We love phonics! In Reception we love phonics! Phonics is a fun and successful way of teaching young children to read and write.

How we teach reading in Reception... 1. Phonics- Jolly Phonics 2. Common Exception Words – Tricky Words (From the Letters and Sounds Document DfES)

stories; actions; games; and songs. What is Jolly Phonics? Jolly Phonics is a scheme that teaches children each letter name, sound and shape through: stories; actions; games; and songs.

Each letter of the alphabet has a sound and an alphabet name Each letter of the alphabet has a sound and an alphabet name. Your child will learn both. You may hear single letters referred to as graphemes and sounds referred to as phonemes. E.g. a is the grapheme a is the phoneme

Why Phonics for reading? Some children can blend quicker than others, so they may get a reading book with words sooner than others. Don’t panic! They will all be reading by the end of Reception! Teaching the ‘pure’ letter sounds will help your child learn to read. For example: cat c-a-t If you blend the sounds together, they make the word ‘cat’. If you try to blend the letter names, or if the sounds are not said correctly you can’t hear the word. If you say the letter names, it doesn’t help you to hear the word ‘cat’. These sounds are also called phonemes - your child may refer to it as that. 6

This is not a ‘suh’!!!

Unsure how to articulate the sound? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ksblMiliA8 The Jolly Phonics Songs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCjJYB07aSU

Your child will be taught a new set of sounds each week, starting with Phase Two. These sounds will be sent home each week in the ‘Letters and Sounds’ books. It is REALLY IMPORTANT that you practise most days – it only needs to be a quick 5 minutes! The teaching pace is fast; regular practise will ensure your child has the best possible chance of learning all of the sounds.

Handwriting Your child will also learn the letter shape and formation of each letter as the sounds are taught. In Reception the children will be writing using a pre-cursive handwriting style which is then developed into joined cursive in Year 1.

Pre-cursive writing looks like this

All letters start with a whispered ‘whoosh’. The emphasis is put on the formation of the actual letter, not the ‘whoosh’.

The letters are in four main families: • Curly caterpillar letters e.g. c (curly caterpillar crawls around) • Long ladder letters e.g. l (from the top, all the way to the bottom) • One-armed robot letters e.g. h (up to his head, down to his toes and up and over his arm) • Zigzag monster letters e.g. w (zig and zag and zig and zag)

Most letters end with a ‘’flick’ – this is the joining stroke that will make it easier for your child to pick up cursive when they move into Year 1.

Handwriting homework will be sent home at the end of the week alongside the ‘Letters and Sounds’ homework. There is a letter inside the folder to explain what to do but PLEASE come and ask if you are unsure. You can also practise letter formation using magic finger in the air, on the carpet, or on each others backs. You can also use things like shaving foam, flour or sand. Try some rainbow writing too!

“Whoosh! Curly caterpillar crawls around, up and down with a flick!” When your child is writing, encourage them to talk through the formation out loud e.g. a “Whoosh! Curly caterpillar crawls around, up and down with a flick!”

What are the Phases? In the first few weeks of school the children have been focusing on Phase One Phonics which teaches them listening skills. They need to have good listening skills before starting Phase Two – this includes mastering pre-reading skills such as rhyming, oral blending and indentifying initial sounds in words. In Reception, children will have a focused 20 minutes phonics lesson every day. They will learn the letter sounds and then apply their learning through reading and writing activities throughout the day.

Phase 2 In Reception, we have now started Phase 2. In Phase 2, your child will learn 23 letter sounds and some of the common exception words. Please help your child to learn them each week because there are LOTS to learn! It is helpful if you can sign in your child’s reading record to let us know that you have practised. WE KNOW IF YOU HAVEN’T! We will obviously help them learn the sounds and words at school but it is important to keep up with them as there are lots to learn!

Phase 2 letter sounds 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 We will obviously help them learn the sounds and words at school but it is important to keep up with them as there are lots to learn!

Other ways to help at home Other ways to help at home.. We would highly recommend that you invest in a pack of magnetic alphabet letters – they are around about £2 in places like Wilkinson’s, Boyes or B&M. Here’s why.... We will obviously help them learn the sounds and words at school but it is important to keep up with them as there are lots to learn!

