 reading as they do, and often with the happiest of re- 
 sults. But they feel that it seems a reasonable theory 
 to hold, that if a child could be under the best possible 
 instruction for, say the first three years of his school 
 life, the teachers of the advanced grades, if they did 
 their part well, could no longer blame the primary 
 teachers for the poor reading of their pupils. 
 
 It must be granted that of a necessity there is a 
 phase in the teaching of reading which is purely me- 
 chanical, and that this phase has been much abused, 
 either by its total neglect, or by its over-use. This me- 
 chanical phase must not be over-indulged in, neither 
 must it be neglected. Danger lurks in either extreme. 
 
 We find on one hand, teachers who are grinding, 
 grinding, grinding until the whole schoolroom atmos- 
 phere is suggestive of a huge machine, and the pupils 
 merely the cogs in the wheels, never developing into 
 anything greater or rising to a higher plane. We view 
 this with deep disappointment and then turn to others 
 
4 MECHANICAL PHASE OF READING 
 
 to find them soaring, soaring, soaring, carrying their 
 pupils with them, and we watch their flight in breathless 
 amazement, only to meet with an even deeper disap- 
 pointment when they suddenly fall down, down, down 
 to almost the same level at which they started their 
 flight. 
 
 Again we find to our infinite satisfaction, teachers 
 who are neither grinding nor soaring; teachers who 
 are thoro, but not mechanical ; who teach their little ones 
 to fly, but who first know the strength of the little 
 wings. Each day these little wings are so strengthened 
 that each day the flight is a little higher, and there is 
 no cruel, unexpected fall, but a steady, strong flight to 
 the heights desired. These teachers neither neglect nor 
 over-indulge in the mechanical phase of their work. 
 
 Let us then have two periods for the teaching of 
 reading, one strengthening the other. One period to be 
 devoted to helping the children to help themselves, 
 when the technical drills, and active, strenuous work 
 must be done, and the other, the regular reading period, 
 full of untasted pleasures, and where thot getting and 
 thot expressing are uppermost. 
 
 It is for the first period, or mechanical phase, that 
 this pamphlet was written. 
 
 It is safe to say that at least a considerable proportion 
 of the children who enter school are cut off from an 
 educational career at an early age, either because of 
 poverty or because they have lost interest in their school 
 work. It is especially true that as pupils advance in the 
 grades they lose interest in reading. When this occurs, 
 it is generally accompanied by failure in arithmetic, 
 geography, etc. The pupil cannot read a problem under- 
 standingly, and consequently he cannot solve it. The 
 
THE KEY METHOD 5 
 
 same is true in geography and history, he stumbles 
 over the reading of the lesson so that he cannot get the 
 thot and hence fails in the reproduction. All this is 
 due to the fact that he is powerless to make out new 
 words. When thus hampered by meeting new obstacles 
 in the shape of unknown words, he gropes about 
 blindly, cannot get the thot and cannot express it. 
 
 Occasionally we find a fluent reader, who is not an 
 expressive reader, but such cases are rare. If a child 
 does not become a fairly good and fluent reader during 
 the first three or four years of his school life, he rarely 
 acquires it later, for this is the time when he not only 
 has the greatest ability, but also the greatest desire to 
 learn. Ought we not, then, to do all we can for him 
 at this time in teaching him to become self-reliant and 
 able to help himself? Ought he not to be given a key 
 to the language, and to be taught how to turn this key 
 in the lock? For many years we thot we were doing 
 all we could for these children when we taught them 
 the use of the diacritical markings. They became quite 
 expert in making out new words when the teacher was 
 there to mark them. They could use the dictionary 
 with ease, and those who were not indolent did so. 
 
 But how was it with the new book, newspaper or 
 story book at home which fell into their hands ? 
 
 Were our fluent readers of whom we were so proud 
 in the schoolroom., who could make out any new word 
 as soon as we added the "diacritical bandages," were 
 they able to help themselves when they were left with no 
 "word surgeon" to apply the proper "bandages," and 
 no dictionary to which to refer? No, almost invariably, 
 when faced with new matter, they were helpless when 
 separated from teacher and dictionary. 
 
6 MECHANICAL PHASE OF READING 
 
 In this pamphlet, a method is shown, by means of 
 which children can become fairly good, fluent, indepen- 
 dent readers in from five to six months' time. 
 
 This is accomplished by means of keys or sound 
 groups. Its success depends upon a thoro knowledge 
 of the long and short vowel sounds; the consonant 
 sounds; the blending of the short sound with the con- 
 sonant sound into a short key; the effect on the short 
 key when final e is added, thus making it into a long 
 key ; the blendmg of the consonants into consonant keys 
 and the learning of sight keys. 
 
 These points are not hard to teach children if intro- 
 duced thru the powerful medium of games. Children 
 will learn things thru games sooner than thru any other 
 means. The game may be of the simplest character 
 imaginable, but it will serve its purpose well. In fact, 
 the children become so interested in phonic games that 
 the teacher wonders where the time has gone, so pleas- 
 antly and fast has the time flown. 
 
 Just as soon as possible the keys in the key period 
 should be applied to the new words which will occur in 
 the next reading lesson. Thus the children will see and 
 realize the value of these little keys and will become 
 greatly interested, as their greatest ambition is to be 
 able to read. 
 
 When these points are learned, they have a complete 
 key to the language, and no matter how early they may 
 leave school, their ability to help themselves is assured. 
 As fine readers, they may lack the finishing touches a 
 teacher's art is supposed to lend, but they are not help- 
 less. They have developed an independence which has 
 reacted upon their characters. 
 
 It is also true that children who have had good, 
 
THE KEY METHOD 7 
 
 strong thoro work in keys, have had their eyes so well 
 trained that they rarely make slovenly mistakes like 
 calling this, these, or has, his. Likewise because of this 
 training, where ear and eye are both trained, they be- 
 come good spellers. 
 
 This key work is not by any means to be allowed 
 to supplant the use of the dictionary later on, but there 
 can be no doubt, however, that it should precede dic- 
 tionary work. In the latter part of the second year 
 they can learn the use of diacritical markings and in 
 the third year take up the use of the dictionary and do 
 stronger and more intelligent work with it than they 
 otherwise could. The "dictionary habit" can then be 
 cultivated and its value instilled in their mind by the 
 teachers of this and the grades following. At the same 
 time, the key work should not be dropped. Every new 
 word should first be made out by the key method in 
 the higher grades, and then reference made to the dic- 
 tionary for accent and meaning. 
 
 Any teacher who intends to take up this key method 
 in teaching the mechanical phase of reading, must first 
 become so thoroly acquainted with the keys herself that 
 when her eyes rest upon a word it will become in- 
 stantly separated into keys without any apparent eflfort. 
 
 This is the power she plans to give her children, 
 and she cannot impart that which she has not herself. 
 
 The best plan by which she may thus become con- 
 versant with the keys, is' to read over the method thot- 
 fully; study how the keys are formed; then take a 
 newspaper and as she reads underscore each key. In 
 a half-hour's time she will have acquired the desired 
 facility in seeing keys. 
 
8 MECHANICAL PHASE OF READING 
 
 But above all else, she must remember this in her 
 teaching — "Haste makes waste." 
 
 Naturally she can hardly wait for results and in her 
 great desire to see how much power her little ones have 
 she may be tempted to crowd the work and hasten over 
 steps without sufficient drill. She must learn to clinch 
 each point before she leaves it, or she may suddenly find 
 her children in the midst of dire confusion. Go slowly 
 and drill thoroly. Let this be her guide. 
 
