1. Subject: READING AND WRITING SESSION 2 Teacher: Dra. Jelena Bobkina

2. Unit 2: SYNTHETIC PHONICS IN THIS UNIT WE ARE GOING TO TALK ABOUT Synthetic Phonics, its definition and uses for teaching literacy skills.

3. 2.1 DEFINITION AND USES Synthetic phonics teaches the phonemes (sounds) associated with the graphemes (letters). SOUNDS LETTERS /PHONEMES//GRAPHEMES/

4. The sounds are taught in isolation then blended together all- through-the-word. Develops phonemic awareness along with the corresponding letter shapes. Teaches phonics at the level of the individual phoneme from the outset; NOT syllables. Dictation is a frequent teaching technique from letter level to word spelling, including nonsense words.

5. Synthetic phonics teachers put accuracy before speed. Synthetic phonics involves the teaching of the transparent alphabet (e.g. /k/ as in "cat") before progressing onto the opaque alphabet (e.g. /k/ as in "school"). In other words, children are taught steps which are straightforward and 'work' before being taught the complications of the full alphabetic code.

6. Synthetic phonics introduces irregular words and more tricky words slowly and systematically after a thorough introduction of the transparent alphabet code. Synthetic phonics involves a heavy emphasis on hearing the sounds all-through-the-word for spelling and not an emphasis on 'look, write, check'. Synthetic phonics teachers read a full range of literature but the children are not expected to 'read' text which is beyond them.

7. Synthetic Phonics: What it is not Synthetic phonics does not teach whole words as shapes prior to learning the alphabetic code. Synthetic phonics does not teach letter names until the children know their letter/s-sound correspondences thoroughly and how to blend for reading and segment for spelling. Synthetic phonics does not involve guessing at words from context, picture and initial letter clues.

8. Using Synthetic Phonics to learn reading implies a long process: Words containing only the simplest letter-sound correspondences → Working with texts: Writing

9. New correspondences are introduced rapidly, but just one strategy is taught. Synthetic phonics starts introducing high-frequency words containing irregularities (e.g. 'the', 'was', 'said') when learners know the technique of reading simple regular words.

10. Book-reading: Synthetic phonics does not expect children to read books until they are competent enough at phonic word-reading to make book-reading feasible. It is essential that children use the skills they have been taught to read texts. Basic correspondences New correspondences Book reading

11. Working with texts: Writing Synthetic phonics includes an emphasis on the reversibility of the code, that is that reading and writing are reverse processes. For reading students are taught to decode, and for writing they are taught to encode. For spelling children are taught to segment the spoken word into individual speech sounds and then to translate those sounds into letters.

12. Unit 3: Teaching with Jolly Phonics: Learning the letter sounds IN THIS UNIT WE ARE GOING to analyse the method called JOLLY PHONICS, used to teach literacy through Synthetic Phonics

13. 3.1.What is Jolly Phonics? It is a fun and child centred approach to teaching literacy through synthetic phonics. With actions for each of the 42 letter sounds, the multi- sensory method is very motivating for children and teachers.

14. The letter sounds are split into seven groups as shown below: http://jollylearning.co.uk/gallery/audio-2/

15. How does Jolly Phonics work? The sounds are taught in a specific order (not alphabetically). This enables children to begin building words as early as possible. Using a synthetic phonics approach, Jolly Phonics teaches children the five key skills for reading and writing. Complemented by Jolly Readers and Jolly Grammar, it provides a thorough foundation for teaching literacy over three years in school

16. The five skills taught in Jolly Phonics 1. Learning the letter sounds Children are taught the 42 main letter sounds. This includes alphabet sounds as well as digraphs such as sh, th, ai and ue. 2. Learning letter formation Using different multi-sensory methods, children learn how to form and write the letters.

17. 3.Blending Children are taught how to blend the sounds together to read and write new words. 4. Identifying the sounds in words (Segmenting) Listening for the sounds in words gives children the best start for improving spelling. 5. Tricky words Tricky words have irregular spellings and children learn these separately.

18. 3.2. LEARNING THE VOWEL AND THE CONSONANT SYSTEM In synthetic phonics some sounds are written with two letters, such as ee and or. These are called digraphs. Note that oo and th can make two different sounds, as in book and moon, that and three. To distinguish between the two sounds, these digraphs are represented in two forms.

19. Each sound has an action which helps children remember the letter(s) that represent it. http://www.slideshare.net/azlinaruzlan/jolly-phonics-actions- ppt As a child progresses you can point to the letters and see how quickly they can do the action and say the sound. One letter sound can be taught each day. As a child becomes more confident, the actions are no longer necessary.

20. Children should learn each letter by its sound, not its name. For instance, the letter A should be called a (as in ant) not ai (as in aim). Similarly, the letter N should be nn (as in net), not en. This will help in blending. The names of each letter can follow later.

21. Sounds that have more than one way of being written are initially taught in one form only. For example, the sound ai (train) is taught first, and then the alternative ae (gate) and ay (day) follow later.

