Using Letter Tiles to Teach Reading and Spelling
Color-coded letter tiles are a fantastic way to help your child learn to read and spell! Whether you’re using the Letter Tiles app or the physical letter tiles, letter tiles enable your child to quickly and easily grasp new concepts.
Here’s a short video demonstrating how letter tiles can be used to teach reading and spelling. This particular lesson from All About Spelling teaches when to use K and when to use CK at the end of a word.
Do you see how easy that concept was for our student to understand? Letter tiles are awesome!
7 Benefits of Using Letter Tiles
Whether you use the Letter Tiles app or the physical letter tiles, the benefits to your child are the same.
- Letter tiles help you explain reading and spelling concepts very clearly.
Concepts and ideas become something your child can see and manipulate.
- The different colors help students visualize the different roles that letters have.
In the video above, for example, colored tiles helped Oliver distinguish between vowels and consonants.
- Your child can try out the rules and see how they work.
With letter tiles, concepts are no longer abstract or difficult to understand.
- Letter tiles hold a child’s attention…
…especially a child who has attention issues or auditory processing difficulties.
- Mistakes are no big deal.
It’s much easier to exchange tiles than to erase and rewrite a word.
- Letter tiles make it easier to stay on task for longer periods of time…
…especially for younger kids who are still developing fine motor skills and for whom writing is more tiresome.
- Letter tiles lay the groundwork for the accomplishment of bigger goals.
Letter tiles don’t take the place of spelling words with paper and pencil. Instead, they act as a fantastic learning tool that will enable your student to learn to spell more quickly and accurately, helping him get to the real goal: writing.
Color Coding Makes Learning Easier
Color coding makes it easy for students to see the role that each type of letter plays in a word. For example, consonants are blue, vowels are red, and phonograms representing the sound of /er/ (such as ER, IR, and UR) are purple. The chart below shows all our letter tile colors.
Letter Tiles App or Physical Tiles—Which Should I Choose?
You can’t go wrong with either the Letter Tiles app or the physical tiles. They are both great options! Here are some considerations to help you decide:
With the Letter Tiles app:
- It’s easy to capitalize words
- You can hear the sounds of the phonograms as you teach
- No more worries about lost letter tiles
- Lessons are easy to teach “on the go”
- Need to switch between students? No problem! Simply select your current lesson in All About Reading or All About Spelling and you’re ready to begin.
The Letter Tiles app has been our most requested product of all time, but the physical letter tiles have devoted fans as well.
With the physical letter tiles:
- No tablet is required to complete the lessons
- Larger tiles are easy to read
- It’s easy to incorporate hands-on alphabetizing practice
- Tricky word parts can be highlighted with markers
- Timeless and traditional educational tool
As you’re deciding between the app and the physical tiles, consider which option would be the most engaging to your child. Which one would your child want to use? Some clues to consider: Does my child prefer colored pencils, or does she like computer games? Is my child used to learning from technology, or is he more comfortable with traditional methods of learning? Does she prefer to read paper books or eBooks?”
And be sure to consider your preferences as well. Do you like the larger format of the magnetic white board? Do you have a place to store the board, or are you attracted to the compact nature of the app?
The bottom line is that teaching and learning will be the same no matter which option you choose. What’s most important is that you have a way to teach the concepts and your child has an enjoyable way to practice and experiment. The physical letter tiles and the Letter Tiles app both provide interactive methods that make spelling and reading concepts more concrete for your child.
Additional Resources for the Letter Tiles App
The Letter Tiles app is intuitive and easy to use. Here are two videos to show you the basic and advanced features.
Basic Features:
Advanced Features:
Where to Get the Letter Tiles App
Follow these links to purchase the Letter Tile app:
Additional Resources If You Use Physical Letter Tiles
How to Set Up Your Letter Tiles
You can use your letter tiles on a table, but it is much easier to use a magnetic white board. You can get magnetic white boards at stores such as Walmart or Staples. Two feet by three feet is a good size because it will hold all the tiles while still allowing work space in the center of the board.