 Drilling thoroly does not mean worrying the chil- 
 dren; but it does mean the reviewing of each new step 
 in a variety of interesting games and devices in such a 
 happy way that the children will enjoy becoming thoro 
 in each step before a new step is taken. 
 
 The teacher must be sure that every child knows 
 thoroly every short vowel and consonant, because upon 
 these two points hinges the success of the method. 
 
 With beginner classes in first grade, these two steps 
 can seldom be covered in less than eight weeks. But 
 when once accomplished there will be few if any snags 
 to prevent smooth sailing and every lesson will show 
 new strength in the children. 
 
 Second or third grade children who are taking up the 
 key method for the first time, can often master the 
 whole method and become independent in six-weeks 
 time; for it has several times been tried. They will 
 not need to spend as much time on the various steps, 
 as beginner first grade children will. 
 
 It has proven a great aid in teaching English, both 
 spoken and written, to non-English-speaking children. 
 In fact, it is invaluable to them. In five months they 
 have become fairly conversant with the written and 
 spoken English thru the use of the key method. 
 
THE KEY METHOD 9 
 
 If the first three steps and the twelfth step as out- 
 hned in this method are thoroly mastered, it will elim- 
 inate the committing to memory of numberless keys ; 
 and, if the pupil should chance to forget a key, he will 
 have the means at his command to make it out for him- 
 self, e. g. : A child may forget that a-b-e is abe, he 
 know what a says a, and he knows what b says. He 
 then blends the two sounds and forms the short key 
 ah; he also knows the effect of final ^ on a short key, 
 so he instantly sees that it is not the short key ah, but 
 is the long key, ahe. 
 
 The term key is used to indicate a group of sounds 
 as they occur in the formation of words. It was chos- 
 en because it was a term which seemed to directly ap- 
 peal to the children. They were impressed with the 
 idea of possessing keys to the "word-houses" ; and be- 
 ing able to turn these keys in locks and open the doors 
 of the "word-houses." In other words, pronounce the 
 new words by means of these keys. When the term key 
 was first presented the children hailed it with glee. 
 
 Short keys are the keys formed by the blending of a 
 short vowel and a consonant, e. g. : ab, eb, ib, ob, ub, 
 etc. 
 
 Long keys are the keys formed by adding final e to 
 the short keys and thus changing the short vowel 
 sound to the long vowel sound, e. g. : abe, ibe, obe, etc. 
 
 Consonant keys are the keys formed by blending 
 two or more consonants, e. g. :br, cr, str,'bl, y, etc. 
 
 Sight keys are those which cannot be made out by 
 sound, and which must be learned by sight, e. g. : ight, 
 sion, ew, etc. 
 
 Notice that in the list of keys given later, some 
 of the keys are underlined. This is done simply to im- 
 
10 MECHANICAL PHASE OF READING 
 
 press upon the children that such keys say more than 
 one thing, it helps them to remember the fact. 
 
 When in teaching keys, you come to such keys, sim- 
 ply tell the children what two things the key says, e. g. : 
 "ag says ag and it says ag, too, sometimes." 
 
 In reviewing such keys ask what two things ag 
 says. 
 
 Provision is thus made for the different vowel 
 sounds. Study the list of keys having more than one 
 sound. Remember it is unnecessary to teach all of 
 those in this list. Select only those which commonly oc- 
 cur in the early vocabulary and when necessary teach 
 others. 
 
 As has been said before, connect all key work with 
 the reading vocabulary as early as possible, in order 
 that the children may see the value of the work and re- 
 alize that it is going to help them\ to be able to read. 
 
 In presenting words to classes to make out for 
 themselves, after they have covered all the steps as out- 
 lined, there is no reason why they should be limited to 
 small words. In fact, it is a very good plan to often 
 give them words to make out, which are much beyond 
 their grade, as it will afford an opportunity to test their 
 power, and when a child once feels he has such power, 
 he will not be daunted by any large word with which 
 he may come in contact. He will as boldly attack the 
 word cancellation as he will the word broke; and suc- 
 ceed too, as has been many times proven. Very often 
 we see children in advanced grades hesitate, and then 
 give up the pronouncing of a new word, simply be- 
 cause it is long. So the plan of frequently giving the 
 little children long words to make out, cultivates cour- 
 age, and makes them feel their own power. 
 
THE KEY METHOD II 
 
 For several days before the formal key work is tak- 
 en up, it is an excellent plan to accustom the children 
 to the blending of consonants and a key or keys, by 
 giving them "Ear Puzzles," e. g. : Teacher sounds, "I 
 s-aw a b-ig r-at r-un un-d-er the b-ar-n floor." Chil- 
 dren listen and repeat, saying, "I saw a big rat run un- 
 der the bam floor." 
 
 After this work, boldly start in with the regular 
 work as outlined here, being determined to succeed and 
 to progress slowly and thoroly, making sure that each 
 step strengthens the next one and success will reward 
 you in the course of a few months. 
 
12 MECHANICAL PHASE OF READING 
 
 OUTLINE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF/iTHE 
 KEY METHOD 
 
 I. Teaching of short vowel sounds. 
 
 II. Teaching of consonant sounds. 
 
 III. Teaching of short keys made by blending 
 short vowel sounds with consonant sounds. 
 
 IV. Teaching children to make out words contain- 
 ing one short key, preceded by a single consonant, e. g. : 
 Family groups, as cat, rat, fat, hat, etc. 
 
 V. Teaching the consonant keys made by blending 
 two or more consonants. 
 
 a. Blending of consonants with r, e. g. : br, cr, 
 
 dr, etc. 
 
 b. Blending of consonants with /, e, g. : bl, cl, 
 
 dl, etc. 
 Note. — Show here that final e does not change 
 the sound of these keys, e. g. : ble, cle, die, 
 etc. 
 
 c. Blending of consonants with short y,, e. g. : 
 
 by, cy, etc. 
 
 d. Blending of consonants with long y, e. g. : 
 
 by, cy, etc. 
 
 e. Blending of several consonants, e. g. : str, scr, 
 
 etc. 
 
 VI. Teaching the children to Und and underline 
 the keys in words which only contain short keys and 
 consonant keys, e. g. : black, crack, patter, matter, 
 crawl, straw. 
 
THE KEY METHOD I3 
 
 VII. Teaching the children to sound these words 
 and pronounce them after finding and underlining the 
 keys. 
 
 VIII. Teaching them to see the keys without 
 pointing them out or underlining them, and then sound- 
 ing and pronouncing them silently and thus indepen- 
 dently. 
 
 IX. There are many sight keys which the chil- 
 dren must know before they can be perfectly indepen- 
 dent, e. g. : ight, aw, other, oy. It is not necessary to 
 teach all of these at one time. Select such keys to teach 
 at this time as will occur in the vocabulary which they 
 will be expected to use in their early reading. 
 
 X. Repeat steps 6, 7, and 8, being careful to omit 
 any words containing long keys, or any sight keys. 
 
 XI. Teach the long vowel sounds. 
 
 XII. Teach the long keys made by adding final e 
 to a short key. Dwell on the effect of the final e on the 
 short vowels and on the consonant sounds of c, g, 
 and s. 
 
 XIII. Repeat steps 6, 7, and 8, only being care- 
 ful to avoid any words containing unknown sight keys. 
 
 XIV. Teach remainder of sight keys. 
 
 XV. Repeat steps 6, 7, and 8, avoiding no word, 
 as now the children have the power to cope with any 
 word. 
 
 XVI. Teach accent mark if desired. 
 
 Note. — Carry on this key work in script and print 
 simultaneously, and the children will thus uncon- 
 sciously make the transition to print and be ready for 
 books. 
 
