Understanding and teaching phonics Breaking the code Objectives

Understanding and teaching phonics Breaking the code

Objectives for session Colleagues will • understand what is meant by phonics and why it is important as the way in to reading • explore what makes good phonics teaching and some “non-negotiables” • feel confident to train others in these aspects

Agenda • • • What’s phonics for? What do we mean by phonics? Why phonics works Making it work in school Making it work in the classroom Phonics into reading and writing Some non-negotiables Plenary Coffee and lunch at appropriate times!

The purpose of phonics. . . is to move from /c/ /a/ /t/ to

What do we mean by phonics? • English operates on an alphabetic system; that is, 26 symbols (the letters of the alphabet) represent approximately 44 sounds, singly and in combination. • We can learn to recognise these symbols, singly and in combination, and assign sounds to them in order to read (grapheme-phoneme correspondence) • We can learn to segment words into sounds and identify the correct symbols in order to spell (phoneme-grapheme correspondence)

What do we mean by phonics? (2) No particular published scheme is indicated, but the Rose Review, building on key research, recommended that “systematic phonics teaching should conform to the major principles implemented in what has become known as ‘synthetic’ phonics” and this seems to have become established as the norm; the core criteria for phonics schemes published by the government in 2010 describes “systematic synthetic phonics. ” and phonics teaching is statutory in the National Curriculum

Why phonics? Looking at the evidence

Why phonics? Findings from research • Systematic phonics programs significantly more effective than non-systematic or no phonics programs. • Systematic phonics programs significantly more effective when given in kindergarten or first grade • Systematic phonics programs led to better reading comprehension in younger children National Reading Panel 2000

Why phonics? Findings from research (2) • Systematic phonics instruction within a broad literacy curriculum was found to have a statistically significant positive effect on reading accuracy. • There was no statistically significant difference between the effectiveness of systematic phonics instruction for reading accuracy for normally-developing children and for children at risk of reading failure. Torgerson, Brooks and Hall, 2006

This is because. . . • To be recognised speedily on sight, words have to be in the reader’s “mental lexicon” – you have to know the word before you can read it. • Getting a word into the mental lexicon requires a consistent mnemonic method; you can’t memorise the look of every word. • Studies of young readers who haven’t acquired knowledge of the alphabet show that they attend to irrelevant and unhelpful features to recall words, which will not work consistently.

Findings from research (3) Learning to recognise sounds in words (phonemes) and the letters that make them helps fix orthographic knowledge in the brain. (Once you know a particular graphemephoneme correspondence you recognise it in other words; you have to pay less and less attention to it until it becomes an automatic response. ) Share, 1995 (and more recently); Stuart, 2006 a, 2006 b; Savage and Stuart, 2006; Ehri 1999

In other words. . . the better you get at recognising letters and letter patterns and the sounds the letters make the bigger your mental lexicon gets so you recognise more words more quickly (because the lexical and non-lexical routes are both working efficiently) the more words you know, the better you are at reading.

The importance of early decoding success in reading The earlier children become fluent decoders, the more time and cognitive space they have to develop • reading stamina • a competent working memory • a wide vocabulary • comprehension skills and the more likely they are to read for pleasure.

The importance of phonics • 89% of those children reaching the expected phonics standard in Y 1 reached the expected standard in reading in Y 2 • 31% were working at a greater depth within the expected standard • Of those who reached the phonics standard only in Y 2, only 36% were working at the expected standard in reading, and 2% working at greater depth. 54% were working towards the expected standard in reading.

Plenary • Do you feel confident with the content of the training so far? • Do you feel confident to deliver it back in school?

Making it work in school

EEF Guidance Report – Improving Literacy in KS 1 • Produced to support Education Endowment Foundation’s North East Primary Literacy Campaign • Eight practical evidence-based recommendations ‘representing “lever points” that schools can use to make a significant difference to pupils’ learning’ • Based on international research • Could be used to audit and improve current literacy provision

“Effectively implement a systematic phonics programme” • Effective pedagogy • Monitor progress • Engaging lessons developing persistence and perseverance • All staff trained • Faithfulness to the programme

Characteristics of successful schools These schools shared • a very rigorous and sequential approach to developing speaking and listening and teaching reading, writing and spelling through systematic phonics. • applied with a high degree of consistency and sustained. • planned structure, fast pace, praise and reinforcement, perceptive responses, active participation by all children and evidence of progress. • effective teachers highly trained to instil the principles of phonics Reading by six; how the best schools do it (Ofsted 2010)

In many schools • EYFS use a different programme from that used in KS 1 • There are staff teaching phonics who have no experience of the programme – or sufficient subject knowledge about phonics • Staff not directly involved in teaching phonics do not know/understand how it is taught • There is no-one with sufficient authority and knowledge about phonics to pull it all together

High fidelity! Fidelity to the chosen programme is vital to ensure that children are taught • consistently • systematically and so that • everyone has the same expectations of what children should be achieving and also • to ensure sensible use of resources and materials

Some implications All staff involved in teaching phonics need training in • how the programme chosen by the school works • using the programme faithfully • how to teach it effectively, ensuring that all children are making progress and not allowing misconceptions to pass unchallenged • the school’s “non-negotiables”

Staff training Consider • cost and time implications • keeping up with staffing changes • who needs to take responsibility? • all staff, including TAs and KS 2 • importance of understanding theory in order to get the practicalities right • training in pedagogy as well as programme • ensuring basic subject knowledge

