1. Welcome to Introduction Welcome to Jolly Phonics.
Jolly Phonics has been developed by practising classroom teachers and provides a systematic method for teaching children to read and write.
It is a synthetic phonics programme: The children are taught to read by ‘synthesising’ (which is blending) the letter sounds together.
By blending the letter sounds together, the children can work out unknown words themselves, rather than being asked to memorise words.
In this presentation, we will look at :
The principles of Jolly Phonics.
The stages children go through to learn to read and write well and confidently.
How providing additional support at home can help children achieve the best results.

2. 5 Basic Skills 1. Learning the letter sounds 2. Letter formation
3. Blending to read words
4. Segmenting to write words
5. Tricky words
5 Basic Skills
There are 5 basic skills covered in Jolly Phonics:
Learning the letter sounds.
Learning letter formation.
Blending.
Identifying sounds in words.
Tricky words.
(You might like to explain what these mean in more detail).
The first four skills are taught every day from the beginning.
‘Tricky words’ are introduced after about 6 weeks. By then most of the children:
can work out simple regular words for reading and writing
are ready to learn the more difficult tricky words.

3. Learning the Letter Sounds
s a t p
i n m d
g o c k
ck e u r
h b l f
j v w x
y z
Letter Sounds
Letter sound order
There are 42 different letter sounds, which are divided into 7 groups.
The order in which the letter sounds are taught go from the simplest to the more complex letter sounds.
The first group of letters were chosen because you can make more simple, three-letter words than with any other combination of 6 letters.
This enables the children to start blending and reading words from the first week. This is hugely motivating for them.
Letter names
Initially, only the letter sounds are taught, with the letter names coming a few weeks later.
This helps to prevent the children getting muddled between the sound and the name.
Digraphs
The digraphs (where two letters make one sound) are introduced in the fourth group of letter sounds.

4. (two letters that make one sound)
Digraphs
(two letters that make one sound)
Digraphs (two letters that make one sound): /ai/
/ai/ is the first digraph the children are taught.
The children have to understand that when the letters ‘a’ and ‘i’ are next to each other, they say /ai/.
Storyline
A little boy has wax in his ears. He keeps putting his hand behind his ear and saying /ai/ when he doesn’t hear something. So his mother takes him to the doctor to get the wax removed. Now he doesn’t have to say /ai/ anymore!

5. Digraphs Trigraphs ck ff ss ll qu ch sh th ng ai ee ie oa
(two letters making one sound)
(two letters making one sound)
ck ff ss ll qu
ch sh th ng
ai ee ie oa
oo ar or er ur
ow ou oi
Digraphs
In English there are 44 sounds and only 26 letters.
This means that some sounds have to be written with two letters. These sounds are called digraphs.
The ones on screen are the first to be taught to the children.
Activity
Point to each digraph and ask everyone to call out the sound. You can provide a word for each digraph yourself, or ask for suggestions. For example:
/ai/ rain
/oa/ goat
/ie/ tie
/ee/ sheep
/or/ torn

6. (three letters making one sound)
Trigraphs
(three letters making one sound)
igh ear air ure

7. Digraph with Two Sounds: ‘oo’
This is the ‘oo’ Sound Sheet from The Phonics Handbook.
Digraph with two sounds: ‘oo’
‘oo’ is introduced at first in two different sizes because it has two sounds: /oo/ as in ‘book’ and /oo/ as in ‘moon’.
In reading books ‘oo’ is always the same. The children have to learn “If one sound doesn’t work, try the other sound”. (Demonstrate with a word like ‘moon’: the short /oo/ doesn’t work but the long /oo/ does.)

8. Alternative Vowel Sounds
Introduced as:
Alternatives taught later (KS1):
(play) (flame)
(rain)
(feet)
(leaf)
(these)
(boat)
(snow) (bone)
Alternative Vowel Sounds
Introducing the alternatives
Initially, only one way of reading the vowel sounds is taught. So, for example, the /ai/ sound is taught as ‘ai’, as in ‘rain’.
There are, of course, other ways of writing the vowel sounds, for example ‘ay’ as in ‘play’ and ‘a-e’, as in flame. Some other examples are on screen.
Gradually the children are taught the alternatives as well. This prepares them for the Yellow Level and Green Level of the Jolly Readers.
Progression
With Jolly Phonics, the children progress in a step-by-step fashion through the various stages.
However, some will master these stages faster than others.
The important thing is to make sure that the skills ARE mastered.
Support from home can make all the difference.
Storybooks
Once there is knowledge of the alternatives and fluency in the reading then the children are able to read any books that are suitable for their age.