14 MECHANICAL PHASE OF READING 
 
 SUGGESTIONS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF 
 THE KEY METHOD 
 
 STEP I. TEACHING OF THE SHORT VOWEL 
 SOUNDS 
 
 Teach them by association with some simple story 
 or suggestive picture. Any other devices which the 
 teacher may have will be just as good and perhaps bet- 
 ter than the ones given here. These stories are simply 
 suggestive. 
 
 This is perhaps the most difficult step of all to 
 teach, and it seldom can be taught to beginner first 
 grade children thoroly in less than four weeks of dili- 
 gent work, and thoro it must be. 
 
 SUGGESTIVE STORIES 
 
 Short a. 
 
 I. Once upon a time a dear little baby came to live 
 in a certain house. Her name was a, and her mamma 
 always called her a, too. 
 
 The baby heard her own name more times than any 
 other word, and she used to often think her name as she 
 lay in her little cradle. 
 
 By and by she grew old enough to try to talk, and 
 the first thing she tried to say was her own name. She 
 tried very hard to say it, and her mamma helped her all 
 she could, but the nearest sound the baby could make 
 to her own name was a. 
 
 You may play you are the mamma and that I am 
 
THE KEY METHOD 15 
 
 the baby. You tell me to say a, and I will say it the way 
 the baby did. Try hard now, to make me say it ! 
 
 Now, let us play I am the mamma, and you are 
 the baby. I will try to teach you to say a and you say 
 a the way the baby did. 
 
 Short e 
 
 There was once an old, old man, who earned his liv- 
 ing by mending shoes. He was so old he could not hear 
 very well. In fact, he could scarcely hear at all. 
 
 He had a very funny way, when he could not hear, 
 of putting his hand behind his ear, to catch the sound, 
 and saying "e?". 
 
 When people wanted to have him mend their shoes 
 they would have to say what they wanted over to him 
 many times ; and each time a little louder than before. 
 Then each time he would place his hand behind his ear 
 and say "e?". 
 
 At last, if he couldn't hear them, he would call his 
 children to tell him. Now there was something strange 
 about their names. They all began with e, the same 
 sound he made, when he couldn't hear. Now listen, 
 and I will call them. "Emma ! Eddie ! Ethel ! Esther ! 
 Eva! Edwin! Elmer!" 
 
 Let us play deaf-man. You be the deaf-man, John, 
 and these seven children may be Emma, Eddie, Ethel, 
 Esther, Eva, Edwin, and Elmer. Run out in the hall 
 until your father calls you. I will be the customer who 
 wants some shoes mended. 
 
 The children love this game and it is a sure way of 
 teaching short e, which is usually hard to teach. 
 
l6 MECHANICAL PHASE OF READING 
 
 Snort i 
 
 Here is a picture of a baby mouse. Isn't he a little 
 thing ? 
 
 His lungs are not strong, for he has never been 
 taught to breathe deeply ; so his voice is very low. 
 
 Hark ! Here comes an old cat ! She sees our baby 
 mouse, she wants to catch him, but she can't for he has 
 dodged into that little hole over there in the floor. 
 
 Did you hear him squeak as he went into the hole? 
 He said "i." Very low and very short, as he is not a 
 strong mouse you know. 
 
 Joseph, play you are the mouse, and I'll be the old 
 cat. Run when you see me coming and make a noise 
 like the one this little mouse made. 
 
 Short o 
 
 One time a little boy did a very naughty, naughty 
 thing. He knew it was naughty, because a little voice 
 kept saying, "Ypu naughty little boy." 
 
 He tried to run away from the little voice, but he 
 couldn't. It still kept whispering, "Oh, you naughty 
 boy!" 
 
 Just as he was running around the comer, he ran 
 right against a big policeman. Oh, how frightened he 
 was ! Shut your ears until I snap my fingers, then 
 open your eyes and ears and see how the little boy 
 looked and hear what he said. You know he was so 
 surprised to see the policeman. 
 
 Here the teacher assumes a look of utter surprise 
 and astonishment. Opening her eyes and mouth wide 
 and as the children open their eyes, she says "6 !" She 
 requests the children to look as she did and repeat the 
 sound she made. Call it the surprise sound. 
 
THK KEY METHOD 1 7 
 
 "Of course the policeman didn't touch the httle 
 boy, but he ran home saying '6' all the way, and think- 
 ing how he would never repeat his naughty act." 
 
 Make this short o story into a game. 
 
 Short u 
 
 Teacher lifts a. heavy book, a heavy pail of water, 
 or a heavy boy, with apparent effort; as she does so 
 she says "u". 
 
 Let us try lifting something and saying "u", 
 
 SUGGESTIVE DRILLS 
 
 1. Refer to the sounds in this way: "What did the 
 baby say? What did the little mouse say? What did 
 the deaf man say? What did the naughty boy say? 
 What did you say when you lifted that heavy book?" 
 
 When they forget a short sound, when written on 
 board, refer to the story which you told to teach the 
 sound, e. g., Sarah forgets what short o says. Teacher 
 says, "What was the surprise sound, Sarah?" 
 
 Note. — Present the script representation of each 
 sound on the board as you develop it, so that they will 
 associate the sound, story and symbol. 
 
 2. Write the short vowel sounds promiscuously on 
 the board; and let the children play they are walking 
 down a certain street; and that these little sounds are 
 their friends to whom they must speak. 
 
 Tell them they must be sure to call them by their 
 right names; as it might offend them, to be called by 
 the wrong name. 
 
 Give the child a pointer and let her point to each 
 one ; and as she points say, "Good morning, a ; Good 
 morning u," etc. 
 
l8 MECHANICAL PHASE OF READING 
 
 See how many can do it. 
 
 3. Draw several five-pointed stars on the board 
 and place a short vowel sound on each point for drill. 
 
 4. Draw a pansy and on each petal place a short 
 vowel sound for drill. 
 
 5. Let them trace around their own hands and 
 name each finger a short vowel sound. 
 
 STEP II. THE DEVELOPMENT OF CONSO- 
 NANTS 
 
 This step can easily be covered with beginner first 
 grade children in about four weeks. 
 
 It also must be very thoroly done, as upon steps one 
 and two depends largely the success of all the follow- 
 ing work. Very little time is needed for the following 
 steps, if these two are well cared for. To take up the 
 subsequent steps before these two are thoroly learned, 
 means to have to drop all work later on, and come back 
 to the work planned for these first two steps, and do it 
 all over again. 
 
 In teaching consonants the teacher may use any de- 
 vice she chooses, as d, the sound the dove makes ; f, 
 the sound of the spitting cat, etc. 
 
 Drill thoroly and test in every conceivable way. 
 
 SUGGESTIVE DRILLS 
 
 I. Jack and the Beanstalk Game 
 Directions for this game are found in the directions 
 for making a chart, which are given at the end of this 
 pamphlet. 
 
THE KEY METHOD IQ 
 
 2. The Merry Go Round 
 
 Directions may be found for this game, under direc- 
 tions for making a chart which are given at the end 
 of this pamphlet. 
 
 3. Frog Pond 
 
 Draw a circle on the floor to represent a frog pond. 
 
 Place the children around it, and give them each a 
 card with a consonant on it. Let each child jump onto a 
 "make-believe" stone in the center, and as he jumps 
 give the sound of the consonant on his card. 
 
 Note. — This can be played in step four, too. Write 
 a short key in the center where the stone is to be. Sup- 
 pose the short key to be an. Each child holds his con- 
 sonant in his hand, if it will make a word when 
 sounded with an, he remains in his place. If not, he 
 withdraws from the circle until another key is placed 
 on the stone. 
 
