Learning to read through phonics

What is phonics? Phonics is a way of teaching children to read quickly and skilfully through…. Recognising the sounds that each individual letter makes. Identifying the sounds that different combinations of letters make - /sh/ /oo/ Blending these sounds together from left to right to make a word.

Phoneme The smallest unit of a sound Phoneme The smallest unit of a sound. Grapheme The letter or letters representing a sound.

Blending and Segmenting sh ar p sharp Explain what blending and segmenting mean. Emphasise the importance of blending for reading – recognising letter sounds (phonemes) means nothing if they cannot be blended for reading. Parents can help by playing oral blending games – sounding out words around the house and when out and about – and blending the letters together orally. E.g. Pass Mummy the c u p cup. Turn on the t a p tap. Touch your t oe s toes… Re emphasis the importance of not schwaring – short, crisp sounds are vital. Blending for reading and Segmenting for spelling 4

Why are these skills important? Children can then use this knowledge to ‘de-code’ new words they see or hear. This is the first important step in learning to read.

Why phonics? Research shows that when phonics is taught in a structured way – starting with the easiest sounds and progressing through to the most complex sounds – it is the most effective way of teaching young children to read.

Why phonics? Almost all children who receive good teaching of phonics will learn the skills they need to tackle new words. They can then go on to read any kind of text fluently and confidently, and to read for enjoyment.

What is the phonics screening check? The phonics screening check is a quick and easy check of your child’s phonics knowledge. It helps your school confirm whether your child has made the expected progress.

How does the check work? Your child will sit with a teacher he or she knows and be asked to read 40 words aloud. Your child may have read some of the words before, while others may be completely new. The check normally takes a few minutes and there is no time limit. If your child is struggling the teacher will stop the check. The check is carefully designed not to be stressful for your child.

What does the phonics check look like? The phonics screening check will contain a mixture of real words and ‘non-words’.

Why use ‘non-words’? Your child will already be familiar with the use of ‘non-words’ because your school already uses these when they teach phonics. These ‘non-words’ are important to include as your child can not read the non-word by using their memory or vocabulary…they have to use their decoding skills.

What happens next? Your school will tell you about your child’s progress in phonics and how he/she has done in the screening check in the last half term of Year 1.

PHONICS Correct pronunciation Correct vocabulary We all need to use the same language at home and at school. Little and often is the key. Does not have to be formal. Link it to your child’s interests.

Let’s see what a phonics session looks like. Any questions Make sure you are using this assessment to plan effectively for phonics and remember phonics is about decoding – you may have children who are confident secure readers but can not decode words – this is what the phonics screening check will highlight and needs to be stressed to parents especially. The skills of decoding is a skill for life – reading is a 2 part process Thank you for having me today and hope you have found this useful – please take a pack which includes useful websites, terminology explained and where the phonemes are taught to save you trolling through the letters and sounds document although I'm sure this is bed time reading that you all enjoy!