Printable guide · ages 9–10

Sounds and Texts with Hece

Each lesson has four short pages, three tasks and one new task. The English pages use English words and the Turkish pages use Turkish words; neither is a translation of the other, because the two languages spell and sound differently. This set is practice, not a reading or hearing test.

Materials: The screen is enough. Optional: a pencil to tap out syllables on paper. Nothing is typed, recorded, photographed or shared.

Open the lessons

What to notice

Watch whether the child says the word or sentence aloud and checks each part before choosing.

How did you decide which part of the word, or which mark, was right?

Lesson 1

Find the spelling pattern

Goal: Finds a sound or spelling rule that repeats across several words and applies it to a new word.

Test a pattern on several words. A child who finds a rule in one word should check two more before trusting it.

Starting point: Write two plural pairs on paper: box and boxes, then bus and buses.
A helpful phrase: “Does this rule work for a third word? Which word breaks it?”
A common mix-up: A plural that looks right in one language can be wrong in the other, so check each language on its own page.
Notice the transfer: Turkish plurals follow vowel harmony. English plurals follow the spelling of the word.

Show: Build the plural of “dish”: put the word and the ending in their places.

Lesson 2

Find the syllable break

Goal: Counts the vowel sounds in a word and uses them to find its syllables.

Count vowels, not letters. Each syllable has one vowel sound, so the number of vowels gives the number of syllables.

Starting point: Clap the syllables of “pencil” and “sunflower” with the child, then compare the claps with the vowels.
A helpful phrase: “Where does the word break? Say it slowly.”
A common mix-up: A consonant alone does not make a syllable. Count the vowels, not the consonants.
Notice the transfer: English spelling often hides syllables, so listen to the sound rather than the letters.

Show: Build “caterpillar” from its syllables, in the right order.

Lesson 3

Know the word parts

Goal: Separates a base from an added part and says what the added part does.

Ask what each part adds. A base keeps a meaning on its own; an ending or prefix changes it.

Starting point: Take “teacher” and “gardener” and split each one into its base and its ending.
A helpful phrase: “Does the base mean something on its own? What does the ending add?”
A common mix-up: Some word endings are not word parts, as in “corner”. Check the meaning before you split.
Notice the transfer: Turkish endings come after the base. English also uses prefixes such as un-.

Show: Build “player”: put the base first and the ending last.

Lesson 4

Find meaning from context

Goal: Chooses the meaning of a word with several meanings from the sentence around it.

A word with several meanings needs the words around it. Ask what the sentence is about before a meaning is chosen.

Starting point: Say “bank” and “ring” aloud, and write two meanings of each on paper.
A helpful phrase: “Which words near it tell you the meaning?”
A common mix-up: A meaning that fits one sentence may not fit another. Check each sentence on its own.
Notice the transfer: Some words look the same but mean different things. Each language has its own examples.

Show: Sort each sentence by the meaning of “ring”.

Lesson 5

Punctuation changes meaning

Goal: Names what a sentence does from its final mark: a question, a statement or strong feeling.

A mark changes the job of a sentence. Ask what the sentence is doing, not only what its words are.

Starting point: Write “Are you coming?” and “You are coming.” on paper and read both aloud.
A helpful phrase: “What did your voice do at the end of each sentence?”
A common mix-up: A mark changes what a sentence does. Ask what the sentence is doing, not only what the words are.
Notice the transfer: In Turkish, a question often uses “mi”, and the marks show the kind of sentence. In English, a question often changes the word order.

Show: Sort these three sentences by what they do.

Lesson 6

Find the main idea

Goal: Separates the main idea of a paragraph from the details that support it.

The main idea is the point of the whole paragraph. A detail can be true and still not be the main idea.

Starting point: Read a short paragraph aloud and say its main idea in one sentence.
A helpful phrase: “Which sentence covers the others? Which sentence is one small detail?”
A common mix-up: A title can name a detail. Check that the title covers the whole paragraph.
Notice the transfer: Use the same test in both languages: the main idea is the one that explains all the other sentences.

Show: Read: “Cats sleep for much of the day. They are most active at night and at dawn.” What is the main idea?

Lesson 7

Infer with text evidence

Goal: Makes a conclusion the text supports, and says which clue leads to it.

An inference needs a clue from the text. Ask for the clue before accepting any conclusion.

Starting point: Read two sentences about a wet floor and ask what might have caused it.
A helpful phrase: “What did you read that makes you think that? Is there another reason?”
A common mix-up: A guess with no clue is not an inference. A clue that fits two explanations does not prove either one.
Notice the transfer: Check an inference against the text. Ask which words in the text support it.

Show: Someone knocked at the door. The table was set, and a voice called, “Welcome!” What can you infer?

Lesson 8

Order the events

Goal: Puts events in time order, even when the text does not give them in that order.

Ask what happened first before asking what happened last. Words such as “before” and “after” can change the order you read in.

Starting point: Tell a short day, such as breakfast, park and sleep, and ask the child to retell it in order.
A helpful phrase: “Which happened first? Which happened last? How do you know?”
A common mix-up: The order of the words in a sentence is not always the order of events.
Notice the transfer: A summary keeps the beginning and the end, and leaves out small events.

Show: Put the dinner party in order: what comes first, next and last?

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