1. Skills of segmentation and blending Knowledge of the alphabetic code +

2. Look at the words below. They are spellings you may see your child use. They are not the correct spellings, but show the children have used their phonic knowledge. Can you read the words and then write the correct spelling on your own whiteboard. This is an activity that aims to show you how difficult it is for children to learn to spell. rietcaim trighd munkeefite caird bergirrayn bowtPawl noesgrait

3. How many did you get right? right (or write)came monkeyfight burgerrain boatPaul nosegreat tried cared

4. TermMeaningExamples Phoneme The smallest unit of sound you can hear within a word. Phoneme refers to the sound NOT the letter that represents that sound c/a/t = 3 phonemes ch/air = 2 phonemes th/e/n = 3 phonemes Grapheme The letter (or letters) used to represent a phoneme Digraph/ Trigraph A pair of (or group of 3) letters representing a single phoneme sh igh ch air ai ear Segment To split a word into its separate phonemes (to aid with writing and reading) cat – c/a/t/ pain – p/ai/n Blend To list the phonemes within a word and put together quickly to form the word.

5. The smallest unit of sound you can hear within a word. Phoneme refers to the sound NOT the letter that represents that sound c/a/t = 3 phonemes ch/air = 2 phonemes th/e/n = 3 phonemes

6. The letter or letters used to represent a phoneme Graphemes can be represented by more than one phoneme (mostly vowels) e.g. ‘a’ – can make a short or a long ‘a’ sound

7. A pair of letters representing a phoneme Digraphs can be linked to more than one phoneme e.g. ‘oo’ – can make a short sound ‘book’ or a long sound ‘cool’ ‘ow’ can be used in ‘cow’ and ‘low’ sh ch ai Phonemes can be linked to more than one digraph e.g. ‘ee’, ‘ea’ and ‘ey’ all make the same sound Week, each and key

8. How many phonemes are in these words? Top Shower Chair High Bird

9. Primarily used as a tool for writing, it is also useful for reading too. It allows children to decode unknown words. c/a/t p/ai/n Sh/ow/er To split a word into its separate phonemes

10. To list the phonemes within a word and put together quickly to form the word. Taught as a strategy for reading unknown words

11. These are common words that do not follow phonic rules and have to be taught by sight. These are common words that children should be able to decode you one where what helpstop canand

12. How to help your children Encourage them to segment any unknown, decodable words. Highlight any digraphs or trigraphs in unknown words. Encourage them to blend the phonemes back together. With longer 2 syllable words, encourage them to split the word to help blend. Practise reading the tricky words.

13. Phases We use the document Letters and Sounds to teach phonics. It splits the learning into 6 phases. Phase One is taught in Pre-school/nursery. The focus is on sounds in the environment, from instruments, body percussion, rhythm and rhyme and beginning to segment words. Phase Two, Three and Four are taught in Reception. Children begin segmenting and blending simple words when reading and writing. They are also taught some ‘tricky words’ – those words that can only be recognised by sight and not worked out using phonic knowledge. The children are expected to have learned the graphemes/phonemes below in Phase two and three: All letters of the alphabet and ck, ff, ll, ss, zz, qu, ch, sh, th (both phonemes), ng, ai, ee, igh, oa, oo (both phonemes), ar, or, ur, ow, oi, ear, air, ure and er. They are also expected to be able to recognise 18 tricky words and read/spell 38 decodable words. Phase four is partly a consolidation phase. It encourages the children to use their phonic knowledge in their reading and writing further by also teaching and practising the blending of consonant clusters such as cl, br, nk, nch, st etc. especially for more complex words.

14. Phase Five is taught in Key Stage One. The children are taught more phonemes/graphemes and more tricky words. In Phase 5 children are also taught that some graphemes can make different sounds e.g. ie in words such as tie and field, g in grab and ginger, ea in sea and bread, ow in cow and slow (or bow and bow). Phase 6 The children learn about the past tense and adding suffixes, e.g. pass – passed, run – ran, look/looking – looked, come – came etc. They learn the rules for adding –ing, -ed, -er, -est, -ful, -ly, -es and –y to words as well as changing the end of words when it changes to a plural such as baby – babies, woman – women etc.

15. The Phonics Check The Phonics check takes place in June at the end of Year One. The children are expected to read a 40 words that are phonetically decodable. There are 20 real words and 20 pseudo words (nonsense words). Examples of nonsense words from previous tests include: proom quemp vat strad thrand harnd yewn tabe clisk jair Usually the pass mark is 32. It is a pass or fail test. Phonics lessons also prepare the children for this check.

16. Any questions?