Progression in phonic
knowledge
Fleetville Infant and Nursery
School
September 2015
Objectives
To support parents in:
• Understanding the ‘Simple View of
Reading’
• Developing a shared understanding of
phonic principles & progression;
• Knowing how we deliver the teaching
sequence in school
• Knowing how we use tracking and
assessment across the phases
Reading by six
How the best schools do it (Ofsted 2011)
The rigorous way in which daily systematic
phonics work was conducted in the schools
was impressive. In all cases, the teachers
and teaching assistants knew exactly what
they were doing and why. They understood
the fundamental principles that lay behind
the need for children to know letter–sound
correspondences and to learn the skills of
blending and segmenting to decode and
spell words.
They knew the sequence in which the letter–sound
correspondences were to be taught, the way in which
different resources should be used and how children
were best grouped and managed. They observed
and assessed children’s understanding and progress
minutely. They used a range of strategies to ensure
that all the children participated actively and that
learning was enjoyable as well as productive. The
phonics sessions observed were fast-paced. The
staff were passionate about teaching children
phonics and showing them how to use their
knowledge and skills to read, spell and write.
‘Simple View of Reading’
• Successful reading demands both word
level reading and the ability to
comprehend what has been read.
• Children now need to use phonic
knowledge as their first strategy
to read a new word.
• It captures the idea that reading
comprehension depends on oral
language skills.
• It highlights that the
reader’s/listener’s general
knowledge and level of
cognitive development will have
a bearing on their comprehension.
+
Good language
comprehension,
poor word recognition
Good word recognition,
good language
comprehension
-
+
Poor word recognition,
poor language
comprehension
Language comprehension
Word recognition
Good word recognition,
poor language
comprehension
-
+
Further application of
spelling within writing,
more accurate use of
phonemes and higher
order comprehension
skills e.g. inference
Daily discrete
phonics and
application across
the curriculum.
Word recognition
Develop use of oral
language (phase 1)
across all curriculum
areas. Daily discrete
teaching of phonics.
-
Language comprehension
-
+
Develop vocabulary across
the curriculum with a focus
on comprehension.
Next steps for learning using
the SVoR
PHONICS QUIZ
1. Define: a) phoneme b) grapheme c) blend d) segment e) cvc word
2. How many phonemes in the English language?
3. Explain the difference between a consonant cluster and a consonant
digraph. Give 3 examples of each…
4. How many phonemes are there in each of these words?
cat cow fox choose strength
5. List 3 of the spelling choices for the vowel phoneme /oe/,
as in ‘go’
6. List 3 other spelling choices for the vowel phoneme /ie/,
as in ‘tie’
7. Nigel in Y1 is reading. He comes to the word ‘stiff’, pauses, then says
‘suh’, ‘tuh’, ‘ih’, ‘fuh’, ‘fuh’. What might you say to him?
Phase 1:
Phonological awareness
(FS1 and FS2)
Early phonological awareness
1 Environmental sounds
2 Instrumental sounds
3 Body percussion
4 Rhythm and rhyme
5 Alliteration
6 Voice sounds
7 Oral blending
3 strands :
1. Tuning into sounds (auditory discrimination)
2. Listening and remembering sounds ( auditory memory and
sequencing)
3. Talking about sounds (developing vocab and lang comp)
Phase 1
•
No expectation that letters (graphemes) are introduced
•
Children who can hear phonemes in words and sound them
out accurately are generally well placed to make a start with
reading and writing
•
Only segment or blend the last word in a sentence.
•
Enunciate the phonemes very clearly
Technical Terms
Phoneme
Phoneme: smallest unit of sound in a word
Phonemes are represented visually by
graphemes
A phoneme can be represented/spelled in
more than one way cat, kennel
.
Grapheme
• Grapheme: letter(s) visually
representing the phoneme, e.g. t, ai
• There are always the same amount of
graphemes in a word as phonemes.
• A grapheme may consist of:
one letter (t)
two letters (kn) called a digraph
three letters (igh) called a trigraph
four letters (ough) called a quadgraph
• The same grapheme may represent
more than one phoneme me, met
Oral blending
Hearing a series of spoken sounds and merging
them together to make a spoken word – no text is
used.
For example, when a teacher calls out ‘b-u-s’, the
children say ‘bus’.
This skill is usually taught before blending and
reading printed words.
Oral segmenting
• The adult says the word e.g. duck and the
child has to give the phonemes that they
hear:
d - u – ck
• This is an important skill that aids spelling
through phases 2 – 6
• Children who struggle to orally segment
often leave phonemes out when spelling
longer words e.g. ‘blank’ becomes ‘bank’
Enunciation
• Teaching phonics requires a technical
skill in enunciation
• Phonemes should be articulated
clearly and precisely
• The children should be able to see the
teachers mouth during the teaching
sequence
• Use of mirrors supports articulation
• Anyone supporting children with
phonics should watch articulation
DVD clip in ‘Letters and Sounds’
Phase 2
(FS)
• Teach 19 phonemes and move the children
on from oral blending and segmenting to
using letters.
