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Design Category
Information design, 1996
Design firm
Shapiro Design Associates Inc. (New York, New York)
Collection
(1997) Design of Understanding 2
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This educational tool was designed to help young children—and older children with learning disabilities—learn the letters of the alphabet and put them together to make syllables and words. Teachers, tutors, and parents can use it to demonstrate the often subtle differences between the shapes of letters, the sounds those letters make, and how to blend them phonetically to sound out two- and three-letter words and syllables. Flipping the cards makes 1,500 combinations, called “C-V-C trigrams,” the building blocks of language.
Features and Benefits:
•Cards never get lost or out of order.
•Letters are presented on a white background, free of extraneous decorative or illustrative elements.
•Icons are visual cues for correct consonant and short vowel sounds.
•Color coding assist with left-to-right sequencing.
•Game aspect engages children as they expand vocabulary.
•Lightweight, inexpensive, and portable. Easel back lets it stand up anywhere.