Mnemonic letters: what they are and why they work

Imagine you are a child who knows nothing about letters or reading. The first thing your brain must learn is the shape of the letters and the corresponding sound that they make. This is a very abstract concept for little minds which makes it very difficult to commit to memory. There’s added confusion because the shapes of the letters (e.g., b/d) and the sounds they make (e.g., the vowel sound in sit vs. set) can easily be confused. A method that has been shown to substantially improve letter-sound learning is the use of mnemonic letters (Ehri, 2020).

To help learners learn the associations between letters and their sounds, we often see the letter paired with a picture of a keyword that starts with that sound. Think A with a picture of an alligator next to it. This is effective for many kids. However, an even better method has been studied where the shape of the letter and the keyword are all in one image. For example, the uppercase A has a clear A shape and embedded within its shape is an alligator. When letters are shaped like the objects starting with their sound, letter sound learning improves and transfers more readily to reading and spelling words.

Mnemonic letters are powerful tools to help kids link a letter’s shape with the sound it makes. When embedded mnemonic letters are used, letter knowledge is mastered more quickly, with less confusion, is not as easily forgotten over time, and increases performance on reading and spelling words (Shmidman & Ehri, 2010). Although we can’t be sure of exactly why they are so beneficial, researchers think that the embedded mnemonics make letters, and their sounds, more strongly secured in memory which then makes applying this knowledge to reading and writing much easier for learners (Shmidman & Ehri, 2010).

How can I use mnemonic letters to teach my child?

The key thing to remember is that we are focusing on the letter SHAPE and its SOUND. The letter name is not the focus here. Many times, the letter name starts with a different sound (think the names of the letters C and M) and further confuses the learner.

The more opportunities the child has to hear the sound, see the letter, say the sound, and write the shape of the letter, the more easily the knowledge will get stored in their memory.

Here are two activities you can do‍

Tap the letter-sound

Choose 2-3 letters that the child doesn’t know well yet. Place the mnemonic letters in front of the child. Review the letter sound and the key word embedded in the letter with the child. Then say «I’m going to say a sound and you tap the letter that makes the sound I say». Randomly say the sounds and give the child time to tap the letter. If they need help, say the sound again and say the keywords, asking the child to listen for the sound at the beginning, drawing the sound out if you can. You might say «do you hear a at the beginning of aaaaalligator or eeeeexplore? ». To make it even more fun, you can have a child point with a magic wand or slap the letter with a (clean!) fly swatter. Once they identify the correct letter, have them write the letter on a whiteboard, sticky note, or any paper!
‍

Say the letter-sound

Similar to above, choose 2-3 letters that the child doesn’t know well yet. Place the mnemonic letters in front of the child and have a whiteboard or piece of paper and pencil available. Review the letter sound and the key word embedded in the letter with the child. Then say, «I wrote this letters lots of times and I want you to say the sound that goes with each letter. If you can’t remember, look at the letters with the pictures inside to help you think of the sound.» On your paper or whiteboard, write the letters in a random sequence (e.g., a e a a e e a e). The child points and names the sound that goes with the letter. If your child finds it fun and motivating, you can have them name the series of sounds 2-3 times and use a timer to see which time they name the letter sounds the fastest.

Super Secret Code to the rescue!

We are working hard to have a set of bilingual embedded mnemonic letters for you to purchase and use at home. Join our waitlist to stay up to date on our progress!

References

Ehri, L., (2020). The Science of Learning to Read Words: A Case for Systematic Phonics Instruction, Reading Research Quarterly, 55(S1), pp. S45-S60.

Shmidman, A., Ehri, L., (2010). Embedded Picture Mnemonics to Learn Letters, Scientific Studies of Reading, 14(2), pp. 159-182.