Communication, Language and Literacy Phonics Communication, Language and Literacy

What is Phonics? Phonics is a systematic and synthetic approach that supports children to read and write quickly and skilfully. They are taught how to: recognise the sounds that each individual letter makes identify the sounds that different combinations of letters make - such as ‘sh’ or ‘oo’ blend these sounds together from left to right to make a word segment the sounds in a word e.g dog d-o-g

Why do we use ‘Phonics’ to teach reading and writing? Research shows that when phonics is taught in a structured way – starting with the easiest sounds and progressing through to the most complex – it is the most effective way of teaching young children to read and write.

Phonics vocab! Phoneme - the smallest unit of sound in a word Grapheme – the letter that represents the phoneme Blending - putting individual sounds together so that we can read a word Segmenting - breaking up words into their individual sounds so that we can spell a word

Phonics vocab! Digraph – two letters that make one sound Trigraph – three letters that make one sound Tricky words Sound buttons

How many phonemes are in the word cat? How many phonemes in the word sock? How many graphemes in the word sock? Can you write a word with one digraph in? Can you write a word with a trigraph in?

Showing an awareness of rhyme and alliteration. Distinguishing between sounds in the environment Exploring and experimenting with sounds and words Beginning to orally blend and segment phonemes The seven aspects: Environmental sounds Instrumental sounds, Body percussion, Rhythm and Rhyme, Alliteration , Voice sounds, Oral blending and segmenting Introduced in pre-school and nursery and continues into reception. A lot of phase 2 phonics games involve using these skills.

Phase 2 Set 1: s, a, t, p Set 2: i, n, m ,d Set 3: g, o, c, k Set 4: ck, e, u, r Set 5: h, b, f, l Set 6: ff, ll, ss Phase 2 tricky words: I, no, go, to, the

Phase 3 Set 7: j, v, w, x Set 8: y, z, zz, qu Consonant digraphs: ch, sh, th, ng Vowel digraphs: ai, ee, oa, oo, ar, or, ur, ow, oi, er Trigraph: igh, ear, air, ure Phase 3 tricky words: he, she, we, be, was, you , they, all, are, my, her

Phase 4 In Phase 4, no new graphemes are introduced. The main aim of this phase is to consolidate the children's knowledge and to help them learn to read and spell words which have adjacent consonants, such as trap, string and milk and two syllable words. Phase 4 tricky words: have, like, so, do, some, come, were, there, little, one, when, out, what.

Revisit Teach Apply Practise Phonics in School! Revisit Teach Apply Practise

Revisit… The children will play a quick fire game to practise something they have learned before and help build their confidence. http://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/member-only/Flashcards.html

Teach… The children will be taught a new phoneme/grapheme or a new skill - this will be taught in a fun multisensory way and may well involve: songs, actions, pictures, puppets, writing giant letters in the air. a http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Djz82FBYiug

Practise… The children play fast, fun games to practise the new thing they have just learned. http://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/member-only/BuriedTreasure2.html

Apply… The children will have a quick go at reading or writing sentences that involve the new thing they have just learned.

Phonics is everywhere! Outside of the phonics session children are given lots of opportunities to apply the new skills that they have learned in all of their lessons. The more opportunities they are given the sooner they will become confident with these skills.

Pronouncing Phonemes Saying the phonemes using the shortest possible sound helps children to understand phonics more quickly. You need to be careful not to add an ‘u’ sound to the end of the other letter sounds.

Pronouncing Phonemes f l m n r s sh v th z (continuous phonemes) e p t ch h (unvoiced) b d g w qu y j (voiced)

Mr Thorne http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYCR2RZ4ZYY

Sound Buttons

Write these words and add the sound buttons underneath Sit Fish hair Crash

sit fish hair think

Tricky Words! Tricky words are those words which cannot be sounded out correctly using our phonic knowledge. The only way these words can be read and spelt correctly is by learning them and having plenty of practise.

Using phonic knowledge to read… Blending is a vital skill for reading. The separate sounds (phonemes) of the word are spoken aloud, in order, all through the word and are then merged together into the whole word. This merging is called blending. For example, the adult would say F-r-e-d and the child would blend It to say Fred.

How can I support blending skills? Try breaking down simple words when you are giving instructions or asking questions, such as “Can you find your h-a-t (hat)?” “Where is the c-a-t (cat)?” “Sit on the s-ea-t (seat).” Find real objects around your home and practise ‘sound talk’. First, just let them listen, then see if they will join in, for example, saying: “I spy a p-e-g – peg.” “I spy a c-u-p – cup.” When reading, encourage children to say each phoneme and begin to say them more quickly. If they are finding it tricky, model blending the word.

Using phonic knowledge to write… Children will use their segmenting skills to break a word down into the phonemes they can hear e.g c-a-t, s-o-ck Robot arms can be useful!

But it’s not spelt right! Children use their phonic knowledge to spell unfamiliar words. Therefore it may not be spelt correctly but it will be phonetically correct! pretty pritee

Activities to try at home! Splat the letter! Box of sounds Sound sorting Bucket of sounds What’s in the box? Tricky word bingo Run to the word Silly sentences Quickwrite Countdown Splat the letter! Write graphemes on individual pieces of paper/post its, you say a letter sound and your child splats the correct grapheme with a fly swat! Box of sounds- place cards with letters on in to a box. Children choose a letter and say the sound it makes. Sound sorting- gather a selection of objects from around the house and sort them in to tubs labelled with the letter sound that the object begins with. Bucket of sounds – Label 3 or 4 buckets or ice cream tubs with a grapheme on each, say a sound and your child throws a ball in to the matching bucket and says the sound What’s in the box? Place ‘post its’ with simple words on, in to a box or bag. Children choose a word, sound talk it and blend the sounds to read the word. They could then match this to a picture or an object. Children choose a picture from the box, sound talk it, they could match it to a word, or have a go at writing the word. Common word bingo- write 4 common words on a piece of paper, then write them and a few more on to ‘post its’, place in to a bag. The bingo caller says a word then your child crosses it off, if they have a matching one, on their bingo board. Start off with the bingo caller showing them the word, then see if they can identify the word without it being shown. Run to the word- write 4 words on separate pieces of paper, or write them in chalk outside. You ‘sound talk’ a word and your child runs to the word and reads the word by blending the sounds together. Silly sentences – Choose a word or picture and make up a silly sentence using that word. Quick write- say a letter sound and your child has a go at writing the letters that make the sound. Countdown- make a list of words. See if your child can sound talk, blend and read them before the time runs out on an egg timer.

Useful Websites www.phonicsplay.co.uk www.coxhoe.durham.sch.uk/Curriculum/Literacy.html www.bbc.co.uk/schools/websites/4_11/site/literacy.shtml http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/wordsandpictures www.ictgames.com/literacy.html literacy based games http://www.letters-and-sounds.com/