This study aims to find out whether the letter spinner approach is effective on kinder pupils. The Participants of this study are the 30 kinder section one pupils of Paradise Embac Elementary School, Paquibato Davao City SY 2014-2015. Descriptive causal comparative research design was employed in the study. Results in the study showed that there was a significant difference between the pretest and post test result of the pupils of Paradise Embac Elementary School.

1. LETTER SPINNER APPROACH AND LETTER SOUNDS OF
KINDERGARTEN PUPILS OF PARADISE EMBAC ELEMENTARY
SCHOOL
WENEFREDO S. HIFARVA JR
Teacher I
Paradise Embac Elementary School
Abstract
This study aims to find out whether the letter spinner approach is effective on kinder
pupils. The Participants of this study are the 30 kinder section one pupils of Paradise Embac
Elementary School, Paquibato Davao City SY 2014-2015. Descriptive causal comparative
research design was employed in the study. Results in the study showed that there was a
significant difference between the pretest and post test result of the pupils of Paradise Embac
Elementary School.
Introduction
Phonics is the connection between graphemes (letter symbols) and
sounds. Because we have been readers for a good portion of our lives this
relationship seems apparent and common sense (Yale, 2010). However, in
reality there is no natural connection between words and their meanings. For
example, there is nothing innately “cup-like” about the word “cup”. Even more,
the written letters making up the word “cup” do not reflect anything about an
actual cup.
The word and its written form are agreed upon by English speakers and
thus must be learned in order to communicate. At the very core of phonics lies

2. the alphabet. In order to master phonics a person must master the alphabet.
Letters then need to be connected to their corresponding sounds. As we know as
English speakers, this is easier said than done. Many letters can represent a
number of different sounds. Thus learning phonics is an ongoing process for a
developing reader.
Phonics instruction has a strong impact on the reading abilities of young
children. Those receiving phonics instruction in the early grades (K-1) showed
significant gains in their reading comprehension and spelling abilities and
moderate growth in oral reading skills. Studies show that children in grades 2-6
also show growth in these areas, but theirs is not as considerable as that seen in
primary grade students. At the upper grades, phonics instruction has a positive
impact on the reading abilities of disabled, low achieving non-disabled students
as well as those from low socio-economic backgrounds. These groups of children
showed growth in their abilities to decode and spell new words. However, their
reading comprehension skills were not affected by phonics instruction.
The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) found that 37%
of grade 4, 26% of grade 8 and 26% grade 12 could not function at their basic
reading level (Donahue, et al., 2003). This situation has sparked the attention of
many researchers and educators. Subsequently, several ideas and approaches
have been suggested to ameliorate reading difficulties. The primary way of
addressing reading difficulties is through instruction. It is important to mention
that students should not be allowed to fail then remediation solutions sought to
address problems. Rather, early instructional opportunities should enable
students to acquire and master reading skills necessary for both educational and
personal gain. In particular, these studies have centered on the word
identification development of Filipino children.
In 2002, Ocampo state that the relationship of phonological skills to word
recognition skills of elementary students in private and public schools in Metro
Manila was investigated. In addition, a longitudinal study investigated also the
word recognition skills of kindergarten boys and how phonological awareness
contributed to reading ability (Ledesma, 2002). The cross-linguistic transfer of

3. phonemic awareness in the child’s first language, Filipino, to his second
language, English became the topic of another research.
The study aimed to answer the following questions; 1. What is the score of
the respondents before the implementation of the program? 2. What is the score
of the respondents after the implementation of the program? 3. Is there a
significant difference before and after the implementation of the program? 4.
What is the effect size of the letter spinner approach to the letter sound?
Letter Spinner Approach is a versatile tool for teaching letter recognition or in
recognizing letter sounds. Children spin a consonant write it in their paper then
spin a vowel write it next to the consonant then spin another consonant then
write it next to the vowel.
Letter Sounds each of the 26 alphabet letters represent one or more sound. A
letters name can also one of its sound.Example, the letter “A” can sound like
‘aaa’, ‘ah’, or ‘ae’.
Method
The method used in this study is descriptive causal comparative research
design. The tool used is the ECCD checklist to measure the students’ academic
data specifically the performance of the students’ in letter sound. The participants
of this study are the 30 pupils of Paradise Embac, Paquibato Davao City SY
2014-2015. Purposive sampling method was used in this study for data
gathering. The researcher used statistical tool were mean, SD, Paired Samples
T-Test and Eta2. The data from the class record were tabulated, validated and
analyzed using SPSS.
Results and Discussion
Table 1. Pre-test Scores
Pre Test n mean sd
Descriptive
Interpretation
Pre-Test 30 17 2.53 Moderate

4. Table 1 shows the Pretest scores of the pupils. It shows a mean of 17
with a descriptive interpretation of moderate.
Table 2. Post test scores
Table 2 depicts the post test scores of the pupils. It shows a mean of 28
with a descriptive interpretation of high
Table 3. Paired Sample T-Test On Letter Spinner
Test n df t-value
p-
value
Remarks
Pre Test and Post Test 30 29 -16.95 .000 Significant
Table 3 shows the paired Sample T-Test on letter spinner approach. It
shows that the pretest and post test scores generated a T-Value of -16.95 with a
P-Value of 0.00 which is interpreted as significant.
Table 4. Effect Size of Letter Spinner
Table 4 shows the effect size of letter spinner. It generated an Eta2 value
of .908 which signifies large effect, thus the letter spinner is effective in improving
letter sound.
Conclusion
The pretest result of Kindergarten pupils on letter sound was moderate.
The post test result of Kindergarten pupils on letter sound was very high. There
was significant difference on the pretest and post test scores of letter spinner.
The letter spinner has large effect on the letter sound of Kinder pupils.
Post Test n mean sd
Descriptive
Interpretation
Post-Test 30 28 1.58 Very High
n t-value Eta2 Remarks
30 -16.95 0.908 Large Effect

5. Recommendation
The teacher should increase the activities that will enhance the
performance in letter sound. The parents must be involved in their child’s
academic performance to follow up their child’s development. Conduct more
research to enhance the knowledge about letter sound development or phonics.
Letter spinner approach is recommended to be adopted in improving the letter
sound of kindergarten pupils of Paradise Embac Elementary School.
References
Donahue, Daane & Grigg, (2003)
Read Theory Team. (2012). Reading Comprehension. Retrieved January 17,
2015, from English foreveryone:
http://englishforeveryone.org/Topics/Reading Comprehension.htm
Verial, D. (2011). Characteristics of a Comparative Research Design. Retrieved
January 17, 2015, from Ehow:
http://www.ehow.com/info_8274567_characteristics-comparative
research-design.html
Yale, J. B. (2010). What is Phonics. Retrieved January 17, 2015, from
K12reader: http://www.k12reader.com/what-is-phonics/