Early in the year I tell a story to the class. It's a story about the MOST important letter teams in the world. I explain that there is this very fancy college out there called Harvard. Everybody there walks around with one hand on their belly and the other behind their back. Very formal! (Ask the kids...they should be able to show you). Anyway, I told them about a scientific study that all of the brightest professors conducted at Harvard. These professors knew that the world was full of letter teams. They, however, wanted to find out what the most popular/important letter teams are. After 7 months and 7 days (I always use that amount of time in this story for some reason) they concluded that there are four letter teams that are more important than all others. The four letter teams are SH, CH, WH and TH. These are called the consonant digraphs and they show up everywhere. We call them our Harvard Letter Teams. It's super important that your child has a strong understanding of these. Pull em' over at some point this weekend and ask, "Can you tell me your Harvard Letter teams?" (Don't forget though...one hand on the belly and the other behind the back.) That's proper Harvard position!
