Rainbow
As we begin to teach the children the skills that they will need in order to be successful readers and writers, we focus on speaking and listening activities.
We explore body sounds, sounds in the environment, the difference in the sounds of percussion instruments, rhythm and rhyme, voice sounds and alliteration – words that all begin with the same initial sound – ‘sad, Sammy snake’, ‘big, bad bug’.
All the way through we also teach the skills of ‘blending’ and segmenting’.
- Blending
We teach the children how to blend or merge sounds together to read each word, in the right order, to read a word. E.g. c-a-t = cat.
- Segmenting
We teach the children how to segment each word to spell. E.g. cat = c-a-t
The aim is for the children to read the whole word automatically.
These activities are all done orally. The emphasis is on helping children to hear the separate sounds in words and to create spoken sounds.
Ways you can support your child at home
Sound-talking or Robot-talking
Find real objects around your home that have three phonemes (sounds) and practise ‘sound talk’. First, just let them listen, then see if they will join in, for example, saying:
‘I spy a p-e-g – peg.’
‘I spy a c-u-p – cup.’
‘Where’s your other s-o-ck – sock?’
‘Simon says – put your hands on your h-ea-d.’
‘Simon says – touch your ch-i-n.’
We teach the children the smallest unit of sound – called a ‘phoneme’.
This is the order in which the ‘phonemes’ are taught and practiced. Correct pronunciation is vital!
c not cuh or cee b not buh or bee a not ay
These are the Phase 2 and 3 sounds we learn in the Autumn term.
s, a, t, p, i, i, n, m, d, g, o, c. k, ck, e, u, r, h, b, f, ff, l, ll, le, ss, j, v, w, x, y, z, zz, qu, ch, sh, th, ng, dge, ve, wh, cks, tch, nk.
A phoneme can be represented by more than one letter. E.g. ll as in bell ss as in hiss ck as in sock.
We will be working on Phase 3 and 4 High Frequency words and Tricky words.
Phase 3 High Frequency Word Mat
Phase 4 High Frequency Word Mat
Phase 4
In Phase 4, no new graphemes are introduced. The main aim of this phase is to consolidate the children’s knowledge and to help them learn to read and spell words which have adjacent consonants, such as trap, string and milk. st, sp, sk, sl, cr, cl, tr, br, fr, fl, bl, dr, gr, lk, nk, mp, str, thr, scr, spr
Phase 4-blends-and-clusters-sound-mat
Ways you can support your child at home
Magnetic letters
Buy magnetic letters for your fridge, or for use with a tin tray. Find out which letters have been taught – have fun finding these with your child and place them on the magnetic surface.
Making little words together
Make little words together, for example, it, up, am, and, top, dig, run, met, pick. As you select the letters, say them aloud: ‘a-m – am’, ‘m-e-t – met’.
Breaking words up
Now do it the other way around: read the word, break the word up and move the letters away, saying: ‘met – m-e-t’.
Both these activities help children to see that reading and spelling are reversible processes.
Spelling is harder than reading words – praise, don’t criticise. Little whiteboards and pens, and magic boards, are a good way for children to try out spellings and practice their handwriting.
Your child might be trying to use letters from their name to write; this shows that they know that writing needs real alphabet letters.
Make or buy an alphabet poster.
Phonics games will help your child to practice sounding out words, which will help them to read. Initially, children will learn basic letter sounds, such as “c-a-t” for “cat”. Then they will move on to sounds such as “th”, “sh” and “ch”, then “oo”, “oa” and so on. Once they recognise a few basic letter sounds, they will be able to work out what a written word says for themselves, a skill which they will be very proud to show off! There are some phonics games below that vary in difficulty, but hope that throughout the year your child will enjoy playing!
There is also a great website with different phonics game, some of which are free http://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/
Deep Sea Phonics
Choose from three levels – Medium, Hard or Really Hard.
Listen to the word and choose the correct sounds. (BBC Schools)
Letters and Sounds Phase 2 Initial Sounds Match
Click a card on the top row to reveal a letter, then click one of the cards on the bottom row to find a picture. Use your memory and try to match each letter to a picture with the same initial sound.(Letters and Sounds)
Sound Sea
Use the dropdown menu to choose the sound. Click the mouth to hear the sound. Wait for the correct letters to pop up then click on those which match the sound. (Kented)
Letter Lifter
First click the lever to start the belt. An object will appear and you will hear the word. Type the first letter of the word. If you get it right you will be able to click on the lift button and the object will be taken away. (ICT Games)
Phoneme Pop
Choose the group of phonemes (sounds) you want the child to practise.
The sound is spoken clearly and the child has to pop the bubble containing the matching sound. Simple, but strangely satisfying, like popping bubble wrap. (ICT Games)
Word Wheel
This game uses three-letter words. Decide which word the picture represents, then stop each wheel when the correct letters are showing. Quite tricky! (Crickweb)
Reading machine
practise reading cvc (consonant, vowel, consonant) words with the reading machine. Choose the correct word from the three displayed to match the object on the machine. Click next to go to the next word. (ICT Games)
Three-letter house
A great game to help children with cvc (consonant, vowel, consonant) words.
Choose a word ending or a middle sound. Read the words and decide whether they are real words. (ICT Games)
Starfall
This is a brilliant site with lots of phonics games. Choose the sound and play a game, or choose an online book to read. When you are reading the book, you can click on any word to hear it being sounded out. Excellent!
DJ Cows
Choose a spelling pattern, e.g. words containing ch, sh and th.
A word search is generated with words containing the pattern you chose. Kids love the sound effects! (ICT Games)
Phonic Fighter
A letter appears on an alien spaceship and you have to click the picture beginning with that letter. If you get it right, your fighter will shoot the alien. If you get it wrong, the alien will shoot your fighter. (ICT Games)
CVC Maker
Choose Word Match, then click the buttons to make the word.
Uses simple c-v-c (consonant-vowel-consonant) words. This game could also be used to practise reading the real and nonsense words that are generated as you make your way to finding the correct word. (Crickweb)