Hello, friends! I’m Jack Hartmann, and today I have a special friend with me, Katie Garner. Katie is a teacher and the author of Secret Stories®: Cracking the Reading Code. We are going to have so much fun learning letter sounds together!
Hi there! I’m Katie, and you might remember me from the Better Alphabet Song with Jack. Today, Jack is going to sing the Secret Stories® Letter Run Song Challenge. We will practice saying the letter sounds really fast! Are you ready to join us?
Listen carefully and say the letter sounds with us. Try your best and sing along!
/a/ /b/ /c/ /d/ /e/ /f/ /g/ /h/ /i/ /j/ /k/ /l/ /m/ /n/ /o/ /p/ /q/ /r/ /s/ /t/ /u/ /v/ /w/ /x/ /y/ /z/
Great job! Now, let’s try to go faster:
/a/ /b/ /c/ /d/ /e/ /f/ /g/ /h/ /i/ /j/ /k/ /l/ /m/ /n/ /o/ /p/ /q/ /r/ /s/ /t/ /u/ /v/ /w/ /x/ /y/ /z/
Even faster now:
/a/ /b/ /c/ /d/ /e/ /f/ /g/ /h/ /i/ /j/ /k/ /l/ /m/ /n/ /o/ /p/ /q/ /r/ /s/ /t/ /u/ /v/ /w/ /x/ /y/ /z/
Super-duper fast:
/a/ /b/ /c/ /d/ /e/ /f/ /g/ /h/ /i/ /j/ /k/ /l/ /m/ /n/ /o/ /p/ /q/ /r/ /s/ /t/ /u/ /v/ /w/ /x/ /y/ /z/
Did you keep up with us? You did an amazing job saying all 26 letter sounds! You should be very proud of yourself. You completed the Letter Sound Challenge Song!
Want to try something different? We can change the sounds to make them long instead of short. For example, we can say /ā/ instead of /ă/. We can even sing the sounds backwards!
Playing with sounds helps us understand how letters work together to make words. This is important for reading and writing.
Guess what? There’s more to learn! Sometimes letters make different sounds when they are together. These are called Secret Stories®. They are like little secrets that help us read and write better!
Keep practicing and have fun with your letter sounds. You’re doing great!
Sound Hunt: Go on a sound hunt around your home or classroom! Find objects that start with different letter sounds. For example, look for an apple for the /a/ sound or a book for the /b/ sound. Can you find something for each letter sound? Share your findings with a friend or family member and practice saying the sounds together.
Sound Matching Game: Create a set of cards with pictures of objects and another set with letters. Mix them up and try to match each picture with the correct letter sound. For example, match a picture of a cat with the letter ‘C’. This game will help you remember the sounds each letter makes!
Secret Sound Stories: Make up a short story using words that start with the same letter sound. For example, “Sally the snake slithered silently.” Try using different sounds for each story. Share your story with your classmates or family and see if they can guess the letter sound you used!
Sure! Here’s a sanitized version of the transcript:
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Hi everyone, I’m Jack Hartmann. I’d like you to meet a dedicated educator and friend of mine, Katie Garner.
Hi everybody, my name is Katie Garner, and you may remember me from the Better Alphabet Song that I did with Jack. I’m the author of Secret Stories®: Cracking the Reading Code, and I’m excited because today Jack is going to sing the Secret Stories® Letter Run Song Challenge. He is going to see how fast you can sing the letter sounds without the letter names, and we’re going to go faster and faster!
At the end of this video, I’m going to explain why this is so important to becoming a good reader and writer, and I’m also going to share some secrets that will help too. So stay tuned!
Look, listen, and say out loud the letter sounds one by one. Do your best and sing out strong. Get ready for the Letter Sound Challenge Song!
Let’s do the letter runs:
/a/ /b/ /c/ /d/ /e/ /f/ /g/ /h/ /i/ /j/ /k/ /l/ /m/ /n/ /o/ /p/ /q/ /r/ /s/ /t/ /u/ /v/ /w/ /x/ /y/ /z/
Now I never will forget, these are the sounds of the alphabet.
Get ready, let’s go faster:
/a/ /b/ /c/ /d/ /e/ /f/ /g/ /h/ /i/ /j/ /k/ /l/ /m/ /n/ /o/ /p/ /q/ /r/ /s/ /t/ /u/ /v/ /w/ /x/ /y/ /z/
Now I never will forget, these are the sounds of the alphabet.
Now even faster:
/a/ /b/ /c/ /d/ /e/ /f/ /g/ /h/ /i/ /j/ /k/ /l/ /m/ /n/ /o/ /p/ /q/ /r/ /s/ /t/ /u/ /v/ /w/ /x/ /y/ /z/
Now I never will forget, these are the sounds of the alphabet.
Now super-duper fast:
/a/ /b/ /c/ /d/ /e/ /f/ /g/ /h/ /i/ /j/ /k/ /l/ /m/ /n/ /o/ /p/ /q/ /r/ /s/ /t/ /u/ /v/ /w/ /x/ /y/ /z/
Now I never will forget, these are the sounds of the alphabet.
Wow, did you do it? We had fun, and you should be proud! You said 26 letter sounds. You did your best and said them strong. You completed the Letter Sound Challenge Song!
So how did it go? Were you able to keep up with Jack? It’s pretty tricky, isn’t it? And believe it or not, we can make it even harder! All we have to do is switch it up. We can change the vowels out so that they’re long instead of short:
/ā/ /b/ /c/ /d/ /ē/ /f/ /g/ instead of /ă/ /b/ /c/ /d/ /ĕ/ /f/ /g/.
We can change the tune, we can even sing it backwards! All of the ways we play with it deepen our understanding of the sound-symbol relationships that we need to read and write and build that automaticity.
But believe it or not, the individual letter sounds are only half of the game. The other half is knowing what letters say when they get together and don’t make those sounds. And those are the Secret Stories®.
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Let me know if you need any further modifications!
