Phonics The link between sounds and how we

Phonics The link between sounds and how we write them. • Phoneme = Spoken sound e. g. ‘e’ ‘j’ ‘m’ • Grapheme = Written sound what the letters look like in written form e. g. (cheek)

Phonics in Reception �Daily sessions (20 minutes) �Assessed continuously �Ability grouped (children may learn with other years later on in year) �New individual sounds and actions taught daily �Focus communicated weekly �High frequency and tricky word lists will be sent home as children are ready

Phase 1 (Pre School) �Having fun with sounds �Listening carefully �Developing their vocabulary �Tuning into sounds �Listening to and remembering sounds �Talking about sounds �Understanding that spoken words are made up of different sounds

Phase 1 (Seven different areas) �Environmental sounds �Instrumental sounds �Body percussion �Rhythm and rhyme including listening to and saying nursery rhymes �Alliteration (words that begin with the same sound) �Voice sounds �Oral blending and segmenting

Phase 2 �Children learn 19 letters �Learning to blend and segment �Reading some VC and CVC words �Spelling �Reading 2 syllable words and simple captions �Read some high frequency “tricky” words

Soundtalk (blending) �Vital skill for reading �Children should already be hearing the initial sounds in words �Separate sounds (phonemes) are spoken aloud, throughout each word, then they are merged together to sound the whole word. �Saying the sounds clearly is important for spelling. �Merging is called ‘blending’. �E. g. c-a-t = cat

Soundtalk (segmenting) �Vital skill for spelling �Whole words are spoken aloud, then broken into sounds through the whole word E. g. Cat = c-a-t

Tricky Words �Children will learn several tricky words; those that cannot be sounded out. E. g. the to I go no

Articulation of phonemes (don’t add “uh”) �Avoid saying fuh, luh, muh – it makes it hard for the children to blend. �Some children struggle to pronounce certain sounds correctly – w instead of r (wabbit, lowwy), f instead of th (fick, fin) – please ensure that you model the correct pronunciation and correct when they get it wrong. �http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=5 J 2 Ddf_0 Om 8

Phase 3 �Children should now be able to read CVC words independently �Learn how to read digraphs. �E. g ‘oa’ (as in boat) �Begin to spell some tricky words and write phrases and sentences �The end of year expectation is that all children are ready to start Phase 4

How can you support? �Sing alphabet songs �Play ‘I Spy’ �Magnetic letters �Practise word lists �Verbally make up sentences (using the word lists) �When writing name labels for children or writing anything for them, please use lower case letters instead of capitals.

Useful Websites • Phonics Play www. phonicsplay. co. uk • ICT games www. ictgames. com/literacy. html • BBC www. bbc. co. uk/schools/wordsandpictures/phonics/ • Communication 4 all – useful charts www. communication 4 all. co. uk/http/Phonics. Web. htm

Reading

Reading – End of year expectations Early Learning Goals �Children read and understand simple sentences. �They use phonic knowledge to decode regular words and read them aloud accurately e. g kick, chip, sat, thing �Read some common irregular words from phase 2 and 3 e. g no, go, to, said �Demonstrate understanding when talking to others about what they have read.

Reading in school �Reading scheme books sent home daily �Guided reading �Word cards sent home daily and checked weekly �Reception basket books sent home after half term to read with your child �Library books in the summer term

How children read �Children use various strategies to help them read 1. Using picture clues – don’t cover up the pictures! 2. Using phonic knowledge to blend sounds together. 3. Does what they are reading make sense? Share books with children and encourage them to tell a story using the pictures. Are there any words or sounds they know? Encourage them to blend simple cvc words together.

How you can help at home �Regular reading/sharing books at home �Visiting the library �Model reading to children at story time �Spotting familiar names in the environment –Boots, B and Q, , Next etc. �Practise weekly phonemes from phonics sessions