I found this chart that highlights the vowels in red. This is a tool an used in Making Words. You can print this page out and use these more commonly used letters in your Making Words activity. I absolutely love the making words activity. When I first started reading the article, I was not too enthused. As I read examples along with key things to point out to students, I found the activity to be extremely engaging and educational. Kids actually learn from the activity and you are not just telling them boring facts in front of them. We read in the books activities where you introduce a word in a lecture and the kids repeat the spelling. This activity makes the kids form words and use their reasoning and prior knowledge to actively create new words with letters.
I think that children should become very aware of words. Through reading literature, and writing, children enhance their word consciousness. The Ten Words activity is a good way to facilitate group discussion about reading and new words. I think that the activity with note cards is the most engaging part of the activity. They can learn synonyms and explore usage.
I know this picture doesn't go along with our readings, but it made me laugh.