• They will learn letter names used to teach
digraphs e.g. ‘ll’ , ‘ss’ ‘ck’
• The children should be able to read VC and
CVC words and spell them using magnetic
letters including alien words such as ‘ip’,
‘ug’ and ‘ock’
• Introduce some high frequency ‘tricky’
words: the, to, I, no, go
Phase 2
• Sounds are introduced in sets
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
Activity: How many
words can you make?
s a t p i n m d
make as many CVC & CV words as
you can.
Phase 3
(FS)
• Children will enter phase 3 once they are secure
with most of the 19 phonemes and are able to
blend and segment
• Teach another 25 graphemes, most of them
comprising of two letters.
• Children will learn to represent each of about 42
phonemes by a grapheme.
• Children continue to practise cvc blending and
segmentation including alien words
• They will apply their knowledge of blending and
segmenting to reading and spelling simple two
syllable words and captions.
• They will learn to read more tricky words: he, she,
we, me, be, was, my, you, her, they, all, are
• They learn to spell tricky words from phase 2
Phase 3
Letter progression and graphemes
continued
Set 6: j v w x
Set 7: y z zz qu
Set 8: ch sh th ng
Teach: ai ee igh oa oo ar or ur
ow oi ear air ure er
Activity: Phoneme frame
chain
lock
ring
Answers: blend to read your
word
ch ai n
r
l
i ng
o ck
Words sometimes wrongly
identified as CVC words:
bow
few
saw
her
Activity: which of these are
not CVC words?
pig
chick
ship
car
boy
cow
fill
whip
song
for
day
miss
whizz
huff
Answers: which of these are
not CVC words?
pig
chick
ship
car X
boy X
cow X
fill
whip
song
for X
day X
miss
whizz
huff
Phase 4 (FS and Y1)
• Children move into phase 4 when they can
represent each of the 42 phonemes by a
grapheme and use phonemes to blend and
segment cvc words.
• Phase 4 consolidates children’s knowledge of
graphemes in reading and spelling words
containing adjacent consonants and
polysyllabic words.
• They will learn to read and spell CVCC and
CCVC
• They will learn to read more tricky words some, one, said, come, do, so ,were, when,
have, there, out, like, little, what
• They write the tricky words taught in phase 3
Phase 4: Introducing consonant
clusters: word-building using four or
more phonemes
Consonant cluster: Two or three phonemes
blended together in speech. You hear each
sound separately and there is a letter to
represent each sound. (scr-, bl-, -mp)
• Consonant clusters are often incorrectly
classified as digraphs or trigraphs e.g.
tr
as in ‘trap’
spl
as in ‘splash’
• This can lead to spelling difficulties if the
children doesn’t hear/ represent each
phoneme.
Phase 4: Examples of CCVC,
CVCC, CCCVC and CCVCC
words
b l a ck
ccvc
s t r o ng
cccvc
felt
cvcc
blank
ccvcc
Segmenting
s
l
i
p
Activity: segmenting
Segment these words into their
constituent phonemes:
think
floating
shampoo
sport
crunch
flick
Answers: Segmenting
WORD
PHONEMES
think
th
i
n
k
floating
f
l
oa
t
i
a
m
p
oo
shampoo sh
sport
s
p
or
t
crunch
c
r
u
n
flick
f
l
i
ck
ch
ng
Phase 5
(throughout Y1)
• This phase enables children to broaden
their knowledge of graphemes and
phonemes for use in reading and
spelling.
• When spelling words they will learn to
choose the appropriate graphemes to
represent phonemes and begin to build
word-specific knowledge of the spellings
of words.
• Children may still be making
phonetically plausible attempts at
spelling but may be more accurate with
their reading
e.g. ‘a noyzy trane at the stayshun’
Phase 5
• Teach new graphemes for reading
ay, ou, ie, ea, oy, ir, ue, aw, wh, ph,
ew, oe, au, a-e, e-e, i-e, o-e, u-e
• Always remind the children of the
one taught in phase 3 /ai/ - ay , a-e
• Do not teach all grapheme variations
for a phoneme together in one week
e.g. /oa/ oe , o-e, o
Phases 5 & 6:
•Learning that the same phoneme can
be represented in more than one way
burn
first
term
heard
work
Phases 5 & 6:
Learning that the same grapheme can
represent more than one phoneme:
meat
bread
he
bed
bear
hear
cow
low
Fin/find, hot/cold, cat/cent, got/giant, but/put,
cow/blow, tie/field, eat/bread, farmer/her,
hat/what, yes/by/very, chin/school/chef,
out/shoulder/could/you.