22. VIDEOS http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCjJYB07aSU Jolly Phonics Songs

23. 3.3. LEARNING LETTER / WORD FORMATION 3.3.1. Letter formation / word formation As the letter sounds are introduced, the children are shown exactly how to form each letter correctly. Initially, the children form the letters in the air, at the same time as the teacher. By regularly feeling the formation of each letter, and then writing it.

24. Feeling letter formation in the Finger Phonics books or tracing over dotted letters gives good practice. The Jolly Phonics material uses the Sassoon Infant typeface with joining tails. This makes it easier for the children to transfer to joined-up (cursive) writing when the time comes. While students are learning to read, they start to develop their writing skills.

25. A child needs to form each letter the correct way. The letter c is introduced in the early stages as this forms the basic shape of some other letters, such as d. Particular problems to look for are: the o (the pencil stroke must be anti-clockwise, not clockwise) d (the pencil starts in the middle, not the top) m and n (there must be an initial downstroke, or the letter m looks like the McDonald´s arches). How to teach Letter Formation with Jolly Phonics http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQbrnyEpLzk

26. In time a child will need to learn joined-up (cursive) writing. It helps the fluency of writing and improves spelling. Jolly Phonics uses the Sassoon Infant typeface which is designed for children learning to read and write. Many of the letters (such as d and n) have a joining tail at the end (an ´exit´ stroke) to make it easier to transfer into joined-up writing

27. This is one of the Sassoon family of typefaces, developed through research with children, based on the handwriting they are taught, and on what they find easiest to read:

28. 3.3.2. Blend words As well as learning the sounds, the children need to be taught how to blend them together to hear a word. The aim is to enable the children to hear the word when the teacher says the sounds. “Listen carefully,what word am I saying … ‘d-o-g’?” A few children will hear ‘dog’.

29. Being able to blend letter sounds fluently is the essential skill for reading and should always be the first strategy for working out unknown words. Jolly Phonics s,a,t,i,p,n Blending Tutorial http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wogMY6FBrAo First Step Reading http://www.firststepreading.com/VideoDetails_12.php/2_Letter_Blending_ A/1 http://www.firststepreading.com/VideoDetails_12.php/2_Letter_Blending_ A/1 http://www.firststepreading.com/VideoDetails_90.php/Common_Blends/1

30. Children must also be able to recognize consonant blends and digraphs in words such as ‘fl-a-g’ and ‘sh-o-p’. Try to recognize the diagraphs in the following words: Chair That Cue Shark Using Elkonin Sound Boxes http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgqB392SD8g

31. After the letter sounds have been taught and the children can read simple, regular words, they start taking home the ‘Word Boxes’ for extra practice. Word Boxes Irregular common keywords Storybooks to read for themselves.

32. 3.3.3.Word Blending Boxes Blending is an essential skills for learning to read. As children are taught the letter sounds it is important to have words with which they can practise this skill. http://es.scribd.com/doc/73977875/CVC-Blending-Boxes

33. Group 1 s a t i p n The number of words suitable for blending in Group 1 will naturally be limited.

34. Instead of using one box for storing words for each letter sound, it is more practical to have a box for each group of letter sounds. The words can be printed on to different coloured thin card so that words using the new letter sound can be distinguished from the others by its colour.

37. Confidence with blending can be easily damaged if children are asked to read words that contain letter sounds that have not yet been taught. In Jolly Phonics, a faint font is used to indicate letters which are not pronounced when reading aloud, but which are important for spelling. For example, the ‘e’ at the end of ‘house’ and ‘mouse’.

38. 3.4. Tricky Words Tricky words are words that cannot always be worked out by blending. These can be introduced gradually using the Jolly Phonics Tricky Word Cards. Tricky words have irregular spellings and children learn these separately.

40. Tricky Words are high-frequency words containing irregularities are introduced only after students have mastered the technique of reading simple regular words. the children's attention is also drawn, however, to the parts of irregular words which they are already know.

41. Children start with tricky words when the majority of the children know about 18 letter sounds and have been blending regular words as a group activity, they can begin to learn the tricky words. Jolly Phonics Tricky Words http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkUo-geNLmk

42. WAYS TO LEARN TRICKY WORDS There are a number of ways to learn tricky words : 1. Look, Cover, Write and Check. Ask the child to try writing the word in the air saying the letters. Cover the word over and see if the child can write it correctly. 2. Say it as it sounds. Say the word so each sound is heard. For instance, the word was is said “wass”, to rhyme with mass, the word Monday is said as Mon-day. 3. Mnemonics. The initial letter of each word in a saying gives the correct spelling of a word. For instance, laugh – Laugh At Ugly Goat´s Hair.

43. VIDEOS Blending Box - 6 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ks0sAXZd6w Summary of the Jolly Phonics method http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6OFxIAMxzI

44. Useful websites JOLLY LEARNING http://jollylearning.co.uk/ PRIMARILY LEARNING http://www.primarilylearning.ca/jollyphonics_teacherresourc es.htm http://www.primarilylearning.ca/jollyphonics_teacherresourc es.htm READING REFORM FOUNDATION http://www.rrf.org.uk/ SYNTHETIC PHONICS http://www.syntheticphonics.com/