1. What does that mean? Words you might hear your child use…
Phoneme – the sound a letter makes
Grapheme – the written letter
Digraph – two letters together making one sound, e.g. /sh/ /ch/
Trigraph – three letters together making one sound, e.g. /igh/ /ear/
Split Vowel Digraph – two vowels separated by a consonant, making one sound, e.g. /o-e/ like in the word /stone/. Sometimes referred to as ‘silent e’ or ‘magic e’
Double Consonants – two consonants making one sound, e.g. /ff/
Adjacent Consonants – two consonants which can be closely blended together, e.g. /mp/
Sounding out – recognising and saying the individual sounds in a word, e.g. c-a-t (this does not work if you say the letter names!)
Blending – blending the sounds in a word in the order in which they are written to pronounce the word, e.g. c-a-t = cat, sh-ee-p = sheep
Segmenting – separating the word into its individual sounds to spell it in the right order, e.g. cat = c-a-t
Chunking – splitting a word with more then one syllable into two or more chunks to make it easier to read or write, e.g. laptop= lap – top
Tricky Words – a word which cannot be sounded out and blended (does not follow normal sound patterns), e.g. /said/
High Frequency Words – words which appear in reading books the most, e.g. /the/

2. for parents of children in Reception and Year 1
workshop
for parents of children
in Reception and Year 1
Phonics
Flashcards
Reading Strategies
Cursive Handwriting

3. Letters & Sounds 26 letters in the alphabet 44 sounds
144 combinations for spelling!

4. Letters & Sounds
/oo/ oo – boot ew – blew ue – blue u-e – rule to, two, soup, through, lose /oo/ - foot

5. Letters & Sounds – Phase 1 Home, Pre-School, Reception
General sound recognition – environmental sounds, body percussion (clap, click, tap), voice sounds
Rhythm
Rhyme
Alliteration

6. Make it fun! ‘Phonics Aerobics’ Phase 2 Jolly Phonics
Pre-School, Reception
Make it fun!
Jolly Phonics
‘Phonics Aerobics’

7. Blending a b c d e f … s a t p i n … Phase 2/3
Recognising the letter sounds in a written word, for example s-a-t and blending them in the order in which they are written to pronounce the word ‘cat’
Not cuh-a-tuh
Stretch the sounds (glue them together) to hear the word.

8. Segmenting Phase 2/3 The opposite of blending.
Chopping up the words to hear all the sounds (will help your child to spell).
Use robot arms to help separate the sounds.
Stretch out the word.
How many sounds are there in …?
cat
digger
giraffe
sheep
difficult

9. Letters & Sounds – Phases 3, 4, 5 Reception, Year 1, Year 2
Reading and writing….
Digraphs – chop
Trigraphs – fear
Split Vowel Digraphs – bone
Double Consonants – full
Adjacent Consonants – stamp
High Frequency Words – the, said…
Tricky Words - flashcards

10. Year 1 Phonics Screening Check
June (we will send out more information nearer the time)
Can they use their phonic skills to read real and nonsense words?
A way to check their progress and know what to teach them next
40 words (20 real, 20 nonsense)
Child-friendly, 1:1 with the teacher
Can be retaken in Year 2 – does not mean they are a bad reader!

11. High Frequency Words
Common words which appear very often in written texts

12. Decodable: Words that can be sounded out
Tricky: Words which have to be learned or recognised

13. How can we support our children to learn these words?
Seeing them often
Flashcards
Look Cover Say Write Check
Saying the letter names as you write
Games – snap, spray the word, bingo,

14. Reading Strategies Handling the book Left to right ‘Return sweep’
Turning one page at a time
Pointing to each word (knowing the difference between a word and a letter)
Decoding Strategies
Picture clues
Does it make sense?
Skip the word
Sound out and blend (look for digraphs etc.)
Chunk the word
Do they understand the text?

15. Handwriting Why do we teach it?
The focus on handwriting in the new National curriculum is much greater.
How do we teach it?
The teaching of handwriting involves modelling, copying and practising.

16. The Cursive Script Each letter starts on the line
Key Features
Each letter starts on the line
All cursive letters are taught with a lead-in and exit stroke.
Child usually keeps pencil on the paper for the whole letter, giving a fluent style
Modelling writing from left to right, children are less likely to reverse letters
Teaching a clear distinction between capitals and lower case letters
Letters are of a consistent and suitable size
Letters are positioned appropriately on the writing line as well as in relation to one another.
They are taught in letter groups/families rather than alphabetical order. These groups are based on the orientation and shapes needed to form the letters.

17. Have a try!
There is lined paper on the table

18. What we expect
Reception
Cursive handwriting is modelled at the beginning of Reception. At this early stage the emphasis is on readiness.
Year 1
Children will have formal handwriting lessons
Year 2
Continue with formal handwriting lessons. Children will begin joining letters

19. Thank you for listening!
On the website…
A copy of this PowerPoint which includes a glossary of terms used in our phonics lessons
Cursive handwriting alphabet