9. Search youtube for Jolly Phonics phase 2 or 3
Songs and Actions
Learning the /s/ sound
Action:
Weave your hand like a
snake, making an ‘s’
shape, saying ssssss
Storylines and Actions
The first of the 5 basic skills is learning the letter sounds:
Action
• There is an action linked to each letter sound.
• This multi-sensory approach helps the children remember the letter sounds more easily.
Storyline
• Each sound and action is introduced through a story.
• For the /s/ sound, the story is about a boy who takes his dog for a walk.
• When the dog starts to bark, the boy runs over and sees a snake rearing up out of the grass in an ‘s’ shape, saying /ssssss/.
• For the action, the children weave their hands in an ‘s’ shape, like a snake, and say /ssss/.
Search youtube for Jolly Phonics phase 2 or 3

10. Letter Formation focussing on the small letters first.
stopping bad habits from developing.
Writing in a variety of different media (sand etc)
Letter Formation
The next part of the lesson involves the second of the basic 5 skills: showing the children the shape of the letter that gives the /s/ sound:
Multi-sensory approach
A multi-sensory approach is used here too. The children can:
feel the shape of the letter in the Finger Phonics books
see it written on the board
and write it in the air with their finger.
(Demonstrate air-writing an ‘s’, facing everyone and making sure you draw the ‘s’ in its mirror image.)
Getting it right
It is important to get the formation correct from the beginning before any bad habits develop.
Gentle guidance or correction given at home makes it easier for the children.

11. Pencil Grip Tripod grip ‘Froggy legs’ movement Pencil Hold Tripod grip
The ‘tripod’ type of pencil hold makes it easier for children to write. They need to learn that:
The pencil goes between the thumb and the first finger.
The next finger stops the pencil falling down.
The last two fingers are not needed and should be tucked away.
‘Froggy legs’ movement
The movement comes from the knuckles. When the pencil is moved in this way, it looks like ‘froggy legs’!
It is helpful to encourage your children to use this pencil hold.
(If you have time, get everyone to put their first finger and thumb together in the tripod grip and pretend to write with the ‘froggy legs’ movement.)

12. box Blending to Read 1. Identify letter sounds.
2. Repeat, blending the sounds together.
3. Read the word.
4. Repeat the word to hear the meaning.
box
Reading (blending)
Blending is the third of the 5 basic skills:
Words can’t be blended if only one letter sound has been taught.
However, the first stage in learning to blend can be taught. This is to listen for the word when the teacher or parent says the sounds. For example, f-u-n makes ‘fun’.
Activity
Choose simple words from the picture on screen and call out the sounds. Ask everyone to listen for the word and call it out.
(Sample set of words: s-u-n, d-o-g, b-oy, m-ou-s-e, f-i-sh, n-e-s-t.)
In the beginning a little practice is needed most days.
Children who can hear immediately that s-u-n is ‘sun’ tend to have a naturally good ear for sounds. They rarely have problems with learning to blend sounds by themselves.
With practice, all children become successful. However, it does take longer for some, and these children find learning to read more difficult.
Doing this type of activity at home is hugely beneficial.

13. shop goat flight now book Blending to Read
When sounding out words, make sure to look out for digraphs and trigraphs.
shop goat flight
now book
Reading (blending)
Blending is the third of the 5 basic skills:
Words can’t be blended if only one letter sound has been taught.
However, the first stage in learning to blend can be taught. This is to listen for the word when the teacher or parent says the sounds. For example, f-u-n makes ‘fun’.
Activity
Choose simple words from the picture on screen and call out the sounds. Ask everyone to listen for the word and call it out.
(Sample set of words: s-u-n, d-o-g, b-oy, m-ou-s-e, f-i-sh, n-e-s-t.)
In the beginning a little practice is needed most days.
Children who can hear immediately that s-u-n is ‘sun’ tend to have a naturally good ear for sounds. They rarely have problems with learning to blend sounds by themselves.
With practice, all children become successful. However, it does take longer for some, and these children find learning to read more difficult.
Doing this type of activity at home is hugely beneficial.

