Phonics and Reading Parents Information Meeting
There are many approaches to the teaching of reading. There is not one single approach that will teach all children to read. Children need a variety of approaches in order to develop their reading skills. Reading must be taught explicitly and systematically, one small step at a time.
To become a good reader children need: Print awareness To be able to distinguish the sounds of speech Phonemic awareness -the understanding that the sounds of spoken language work together to make words. Phonics - the understanding that there is a relationship between letters and sounds through written language. Fluency Vocabulary Text comprehension
The English Language 26 letters of the alphabet 44 sounds 140 ways to spell these sounds
The Alphabetic Code Phoneme The smallest unit of sound in a word. There are 44 phonemes that we teach.
The 44 phonemes /b/ /d/ /f/ /g/ /h/ /j/ /k/ /l/ /m/ /n/ /ng/ /p/ /r/ /s/ /t/ /v/ /w/ /y/ /z/ /th/ /th/ /ch/ /sh/ /zh/ /a/ /e/ /i/ /o/ /u/ /ae/ /ee/ /ie/ /oe/ /ue/ /oo/ /ar/ /ur/ /au/ /er/ /ow/ /oi/ /air/ /ear/ /ure/
Grapheme Letters representing a phoneme A grapheme may consist of one (t), two (ch), or more letters (igh). A phoneme can be represented in more than one way: cat, kennel, choir The same grapheme may represent more than one phoneme: circus, car, me, met
Blending Children need to be able to hear the separate sounds in a word and then blend them together to say the whole word. c / a / t sh / ee / p cat sheep
Segmenting Chopping up a word to spell it out How many phonemes in these words? dog light speech
dog = 3 - d / o / g light = 3 - l / igh / t speech = 4 - s / p / ee / ch
Other Terminology Digraph (2 letters 1 sound) Consonant digraph (sh, ch, ck, th, ll, ss) Vowel digraph (at least 1 vowel ee, ai, ar, er) Trigraph (3 letters 1 sound igh, dge,) Split digraph/sometimes magic e but we teach correct terminology (bike, came, rose)
We use Letters and Sounds as our main phonics scheme and we supplement this with other resources. There are 6 Phases taught through Early Years and Key Stage One
Phase 1 Environmental sounds Instrumental sounds Body percussion Rhythm and Rhyme Alliteration Voice sounds Oral blending and segmenting
Nursery In our nursery, the teaching of phonics takes place across the morning/afternoon sessions with continual reinforcement of sounds. The children are encouraged to become listeners, hearing a range of different sounds around them.
Nursery rhymes and rhyming stories highlight words which rhyme and raps are used to help children listen carefully and clap to a beat. In teacher led sessions, small groups of children are taught the first phase of letters and sounds, before moving on to segmenting words.
The children have access to a wealth of reading material in nursery. Fiction and non-fiction books are used in all areas of learning to share and discuss with other children and adults in guided sessions. Big books are used for group sessions and the children are introduced to the characters in our Oxford Reading Tree scheme.
The nursery also provides a lending library, where children and parents together can choose a favourite book to take home, share and enjoy.
Story sacks can also be chosen and taken home each weekend. Parent and child can interact with the characters and objects in the sack, to either retell a story or make up stories of their own.
Phase 2 Introduces letter sound correspondences Set 1: s a t p Set 2: i n m d Set 3: g o c k Set 4: ck e u r Set 5: h b f ff l ll ss Blend and segment vc, cv, cvc words Read high frequency words: is it in at and to the no go I
Phase 3 Set 6: j v w x Set 7: y z zz qu Set 8: ch sh th ng Also: ai ee igh oa oo ar or ur ow oi ear air ure er
Phase 3 - continued Read high frequency words he she we me be was my you they her all are Spell no go the to I Read and spell 2 syllable words and captions Letter names
Phase 4 Blending and segmenting adjacent consonants for reading and writing 2 syllable words: lunchbox, desktop etc. cvc, ccvc, cvcc words
Phase 5 Further graphemes for reading ay ou ie ea oy ir ue aw wh ph ew oe au a-e i-e e-e o-e u-e Alternative pronunciations for graphemes (fin, find cow, blow) High frequency words (read and spell) Alternative spellings for phonemes (ai ay eigh ey a a-e) Read and spell 2 syllable and 3 syllable words Writing and reading sentences
Spelling focus Past tense (ed) Phase 6 Suffixes (s es ing ed er est ful ly y ment ness) Prefixes Plurals Spelling long words Finding and learning the difficult bits in words Learning and practising spellings (syllables, base words, analogy, mnemonics) Application of spelling in writing
Reading at school and home
Reading Success in reading is fundamental to success in school. Reading is all about acquiring meaning; for enjoyment, information and understanding. It is not a performance. It is not a test. Every time you finish a book do you always choose a harder one next time?
