This book is a hands-on activity resource for kindergarten and first grade that makes phonics instruction easy and fun for teachers and children in the classroom. The book offers methods for practice, reinforcement, and assessment of phonetic skills using a poem as a foundation for teaching short vowels. The poem is duplicated so children can work with it in a variety of ways such as: echo reading (recite the poem as a sing-song jump rope chant); visual discrimination (write the poem on a chart and ask volunteers to underline the short vowels and circle the rhyming words); kinesthetic activity (take children out to the playground and encourage them to jump rope while chanting words to the poem) and innovation (have children work with partners to think of other rhyming names and use the names to make up new verses for the jump rope poem). Thirteen poems relating to specific vowels include: "An A-1 Name Tag" (short vowel a); "Extra Special Eggs" (short vowel e); "Izzy Inchworm" (short vowel i); "Froggy's Hop" (short vowel o); and "Under the Umbrella" (short vowel u). "The Family Letter" can be sent home to encourage families to reinforce what children are learning. Children will also renjoy 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)