Phonics Workshop
2014
What is Phonics?
•Tuning in to sounds- honing in on language
•Learning letters and the sounds they make
•Developing the skill of blending these sounds together to read words
•Developing the skill of segmenting the sounds in a word and choosing the correct letters needed
to spell it
Progression
Before children can become confident readers and writers they need to
become confident listeners and speakers
Phonics is structured following the ‘Letters and Sounds’ programme
The children are taught progressively through ‘phases’
Phase One
– Have fun with sounds
– Listen carefully
– Develop their vocabulary
– Speak confidently to others
– Tune into sounds
– Listen and remember sounds
– Talk about sounds
– Identify similarities in the sounds of words
e.g. rhyme and alliteration
These are the FOUNDATIONS of becoming an articulate speaker, a fluent reader and a
comprehensive writer
Supporting Phase One at home
(1) Discuss sounds they can hear in different places
(2) Play sound pattern games- Clap and Copy sounds
(3) Sing and change words familiar songs and rhymes
(4) Read books with simple rhymes- Ask your child to listen for the rhyming pairs
(5) Play rhyming games- say three words- “cat, apple, bat” can your child tell you which words rhyme?
(6) Play segmenting games- “I think I can r-u-n” Take it in turns to MODEL and then let your child try
(7) I spy games are great for this- I spy with my little eye... A b-u-s?
(8) Practice counting the beats in words- Cro-co-dile,
Jam- Sand-wi-ches
Phase Two
-To teach 19 grapheme-phoneme correspondences
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, ff, l, ll, ss
Each sound has an action to support recognition
Phase Two
-To move from oral blending and segmenting to blending and segmenting with letters
-To read and spell VC and simple CVC words
Segmenting
Blending
peg
peg
Phase Two
To learn High Frequency Words
is, it, in, at, and
To learn Tricky words:
the, to, I, no, go, into
Phase Two
To introduce reading words and simple captions
pat a dog
a cat in a hat
a sad man
a pin on a map
pots and pans
dad and nan
a nap in a cot
a kid in a cap
a tin can
cats and dogs
a hug and a kiss
on top of the rock
a bag of nuts
to huff and puff
go to the log hut
a hot hob
sit back to back
a red rug
get to the top
socks on a mat
a cap on a peg
a run in the sun
a cat on a bed
to the top of the hill
get off the bus
no lid on the pan
pack a pen in a bag
a doll in a cot
a cat and a big fat rat
rats on a sack
a pup in the mud
run to the den
mugs and cups
an egg in an egg cup
Supporting Phase Two at home
-Create a ‘thinking circle’ when sounding and blending:
-Sound out simple words (VC/ CVC) using fingers:
1 finger = 1 unit of sound
-Build words using flashcards which are both real and nonsense:
bat fon sar pop cup bed tuw zup
Cat- c – a – t - Cat
Phase Three
-To teach a further 25 graphemes:
Most of these are digraphs (2 letters which make 1 unit of sound) or trigraphs (3 letters which
make 1 unit of sound)
Set 6: j, v, w, x
Set 7: y, z, zz, qu
Digraphs: ch, sh, th, ng, ai, ee, oa, oo, ar, or, ur, ow, oi, er
Trigraphs: ear, air, ure, igh,
Phase Three
- Further blending and segmenting of CVC words –
-Read and spell two syllable words and captions
To read/spell (break it down)
Add both parts together
picnic
picnic
Phase Three
-Learn to read more tricky words and spell some of these words
he
she
we
me
be
was
you
they
all
are
my
her
A BIG emphasis on SPELLING
I
the
no
go
to
into
Phase Three
-Learn the NAMES of letters as well as the SOUNDS they make:
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q
R S T U V W X Y Z
Supporting Phase Three at home
-Make sure children know the difference between sounds and syllables:
Example “apple” - apl
ap-ple
-Use an alphabet mat WHILE singing the song:
lmnop is not one letter!
Once confident reading tricky words, also practice writing them:
the I, no, go, to, into
Beginning to Read
Language and communication skills are vital to a child’s emotional and personal development as
they develop a sense of self and their relationship to others.
Exposure to stories helps to enrich the imagination and provide knowledge of a range of
experiences that a child can draw on to give them confidence in their daily life.
Unsurprisingly, the more children read (or are read to) the more they are likely to achieve.
The difference in achievement between children who read for half an hour a day and those who
don’t is huge – as much as a year’s education by the time they are 15.
Beginning to Read
We assess the children each week in Robins as to their readiness for a reading book. It is counter
productive to send home books when they are not ready for them.
If you child is not yet taking home a school reading book, share books at home together, talking
about the pictures and the story, looking at the letters on the page and ask questions such as
“what might happen next” or “why do you think ____ is feeling like that?”
Beginning to Read
As your child approaches the time where they will begin to take a school reading book home, we
have compiled a few “do’s” and “don'ts” to help you support them at home.
We change the children’s books and hear them read on a MONDAY.
Please write and sign their reading record book otherwise we will not change their book until
the following week
Reading at Home
Do’s
Keep reading enjoyable!
Once your child begins taking a reading book home, they feel so grown up and proud!!
Even if they haven’t mastered segmenting and blending, if the concoct a nonsense story
or only recognise a few sounds in the book, praise praise praise!!!
Keep it enjoyable, ask questions, read together and keep it short and it will all begin to
progress.
Reading at Home
Do’s
Complete the activities at the back
The Dandelion Readers are a fantastic scheme as they help the children feel like
successful readers. They also support your child’s understanding of WHAT they have
read.