Understanding (Comprehension) Being able to read does not mean you understand what you read. Your child might sound like a good reader but may not necessarily understand what the text means. The best way to develop understanding is to talk about texts. The next slide is easy to read does anyone understand what it means?
An extract taken from a computer manual According to the previous ATA/IDE hard drive transfer protocol, the signalling way to send data was in synchronous strobe mode by using the rising edge of the strobe signal. The faster strobe rate increases EMI, which cannot be eliminated by the standard 40- pin cable used by ATA and ultra ATA.
Reading requires two skills Phonics and Word Recognition The ability to recognise words presented in and out of context. The ability to blend letter sounds (phonemes) together to read words. Understanding The ability to understand the meaning of the words and sentences in a text. The ability to understand the ideas, information and themes in a text. If a child understands what they hear, they will understand the same information when they read.
Reading in School - The Teaching of Reading Phonics daily Shared reading Guided reading Independent reading Reading across the curriculum 1:1 reading with an adult (teacher/teaching assistant/parent helper) as often as possible The hearing of reading is NOT the teaching of reading
Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 Dedicated daily phonic lessons take place in the Reception, Y1 and Y2 classes. In Y1 and Y2 phonic lessons take place between 9-9.20 am, which fits in with the teaching of grammar, punctuation and spellings lessons from Y3 to Y6. Reception class phonics are taught at 10 am when the children have settled into their morning routines.
In the Reception class, a new phonic sound is introduced at the start of the week. Throughout the week, a wide range of resources are used daily to enable the children to practise and embed their phonic skills. Segmenting and blending words, which include the new phonic sound they have been taught, are also highlighted. Each Friday, the children write the sounds or words learnt during the week.
In our Y1 and Y2 classes, phonics are revisited, taught, practised and applied across the course of a day. Fun games and activities using phonic sounds, key words and spelling strategies are practised daily.
Teaching in phonics is led by the teacher, with the teaching assistants supporting small groups. However, reading, along with phonic work is highlighted in every subject, across all lessons over the course of a day.
Activities provided in the phonic session are differentiated to meet the needs of the children and to help all children make progress.
The children are encouraged to write sounds on whiteboards, building words by sounding out. They are also taught to read alien/non words, which really test their understanding of phonics.
In the Reception, Y1 and Y2 classes, the children have access to a wide range of fiction and non fiction books. Teachers use both big books and small books on a daily basis to encourage the love of reading and daily guided reading sessions develop the understanding of text and vocabulary.
Discussion and questioning around characters and settings in the stories, encourage the children to think in more detail about what a character might be thinking or feeling, adding to the child's understanding of the story.
Oxford Reading Tree scheme books are given to the children to take home and share with parents from the Reception class onwards. We would encourage parents to hear their child read at home on a regular basis... but please remember that asking your child questions about the story they are reading and talking about the characters and plot, is as important as being able to read the words. This will help your child develop a deeper understanding of the story and hopefully, encourage a love of books and reading.
What to do if your child is stuck Use phonics first. What sound does the word begin with? Can you say the sounds in the word? Blend them together. Read to the end of the sentence. What would make sense? What is the text about what might fit here? Does it sound right? Look at the picture. Does it help?
My child read this book easily Sometimes we try not to move children on too quickly - To boost their confidence in reading - Reluctant readers at home - Can read the book fluently but they do not understand all the vocabulary
Reading at Home enjoy! Make reading visible; have books available in your home. Share books every day. Talk about books. Sit and listen - don t do chores around the reader! Respect choices.
Reading to your children Introduce your children to different types of books; classic fiction, chapter books, short stories, joke books, poetry, nonfiction. Read them the book that was your favourite when you were a child. Read slowly, with expression. Try to use different and funny voices for characters. Follow the words and read the story using the pictures. Talk about what is happening and what might happen next. Leave the story on a cliffhanger!
At Lingfield School we recognise and value the role of parents. As teachers we aim to communicate and work with parents to develop your child s phonic and reading ability. The time parents give, working with and supporting their child at home, is invaluable in helping the child make progress. Please remember, staff are always here to help and answer any questions you might have about supporting your child at home.