 If his consonant will make a word when blended 
 with an, he remains ; and when his turn comes he jumps 
 to the center and says "f-an, fan," another says "c-an^, 
 can," and so on until all the words are made. 
 
 As each child announces his word, the teacher 
 writes it on the board. 
 
 4. Another Game 
 
 is described under the teaching of sight keys in step 
 nine. 
 
 Having prepared the cards as there directed, simply 
 tell the children what the key is to the right of the 
 card. 
 
 Arrange the children in a circle. 
 
 Number them. 
 
20 MECHANICAL PHASE OF READING 
 
 Hold up the card and as you expose a consonant, as 
 b. No. I says "b-at, bat"; expose c, No. 2 says, "c-at, 
 cat," and so on around the class. 
 
 If No. I should miss his word, he must go into the 
 center ; if he watches, and can sound the word given to 
 someone else before that one does, he may do so, with- 
 out permission, and thus get back into the circle. 
 
 This game is a general favorite. 
 
 STEP III. THE TEACHING OF SHORT KEYS 
 MADE BY BLENDING THE SHORT VOW- 
 EL SOUNDS WITH CONSONANT 
 SOUNDS CONSTITUTES THIS 
 STEP. 
 
 It is a most delightful one and the ease with which 
 the children take it, will fully repay the teacher for the 
 hard, thoro work she has done in the first two steps. 
 
 It can be accomplished with ease in three fifteen 
 or twenty minute lessons. However, this should be 
 borne in mind, that it must be frequently reviewed. I, 
 myself, never let a day pass, without reviewing it with 
 the class. It can be done in two minutes and is well 
 worth while. 
 
 Plan to teach all the short keys, beginning with 
 short a, then all with short e, short i, short o, and lastly 
 short u. 
 
 Any device the teacher may have for developing this 
 step can be used. It is well to have a number of de- 
 vices; for, where one device may appeal to part of the 
 class, it may not appeal to all. 
 
THE KEY METHOD 21 
 
 One device is here suggested which has proven a 
 success. 
 
 Say to the children as you write a large a on the 
 board, "Children, do you know who this is ? I wonder 
 if you would like to hear of a baby party that a once at- 
 tended ?" 
 
 [The breve over the a is not by any means to be 
 placed on the board or even taught to the children. It 
 is used here simply for the benefit of the teacher, in 
 order that the explanation of this device may be more 
 lucid. Whenever it is used it indicates that the teacher 
 should refer to the letter by sound, and sound only. 
 Diacritical marks are not to be taught until the dic- 
 tionary work is begun in the third or fourth grades.] 
 
 "Once upon a time a had a party, there were ever 
 so many babies invited, all of whom you know. As 
 each baby came, a would meet it at the door, take its 
 hand, and toddle into the house. As they went, each 
 would tell the other its name. They said the names so 
 closely together that they sounded like a little word. 
 I am going to draw a big house on the board and 
 draw a picture of a and his friends as they walk to- 
 gether. I want to see if you can say their names closely 
 enough together to make a little word. Always say 
 the name of a first. 
 
 "There ! Isn't that a fine, large house ? Here is a, 
 with his first little guest. Who is it?" 
 
 [Here the teacher sketches a large house and writes 
 ab inside.] "Now listen, while I sound their names as 
 they did, then you may try to do it too." [Teacher 
 sound a-b, ab, writes ac, ack, ad, af, etc., and sounds 
 them, then the children try. If you hare a timid class. 
 
22 MECHANICAL PHASE OF READING 
 
 let them sound in concert, then be sure to follow this 
 with individual work.] 
 
 The short keys to be taught in this step are ab, ac, 
 ack, *ad, af, *ag, al, am, an, ap, *as, at, av, ax, az ; eb, 
 ec, eck, *ed, ef, eg, el, em, en, ep, *es, et, ev, ex, ez ; ib, 
 ic, ick, id, if, ig, il, im, in, ip, *is, it, iv, ix, iz; ob, oc, 
 ock, od, *of, og, ol, *om, *on, op, os, ot, ov, ox, oz ; and 
 ub, uc, uck, ud, uf, ug, ul, um, un, up, us, ut, uv, ux, 
 uz. 
 
 Do not teach ar, er, ir, or, ur, aw, ew, ow, ay, ey, 
 oy, and uy, until you have taught the others. 
 
 Then you may take up two or three of these in one 
 lesson and teach them as sight keys. Simply tell the 
 children that when a, e, i, o, u, walk with r, they say 
 something which will catch them if they do not look 
 out. The children like to have the teacher say, "Look 
 out! Here is where you will get caught, if your eyes 
 are not good !" whenever they review these keys. 
 
 In teaching aw, ew, ow, ay, ey, oy, uy, it has been 
 found best to teach them in family groups or by anal- 
 ogy, e. g. : "This little key is named aw. See, I am 
 going to write it five times, everytime I write it, you 
 tell me what it is. Now I am going to put c in front of 
 the first one. Now sound it this way. [Teacher sounds 
 it.] Who can tell what it sounded like?" Do this until 
 you get the whole family on the board as caw, law, 
 paw, raw, saw. 
 
 Put pointers in the hands of the children, and ask 
 them to listen well, and find the words you ask for, as, 
 raw, law, paw, caw, saw. This makes them listen for 
 the consonant. 
 
 The short keys which are marked with a star. 
 
THE KEY METHOD 23 
 
 should, on the board, have two lines drawn underneath 
 them to indicate that they say two things. It is not 
 necessary to explain to the children about it, in tact 
 confusion is avoided, if you simply tell them, "This key 
 says two things, ag (as in wagon) and ag (as m 
 magic), and whenever we see it, we must remember it 
 says two things." 
 
 When the children have learned to blend the vowels 
 with the consonants, always in reviewing, for a time, 
 have them sound the short keys before pronouncing, 
 e. g. : a-b, ab ; e-b, eb ; e-c, ec, etc. This teaches them 
 to sound the key, so that should they ever forget that 
 o-b is ab, they can sound it and find out for themselves. 
 Should they forget, just say to them, "What does the 
 baby say? Now what does b say? Sound them close 
 together." 
 
 Right here, I would say, there is no harm whatever 
 in speaking of the letters by their names. Do not em- 
 phasize the names of the letters but refer to them inci- 
 dentally. Before you are aware of it, the children will 
 have learned the alphabet. 
 
 Now get some pieces of cardboard and sketch and 
 cut out of it, some large old-fashioned common door 
 keys. 
 
 On each door key write in large script or print 
 with rubber stamps, the short keys. One short key on 
 each cardboard door key. 
 
 Have a large wire key ring at least eighteen inches 
 in diameter, made by a tinner, or make it yourself. 
 
 Fasten all the cardboard keys on the ring, in the 
 order in which they were developed. 
 
 Tell the children that these keys are keys which will 
 open "word-houses"; and that as soon as they know 
 
24 MECHANICAL PHASE OF READING 
 
 them, they can try to unlock these "word-houses." Turn 
 rapidly on ring for drill. 
 
 Another good Game is to cut some cardboard into 
 oblongs 4x6 inches. 
 
 On some of these cards write short keys, one key on 
 a card, e. g. : an, ed. 
 
 On others write family words as can, Dan, fan, 
 man. Nan, pan, ran, tan, van, bed, fed, led, Ned, 
 red, Ted, wed. 
 
 Distribute the key cards to certain children. Let 
 them stand up in front of the room, facing the children 
 in the seats, and holding their cards in full view. 
 