When you first set up your magnetic white board, you’ll only include the tiles that have already been introduced. You don’t want to clutter up your board with tiles that your student hasn’t learned yet. If you are just starting out in Level 1, then, your set-up will look like this:
By the time you get to the end of
All About Reading or
All About Spelling, your board will contain all the
phonograms:
Here at All About Learning Press, we know that even in the most careful households, letter tiles sometimes disappear. But don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. Here’s Rachel with all the details!
How about you? Do you use physical letter tiles or our new letter tiles app? I’d love to hear about it in the comments below!
Renee
says:I am looking for digital tiles that show common syllable pattern so my students can practice combining syllables to create words. I want to use this to enhance teaching how to use syllable patterns to help decode words. Does your product offer this syllable format?
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceRenee,
Interesting question. No, the Letter Tiles for Learning app does not include tiles with common syllables. Rather, the focus is phonograms. So while there is no tile for “con” (you would have to use the c, o, and n tiles), there is a tile for “igh” (as in high and fight).
Our Top Tips for Using the Letter Tiles App blog post has a couple of videos so you can get a better idea of what the app is like. Our How to Teach Phonograms blog post will show the phonograms you will see in the app.
I hope this helps. Let me know if you have additional questions.
Kristin Deanne
says:We received our level 2 materials. They are beautiful. It already feels bittersweet this curriculum ends with level 4!
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceThank you, Kristin!
Earlene M Sorrells
says:awesome
angela eagle
says:my granddaughter just turned four and this would be a great thing for her to advance her reading
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceSounds great, Angela! We have plenty on our blog for preschoolers as well.
Melanie
says:My son loves spelling with the tiles a lot more than writing the words!
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceGlad to hear your son enjoys the tiles so much, Melanie! Thank you.
Maryam
says:Hello,
I appreciate this article, such a beneficial and easier way to reinforce learning for kids with developmental delays!
My son is developmentally delayed and he needs a lot of multisensory reinforcement to help words to stick in his memory. Letter tiles certainly looks like a plus!
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceThe letter tiles are very helpful for those with disabilities and delays, Maryam!
Amie Smith
says:My 6 year old using AAR 1 prefers the physical tiles right now. It’s such a great way to make lessons more fun! It will be interesting to see if she will want to use the app as she gets older, my hunch is she will!
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceI’m glad we have options that will work with your child’s changing needs as she gets older, Amie!
Melissa
says:I love the letter times for my son. Whenever he struggles with a word, we use the tiles and it helps pronounce the right sounds in the right order! It also breaks up reading practice for repetition!
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceIt sounds like the Letter Tiles are working exactly as they should for your son, Melissa! Wonderful!
Meissa
says:I absolutely love the letter tiles! My son’s 5 and the hands on component of the tiles fits his learning style perfectly. Plus he loves using the tiles to show his dad what he’s learned!
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceMeissa,
I love that your son uses the tiles to show his dad what he has learned! That’s a great way to reinforce learning and make it really stick.
Jill
says:I am trying to decide if I should get the letter tiles or the app. If I purchase the app can I download it on more than 1 tablet? I have 4 kids that will be using this program and it would be great if I could be teaching on 1 and another could be practicing on the other. Also if I need to update my tablet because it breaks, etc. would I need to repurchase the app?
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceJill,
If all of your tablets are the same kind of device (for example, all iPads) and the app store accounts on each are the same or are connected through “Family Share”, then you can purchase the app once and install it on all the tablets. If your tablet breaks and you purchase a new tablet of the same type (types are iPad, Android, or Amazon), as long as you set up the new tablet with the same app store account you won’t have to repurchase to install the app on the new tablet.
Unfortunately, one app store purchase cannot transfer to another type of app store. So, if you have different types of devices (say an Android and a Kindle), you would need to purchase for each type of device. The programming that makes it work is different for each type.
Is this clear?
