Learning the Consonants Using the Fuller Approach to Teaching Beginning Reading

Updated: 17 May 2020

There are many approaches and strategies on teaching word attack skills, one of the strategies for word recognition in English is the use of the Fuller Technique. The Fuller technique is one of the components of the Four-Pronged Approach to teaching beginning reading. This technique is a fusion of the alphabet, phonics and whole word methods of word recognition.

Pre-requisites Before Teaching The Fuller Technique

Before using the Fuller Technique, the child must show the following skills:

1) The child has mastery of the name and form of each alphabet. The child can identify which letters are vowels and which letters are consonants.

2) The child has mastery of the regular sounds of the consonants.

The following sequence is recommended in teaching the consonant sounds.

The sequence is based on the frequency of the use of consonants in the English language.

Sequence of Teaching the Letters in the Fuller Approach

The first letter that we teach is letter Mm

followed by Ss, Ll, Ff, Tt and so on. When introduce a letter, we show first words that begin with the target letter. And then, we sound out the target letter. Next is that we show how the target letter is formed. We demonstrate how to write the target letter in different multi-sensory ways. Last is we give exercises to reinforce the target letter.

1. Mm

2. Ss

3. Ll

4. Ff

5. Tt

6. Hh

7. Cc (k)

8. Rr

9. Nn

10. Bb

11. Gg (go)

12. Pp

13. Dd

14. Jj

15. Ww

16. Vv

17. Zz

18. Yy

Here are some things we need to remember:

Consonants C and G have two sounds, only the hard sound of these consonants are introduced to the beginning reader (e.g c as in cat, g as in gate).

Consonants X, K, Q are not in the above list. X is a final sound in all beginning reading words (e.g mix, fix, six, ax); the sound of x is taught when these words are introduced.

K has the same sound as the regular sound of C. The beginning readers are almost often confused when the sound of K is introduced. There are few beginning words that start in k (e.g kit, kitten, king). The sound of Q is not introduced this early because again this confuses the child with the c sound. There are no beginning reading words that start with Q and it is always followed by U (e.g queen, quilt, quiz).

A Sample Target Lesson, Letter Mm.

Step 1:

First important important step is vocabulary development.  Show names that start with the letter Mm e.g man, mug, mat, mom, etc.

Step 2:

Introduce the letter sound.  Our target letter is Mm.

Sound it out! The sound of letter Mm is “mmm”.

Show the pictures and let’s name the pictures again.

Step 3:

Introduce/ review the letter form- Demonstrate how to write the Big M and the small m. Show how to write the capital M and the small m properly.

Using his imagination, start by asking your child to write the letter on Mm air (use big movements), on the floor, on his palm.  Ask him to write on mommy’s back.  Then write on the board and next on paper (notice: gross motor skills to fine motor skills).

Step 4:

Exercises/ games/ contests:  For example, show a Bingo Card with pictures that all start with the sound of Mm. Show a target pattern. Say the word with emphasis on the beginning sound. Ask the child to identify the pictures.  If he completes the given pattern, he can say “Bingo!”

Make sure the games are exciting since a child learns best through play.

What We Need to Remember

1. Start each lesson with a review of the previous consonant learned.

2. The difficulty increases with each lesson.

3. Mastery of new words must be done through a fun way–games, exercises, contests will surely interest a young child.

4. The child must be exposed to lots of kinds of books before working with letters and words.