14. Blending to Read
Blending doesn’t have to be done while reading i.e. i-spy
Reading (blending)
Blending is the third of the 5 basic skills:
Words can’t be blended if only one letter sound has been taught.
However, the first stage in learning to blend can be taught. This is to listen for the word when the teacher or parent says the sounds. For example, f-u-n makes ‘fun’.
Activity
Choose simple words from the picture on screen and call out the sounds. Ask everyone to listen for the word and call it out.
(Sample set of words: s-u-n, d-o-g, b-oy, m-ou-s-e, f-i-sh, n-e-s-t.)
In the beginning a little practice is needed most days.
Children who can hear immediately that s-u-n is ‘sun’ tend to have a naturally good ear for sounds. They rarely have problems with learning to blend sounds by themselves.
With practice, all children become successful. However, it does take longer for some, and these children find learning to read more difficult.
Doing this type of activity at home is hugely beneficial.

15. Segmenting to Spell
1. Say the word and segment in into parts ie ‘Mop. M… o…p.’
2. Write down the sounds in order, repeating the word as many times as needed.
3. Read back the word.
Reading (blending)
Blending is the third of the 5 basic skills:
Words can’t be blended if only one letter sound has been taught.
However, the first stage in learning to blend can be taught. This is to listen for the word when the teacher or parent says the sounds. For example, f-u-n makes ‘fun’.
Activity
Choose simple words from the picture on screen and call out the sounds. Ask everyone to listen for the word and call it out.
(Sample set of words: s-u-n, d-o-g, b-oy, m-ou-s-e, f-i-sh, n-e-s-t.)
In the beginning a little practice is needed most days.
Children who can hear immediately that s-u-n is ‘sun’ tend to have a naturally good ear for sounds. They rarely have problems with learning to blend sounds by themselves.
With practice, all children become successful. However, it does take longer for some, and these children find learning to read more difficult.
Doing this type of activity at home is hugely beneficial.

16. Focusing on confident, independent writers.
Segmenting to Spell
Focusing on confident, independent writers.
slied bounsi fighn
slide bouncy fine
Reading (blending)
Blending is the third of the 5 basic skills:
Words can’t be blended if only one letter sound has been taught.
However, the first stage in learning to blend can be taught. This is to listen for the word when the teacher or parent says the sounds. For example, f-u-n makes ‘fun’.
Activity
Choose simple words from the picture on screen and call out the sounds. Ask everyone to listen for the word and call it out.
(Sample set of words: s-u-n, d-o-g, b-oy, m-ou-s-e, f-i-sh, n-e-s-t.)
In the beginning a little practice is needed most days.
Children who can hear immediately that s-u-n is ‘sun’ tend to have a naturally good ear for sounds. They rarely have problems with learning to blend sounds by themselves.
With practice, all children become successful. However, it does take longer for some, and these children find learning to read more difficult.
Doing this type of activity at home is hugely beneficial.

17. cash the no you night he Tricky Words
Words that you can’t sound out and blend.
Which of these words are tricky words?
cash the no
you night he
Tricky Words
Teaching Tricky Words is the fifth of the five basic skills:
At this stage the children are very familiar with working out regular words by blending.
Now they have to learn that some words have tricky bits, and when they are blended they do not always give the correct pronunciation.
When the first set of Tricky Words has been taught, the children are ready to read the first set of books (Jolly Readers, Red Level 1).

18. I the no go to he she me be you
Tricky Words
Children learn to spell and recognize tricky words
Early tricky words:
I the no go to he she me be you
Tricky Words
Teaching Tricky Words is the fifth of the five basic skills:
At this stage the children are very familiar with working out regular words by blending.
Now they have to learn that some words have tricky bits, and when they are blended they do not always give the correct pronunciation.
When the first set of Tricky Words has been taught, the children are ready to read the first set of books (Jolly Readers, Red Level 1).

19. Further Reading
Learning to Read Through Phonics: information for parents (
Letters and Sounds Program (
Free resources and games (
Fun print-off worksheets and resources (
– correct sounds
Tricky Words
Teaching Tricky Words is the fifth of the five basic skills:
At this stage the children are very familiar with working out regular words by blending.
Now they have to learn that some words have tricky bits, and when they are blended they do not always give the correct pronunciation.
When the first set of Tricky Words has been taught, the children are ready to read the first set of books (Jolly Readers, Red Level 1).

20. Correct pronunciation of sounds