 Pass the word-cards to the children in the seats. 
 
 Teacher then says, "Poor little children! You are 
 lost, aren't you? There are you mammas over there. 
 Run find them." 
 
 Instantly the children holding word cards run to the 
 front of the room and group themselves in straight rows 
 behind the mamma who holds the key to his word, e. g., 
 children holding word cards, can, fan, man, stand be- 
 hind the child holding the key card an; and those hold- 
 ing word cards bed, red, led, etc., stand behind the 
 child holding the key card ed. 
 
 For variety pass the key cards to the weakest chil- 
 dren and the word cards to the others. Let those who 
 hold key cards pass among the children and find all 
 their families, e. g. : Child holding key card ar touches 
 all the children lightly on the head who hold these word 
 cards, far, bar, car, tar, etc. As she touches each one, 
 he passes to the front and stands with others of his 
 family. 
 
 Again, after they are all picked out, see if the mam- 
 ma can name her children ; that is, pronounce the word 
 
THE KEY METHOD 25 
 
 each child holds! or, the mamma may call for different 
 words to come to her, and each child must know his 
 word, and the mamma sees if he is right when he 
 comes. 
 
 They are now ready for the next step. 
 
 STEP IV. TEACHING CHILDREN TO MAKE 
 
 OUT WORDS CONTAINING ONE SHORT 
 
 KEY AND PRECEDED BY A SINGLE 
 
 CONSONANT 
 
 Tell the children that you are going to play you 
 own lots of houses, and that they are going to rent 
 them. There is a house for each child, but the doors 
 are all locked and each child will be given a key, which 
 will unlock the house he is to live in. 
 
 Either cut small carboard houses and place them in 
 a row along the blackboard, or draw a row of houses 
 on the board. In each house write one word which is 
 composed of one short key, preceded by a single con- 
 sonant, e. g., bat, cat, fat, hat, mat, Nat, pat, rat, sat, 
 vat. 
 
 Tell the children you will open the first door, and 
 see if they can open the next ones. Tell them this : 
 "It will be easy to open these houses because the keys 
 are all alike ! My key is at, I must open the first word- 
 house; now, watch me do it, b-at, bat!" [Teacher 
 sounds bat as indicated.] "Open the next one, chil- 
 dren, all take hold of the key together and turn it! 
 Ready! Do it with me." [Teacher points to c and 
 then to at, and as she points, the class says "c-at, cat."] 
 
26 MECHANICAL PHASE OF READING 
 
 "Good ! Now, who wants to try the next house? Mary 
 may." [Teacher points to each part and Mary sounds 
 it.] Try first one child and then another. Do not 
 force any child to do it and do not scold. 
 
 Children must he happy in this work, and it will de- 
 pend upon you whether they are or not. Make the les- 
 son so full of joy and spirit that the child will be anx- 
 ious to volunteer to try. If he fails to blend the word, 
 do not make him feel disgraced because of his failure; 
 rather, say, "Good, John, you tried, that is almost right, 
 you will be stronger next time ; listen to Abraham while 
 he tries it. By and by you may try again," Forget 
 yourself, and be a child with them, make them feel that 
 you are as anxious that they should get each word as 
 they are. 
 
 After taking up a few family groups in this way, 
 make it just a little more difficult, by arranging the 
 word-houses Hke this, pig, cow, man, Ned, run, etc. 
 
 Teacher names the key and children volunteer to 
 give the word or "unlock the door," e. g. : "The first 
 key is ig; open the door, Lena." Lena says, "p-ij", 
 pig." Teacher says, "The next key is ow; open tne 
 door, Jacob." Jacob says, "c-ow, cow." 
 
 When all doors have been opened review the words 
 rapidly, sounding only when one is not readily recog- 
 nized. 
 
 Tell the children to play that each house contains a 
 different family. See how many can remember who 
 lives in each house, e. g. ; "Pig lives in this house, cow 
 lives in this house, man lives in this house." 
 
 The children enjoy this lesson hugely. 
 
 By and by write easy sentences on the card houses 
 or blackboard houses, one word on a house, e. g., Ned 
 
THE KEY METHOD 2/ 
 
 is a big boy. Let them make out the words and then 
 read the sentence. 
 
 This will delight them and also make them see how 
 the keys will help them to learn to read. 
 
 When they realize this, they will begin to feel the 
 strength of their little wings and will want to fly. The 
 interest in the key lesson will be unbounded. For the 
 height of every child's ambition is to be able to read. 
 And it is right here that you can increase that desire, 
 by reciting beautiful, attractive memory gems, telling 
 and reading interesting stories and never failing to let 
 them know, that when they know their keys and learn 
 how to use them they can find out all the secrets in the 
 beautiful books, and read these same stories and gems 
 for themselves. 
 
 Associate the key work with the reading every time 
 there is an opportunity. 
 
 STEPV. TEACHING THE BLENDING OF TWO 
 OR MORE CONSONANTS. 
 
 There are five subdivisions to this step. Teachers 
 will experience little or no difficulty in teaching a. 
 Blending of consonants with r, e. g. : br, cr, dr, f r, gr, 
 pr, tr, etc. ; b. Blending of consonants with /, e. g. : bl, 
 cl, dl, fl, etc. c. Blending of several consonants, e. g. : 
 spr, str, etc. The children unconsciously do this them- 
 selves and but for the weak ones, no drill would be nec- 
 essary. However, spend but little time on it, as the chil- 
 dren pick it up for themselves. 
 
 In subdivisions c and d, they may possibly meet with 
 some difficulty, it will depend entirely on how well they 
 
28 MECHANICAL PHASE OF READING 
 
 know the long and short sounds of y, and how profi- 
 cient they are in blending sounds. 
 
 Let the children know that you think this is quite 
 a hard step. For they have now arrived at the 
 stage where it amuses them to have you give them some- 
 thing to do zn'hich you think is hard. They like to sur- 
 prise you by showing you how quickly they get it. Do 
 not fail to let them see how much you appreciate their 
 efiforts and rejoice with them in their success. Let them 
 knozv you are proud of them. 
 
 When they have mastered both c and d, write all 
 these keys, by, cy, dy, fy, etc., and see if they can tell 
 you which ones say two things, and what it is they say. 
 
 Add the keys formed in step five to the cardboard 
 cards on the key ring and drill as before. 
 
 STEPS VI AND VIL IN THIS STEP THERE IS 
 A DECIDED GROWTH TOWARD INDE- 
 PENDENCE AS WILL BE SEEN. 
 
 Longer words may now be taken to "find out," as 
 the children say. 
 
 Look thru the blackboard stories you intend to give, 
 also thru the primers you intend to use and select all 
 words from their vocabularies that you will expect the 
 children to use. 
 
 In selecting them, take only words which contain 
 short keys and either single or blended consonants aS 
 taught in steps three and five. Be careful in this, be- 
 cause children must not meet with obstacles in the 
 "finding out" of words, in the shape of unknown keys. 
 The work must be of a steady, logical growith with care- 
 
THE KEY METHOD 29 
 
 ful applications of principles. The child must not 
 be discouraged by meeting with strange keys as his in- 
 terest will wane, just as it does when he is trying to 
 read and is constantly coming in contact with unknown 
 words, which he cannot make out. Do not lose sight of 
 the child in this work or in any other. Place yourself 
 in the child's place and look at things from his stand- 
 point, then you will not be tempted to crowd him in his 
 work. Remember this — "Slow but sure." 
 
 The rapidity and ease with which the children will 
 take hold of the more difficult work, later on, when they 
 are ready for it, will amply repay you for your patience. 
 
