1. Phonics in Year 2 October 2015

2. Our aim today:  To help you gain an insight into how we teach phonics.  To help you gain some ideas about how you can support your child in phonics at home.

3. Quick Phonics Recap: Phonics teaches children to read and spell quickly and skilfully. The children are taught to:  recognise the sounds that each individual letter makes.  identify the sounds that certain combinations of two letters or three letters make - such as ‘sh’ or ‘dge’.  blend these sounds together from left to right to make a word. Reading - the sounds are identified and blended together. Spelling - the spelling of the segment sounds within the word are recalled to build the word.

4. Quick Terminology:  Phoneme – the smallest sound of a word.  Grapheme – the spelling for these sound (such as sh, ee, igh)  Digraph – 2 letters / 1 sound (such as ee)  Trigraph – 3 letters / 1 sound (such as igh)  Spilt digraph – a digraph divided around another letter a_e (as in bake) e_e (as in these) i_e (as in kite) o_e (as in spoke) u_e

5. The Phonics Phases:  Phase 1 – phonological awareness (hearing & identifying sounds)  Phase 2 – 23 graphemes (s a t p i n…)  Phase 3 – 25 graphemes (including qu, th, sh, ch, ai, ee, igh…)  Phase 4 – segmenting for spelling and blending for reading.  Phase 5 – alternative graphemes (ie / igh) and phonemes (ea / ea)  Phase 6 – spelling patterns, including suffixes (-er, -ing, -est, -iest, -ier, ly, tion, sion) plurals past tense (-ed) + high frequency words

6. The frequency of phonics: Phonics is taught in discreet 20 minute sessions, daily.  Revisit & review:  Revisit & review: looking back over previous learning  Teach:  Teach: looking at new sound/ spelling rule for the day  Practise:  Practise: familiarisation with the new sound/ spelling through whiteboard work or games  Apply:  Apply: Using new knowledge in a practical way. ie. writing sentences/answering questions etc.

7. A focus on Phases 5 & 6: Phase 5 Children have already learnt the sounds (phonemes) that many graphemes make such as ey is an /ee/ sound in donkey But now they will learn that sometimes the same grapheme can represent a different phoneme such as in obey where ey is an /a/ sound.

8. Best Bets: Reading When faced with reading an unfamiliar word children are taught to sound out the word and try the most familiar sound first. survey s-ur-v-ey If the word does not make sense they should recall the alternative sound for that grapheme.

9. Best Bets: Spelling When faced with spelling an unfamiliar word children are taught to break up the word into phoneme segments (using their fingers as a physical prompt) to work out the graphemes to use. b - a - j Children must use their reading knowledge to spot if something does not look right.

10. Best Bets: Spelling Children then need to recall the alternative spellings of that phoneme j dge ge and try different options to see which spelling looks the most suitable.

11. Best Bets: Spelling Children can also draw on their knowledge of best bet trains to work out what the correct grapheme to use might be.

12. A focus on Phases 5 & 6: Phase 6 Some spelling rules: Adding suffixes such as er, ed, y or ing If the word ends in e If the word ends in e = take off e and + ending rid-ing If the word has short vowel sound If the word has short vowel sound = double the consonant and add the ending. swim-m-ing If the word is none of the above If the word is none of the above = just + ending longing

13. A focus on Phases 5 & 6: Phase 6 Adding plurals: If the word ends in ss, s, sh, ch or x If the word ends in ss, s, sh, ch or x = add –es churches If the word ends in a y If the word ends in a y = take off the y and add –ies berries If the word is none of the above If the word is none of the above = just add –s dogs

14. High Frequency Words: It is EXTREMELY important for our children to learn these words.  They make up the majority of words read and written.  Children should be able to read them before they can spell them.  Many can be sounded out to read and segmented to spell, but some can’t!  The majority of 100 HFW are decodable by the end of Phase 5.  Build in regular time to practise these. Correct your child if they are spelling these words wrong at home.

15. Supportive activities:  Flashcards  Quick copy – show a word, cover it and then make it as quickly as possible by writing/magnetic letters/ phoneme cards etc.  Countdown – have the words on display and how many can you read in 1 minute?  Yes/No questions or choice of 3 (which one is correct)  Spotter stories  Make up your own nonsense words  Any form of supported reading  Any form of supported writing

16. Online Phonic Games: Websites  Phonics Play  BBC Bitesize  ICT games  Top table – links to many other sites  Free mobile/tablet apps (* be aware of American pron. & spellings!)

17. If you only remember 5 things…  Segmenting to spell using their fingers  Give support for the learning of 100 HFW (reading and spelling)  Talk about reading and spelling at home in everyday life. Make it relevant!  Support your child in their reading and writing by encouraging them to break down the words into their phonemes/graphemes to read/spell them. Encourage them to be aware of alternative spellings/pron and to choose what they think is the best bet.  Encourage a give-it-a-go attitude.