Jill
says:Yes this is clear. Thank you so much for answering my questioning! We have mostly all Android except for one Amazon device (which we do not like) that was given to us. We will probably purchase the app. I like being able to take it with us when we go! Thank you so much!
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceYou’re welcome, Jill! I’m glad this was helpful. Let me know if you need anything else.
Kim Renee Brown
says:We are using the letter tiles for AAR and AAS and find them very helpful.
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceWonderful to hear, Kim.
Darby Carel
says:I feel like all of the different colors really help!
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceI agree, Darby! Grouping types of phonograms into colors allows them to organized together more easily in a student’s mind. It has to do with building mental schemas.
Sara
says:What a useful Idea! Going to have to think of this, figure out how it will work for my little learners.
Amanda Ruth
says:The letter tiles were a game-changer for my son. He became frustrated with having to “clean-up” the physical tiles every time we had a spelling lesson and we both lived in constant fear of his younger sister getting access to the board and messing them all up! The loves the speed and interaction of the app.
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceI’m glad the app is working out so well for you, Amanda! Thanks for sharing.
Christi H
says:We use the app and I love that I don’t have little pieces everywhere and that I can easily do spelling on the go.
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceWonderful to hear that the app is working out well for you, Christi!
Angela
says:We use the physical tiles on our kitchen table…it has really helped my children get better at alphabetizing!
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceI’m glad the physical tiles are working out so well for your children, Angela! Working on alphabetizing is one great benefit of the physical tiles.
Tabitha
says:We use the physical tiles and love them!
Maria Karagianni
says:I will try it with the tiles, and I must first read how to teach alphabetizing!!! Thank you for sharing all this!!!
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceDid you see our How to Teach Alphabetizing blog post, Maria?
Joy MacKenzie
says:We use the manipultive tiles all the time— they are a great tool.
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceI’m glad the tiles are such a great tool for you, Joy! Thank you.
Candace
says:My son has fun moving the tiles around and trying to make new words. I like that it’s a low pressure way for him to explore, and he doesn’t feel bad if he makes a mistake.
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceWhat a great benefit of the tiles, Candace! I love that they are low pressure for your son.
Amanda
says:I love the idea of the app, I just wish there was a way for them to get the alphabetical order practice. Any ideas of how to get that without the physical tiles they have to organize each day?
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceAmanda,
An easy way to work on alphabetizing is to use the yellow phonogram cards instead of the letter tiles. They are easy to shuffle and scramble too! Also, feel free to help with the alphabetizing. You can do every other letter or each work on sections of the alphabet. Sometimes it can seem overwhelming to a child to do this on his own.
Our article on How to Teach Alphabetizing has more information and some activities you can use.
Other ideas:
Sing the alphabet song as you work on putting the phonogram cards in order. You can also give your child a fun pointer stick. As you both sing the alphabet song, your child should point to each letter as it is sung. Or, you say a letter, then they say and point to the next letter.
Another activity: lay out 4-6 phonogram cards. You call out a letter, and your child has to find and call out the following letter. If they get it right, they get to keep the card. For example, you might say “c,” and your child has to say and find “d.” Do this one with just a few letters at a time, rather than the whole alphabet. It’s more challenging to do this than to go through the entire alphabet in order, and a child may still need to recite the song to do this.
8 Ways to Use Refrigerator Magnets has some ideas that can work well for practicing alphabetical order. For example, for alphabet soup, your child could try to put the letters in the pan or pull them out in alphabetical order.
Swatting Phonograms activity. Have your child “swat” letters on phonogram cards as they recite the alphabet. You can also use the swatter for some pointer games (you say a letter, your child swats the next one).
Make a cookie alphabet together. Let your child help make some of the letters and bake the cookies. Then eat a few, “You can eat the cookie that comes after ‘f.’” And so on.
Sherry Baluch
says:We love the physical tiles! We haven’t used the letter tiles app yet.
maria gentry
says:What a great resource!
Steph
says:We love the letter tiles app! We have been more consistent in getting our spelling and reading done with it!