A rich language curriculum Being exposed to a rich language curriculum (not just books – opportunities for speaking and listening, playing with words) right from the start is a sine qua non of becoming a reader. 1. phonemic awareness 2. mental lexicon 3. vocabulary 4. knowledge and experience of the world 5. comprehension 6. ENJOYMENT

The Simple View of Reading

A rich language curriculum What should be in place? • “a very rigorous and sequential approach to developing speaking and listening” • frequent and regular reading aloud from a range of texts, including poetry and non-fiction • story-telling • opportunities for children to learn stories and poems by heart

A rich language curriculum • Is the development of spoken language and listening skills specifically referenced in long- and short-term plans? • Are staff providing experiences rich in language development opportunities and making the most of them? • Have EYFS and KS 1 staff liaised to ensure that children keep meeting new stories and texts as well as revisiting well-known ones? • How is the development of reading comprehension supported alongside decoding skills?

The importance of learning vocabulary • A child’s ability to understand rests on what they know about words. • Having a low vocabulary can trap children in a vicious circle, since children who cannot read more advanced texts miss out on opportunities to extend their vocabulary. Fisher and Blachnowicz, 2005 • but many children will come to school either with a very low vocabulary, or without the possibility of learning new words at home • so direct robust vocabulary teaching is vital

Direct robust vocabulary teaching in EYFS and KS 1 For example • Word of the day • A “magpie” board • The thesaurus game • Instant drama • Target words in texts • Word bingo • Rewards for using new words It’s not hard – children are hard-wired for language!

Planning for phonics in school Suggestions • Phonics sessions at the same time, to make best use of teachers and TAs and facilitate monitoring • System to support teachers in remembering what stage children are at, in order to facilitate application

Phonics into reading Children need to be given a chance to practise phonic knowledge as soon as possible after the phonics session. Consider • book choice phonetically decodable books “real” books - which can support both phonic knowledge and comprehension skills • strategies for teaching reading

What do these books offer?

Phonics into writing “If children have to concentrate to ensure their transcription is accurate, they will be less able to think about the content of their writing. ” EEF How important is phoneme-grapheme correspondence as opposed to GPC? “Once you can spell a word, you can read it. ” Paul Bissex (aged 5) GNYS at Work

Research findings At age 4, “phonological spelling was a stronger longitudinal predictor of reading than was reading a longitudinal predictor of phonological spelling. ” (Caravalos, Hume and Snowling, 2001) What does this indicate about the proportion of writing activities to reading activities?

Phonics into writing • Learning to spell words is one way of getting them into your mental lexicon • Phases 4 – 6 of Letters and Sounds have increasing emphasis on writing • Phase 6 is moving from using PGCs to using visual strategies for spelling – good spellers don’t sound words out unless they are unknown words with no available analogies. • Need to be aware that English spelling is influenced by orthographic convention, morphology and etymology as well as PGC and the implications

Lucy’s story

Making it work in the classroom The /k/ in “Percy” says /s/! . . . or not. . .

Effective classroom phonics (1) Is phonics teaching • fast, lively and fun? • systematic? • resulting in learning for all children (assessment)? • happening every day? • linked to other learning and practised throughout the day? • consistent and faithful to the school’s chosen programme?

Sequence of teaching in a phonics session Introduction Revisit and review Teach Practise Apply Assess learning against criteria

Some problem areas (1) Are teachers confident in helping children distinguish individual phonemes? Consider words like • witch • strap • chemist What problems might these present?

Some problem areas (2) - vowels Short and long vowel sounds can cause confusion! eight, ate, bath, bat, barn – which have short/long vowels? Problems lie with accent and pronunciation And also the fact that we have to oversimplify for the sake of teaching. . . How might we clarify for children and teachers?

Some problem areas (3) – some consonant phonemes Which consonant phonemes can be difficult to teach/learn? • Often dependent on accent • The “hard to hear” sounds like /v/, /zh/ /ng/ • Can result in “tricky words” • Harder to learn for spelling than for reading?

Effective classroom phonics (2) It’s important • to pay attention to mouth movement when saying phonemes • not to voice consonants if it can be avoided • to pronounce phonemes, especially vowels, consistently – consider accents http: //mrthorne. com/home/phonics/introducti on

Some problem areas (3) Tricky words By tricky words we usually mean high frequency words which are not transparently decodable, such as “they” and “said”. Typically, these words do conform at least partially to phonic rules. We tend to teach them as sight words, but research shows that they are recognised more quickly when recognition is underpinned by grapheme-phoneme knowledge

Effective classroom phonics (3) • Children need to know letter names as well as sounds (NC). Why is this? • When teaching the alphabet, singing is useful – but only if it doesn’t run the letters together – try Auld Lang Syne!

And finally – some non-negotiables • At least 20 minutes discrete phonics teaching per day • Children assessed and on correct phase • Catch-up for those falling behind • Opportunities for application throughout the day • A rich language curriculum from the start • Never losing sight of what phonics is for!

Next steps Before the next session, you could find out • what phonics programmes your schools are using. Are they being used consistently? Do staff need training in the scheme? What CPD needs does the school have? • how successful are your schools at teaching a)phonics and b)reading and writing? Look at results. Are there any mismatches? • are there any particular issues facing your schools?

Plenary • Do you feel confident with the content of the training so far? • Do you feel confident to deliver it back in school?