Reading and writing float on a sea of talk

1. Reading and writing float on a sea of talk Sue Palmer

2. Phonics is…. Knowledge of the alphabetic code + Skills of segmentation and blending

3. Look at the words below. They are spellings you may see your child use. They are not the correct spellings, but show the children have used their phonic knowledge. Can you read the words and then write the correct spelling on your own whiteboard. This is an activity that aims to show you how difficult it is for children to learn to spell. • riet caim • munkee fite • bergir rayn • bowt Pawl • noes grait

4. How many did you get right? • right (or write) came • monkey fight • burger rain • boat Paul • nose great

5. Terminology

6. phonemes The smallest unit of sound you can hear within a word. Phoneme refers to the sound NOT the letter that represents that sound c/a/t = 3 phonemes ch/air = 2 phonemes th/e/n = 3 phonemes

7. graphemes The letter or letters used to represent a phoneme Graphemes can be represented by more than one phoneme (mostly vowels) e.g. ‘a’ – can make a short or a long ‘a’ sound

8. digraphs A pair of letters representing a phoneme sh ch ai Digraphs can be linked to more than one phoneme e.g. ‘oo’ – can make a short sound ‘book’ or a long sound ‘cool’ ‘ow’ can be used in ‘cow’ and ‘low’ Phonemes can be linked to more than one digraph e.g. ‘ee’, ‘ea’ and ‘ey’ all make the same sound Week, each and key

9. How many phonemes are in these words? • Top • Shower • Chair • High • Bird

10. segmenting To split a word into its separate phonemes Primarily used as a tool for writing, it is also useful for reading too. It allows children to decode unknown words. c/a/t p/ai/n Sh/ow/er

11. blending To list the phonemes within a word and put together quickly to form the word. Taught as a strategy for reading unknown words

12. one you tricky words what where These are common words that do not follow phonic rules and have to be taught by sight. high frequency words help stop can and These are common words that children should be able to decode

13. How to help your children • Encourage them to segment any unknown, decodable words. • Highlight any digraphs or trigraphs in unknown words. • Encourage them to blend the phonemes back together. • With longer 2 syllable words, encourage them to split the word to help blend. • Practise reading the tricky words.

14. Phases We use the document Letters and Sounds to teach phonics. It splits the learning into 6 phases. Phase One is taught in Pre-school/nursery. The focus is on sounds in the environment, from instruments, body percussion, rhythm and rhyme and beginning to segment words. Phase Two and Three are taught in Reception. Children begin segmenting and blending simple words when reading and writing. They are also taught some ‘tricky words’ – those words that can only be recognised by sight and not worked out using phonic knowledge. The children are expected to have learned the graphemes/phonemes below in Phase two and three: All letters of the alphabet and ck, ff, ll, ss, zz, qu, ch, sh, th (both phonemes), ng, ai, ee, igh, oa, oo (both phonemes), ar, or, ur, ow, oi, ear, air, ure and er. They are also expected to be able to recognise 18 tricky words and read/spell 38 decodable words.

15. Phase Four and Five are taught in Key Stage One. The children are taught more phonemes/graphemes and more tricky words. Phase four is partly a consolidation phase and teaching the children to use their phonic knowledge in their reading and writing, especially for more complex words. In Phase 5 children are also taught that some graphemes can make different sounds e.g. ie in words such as tie and field, g in grab and ginger, ea in sea and bread, ow in cow and slow (or bow and bow). Phase 6 The children learn about the past tense and adding suffixes, e.g. pass – passed, run – ran, look/looking – looked, come – came etc. They learn the rules for adding –ing, -ed, -er, -est, -ful, -ly, -es and –y to words as well as changing the end of words when it changes to a plural such as baby – babies, woman – women etc.

16. Comprehension Comprehension is a vital part of reading. Children must be able to: • Understand what they have read • Understand all the words they have read (sometimes they can read words but do not understand their meaning and miss important aspects to the text). • Predict what might happen next using the read text to support predictions • Discuss what has happened, in detail and with accuracy • Recall key information • Discuss why characters have made certain comments and the impact on the story.

17. Type www.oxfordowl.co.uk into your web browser (Press the safari icon if using the iPads.) Click on the pink ‘My class login’ logo in the top right hand corner.

18. Enter the username for your child’s class into the first box. Put the password into the second box and click login. For tonight use the following login details: Username: woodpeckers2 Password: bird

19. Select the ‘For Home’ section on the right hand side of the screen. Now click on the ‘250 free eBooks’ icon.

20. You can now select a book according to the age of your child or the book type by selecting the appropriate drop down menu. Click on the book you would like to read and follow the link that says ‘Read e-Book’.

21. You can read the book to yourself or listen to the audio of the book and follow the words on the page. Some stories also have activities that help with comprehension. Click on the ‘Play activity’ link at the top of the page in order to play these.