Lesson Plan
Instructions for Letter and Word Reversal Correction
(Seeing Similarities and Differences)

Materials:

Use any or all of the following.
The worksheet, Mind Your p's and q's.
Your own 3 x 5 cards
Plastic or paper letters

Background Information:
Similarities - Differences Training Program by Betsy B. Lee.

Two of the Fundamentals:

• Concepts of Alike (the Same) and Different:

  It is important to be sure the child focuses on the correct question as you teach similarities - differences. If the child gives an accurate difference when asked for a similarity, say, "Yes, that is how one is different, but how are all of them alike?" If the child gives an accurate similarity when asked for a difference, say, "Yes, that is how they are alike, but how is one of them different? How is it not the same?"

  Children recognize differences much more easily than they recognize similarities. Both are essential for reading.

• A Solid Concept of Left and Right.

  Use memory cues to establish concepts of left and right. Some children don't fully understand when you tell them to begin a word at the left. Some have trouble training the eyes to move from left to right on the printed page.

Make cards with lower case letters. Start with letters which are easily distinguished. Advance to ones which are often reversed or seen upside-down. Include some numbers that are similar to letters such as
S S 8 S S.

Each card has one letter repeated three times and one different letter. Be sure there are only four letters on a card. Vary the position of the letter which is different.

Letters

Examples:
h w w w,     y y k y,     s s s t,     b b d b,     p q p p,
g p p p,     z z z s,     u n n n,     q q g q,     w w w m

For each group of four letters, ask these questions.
"How are all of these alike? How are they the same?"
Acceptable answers include these.
They are letters. (This answer is concrete but accurate.)
They are lower case letters.
Each one has a circle at the bottom of a line.
Each one has a circle at the top of a line.

Then ask, "Which one is different?"
"How is it different?" Encourage children to describe the letters as well as name them. This reinforces the concept of how one is different from the others.

Acceptable answers include these.
The line starts here and goes down for these letters.
The line starts here and goes left for these letters.
This is a q and those are p's.

Words

Make cards with words using lower case letters because this is the way words are usually written. Start with words which are easily distinguished. Advance to words which childred often reverse.

Each card has one word repeated three times and one different word. Be sure there are only four words on a card. Vary the position of the word which is different.

Examples:
play play play day,     blue red red red,
one two one one,     green green yellow green
saw saw was saw,     pat tap tap tap,     on no on on,     big big big dig,    
top pot top top,     tub but tub tub,     not not not ton,     net net net ten

For each group of four words, ask these questions.
"How are all of these alike? How are they the same?"
Acceptable answers include these.
They have letters.
Each word has all or some of the same letters. (This is an important observation.)
All of them are words. (This answer is concrete but accurate.)
All of them are counting words.
All of them are names of colors.
At this point, you are only asking for similarities.

Then ask, "Which one is different?"
"How is it different?" Encourage children to describe the words as well as name them.
This reinforces the concept of how one is different from the others.

Acceptable answers include these.
The same letters are in different places.
Three words start with the same letter.
This word is ___ . The other words are ___ .
This word begins with ___ . The other words begin with ___ .
One word (point or pronounce) starts with this letter.
The other words end with this letter.