This book provides hands-on activities for grades 1-2 that make phonics instruction easy and fun for teachers and children in the classroom. The book offers methods for practice, reinforcement, and assessment of phonics skills. A poem is used to introduce the phonics element of this book, vowel diphthongs. The poem is duplicated so children can work with it in a variety of ways, such as: personal response (reading the poem aloud and asking the children if they expected the poem's ending); phonemic awareness (reading the poem aloud and having the children listen for a particular diphthong like raising their hands when they hear a word that has the same vowel sound as "how"); sound to letter (writing the poem and having the children circle the diphthongs or make word cards to the words in the poem) and innovation (brainstorm an idea, then write the last two line of the poem on chart paper, leaving blanks for the words, "soil, oil" and "ground). Titles of 13 diphthong subjects include: "Hide the Bones" (diphthong ou); "Help the Owl" (diphthong ow); "The Joyville Train" (diphthong oy); "Join the Club" (Diphthong oi); and "Puzzle Clues" (Diphthong ew). "The Family Letter" can be sent home to encourage families to reinforce what children are learning. Children will also enjoy sharing the "Take-Home Book." Word and Picture cards are drawn from the vocabulary presented in the book and other familiar daily vocabulary. The "Show What You Know" page provides children with targeted practice in standardized test-taking skills, using the content presented in the book in the assessment items. (CR)