PHONICS, READING AND
WRITING WORKSHOP
EARLY YEARS & KEY STAGE 1
What Is Synthetic Phonics?
• The adjective ‘synthetic’ refers to the fact
that children are taught to ‘synthesise’ (i.e. put
together or build up) pronunciations for
unfamiliar written words by translating letters
into sounds and blending the sounds together.
• Synthetic phonics teaches the phonemes
(sounds) associated with the graphemes
(letters). The sounds are taught in isolation and
then blended together.
5 ELEMENTS OF A
SYNTHETIC PHONICS PROGRAMME
Learning The Phonemes
Learning The Graphemes Which Represent
The Phonemes
Blending Sounds For Reading
Segmenting Words For Writing
Reading And Spelling High Frequency/Tricky
Words
LETTERS AND SOUNDS
Letters and Sounds is a phonics resource published by the Department for
Education and Skills in 2007. It sets out a detailed and systematic
programme for teaching phonic skills, starting in Nursery, with the aim of
children becoming fluent readers by the age of seven.
Phase 1
(N/R)
Phase 2
(R)
Phase 3
(R)
Phase 4
(R)
Phase 5
(Y1)
PHONIC KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS
Pre-phonic knowledge and skills. Activities are divided into
seven aspects.
19 PGCs. Blending sounds together to make words.
Segmenting words into their separate sounds. Beginning to
read simple captions.
25 additional PGCs including 7 single letter phonemes. Reading
captions, sentences and questions. On completion of this
phase, children will have learnt the "simple code", i.e. one
grapheme for each phoneme in the English language.
No new PGCs (phoneme-grapheme correspondences). Focus on
blending and segmenting longer words with adjacent
consonants, e.g. swim, clap, jump.
The "complex code". Alternative graphemes for known
phonemes are introduced. Also different ways of pronouncing
graphemes already known.
HOW DO YOU SAY………..?
• oo

