Literacy and phonics are the bread and butter of early classrooms. The thread of language subsequently loops through all age levels. If you haven't yet seen this hypnotic clip about visual
vowels, it's worth a look. Shared by
Studiocanoe, the film is based "on an archival sound recording taken from the 1945 Linguaphone series." The soothing, illustrated sequence emphasizes linguistics through snapshots and crisp voicing. Teachers can use the video to reinforce word choice, self-expression, spelling, and vocabulary. The clip is somewhat hypnotic, with accented speech and intriguing word selections to highlight each vowel sound. Ambient piano chords underscore the unexpected image pairings. This type of simple movie would also be an easy project for students to recreate. They could choose their own pictures to link with their words of the week.
Vowels from
Studiocanoe on
Vimeo.
An interesting tie-in to the role of vowels in everyday discourse is
Matt Ward's write-up about "
The Vowels of Design." He uses the five phonic building blocks to point to key criteria for visual design: Aesthetics, Experience, Information, Organization, and Understanding. These principles are ideal for students when creating multimedia projects. As a freelance digital artist writing at the "
echo enduring blog,"
Ward explains that, "there is a strong connection between language and design through the art of typography." He makes an interesting and compelling case for clarity in information design.