Phonics

What is Phonics? Children are taught Grapheme-Phoneme correspondences -Grapheme is a letter or group of letters representing a sound -Phoneme is the sounds in a word Apply the skill of blending phonemes in the order in which they occur. E.g blend Apply the skill of segmenting words into phonemes to spell. E.g If they hear the word ‘pink’ they spell it p..i..n..k. https://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/home/reading-owl/expert-help/phonics-made-easy - Ruth Miskin

Tricky words/ High Frequency words she be are the I no to have was you he all my when people asked could their oh www.phonicsplay.co.uk/

Letters and Sounds - Phase 1-6 Teachers plan activities that help children to listen attentively to sounds around them, such as the sounds of their toys and to sounds in spoken language. Children are taught a wide range of nursery rhymes and songs. This increases the children vocabulary and helps them talk confidently about stories.

Phase 2 In this phase the children continue practising what they have learned from phase 1. Pupils are taught certain letters of the alphabet (graphemes) and learn how they sound phonetically. The children use pictures and actions to help remember the sounds (phonemes). 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 Children are taught to blend letter sounds to make cvc words (consonant, vowel, consonant). For example - c/ a/ t = cat, b/e/ll = bell, d/o/g = dog We use jolly phonics song and actions – Youtube

Phase 3 The purpose of this phase is to teach more phonemes and graphemes, most of which are made of two letters. j, v, w, x, y, z, zz, qu ch, sh, th, ng ear, air, ure, er, ar, or, ur, ow, oi, ai, ee, igh, oa, oo The children practise blending and segmenting a wider set of words, for example- fizz, chip, beep, rain, mixer, for, night, thin, pure, hear, hair, barn, fur, cow, boil, goat, moon, book, sing, ship. You tube – articulation of phonemes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqhXUW_v-1s Digraphs (two letters make one sound) and trigraphs (three letters make one sound)

Phase 4 This is a consolidation unit as there are no new graphemes to learn. Children continue to practise previously learned graphemes and phonemes and learn how to read and write: Consonant clusters CVCC words: tent, damp, chimp, toast For example, in the word ‘toast’, t = consonant, oa = vowel, s = consonant, t = consonant. CCVC words: swim, plum, sport, spoon For example, in the word ‘spoon’, s = consonant, p = consonant, oo = vowel, n = consonant. CCVCC words: stamp, crisp, trunk For example, in the word ‘stamp’, s = consonant, t = consonant, a = vowel, m = consonant, p = consonant CCCVC words: street, spring, strap For example, in the word ‘strap’, s= consonant, t= consonant, r = consonant, a = vowel, p = consonant.

Phase 5 – Year 1 In this phase children learn more graphemes for the phonemes which they already know. ay as in day, ou as in loud, ie as in tie, ea as in bead, oy as in toy, ir as in girl, ue as in clue, aw as in paw, wh as in what, ph as in elephant, ew as in blew, oe as in goes, au as in author, a-e as in make, e-e as in even, i-e as in like, o-e as in bone, u-e as in cube. Also they learn different ways of pronouncing the graphemes they already know: i as in mind, o as in gold, c as in cycle, g as in gent, u as in unit, ow as in grow, ie as in field, ea as in head, er as in herb, a as in acorn and was, y as in by, gym and very, ch as in chemist and chef, ou as in you, could, ey as in they

Year 1 Phonic Screen Check 40 words 20 real words 20 pseudo- words tox quemp terg spron hild blurst stroft jound fape

Phase 6 – Year 2 In phase 6 the emphasis is on spelling. The children apply phonic skills and knowledge to recognise and spell an increasing number of complex words. The children are introduced to the past tense for example writing blow to blew, sing to sang. They will learn spelling patterns for example: kn- as in know mb – as in lamb wr – as in wrinkle gh- as in taught ough – as in tough Children are taught to investigate and learn how to add suffixes to words. For example – ed as in cooled, ing as in shopping, est as in longest, er as in robber, ful as in handful, ly as in cowardly, able as in drinkable, ible as in visible. The children are taught to write plurals – adding s as in pens, es as in brushes, ies as in jellies. They will also build a collection of plurals that do not end in ‘s’ for example mouse to mice, child to children.   Also the children are taught how to spell homophones (words that sound alike) for example read/reed, boy/buoy, hear/here, no/know, new/knew, right/write.

Expectations By the end of Foundation we aim for all children to be working at phase 4.   By the end of Year 1 we aim for all children to be working at phase 5. By the end of Year 2 we aim for all children to be working at phase 6.

How to help your child Spotting letters/digraphs/trigraphs/consonant clusters in the environment Practise saying the phonemes quickly through the use of flashcards (tip 5 Ruth Miskin) jigsaws Phonic Bug Club books – password on the reading diary Reading books – phoneme spotting (Tip 7 Ruth Miskin) Sharing a book with your child. Lots of talk and hugs. Writing – use tripod grip Magnetic letters/ foam letters in the bath E books– oxford owl Audible stories for car journeys Visit the library Treasure hunts Alphablocks –cbeebies Websites www.phonicsplay.co.uk/ www.bbc.co.uk/schools/websites/4_11/site/literacy.shtml www.ictgames.com/literacy.html http://www.familylearning.org.uk/phonics_games.html http://www.topmarks.co.uk/english-games/5-7-years/letters-and-sounds http://www.teachyourmonstertoread.com