hook?
or
soon?
• ow

low?
or
cow?
• ea

sea?
or
head?
• g

gate?
or
gem?
• c

cat?
or
circle?
PHONICS ORDER
(and how to say them!)
s
a
r
sss not suh
t
p
i
t not tuh
p not puh
i not eye
rrr not ruh
h
h not huh
b
f
ff
l
ll
fff not fuh
fff not fuh
ss
j
v
oa
lll not luh
lll not luh
sss not suh
ai
ee
igh
as in rain
oo
as in look
e-e
as in Pete
as in been
ar
as in car
i-e
as in like
as in night
or
as in for
o-e
as in home
as in boat
ur
as in burn
u-e
as in cute
vvv not vuh
oo
as in balloon
ow
as in blow
PHONICS LESSONS
• Must be practical and interactive
• Pace should be fairly quick
• Provide opportunities to say sound out loud in
real and alien words every day
• Provide opportunities for writing real and alien
words every day
• Robot speak and bring in phonological awareness
at all opportunities throughout the day
PHONICS IN EYFS
• Children’s phonic knowledge assessed
on entry into Nursery and Reception
• Children grouped according to need
• Up to 5 sounds taught per week – 30
minute sessions every day
• Constant reinforcement of phonic
skills throughout the day
• Activities/worksheets sent home
every week
A multi – sensory approach:
•
See the letter shape(s) – grapheme
•
Hear the sound (phoneme) - “ay”
•
Learn a song and action to accompany
each phoneme
PHONICS IN KEY STAGE 1
• Children’s phonic knowledge assessed
throughout Key Stage 1
• Children grouped according to need
• Up to 5 sounds taught per week – 30 minute
sessions every day
• Constant reinforcement of phonic skills
throughout the day
• Activities/worksheets sent home every week
• Year 2 lessons become more GAPs focussed
PHONICS HOMEWORK
• Based on the sound or sounds worked on during
the week
• Should show examples of the “sound” made by
the grapheme if there are alternatives eg look
or food
• Should be completed by the child with adult
support
• Must be completed and returned to school
every week
PHONICS SCREENING CHECK
• A phonic decoding assessment carried
out in Year 1 at the end of the
Summer term
• 40 words and non-words that each
child attempts to read independently
• Children need to correctly read 32
words out of 40 to pass
• Children who do not pass will take the
check again at the end of Year 2
PHEASEY PARK FARM
READING SCHEME
• Books of different genres –
fiction, non-fiction, and poetry
• Standards First to 16 – clear progression in
reading and comprehension skills
• Runs through EYFS, KS1 and KS2
• Follow up activities/guide for
parents in the majority of books
HOME READING
Three Elements
• Key Words
• Reading Books
• Children’s Reading
Record
KEY WORDS
• Flashcards
• Words that can be “sounded out”
Chip
went
and
• Sight words
wanted
said
the
• Learn in a random order!
• Checked by staff regularly
BOOKS
• Same characters appear
regularly
• Familiar situations/range of
topics/interests
• Constant reinforcement of
key words
• Extremely detailed
illustrations
• Text may appear easy but
can the child understand
the book?
Children’s Reading Record
• For parents and school staff
• Date/sign every time you read together
• Make comments!
Please send words,
reading book and
reading record to school
EVERY DAY
Reading Together
• Find somewhere quiet!
• Read the title and talk about the front cover
• Ask questions throughout – “what might happen
next?”
• Discuss own experiences that relate to the story
• Use the correct terms - author, blurb,
speech marks, exclamation marks etc.
• Discuss the story together – what did
you like about the book? favourite part?
• Re-tell the story in own words
If your child gets stuck on a word…
• Give them some thinking
time!
• Sound out the word
• Look at the picture for a clue
• Ask child to read sentence
again – missing out difficult
word. What could fit in the
gap? Does that make sense?
• Read sentence again (missing
out difficult word) – ask what
could fit in the gap
Comprehension
• Comprehension is children’s
understanding of what they have read
• Begin with verbal responses to questions
• Worksheets to compliment the books
children bring home from school
• Children should read questions carefully
and record answer in a full sentence
• This prepares children for the end of
Key Stage 1 assessments
HANDWRITING
Tripod pencil grip
•
•
•
•
Letter families
Long ladders
l, i, t, u, j, y
One armed robots
r, n, m, h, b, k, p
Curly caterpillars
c, a, d, o, s, g, q, e, f
Zig zag monsters
z, v, w, x
STAGES OF WRITING
• Emergent writing.
STAGES OF WRITING
•
•
•
•
•
Initial or final sounds.
Initial and final sounds.
Medial Sounds.
CVC Words.
Tricky Words.
SEGMENTING SOUNDS
FOR WRITING
• Listening for the initial, medial and final sounds in
a word by “stretching it out”
• “shop” 3 phonemes = sh – o - p
• Knowing the correct graphemes to represent the
sounds heard
• Children tend to identify and write initial, then
initial and final sounds (medial vowels are often
more difficult to hear).
WRITING EXPECTATIONS
END OF RECEPTION
• Uses phonic knowledge to write words in
ways which match their spoken sounds.
• Writes some irregular common words.
• Writes simple sentences which can be read
by themselves and others.
• Some words are spelt correctly and others
are phonetically plausible.
Example of end of Reception Expectations
•
•
•
•
WRITING EXPECTATIONS
END OF KEY STAGE 1
Consistent use of capital letters and full
stops.
Use a range of connectives to extend
sentences e.g. because, so, then, when,
but…
Use descriptive features to add detail
e.g. adjectives, expanded noun phrases,
similes.
Use a variety of sentence starters.
Literacy Homework in Year 2
• To be returned on the specified date
• Must be written in pencil
• Pupils should take pride in the
presentation of their work
• Based on concepts taught in school
during the week, e.g. descriptive writing,
connectives, letter writing
• Parents to support children but allow
them to develop their own ideas