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceGreat to hear, Steph! Thank you.
Hope Rodrigues
says:Does the letter tiles app need an internet connection to work or does it work offline?
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceGreat question, Hope.
No, the Letters Tile app does not require internet connection after it has been initially installed.
Mike
says:I started with the whiteboard and will always love it, but I recently bought the Letter Tiles app for convenience and variety. It’s great, but I have one concern. In the All About Spelling program, students and teachers are instructed to segment words by pulling the color tokens and ultimately the letter tiles DOWN, or towards themselves. In the Letter Tiles app, all the letter tiles are fixed to the bottom of the screen. You can only push them (or click them) upwards, which is frustratingly opposite the methods used in the books. Is there a way to move the tiles to the top of the screen that I’m not aware of? If not, any chance the app can be updated to allow that configuration? Thanks!
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceMike,
Good question!
The directionality of moving the tiles is purely functional, depending on what works best in each situation. With the physical letter tiles, it is easier to have the letter tiles at the top of the board so the student’s arm doesn’t accidentally swipe the letter tiles off the board.
There isn’t anything special about “pulling down” or “bringing up.” In fact, when you get to higher levels, you’ll discover that many physical tiles are pulled from the right or left of the whiteboard and not from above.
On the app, our test users felt that there was less visual clutter and it was easier to use if we put the tile storage area at the bottom of the screen.
I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have additional questions.
Humera
says:Great I love it!
For my kids reading long vowel sounds; ee -ea -ei is now clear. But when it is a time to write what is a rule which combination is coming?
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceGood question, Humera. However, there are 9 ways to spell the long E sound, but there are only a few rules or clues for when to use which way (the 9 ways are E, E-consonant-E, EE, EA, I, Y, EI, IE, and EY).
One clue is that the E-consonant-E spelling is rare. A few pretty common words use it (here, complete, Steve), but otherwise, it’s pretty rare.
Another is that the most common way to spell the long E sound at the end of a multiple-syllable word is Y. It’s not the only way, but it is much more common than other ways.
Another clue is for EI versus IE. “If the sound is E, it’s I before E except after C.” Note, this rule only applies to the long E sound (thus, the word “neighbor” and others are not exceptions because they do not have the long E sound). There are 10 common exceptions to this poem rule, and All About Spelling teaches them in two silly sentences. (The common exceptions are Keith, Sheila, seize, leisure, weird, sheik, neither, either, protein and caffeine.)
Otherwise, there are no rules or patterns for when to use which phonogram for spelling the long E sound.
Therefore, the best way to approach teaching how to spell the long E sound is a little bit at a time. Teach just one way and then give the student a lot of practice and time to work on that way before teaching the next way. All About Spelling does this. The first way to spell the long E sound is taught at the end of Level 1, and it isn’t until Level 5 that the ninth way is introduced, and the concept is reviewed in Level 6. Since the child has lots of practice with each way to spell the sound before learning the next one, confusion misspellings are greatly reduced.
I hope this helps some. It is a tricky issue for many students!
Marjorie Goertzen
says:We always have the tiles before us on a metal board when we work at All about Spelling and All About Reading. Sometimes our grandson prefers to spell a list of words orally; but if he is stuck, putting the tiles together and being able to visualize the word helps trigger his memory and helps cement the spelling in his mind.
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceYes, such a great point, Marjorie! The letter tiles are a great resource even when students don’t need to use them all the time.
Linda Halter
says:I love using the actual tiles on my white board. The kids love to be part of moving the tiles and it really keeps their attention! I highly recommend buying a good white board with easel. We use it every single lesson!
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceThanks for the recommendation, Linda!
Shobana
says:We started with All about Spelling level1 and its so helpful. I setup the tiles on the magnet drawing board which is very convenient for my kid.
We also use the app for phonograms.
I definitely recommend this program to all parents. Take out the guessing of words and reading with writing becomes easier and stress free.
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceThank you for recommending the program to others, Shobana!