Comprehension is the backbone of being an independent reader. If your child can read
their book within 5 minutes then great, but if they don’t know what they have read, then
they are not fully developing their skills as readers.
Do’s
Reading at Home
Be honest in their reading record book.
Don’t write ‘Read completely perfectly!’ if getting to the end of p1 was painstaking!
We want to help your child become a fantastic reader, and if it’s not going well at home,
but the feedback doesn’t tell us, both you and your child will find reading frustrating not
fun!
If your child is struggling and you need some helpful advice... Be honest, write it in the
record book and we will support you as much as you need.
Do’s
Reading at Home
Be honest in their reading record book.
Don’t write ‘Read perfectly!’ if getting to the end of the first page was really tricky!
We want to help your child become a fantastic reader, and if it’s not going well at home,
but the feedback doesn’t tell us, both you and your child will find reading frustrating not
fun!
If your child is struggling and you need some helpful advice... Be honest, write it in the
record book and we will support you as much as you need.
Reading at Home
Dont’s
Do not force your child to read at home.
We expect your child to have read their book at least once each week. We do not expect
your child to have to read every night from one week to the next.
They have extremely busy days at school and sharing bedtime story is just as effective at
developing reading.
Alongside their book, practice the High Frequency Words, Tricky Words or make words
with their sound flashcards instead
Beginning Writing
Children often begin school with very ‘set’ ideas of themselves as writers.
“I can’t” children- These children are ‘reluctant writers’. Somewhere along their journey prior to
school they have learnt that they ‘can’t’ so they ‘don’t’
CAPITAL LETTER writers- These children have learnt to write in CAPITAL letters only. They find if
very difficult to re-learn lower case letters and change their pattern of thinking
‘I don’t do those letters I do these’
Mark Makers- These children are happy to have a go at making marks- lines, dots, swirls and
circles- they enjoy the process and are less concerned about the final outcome
What we expect
“She must be so behind- She said she’d written ‘adventure park’ but it was just scribbles!”
Making Marks
Initial Sounds
“I can’t”
It is MUCH harder to teach a RELUCTANT writer than a child that is MAKING MARKS
At school we expect every child to “have a go”
From making marks to using their phonic knowledge, we make sure ALL attempts at writing are valued
Writing Progression
(1) Initial Mark Making
Adults usually describe
this as ‘scribbles’
Lots of random marks, but
child is unable to ‘give
meaning’ to what they have
done
FIST GRIP
(2) Initial Mark Making
More purposeful motion to
marks
Attempts at closing shapes
Combine shape and lines
representing ‘a word’
BEGINNING TO PINCER
GRIP
(3) Initial Mark Making
Copies an adults marks
Works across the page
Has a clearer idea of what
marks they want to make
May use either hand
BEGINNING TO PINCER
GRIP
Writing Progression
(4) Emergent Writing
Makes individual marks
May write some letters
form name
Understands writing and
drawing are different
Aware that print carries a
message
DEVELOPING CONTROL
GRIP WITH DOMINANT
HAND
(5) Emergent Writing
Forms symbols and some
recognisable letters
Beginning to write in
horizontal direction
Aware that writing conveys
meaning- may ‘read’ what they
have written
DEVELOPING CONTROL GRIP
WITH DOMINANT HAND
Writing Progression
(4) Confident Writing
Writes using unfamiliar
letters
Uses some upper and lower
case (not in correct places)
Writes own name reliably
CONTROLLED GRIP WITH
DOMINANT HAND
(5) Confident Writing
Writes most letters correctly
May use capital letters and full
stops (not always correctly)
Attempts to write for a
purpose- letters and lists
Can read back what they have
written
CONTROLLED GRIP WITH
DOMINANT HAND
Writing at home
Do’s
(1) MODEL writing at home- Spend time with your child while you write your shopping list, send an
email, write a birthday card.
The more they SEE writing, the more they will understand it’s PURPOSE
(2) Make sure they have ACCESS to paper, pens, pencils, envelopes etc- don’t just keep these as
‘rainy day’ resources
(3) VALUE any mark making your child does at home. Stick things on the fridge, keep things to
show relatives and friends- if you’re proud, your child will feel proud
Don’t
Writing at home
(1) DOTTY LETTERS- this makes children develop a very disjointed way of writing and actually
causes more problems than it solves
If your child wants your help, write it on a scrap of paper and they can look at this while they write
freely on another piece
(2) UPPER CASE- It takes a longer for children to develop effective writing skills when they learn
capital letters first. Stick with lower case letters (except for at the start of a sentence and names)
(3) I CAN’T READ IT- Comments like “I can’t read it!” “I don’t know what you’ve written” are quick
to say and so easily knock confidence. Instead try “I wonder what you’ve written?” “Can you tell me
all about it?”
Glossary
-Grapheme- How a letter LOOKS
-Phoneme- How a letter SOUNDS
-Segmenting- Breaking up a word into units of SOUND
-Blending- Joining up units of sound to make a whole WORD
-VC word- Vowel, Consonant
-CVC word- Consonant, Vowel, Consonant
- High Frequency Words- Common words used in reading and writing
-Tricky Words- Cannot be segmented. SIGHT WORDS
Thank you
Thank you for coming today
Please have a look through the examples of resources and games for supporting Phonics at home.
The Phase 1 packs can be taken home (1 per child) to play. The box will be available after school
everyday for you to come and change your pack
Please sign your pack out and back in again!
If you have any questions please come and see me