How many words can you make with these letters in 1 minute? Magnetic letters (use the lower case ones please!) are brilliant for word building activities like this… How many words can you make with these letters in 1 minute? s a t i p n m d g o Explain that we introduce so many letters so that words can be read and spelt from the very first lesson. Have parents think about the words you can make from these letters. 21

This is called sounding out and blending – try this at home… When we teach children to read words, we tell them to: “Look at the letter and make the sound.” We use Robot talk to do this! pin tin /c/ /a/ /t/……..cat etc The three sounds are blended into the word Robotting This is called sounding out and blending – try this at home… 22

Have you seen my hat? Can you pass me my cup? Where is the black pen? /c/ /a/ /t/……..cat etc The three sounds are blended into the word Robotting 23

At first we will concentrate on simple letter to sound correspondence (grapheme-phoneme correspondence). This is when a phoneme (sound) is represented by a single letter as in the word /m/ /a/ /t/. At first it is mainly one to one with each sound having a single representation/letter Will get them on the key ring Won’t be alphabetical 24

ring pick shop chop night quiz ....and others! Then we will concentrate on the more difficult codes such as one phoneme (sound) represented by two letters (digraphs) or three letters (trigraphs). sh ch qu ck ng igh We use those phonemes in these words: ring pick shop chop night quiz ....and others! Remind parents even though there are two letters, it is still one phoneme. all of this is done in around 16 weeks or so. Your child will bring home the sounds on the keyring and will help you to say it, but remember you can look on the website video clip for guidance. 25

Phase 3 letter sounds Set 6: j, v, w, x Set 7: y, z, zz, qu Consonant digraphs: ch, sh, th, ng Vowel digraphs: ai, ee, igh, oa, oo, ar, or, ur, ow, oi, ear, air, ure, er We will obviously help them learn the sounds and words at school but it is important to keep up with them as there are lots to learn!

At the same time as learning to blend the sounds to read, your child will also learn to break down (segment) a word to write. 3 sounds (phonemes) When writing we count the sounds on our fingers. We go back to the beginning to find the next sound.

Common Exception Words In phonics your child will learn common exception words too. We call these ‘Tricky Words’ or ‘Action Words’. For some words that occur often and children like to use in their writing we teach the high frequency, irregular words. Most of them can’t be sounded out (was, said) so we have to learn them visually. I to no go was

The common exception words…. Children need to learn these by heart. Not only are they high frequency but they are usually also difficult to decode (sound out). We want the children to know them instantly by sight. For some words that occur often and children like to use in their writing we teach the high frequency, irregular words. Most of them can’t be sounded out (was, said) so we have to learn them visually.

There’s no easy way...you just have to learn them! Please help your child to recognise tricky words by showing them the word and asking them to say it straight way. Remember they can’t sound them out! Tell them it’s a tricky word. When your child can recognise all the tricky words they can start learning to write/spell them correctly.

How can you help? By pronouncing the phonemes in the correct way. By helping your child write with the correct formation. Go through the letters and common exception words with your child every day if you can - help them practice saying them correctly. They need to learn to recognise them by heart. Find 5 minutes...it isn’t long but it will make a huge difference to your child’s learning. Once they are reading, encourage them to read any books using their phonics skills - look at the letter and say the sound. If there is a tricky word in the book and it is one that they have been taught, ask them if they know it. Remind them it is a tricky word. 31

Reading for Pleasure We want your child to love and enjoy books. There is no point them knowing how to read if they don’t want to read. Keep on having a cosy bedtime story with them before they go to sleep. Talk about the characters and their favourite part of the story. Read to them, making the characters have different and exciting voices – be over the top and ridiculous! This will keep your child interested in books and stories and you’ll instil in them a joy for reading. If they can recognise words during a bed time story, then that should be celebrated but don’t let it stop you from enjoying the fun and adventure of a story with your child. Decoding the text is not the only part of reading. Enjoy!

Any questions? We’re here to help! •This exact PowerPoint will be on the school website. • You are welcome to come into your child’s classroom to watch a phonics lesson anytime – just speak to your child’s teacher to arrange a day. • If there’s anything along the way that you’re unsure of please come and ask.