What's a schwa sound anyway?

the long version

In What's Schwa Sound Anyway? Sandra Wilde makes a forceful case that teachers who have a working knowledge of the English sound system are not only more powerful observers of students' reading miscues and invented spelling, but also more informed participants in the current debate about the role of phonics in learning to read. The first part of this book is a lively exploration of the English sound system and its relation to reading and spelling. This minicourse in linguistics is reader friendly and accessible to even the most linguistics-phobic classroom teacher. The second part helps readers apply their knowledge about sounds, letters, and the relationships between them to the classroom. Sandra Wilde's work with invented spelling has helped us discover that the better we understand what children are doing, the more responsive and creative we can be as teachers. What's Schwa Sound Anyway? continues this work by helping teachers deepen and extend their knowledge about written language and the way children perceive it, always with the goal of helping children continue to grow and develop as readers and writers.