Kinney Brothers Publishing

ESL Teaching & Publishing

phonics and spelling

Phonics Series – A Closer Look

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Kinney Brothers Publishing Phonics Series

A solid phonics program is the cornerstone of many pre-K through elementary classes. Focused phonics lessons and phonemic awareness improve pronunciation, listening comprehension, and give students the confidence to read and understand English. The Kinney Brothers Publishing five-book Phonics & Spelling Series is designed to teach kids the fundamental sounds and spelling of English in a multi-year, step-by-step ESL program.

The Phonics & Spelling Series series is also published by Independent Publishers International (I.P.I.) in Japan and available with a special discount through David Paul’s ETJ Book Service.

You’ll find an abundance of support materials for this series in our online store, Donald’s English Classroom.  Visit for downloadable flashcards, charts, games, and activities.

A to Z Kinney Brothers Publishing
Phonics & Spelling, Book 2 Kinney Brothers Publishing
Phonics & Spelling, Book 3 Kinney Brothers Publishing

Kinney Brothers Publishing offers a wide range of textbooks including a Communication Series for upper elementary through high school language learners, an Easy Sight Words Series, and Trends for adult English language learners. If you’re looking for more support materials, be sure to check out Q&A, Cursive Writing!, and a treasure trove of games, charts, and flashcards in Donald’s English Classroom!

Blank Board Games

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Swimming with Sharks Kinney Brothers Publishing

Growing up in a family with six siblings, there was no end of board games to play. I remember playing Candy Land and learning colors. Checkers and chess taught me strategy. Monopoly presented a world of real estate, property taxes, and banking. The Game of Life taught me about life insurance and the cost of living. There was Scrabble, backgammon, and tons of card games. Negotiating the rules, playing fair, and of course, arguing, were all important elements of the learning process. There were also important life lessons in all these games: playing a game is an exercise in cooperation, taking risks can be thrilling and advantageous, and when supportive, competition can push you to be better.

Fast-forward twenty years, and I found myself making board games for my ESL classes. When I was building the textbook, Phonics & Spelling, Book 2, interactive games and puzzles were important and I included many, as well as a game on the back cover! On one page, I constructed a simple CVC game board that I decorated with shark clip art and titled Swimming with Sharks! Like every page in the book, I tested the game in class many times. Of all that I created, none of the board games excited my kids like the threat of being eaten by a shark.

Click on the image to see larger.

Phonics and Spelling Book 2 Kinney Brothers Publishing

Swimming with Sharks! is very simple. Players take turns rolling dice, moving their counters around the board, and saying the word they land on out loud. The goal is to be the first to reach the “Safe” ship. If they land on “net,” they can cross over to the next space. Landing on “red,” means returning to the previous “red,” or “Start.” If players land on the “shark’s nose” toward the end of the board, they have to go all the way back to “Start.”

So popular was this board game, my brother, Michael, urged me to create a blank board so that different vocabulary could be inserted in place of the CVC words.

Michael explained in his blog post how he used the blank version of the board for dialogue drills, such as What’s your name? How old are you? Where do you live? Do you like…? Do you have…? What’s this? and What’s that?

Swimming with Sharks free download

“To practice simple dialogues, I use a separate Swimming with Sharks! game board that has blank spaces instead of words. When students land on a blank space, they must ask another player a question. If the student cannot think of a question to ask, they must go back the same number rolled on the dice. Likewise, if the student who is asked cannot answer the question, they must move their counter back that many places on the board. The same rules apply for landing on “net,” the color “red,” and “shark’s nose” as the original game in Phonics & Spelling, Book 2.”

The blank version of Swimming with Sharks! can be used with any set of vocabulary, Q&A, or dialogues you want your students to practice. I always have several laminated boards in my desk ready at a moment’s notice. You can download the blank game board here. It’s on us! Enjoy!

Board games to get your kids talking!

Blank Game Boards Bundle Donald's English Classroom

If you like to play board games in class, take a look at this Blank Game Board Bundle from Donald’s English Classroom.  These blank boards offer teachers the flexibility of creating their own games. For preschool through adult language learners, board games give students repetitive practice in a format that makes learning fun!

As always, best of luck in your classes!

Donald Kinney
Kinney Brothers Publishing

Phonics & Spelling Series – Planning Ahead

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Phonics and Spelling Series Kinney Brothers Publishing

In the last post, I talked about Stories For Young Readers from Kinney Brothers Publishing and how to purchase the series for your classes.  In this post, I’ll focus on our Phonics & Spelling series.  I’ll provide links for purchasing and recommended support materials for each text to help you plan for new classes. Check out this post if you’re looking for supplementary resources for your classes.

