Phonics challenge: Can you work out what this word says? ghoti

ghoti = fish gh = f as in rouGH o = i as in wOmen ti = sh as in naTIon

Phonics at a glance knowledge of the alphabetic code skills of blending and segmenting +

Phonics = code breaking Identifying the spoken sounds in words. Recognising the common ways that these sounds (phonemes) are written. Blending sounds together to read words. Segmenting words into their sounds for writing.

Phase 1 - tuning in to sounds Environmental sounds Body percussion Rhythm and rhyme Alliteration (spotting the first sound of a word) Oral blending Video (Oral blending)

Oral blending A key pre-reading skill. Here is an example of how to help with oral blending at home.

How can you support Phase 1 at home Nursery rhymes Storytelling Listening walks Make sounds in the mirror together Clapping and skipping rhymes Eye-spy with initial sounds (NOT LETTER NAMES) Skipping and clapping games Robot talk

Key vocabulary Phoneme = a unit of sound in a word Grapheme = a written letter representing a sound

Phase 2 We teach the children to match the sounds (phonemes) they hear in words with the letters that represent them (graphemes). We teach them how to blend those sounds together to make words. ( s-a-t = sat) We teach them to segment (break down) words down into phonemes so that they can write them. (sat = sat)

What is a cuh-a-tuh???? The importance of the correct enunciation It is important to keep hard sounds short, sharp and clipped to avoid confusion. eg, d, g, p, t Some sounds need to be “unvoiced” eg. m, n, f Now your turn.... have a go.

These are the first sounds that we teach children. How many words can you make s a t p i n

in at it sat pin pit pan s a t p i n sin tin tap nip tan tip pat pan sin nap nit

Blending for reading In order to read words children first need to match each grapheme (written letter) with it’s corresponding phoneme (sound) and then blend them together to hear a word. Video (Blending for reading)

Segmenting for writing In order to write words children need to be able to isolate the individual sounds within them. Video clip

Tricky Words Not all words are phonetically decodable. Therefore we need to teach children to recognise some words by sight. eg. to, the was Tricky word hot potato

Phase 3 In phase 3 we begin to teach children more complex phonemes. Digraphs eg. ch, th, sh Some long vowel phonemes eg. oa as in boat, igh as in night, ai as in rain.

Digraphs & long vowels It is vital that children understand that phonemes can be more that one grapheme (written letter). Countdown with ‘ai’ sound

Phase 4 Phase 4 reviews the long vowels taught in phase 3. Phase 4 concentrates on initial and final blends in words. eg, ‘fl’ in ‘float’ and ‘nd’ in band

Phase 5 Once children are secure with blending and segmenting phase 3 sounds we introduce the children to alternative vowel phonemes. eg. hat becomes hate. The expectation is that by the end of year 1, most children will have completed Phase 5, ready for the Year 1 phonic assessment. Nonsense words - Buried Treasure game.