Activity: Phoneme spotter story
A Real Treat! (ee)
Activity: What do you notice about these words ?
tricky
ai
ay
a-e
Maid
Day
Came
may
Game
play
Same
Nail
spray
Blame
Tail
crayon
Name
Claim
delay
Pane
Paid
Fail
Brain
Face
Bait
late
wait
space
rare
eigh
ea
Eight
Great
Weight
Break
sleigh
steak
Phases 5 & 6
exploring spelling rules and conventions
1. The best bets for
representing /ae/ at the
beginning and in the
middle of a word are a-e
and ai
2. The best bet for
representing /ae/ at the
end of a word is ay
Technical terms for Phases
5&6
Split vowel digraph: Two letters
making the same sound even though
they are forced apart. (tale, flute)
Friendly “e”
Teaching the split
digraph
tie
time
toe
tone
cue
cube
?ae
came
thee
these
Teaching phase 5 and below
• Phonic prompts on wall or table top
• Access to phonic resources in class
• Practise oral blending and segmenting
• Display tricky words
• Mark work according to phase so as not to
discourage plausible attempts
• Small group/TA consolidation support
• Opportunities for application in guided/shared
reading and writing
Phase 6
(throughout Y2)
By this stage children should know most of the
common grapheme – phoneme correspondences.
They should be able to read hundreds of words
doing this in three ways:
•
•
•
•
Reading the words automatically if they are very
familiar
Decoding them quickly and silently because their
sounding and blending routine is well established
Decoding them aloud.
Children’s spelling should be phonetically
accurate although it may still be a little
unconventional at times. Spelling usually lags
behind reading , as it is harder.
Phase 6 Teaching programme
•Teaching the past tense
•Teaching compound words and root words
• Learning how to add suffixes and prefixes
• Spelling longer words
• Finding and learning tricky bits in words
• Developing strategies for remembering
spellings (rules and conventions)
• Application of spelling in writing
(proofreading)
• Etymology e.g. ‘tri’, ‘bi’, ‘oct’
• Homophones e.g. too, to ,two
Teaching at phase 5 and 6
Should include:
• phoneme frames (adapt no. of
boxes according to phase)
• sound buttons
• grapheme keyboard
• whiteboard & pen
• spelling prompt cards
• spelling log
Teaching sequence
• Four part teaching sequence
• 15 – 20 mins everyday throughout the
year.
• Taught in whole class as well as
differentiated or mixed ability groups.
• All children must be able to see the
practitioner.
• Phonics Bug
Teaching sequence
INTRODUCTION
Objectives and criteria for success
REVISIT AND REVIEW
Recently and previously learned graphemephoneme correspondences, or blending and
segmenting skills as appropriate
TEACH
New grapheme-phoneme correspondences; skills
of blending and segmenting
PRACTISE
New grapheme-phoneme correspondences; skills
of blending and segmenting
APPLY
New knowledge and skills while reading/writing
Tracking Progress
• Phonics tracking sheet
• Information indicates the phases children are
currently ‘working on’ linked to ongoing day to
day assessment.
• Periodic assessment to judge ‘secure at’.
• Phase descriptors help to make judgements to
decide at which phase the child is using his or
her phonic knowledge and skills
independently and consistently.
• Boosters and Catch-Up
Not all children will learn
at the same rate!
• Your child should be supported
whatever their rate of learning
• There is a very close link between
difficulty with phonics and hearing,
so if your child is making progress
more slowly than expected, it is
worth having their hearing
checked.
Year 1 Phonics Screening
• Government check of phonic decoding
at the end of Year 1
• The check is focused solely on
decoding using phonics.
• The check will identify pupils who need
additional support from their school to
catch up.
• Opportunity to retake in Year 2
How you can help::
• Articulation
• Terminology
• How to use phoneme frames to blend
and segment
• How to read a tricky word
• Reading to and with your child
regularly
• The importance of speaking and listening
at home
PHONICS QUIZ
1. Define: a) phoneme b) grapheme c) blend d) segment e) cvc word
2. How many phonemes in the English language?
3. Explain the difference between a consonant cluster and a consonant
digraph. Give 3 examples of each…
4. How many phonemes are there in each of these words?
cat cow fox choose strength
5. List 3 of the spelling choices for the vowel phoneme /oe/,
as in ‘go’
6. List 3 other spelling choices for the vowel phoneme /ie/,
as in ‘tie’
7. Nigel in Y1 is reading. He comes to the word ‘stiff’, pauses, then says ‘suh’, ‘tuh’,
‘ih’, ‘fuh’, ‘fuh’. What might you say to him?
BUT…..
Blaenau Ffestiniog
Blienie...Blaynar…Blienar
Knowledge of the language system
Phonics = Reading?
Abnake onig dhannu bad
Bengali
Shukria buhat buhat
Urdu
Obrigado muito
Portugese
Grazie molto
Thank you very much!
Italian
Inference &
Deduction
Are you a fluent reader?
Thelo na sas bo efharisto bou irthete
na agousete bos mathenoun na
thiavazoun da bethia sas.
Elbizomen bos ivrede do vrathi
hrisimo.
Comprehension
What does this say?
Context!
Contextual cues
End Note
• Phonics are important
• We thinks so, OFSTED say so
and the DfE have decided its true!
BUT…..
• There are other tools in learning to
read and write and we must teach
children as many different
strategies as possible to capture
all styles of learning.