 Having selected your words take the simplest ones 
 first to make out. Be sure to have words enough so 
 that there will be one for each child. 
 
 Suppose this to be you list : Fred, draw, spin, shop, 
 drum, drummer, softly. 
 
 Write Fred on the board, tell them you wish some 
 one could see the key to this word-house for you. En- 
 courage them to look from left to right for keys, but 
 should they chance to see the key ed before they do Fr, 
 do not refuse to take it, but gladly accept it. If no one 
 sees the keys, find the hardest one yourself and under- 
 line it carefully, thus, Fred. Someone will be sure to 
 see the next key, which is ed; let him point to it and 
 name it, and the class repeat the name. You will then 
 underline it as you did the first key, thus, Fred. 
 
 Call on someone to tell you both keys, beginning at 
 the left. 
 
 Let class sound the word in concert at least twice 
 and pronounce it, e. g., "Fr-ed, Fred." 
 
 Write the next word, draw, on the board. 
 
 Call for keys ; let one child find, point to, and name 
 
30 MECHANICAL PHASE OF READING 
 
 one ; class repeat it ; teacher underline it ; another child 
 find, point to and name another key ; class repeat it, and 
 teacher underline it ; call on one child to sound it ; while 
 class sounds it and pronounces. 
 
 Repeat this work until all the words are on the 
 blackboard and have all been dealt with alike. 
 
 In a word like softly, it will be marked thus, softly, 
 and sounded s-of-t-ly. 
 
 Hand a pointer to a child and let him pass to the 
 board, point to the first word and as he points to the 
 keys sound the word thus, "Fr-ed, Fred." The next 
 child takes the pointer and pointing to each key, sounds, 
 "dr-aw, draw," and so on down thru the class. 
 
 If a child fails on a word, simply check the word 
 and proceed. At close of word take up the word or 
 words so checked and dispose of them again as you 
 did at first. 
 
 Now write all these words which have been devel- 
 oped in this lesson on the board again, but in different 
 order. Do not mark the keys ; see how many can recog- 
 nize them unmarked. 
 
 Continue work in steps six and seven until you feel 
 sure that your children have sufificient facility to help 
 themselves, then take up the next step. 
 
THE KEY METHOD 3I 
 
 STEP VIII. TEACHING THEM TO SEE THE 
 KEYS WITHOUT HAVING THEM POINT- 
 ED OUT OR UNDERLINED, AND THEN 
 SOUNDING AND PRONOUNCING THE 
 WORD. 
 
 Begin by giving- them simple words like dog, bark, 
 hop,, and tell them to try to see the key and then sound 
 and pronounce the word to themselves, without help. 
 
 Call on someone to sound and pronounce it aloud. 
 
 Take a harder word, e. g., bonnet. 
 
 Work on this step until you feel sure the children 
 are not in any way leaning upon the underlining of 
 keys to help them, then advance to step nine. 
 
 STEP IX. TEACHING OF SIGHT KEYS WHICH 
 
 WILL BE NEEDED IN EARLY READING 
 
 WORK. 
 
 Again go thru the blackboard stories and primers 
 and select all keys which must be learned by sight, 
 which occur in the words of these vocabularies. 
 
 Suppose these keys to be ought, other, ight, ing, oi, 
 etc. 
 
 Present the first four in lists of words, family 
 words. 
 
 In teaching oi, simply recall to the children the key 
 oy, which they learned in step three. Write them to- 
 gether on the blackboard and say, "These two keys 
 
32 MECHANICAL PHASE OF READING 
 
 say the same thing." It will be unnecessary to give a 
 list of words containing oi, simply associate it with oy. 
 Many sight keys can thus be associated and much time 
 saved in the teaching of them, e. g. : ought and aught ; 
 ow and ou ; ay, ai and *ey. In the case of ey say, "This 
 says two things, a and T." 
 
 Teach only as many in each lesson as your class can 
 grasp. Place them on the blackboard in a long row. 
 
 Tell them a story about a great snow-storm where 
 the snow was blown into great drifts on a railroad track 
 between here and Chicago. Tell them how necessary 
 it was for the trains to get thru to Chicago; how 
 all the strongest engines with the strongest snow-plows 
 were brought out ; how hard it was to get thru some 
 drifts and how much harder thru others. Tell them 
 how sometimes an engine would get thru several drifts 
 and then come to one big drift which would be so hard 
 to get thru that the engine would have to back up, take 
 more steam and try again ; and when it did get thru to 
 Chicago, how glad all the people were. 
 
 Draw a long railroad track across the top of the 
 board ; on it write the sight keys. Call the sight keys 
 snow drifts. 
 
 On another board or on a large sheet of paper draw 
 a large engine. 
 
 Let the children play they are engines working their 
 way thru many deep snow drifts. Every child who is a 
 strong enough engine to get thru all the drifts to Chica- 
 go, may have his name written on the cab of the en- 
 gine which was drawn on the board or paper. 
 
 Let each child have the privilege of backing up 
 three times, that is, trying again. If he then fails to get 
 
THE KEY METHOD 33 
 
 thru, another child may try, and he who failed may try 
 again the next day. 
 
 There are many, many games which make this 
 otherwise difficult step of teaching sight keys, easy. 
 Here is one — 
 
 DROP THE KEY 
 
 Arrange class in circle as in Drop the Handkerchief, 
 and conduct the game as in that. Instead of using a 
 handkerchief, drop a card upon which is written a 
 sight key. Drop a different key each time. 
 ■ If a child finds a key behind him, he is to pick it up 
 and quickly naming the key, as "ight," pursue the one 
 who dropped it. If caught, the one who dropped it 
 goes to the center. If a child should find a key behind 
 him and not know its name, he will have to go into the 
 center and work his way out by alertness, as in the or- 
 iginal game of Drop the Handkerchief. 
 
 Another plan is to prepare a number of cardboards 
 6x9 inches ; at the right write or print a sight key, as 
 ight. At the left fasten ten sheets of paper of uniform 
 size, 3x6 inches, onto the cardboard with a paper-fas- 
 tener. On each of the 3x6 papers write or print one of 
 the following ten consonants, f, 1, m, n, r, s, t. 
 
 In using these, first have class name the key at the 
 right, which is on the cardboard. Then quickly call on 
 different members of the class to sound and pronounce 
 each word as vou expose a new consonant or key at the 
 left. 
 
 Aim for accuracy and rapidity. 
 
 First child will say, "f-ight, fight"; next, "1-ight, 
 light" ; "br-ight, bright." 
 
34 MECHANICAL PHASE OF READING 
 
 This device saves much blackboard space and la- 
 bor. 
 
 When the selected sight keys are learned, take step 
 ten. 
 
 STEPX. A'JAKING OUT OF WORDS COM- 
 POSED OF SHORT KEYS, CONSONANT 
 KEYS AND SIGHT KEYS. 
 
 Select words from blackboard stories and primers 
 to be used, being careful to omit any words containing 
 unknown keys. 
 
 Repeat steps six, seven and eight. 
 
 STEP XI. TEACHING THE LONG VOWEL 
 SOUNDS. 
 
 No device is necessary in teaching the long vowel 
 sounds. 
 
 Place the vowels on the board and find out how 
 many know the names of them. Nearly always the 
 children know. Drill on these names, and if you wish, 
 call them the long sounds, in two minutes' time this 
 will be learned. 
 
 Select list of words containing long and short vow- 
 els; as you read them let the children say "long," 
 "short," as the case may be, e. g. : Teacher reads, 
 "bed," Children say, "short sound." Teacher reads, 
 "lace." Children say, "long sound," and so on thru the 
 list. 
 