For many teachers, a solid phonics program is the cornerstone of their pre-K thru elementary classes. Focused phonics lessons and phonemic awareness improve pronunciation, listening comprehension, and give students the confidence to read and understand English. The Kinney Brothers Publishing five-book Phonics &Spelling series is designed to teach kids the fundamental sounds and spelling of English in a multi-year, step-by-step ESL program.

The Phonics & Spelling series is also published by Independent Publishers International (I.P.I.) in Japan and available with a special discount for overseas customers through David Paul’s ETJ Book Service.

You’ll find an abundance of support materials for this series in our online store, Donald’s English Classroom.  Visit for downloadable flashcards, charts, games, and activities.

A to Z is the first step to introducing very young ESL students to the ABCs and phonics. If your kids are just learning to hold a pencil, this is the perfect primer.  Children love coloring the large images and build dexterity writing the upper and lower-case letters. Included are easy dot-to-dot coloring pages, mazes, and matching exercises.  Check out the preview to learn more.

A to Z Kinney Brothers Publishng
Flash Card Set – ABC Flash Card Set – Phonics Bingo – ABC & Phonics I Have/Who Has – ABC Bingo Animals – Sea Fishing

ABC & Phonics, Book 1 lays the groundwork for phonetic based learning and focuses on writing and identifying upper and lower case ABCs.  With basic writing, matching, and ordering exercises, teachers can readily assess student progress.  The alphabet is broken down into four sections, a-f, g-l, m-r and s-z with a review for each section.  Click here for support materials that include flashcards, charts, games, and activities that make learning the ABCs fun!  You can download a preview for this textbook here.

ABC and Phonics Kinney Brothers Publishing
Flash Card Set – ABC Flash Card Set – ABC Bingo – ABC Fishing – Alphabet Charts – Exit Tickets

Phonics & Spelling, Book 2 begins with a review of the ABCs and sets students on their first exercises in sounding out, reading, and writing three-letter (CVC) words.  Learned vocabulary is then set into easy sentences to teach students fundamental sentence constructs and meaning. Step by step, students also learn how to read and write a simple self-introduction.  The exercises progress in an easy-to-teach, easy-to-comprehend approach adaptable to any program. Included are review pages, puzzles, games, and reading exercises that students find challenging and fun!  Be sure to check out the preview here!

Phonics and Spelling, Book 2 Kinney Brothers Publishing
Flash Card Set – CVC Word Charts – CVC Word Puzzles – CVC I Have/Who Has – Swimming with Sharks – CVC Write Around the Room

Phonics & Spelling, Book 3 takes students further in building English reading and writing skills.  Book 3 begins with a review of CVC words and then takes students to the next challenge of reading, writing, and spelling silent ‘e’ (CVCe) words, words with ea-ee-ey spelling, as well as th, sh, and ch digraphs.  Exercise pages also include practice with numbers, plurals, more extended reading practice, and basic question forms using do and can.  Check out the preview here!

Phonics and Spelling, Book 3 Kinney Brothers Publishing
Flash Card Set – CVCe Word Charts – CVCe I Have/Who Has – Silent e Bingo – Phonics Activity Set – ESL Pronunciation Practice

Phonics & Spelling, Book 4 completes the phonics series with almost two hundred packed pages of phonics lessons, reading and writing practice, puzzles, spelling tests, and Q&A drills. Exercises include consonant blends, digraphs, diphthongs, and practice with silent k, g, and ion.  The phonics lessons in this textbook create a solid foundation that supports students in their future English language learning.  Download a preview here.

Phonics and Spelling Book 4 Kinney Brothers Publishing
Flash Card Set – Diphthong & Digraph Charts – Task Cards – 320 Word Flash Card Set – Clock Bingo – Community Places

If you’d like to learn more about all Kinney Brothers Publishing has to offer, please download our catalogues!  Peruse the complete lineup of our Global Edition ESL Textbooks or check out our ESL Store right from your desktop!  Sign up for our newsletter and download a free CVC I Have/Who Has Activity Set!

Kinney Brothers Publishing Catalogues

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me at info@kinneybrothers.com.

As always, best of luck in your classes!