THE KEY METHOD 
 
 35 
 
 STEP XII. TEACHING THE EFFECT ON THE 
 VOWEL SOUND AND ON THE CONSON- 
 ANTS C, G, AND S, OF A SHORT KEY, 
 WHEN FINAL E IS ADDED. IN OTHER 
 WORDS, THE FORMING OF LONG KEYS. 
 
 Tell the children that when an e is placed at the end 
 of a short key, it makes the vowel stronger and it 
 says its own name, and so the key becomes a long key. 
 Tell them that c, g, and s get stronger too, when final e 
 is added, but not as strong as the vowels, for they get 
 strong enough to say their names plainly, by c, g, and 
 s only get strong enough to say something else, and 
 that this is what they say. Give them these sounds of 
 9, g, and s. 
 
 Drill on sounding all the keys when final e is added, 
 e. g., "a-be, abe ; a-ge, ace ; a-fe, afe." Do not mention 
 silent letters in teaching this. However, later on, when 
 the last step has been taken, reference can be made ta 
 silent letters, but not here. 
 
 Drill thoroly on this step as much depends upon iL 
 
 STEP XIII 
 
 Repeat step ten, only being careful to omit words 
 containing unknown sight keys. 
 
 STEP XIV 
 
 Teach remainder of sight keys and as many of the 
 other sounds which they may have as you see fit and 
 may need in your work. 
 
36 MECHANICAL PHASE OF READING 
 
 1 
 
 For instance, ere says ere in here, it says er in were 
 and air in where. These three sounds will be needed in 
 your work so they must be taught. Teach them to say 
 "here, were, where," afterwards write these words on 
 the board and drill on them, then say "Who can tell me 
 how many things this key e-r-e says?" writing the key 
 on the board. Drill thoroly. 
 
 STEP XV. 
 
 Now the children are ready to cope with any words, 
 and the children love to work them out. The 
 harder and longer the word, the more delight is taken in 
 the work. 
 
 They will become so interested in the work, that 
 the parents become interested and the children fre- 
 quently bring in sentences or words which their pa- 
 rents have written and sent in to be tried by the class. 
 
 Give them daily drills in reviewing all keys from a 
 chart, directions for making of which are given at the 
 end of the pamphlet. Let them make out new words 
 every day ; follow steps 6, 7, and 8, only select any word 
 you wish. Suppose the words to be made out are Mil- 
 waukee, Boston, cancellation, interesting. 
 
 Call for the keys and underline them. When the 
 first word is marked, it will look like this : MHwaukee. 
 
 The third word will look like this : cancell ation. 
 
 The fourth word like this : interesting. 
 
 At this stage of the work children have a tendency 
 to combine short keys into longer keys, and combine 
 vowel sounds with consonant keys, as in the word in- 
 teresting. The key is est. There is no harm in this. 
 
THE KEY METHOD 37 
 
 In the word Boston. If the children give the key 
 on as on, just say "What else does that key say?" and 
 they will say on [un]. 
 
 Action Puzzles form a good game at this time. 
 
 Place several keys on the board and drill on them, 
 as ain, ir, un, ap, etc. Later add other letters and keys 
 to them forming a word; as train, bird, hunt, happy, 
 etc. 
 
 Children must sound a word and pronounce it si- 
 lently, as soon as a child knows it ; then he must try to 
 act it in some way, so as to show the others what the 
 word is. He must not speak the word. 
 
 The others guess what it is and try to find it on the 
 board. 
 
 Do this with all the words. The children love it. 
 
 Give the children columns of words from old news'- 
 papers, books, etc., or kectograph copies for them of 
 lists of words having different keys. Let the children 
 mark these keys for seat work. 
 
 Let them pick out and write all the words they can 
 find containing a certain key. 
 
 When children arrive at this stage in the key work, 
 the reading lesson becomes a joy instead of a dreaded 
 feature. Instead of spending the period in word drills, 
 as is too often the case, the period may be devoted to 
 its true purpose — Reading. Work in expression may 
 be taken up, and the lesson will be full of hitherto un- 
 tasted pleasures. It is surprising, the amount of read- 
 ing material the children will be able to master in a 
 short time. 
 
 By means of a printing press (a $1.50 rubber stamp 
 outfit), which consists of the capital and small letters, 
 large enough to be seen across the room, and which are 
 
38 MECHAlsriCAL PHASE OF READING 
 
 made of rubber and glued to small wooden blocks, by 
 which they may be easily used in connection with an 
 ink pad, the script and print work with the keys may 
 be carried on together. The children thus make the 
 transition from script to print with scarcely an effort; 
 and by the time the keys are all learned they will read 
 print with as much ease as script. 
 
 These printing presses may be obtained from the 
 publishers of this book at a cost of $1.50. They are 
 well worth the money as they can be used in many 
 ways and every school would find one helpful. 
 
 Directions are given here for making a key chart 
 which is just as essential in a school room as books and 
 maps. It is easily made and very convenient; saves 
 blackboard space and much labor. 
 
 The material needed consists of large sheets of 
 strong paper or cardboard, 24x48 inches is the best 
 size. The sheets should either be bound together or 
 holes punched in the upper comers, and suspended by 
 cords. The latter plan is preferable, as the different 
 sheets may then be taken out and drilled upon, and the 
 other sheets hung where they may be used for seat- 
 work, which will be explained later. 
 
 A bottle of black ink and one of red will be needed, 
 also a No. 8 artist's paint brush and a printing press. 
 
 A few pages may be made interesting and attract- 
 ive to children and serve good purpose when drilling 
 on consonant sounds, by sketching a picture, on the 
 chart suggestive of the key used, e. g. ; Sketch an old 
 woman leaning on a cane as she walks, and underneath 
 write the key old in bold script. Use the rubber end of 
 a lead pencil for this if you have no rubber pen. Sketch 
 the old lady in black ink with the artist's brush. 
 
THE KEY METHOD 39 
 
 Now write the key old seven times in a row. Be- 
 fore each one of these keys write in red ink, so that 
 they will better stand out before the children, the con- 
 sonants b, c, f, g, h, s and t. Thus forming a family 
 of words. 
 
 Other pages may be made with an illustration sug- 
 gestive of other keys, as eat, a boy eating from bowl 
 with spoon ; ozifl, an owl on a tree ; oat, a spray of oats. 
 
 In using these pages, sound and pronounce the 
 words, then review just the red consonants. 
 
 Another page which is very useful for the same 
 purpose is called "J^ck and the Beanstalk." 
 
 Draw a long bean vine, place consonsant sounds on 
 the leaves, and let the children play they are Jack and 
 climb to the top, to the giant's castle and down again. 
 As he climbs he must name the consonsants. 
 
 For a drill on all the consonants and the vowels, 
 draw a large circle and write the consonants and vow- 
 els, which represent ponies, all around it. The chil- 
 dren like to play this is a "Merry Go Round" and ride 
 around, sounding each consonant as they go. 
 
 Rule the remaining pages in oblongs and write or 
 print, the print is more desirable, all the keys given 
 here. Print them in the order given. Underline those 
 having more than one sound, as many times as the 
 number of sounds you teach. 
 