Donald Kinney
Kinney Brothers Publishing
kinneybrothers.com

Planning ahead… 2

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In the last post, I talked about Stories For Young Readers from Kinney Brothers Publishing and how to purchase the series for your classes.  In this post, I’ll focus on our Phonics & Spelling series.  I’ll provide links for purchasing and recommended support materials for each text to help you plan for new classes in the spring.

The Phonics & Spelling series, published by Independent Publishers International (I.P.I.), is available with a special discount through David Paul’s ETJ Book Service.  The five-book series is designed to teach kids the fundamental sounds and spelling of English in a multi-year, step-by-step ESL program.  For many teachers, a solid phonics program is the cornerstone of their pre-K thru elementary classes.  Focused phonics lessons and phonemic awareness improve pronunciation, listening comprehension, and give students the confidence to read and understand English.

You’ll find an abundance of support materials for this series in our online store, Donald’s English Classroom.  Visit for downloadable flash cards, charts, games, and activities.

A to Z is the first step to introducing very young ESL students to the ABCs and phonics. If your kids are just learning to hold a pencil, this is the perfect primer.  Children love coloring the large images and build dexterity writing the upper and lower-case letters. Included are easy dot-to-dot coloring pages, mazes, and matching exercises.  Check out the preview to learn more.

A to Z Kinney Brothers Publishing

Flash Card Set – ABC Flash Card Set – Phonics Bingo – ABC & Phonics I Have/Who Has – ABC Bingo Animals – Sea Fishing

ABC & Phonics, Book 1 lays the groundwork for phonetic based learning and focuses on writing and identifying upper and lower case ABCs.  With basic writing, matching, and ordering exercises, teachers can readily assess student progress.  The alphabet is broken down into four sections, a-f, g-l, m-r and s-z with review for each section.  Click here for support materials that include flashcards, charts, games, and activities that make learning the ABCs fun!  You can download a preview for this textbook here.

ABC and Phonics Kinney Brothers Publishing

Flash Card Set – ABC Flash Card Set – ABC Bingo – ABC Fishing – Alphabet Charts – Exit Tickets

Phonics & Spelling, Book 2 begins with a review of the ABCs and sets students on their first exercises in sounding out, reading, and writing three-letter (CVC) words.  Learned vocabulary is then set into easy sentences to teach students fundamental sentence constructs and meaning. Step by step, students also learn how to read and write a simple self-introduction.  The exercises progress in an easy-to-teach, easy-to-comprehend approach adaptable to any program. Included are review pages, puzzles, games, and reading exercises that students find challenging and fun!  Be sure to check out the preview here!

Phonics and Spelling Book 2 Kinney Brothers Publishing

Flash Card Set – CVC Word Charts – CVC Word Puzzles – CVC I Have/Who Has – Swimming with Sharks – CVC Write Around the Room

Phonics & Spelling, Book 3 takes students further in building English reading and writing skills.  Book 3 begins with a review of CVC words and then takes students to the next challenge of reading, writing, and spelling silent ‘e’ (CVCe) words, words with ea-ee-ey spelling, as well as th, sh, and ch digraphs.  Exercise pages also include practice with numbers, plurals, more extended reading practice, and basic question forms using do and can.  Check out the preview here!

Phonics and Spelling Book 3 Kinney Brothers Publishing

Flash Card Set – CVCe Word Charts – CVCe I Have/Who Has – Silent e Bingo – Phonics Activity Set – ESL Pronunciation Practice

Phonics & Spelling, Book 4 completes the phonics series with almost two hundred packed pages of phonics lessons, reading and writing practice, puzzles, spelling tests, and Q&A drills. Exercises include consonant blends, digraphs, dipthongs and practice with silent k, g, and ion.  The phonics lessons in this textbook create a solid foundation that supports students in their future English language learning.  Download a preview here.

Phonics and Spelling Book 4 Kinney Brothers Publishing

Flash Card Set – Dipthong & Digraph Charts – Task Cards – 320 Word Flash Card Set – Clock Bingo – Community Places

If you’d like to learn more about all Kinney Brothers Publishing has to offer, please download our catalogues!  Peruse the complete lineup of our Global Edition ESL Textbooks or check out our ESL Store right from your desktop!  Sign up for our newsletter and download a free CVC I Have/Who Has Activity Set!

Kinney Brothers Publishing Catalogues

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me at info@kinneybrothers.com.

As always, best of luck in your classes!

Donald Kinney

Kinney Brothers Publishing

kinneybrothers.com