40 MECHANICAL PHASE OF READING 
 
 
 
 TABLE OF KEYS 
 
 
 
 
 SHORT KEYS 
 
 
 a 
 
 e 
 
 1 
 
 6 
 
 u 
 
 ab 
 
 eb 
 
 ib 
 
 ob 
 
 ub 
 
 ac 
 ack 
 ad* 
 af 
 
 ec 
 eck 
 
 ed* 
 ef 
 
 ic 
 ick 
 id 
 if 
 
 oc 
 ock 
 od 
 of* 
 
 uc 
 uck 
 ud 
 uf 
 
 ag* 
 al 
 
 eg 
 el 
 
 ig 
 il 
 
 og 
 
 ol 
 
 "g 
 111 
 
 am 
 
 em 
 
 im 
 
 om* 
 
 um 
 
 an 
 
 en 
 
 in 
 
 on* 
 
 un 
 
 ap 
 as* 
 
 ep 
 
 es* 
 
 ip 
 
 is* 
 
 op 
 
 OS* 
 
 up 
 
 us* 
 
 at 
 
 et 
 
 it 
 
 ot 
 
 ut 
 
 av 
 
 ev 
 
 iv 
 
 ov 
 
 uv 
 
 ax 
 
 ex 
 
 ix 
 
 ox 
 
 ux 
 
 az 
 
 ar* 
 aw 
 
 ez 
 
 er* 
 ew 
 
 iz 
 
 ir* 
 
 OZ 
 
 or* 
 ow 
 
 uz 
 ur* 
 
 ay 
 
 ey* 
 
 CONSONANT 
 
 oy 
 
 KEYS 
 
 uy 
 
 br 
 
 cr 
 
 dr 
 
 fr 
 
 gr 
 
 by* 
 
 by* 
 
 ry* 
 
 bl 
 
 tl 
 
 tr 
 
 cy* 
 
 ly* 
 
 sy* 
 
 cl 
 
 wr 
 
 dy* 
 
 mv* 
 
 ty* 
 
 dl 
 
 
 
 fy* 
 ny* 
 vy 
 fl 
 
 gy* 
 py 
 
 gl 
 
THE KEY METHOD 4I 
 
 
 
 LONG 
 
 KEYS 
 
 
 a 
 
 e 
 
 i 
 
 6 
 
 u 
 
 abe 
 ace 
 
 
 ibe 
 ice 
 
 obe 
 oce 
 
 ube 
 uce 
 
 ece 
 
 ade 
 
 ede 
 
 ide 
 
 ode 
 
 ude 
 
 afe 
 
 
 ife 
 
 
 
 age 
 
 
 
 
 uge 
 
 ake 
 
 ale 
 
 ame 
 
 
 ike 
 ile 
 ime 
 
 oke 
 ole 
 
 ome* 
 
 uke 
 ule 
 ume 
 
 
 erne 
 
 ane 
 ape 
 
 ene 
 
 ine 
 ipe 
 
 one* 
 ope 
 
 une 
 
 
 upe 
 
 are* 
 
 ere* 
 
 ire 
 
 ore 
 
 ure 
 
 ase* 
 
 ese 
 
 ise 
 
 ose 
 
 use* 
 
 ate 
 
 ete 
 
 ite 
 
 ote 
 
 ute 
 
 ave* 
 
 eve 
 
 ive 
 
 ove* 
 
 uve 
 
 aze 
 
 eze 
 
 ize 
 
 SIGHT 
 
 oze 
 
 KEYS 
 
 uze 
 
 ow* 
 
 ou* 
 
 ai 
 
 ay 
 
 ey* 
 
 au 
 
 aw 
 
 aught 
 
 ought 
 
 all* 
 
 oy 
 
 oi 
 
 air 
 
 eir 
 
 ere* 
 
 are* 
 
 sh 
 
 ch* 
 
 ph 
 
 gh 
 
 ight 
 
 ite 
 
 ull* 
 
 ass* 
 
 ast 
 
 ng 
 
 tian 
 
 tion 
 
 sion 
 
 ion 
 
 ei 
 
 ee 
 
 ea* 
 
 ease 
 
 ie* 
 
 alk 
 
 qu 
 
 other 
 
 ew 
 
 ue 
 
 ough* 
 
 aid 
 
 alt 
 
 eigh 
 
 igh 
 
 ang 
 
 eng 
 
 ing 
 
 ong* 
 
 ung 
 
 and 
 
 end 
 
 ind* 
 
 ond 
 
 und 
 
 adge 
 
 edge 
 
 idge 
 
 odge 
 
 udge 
 
 ane 
 
 ain 
 
 aist 
 
 aste 
 
 ui 
 
 00* 
 
 ician 
 
 ation 
 
 ition 
 
 able 
 
 ible 
 
 oble 
 
 ubie 
 
 
 
42 MECHANICAL PHASE OF READING 
 
 Some of the following keys have more than one 
 sound, as has been indicated in the table of keys, by 
 the star placed at the right, e. g., ad*, ed*, ag*. Re- 
 member to teach only those you will need in yeur early 
 work. Leave the rest until needed, that is, until you 
 come to a word which contains a key having a sound 
 not previonsly taught. 
 
 1. ad as in bad. 
 ad as in squad. 
 
 2. of as in soft, 
 of as in of. 
 
 3- 
 
 ag as m wag. 
 
 
 ag as in magic. 
 
 4- 
 
 on as in wagon. 
 
 
 on as in Don. 
 
 5- 
 
 as as in has. 
 
 
 as as in past. 
 
 6. 
 
 er as in her. 
 
 
 er as in errand, 
 
 7. 
 
 are as in bare. 
 
 
 are as in are. 
 
 8. 
 
 ere as in here. 
 
 
 ere as in where. 
 
 
 ere as in were. 
 
 9- 
 
 asc as in chase. 
 
 
 ase as in phase, 
 
 :o. 
 
 use as in use. 
 
 
 use as in abuse. 
 
 :i. 
 
 ave as in save. 
 
 
 ave as in have. 
 
 2. 
 
 ove as in love. 
 
 
 ove as in stove. 
 
THE KEY METHOD 43 
 
 13. ome as in home, 
 ome as in some. 
 
 14. one as in one. 
 one as in stone. 
 
 15. aid as in scald. 
 
 16. alt as in salt. 
 
 17. eigh as in weigh. 
 
 18. igh as in high. 
 
 19. ey as in they, 
 ey as in money. 
 
 20. all as in call, 
 all as in shall. 
 
 21. ch as in cheese, 
 ch as in choir 
 
 ch as in Michigan. 
 
 22. uU as in full, 
 ull as in gull. 
 
 23. ie as in niece, 
 ie as in Jennie, 
 ie as in pie. 
 
 24. ough as in though, 
 ough as in rough, 
 ough as in through. 
 
 25. ind as in wind, 
 ind as in bind. 
 
 26. ong as in song, 
 ong as in among. 
 
 27. ass as in grass. 
 
 28. ast as in mast. 
 
44 
 
 MECHANICAL PHASE OF READING 
 
 29. ow as in cow. 
 ow as in throw. 
 
 30. ed as in bed. 
 
 ed as in washed. 
 
 31. ar as in car. 
 
 ar as in Harold. 
 ar as in quarrel. 
 
 32. or as in for. 
 or as in glory. 
 
 33. uy as in buy. 
 
 34. ea as in eat. 
 
 ea as in breast. 
 
 35. ician as in musician. 
 
 36. by as in baby, 
 by as in by. 
 
 37. cy as in fancy, 
 cy as in cypress. 
 
 58. dy as in dye. 
 dy as in candy. 
 
 39. fy as in taffy, 
 fy as in defy. 
 
 40. sy as in Topsy. 
 sy as in noisy. 
 
 41- ry as in sorry. 
 42. gy as in buggy. 
 
 gy as in Gyp. 
 43- ou as in sour. 
 
 ou as in trouble. 
 
 L.J- 
 
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