THRASS

TEACHING HANDWRITING READING AND SPELLING SKILLS

®

PARENT NOTES
THE THRASS INSTITUTE Australasia &
Canada PO Box 1447, Osborne Park, Western
Australia 6916 Tel. 08 9244 2119 • Fax. 08 9244
4044
E-mail: enquiries@thrass.com.au
Web/Shop: www.thrass.com.au
 BACKGROUND INFORMATION FOR PARENTS

These notes should be read in conjunction with the 'THRASS Information Brochure'. This brochure may be viewed and/or
downloaded from our website by clicking on the 'Info Brochure' button in the 'ABOUT THRASS' section. Hard copies may
also be obtained from our office by emailing enquiries@thrass.com.au

The Australian Curriculum And Phonetics

On 08 December 2005 the Federal government released the results of a major enquiry into the teaching of literacy. The report
entitled 'Teaching Reading' made several recommendations. Part of Recommendation 2 on page 43 of the report states that,
'The committee recommends that teachers provide systematic, direct and explicit phonics instruction so that children master the
essential alphabetic code-breaking skills required for foundational reading proficiency. Equally, that teachers provide an integrated
approach to reading that supports the development of oral language, vocabulary, grammar, reading fluency, comprehension and
the literacies of new technologies'. In 2008 the National Curriculum Board started work on delivering an English syllabus as
part of the Australian Curriculum. This syllabus recognises phonetics as an integral strategy for teaching learners to read, spell
and write. THRASS has been teaching educators about the value of good quality phonetics since 1996, so for us the above
enquiry and its findings simply reinforced everything we had been doing.

Phonological Awareness Right From The Very Beginning For All Learners
At THRASS we have always believed that all students can benefit from quality phonetics training, right from the very
beginning of the literacy process as part of a balanced literacy program. Phonological awareness is not just for those learners
experiencing difficulties. These sentiments are echoed by the comments of a teacher who attended one of our THRASS training
courses at in Melbourne during 2003, who said, 'I came looking for something to help one child in my class. I have found
something for all 27 of them. Just wish I had Prep so that at least one class would be set on the right path for a literate life'.

How Does THRASS Fit Into Literacy Teaching?

THRASS is a phonetics teaching tool designed to assist with all levels of literacy by teaching skills and understandings about
our language that are linguistically correct and sustainable. Phonetics (commonly known as phonics) is in general terms a
method used for teaching reading and spelling by presenting strategies to learners about the relationships between sounds and letters.
Unfortunately most phonics taught in our schools today is of a very poor quality because it tends to be based around what we
call 'traditional' phonics. THRASS raises the standard of phonetics to a new level by taking a completely different pathway.
Importantly the work that you do as a parent with THRASS, should be continually reinforced by regular reading sessions. The
THRASS resources we recommend should be used after reading the 'THRASS Information Brochure' and the remainder of this
set of notes. Ideally you should also attend a THRASS Training Course in order to gain maximum benefit from the items you
purchase.

Learners With Specific Learning Difficulties (SLDs) & Confused Learners

At THRASS we firmly believe that in the overwhelming majority of cases a learner’s SLD is not the sole or major reason for
their failure in the literacy process. The most important but almost very often totally overlooked or underrated factor in
illiteracy, is related to a confused knowledge of phonetics created by poor teaching strategies presented to learners at a very
early age and often further reinforced by remedial programs that simply give the learner 'another dose of the same old medicine'
– see the 'THRASS Information Brochure', on our website. At THRASS we have shown that the literacy levels of children
experiencing difficulties can be significantly improved by exposure to quality phonetics teaching, using a methodology based
around teaching the 44 speech sounds of English and the spelling choices that represent those speech sounds. Interestingly
though, the vast majority of enquiries we receive relate to learners who have either not been diagnosed with a SLD or who
according to the school system, don’t warrant being tested for a SLD. These learners are simply confused about the process of
learning to read and spell created by poor phonics strategies. THRASS can be used highly effectively with these learners also.
The confusion mentioned above commonly has as its basis, misunderstandings or a complete lack of knowledge about the
relationship between the speech sounds of English and the symbols that represent those speech sounds. This is not just our
view. Reports such as 'Mapping The Territory', © Commonwealth of Australia 2000, specifically identified the importance of
students with learning difficulties needing to be taught phonological awareness (very simply an awareness of the speech sounds
of a language and its phonetic structure). Our own study conducted in 2005 with approximately 3 000 teachers revealed what
we would consider an unacceptable result on a simple phonetics test.

Application of Phonetics Strategies: Quality And Quantity Varies

Most educators hold the view that children experiencing difficulties with literacy need to be taught the correct building blocks
of the language using linguistically sound and sustainable methods that cater for the different learning styles of various students
(whether they be more visual, auditory or tactile in their learning style). Unfortunately in our experience it is the practical
application of this commonly agreed principle that varies greatly in quality and quantity from one educator to the next. It is our
experience that the quality of the particular phonetics strategy/strategies employed by an educator is strongly linked to the
quality of subject knowledge of phonetics held by that educator. Those educators with good subject knowledge of the building
blocks of English are obviously less prone to making bad choices when choosing either an 'off-the-shelf' program or creating
their own phonetics teaching strategies.
2 THE THRASS INSTITUTE Australasia & Canada
 BACKGROUND INFORMATION FOR PARENTS
What Can You Do As A Parent With Regard To Phonetics?
We suggest that you follow a few simple DOs and DON’Ts when dealing with phonetics. The list is not definitive but these are
important. Also take the initiative and ask the teacher what he/she is doing in this area. If it conflicts with what we say in
this document or in our information brochure then talk the issue through with them. Most importantly, phonetics is only one
level of literacy. All levels are equally important, although we know that 'bad' phonics teaching strategies can have lifelong
repercussions for some learners, so it is important to get this level (the Word Level) correct.

DO
1. Teach that the letters of the alphabet have a name. Emphasise that both the capital and lower-case letters are known by the
same name.

2. Teach that the alphabet is simply a resource of letters from which we choose one letter or a combination of letters to represent
('make' or 'show' are other words you could use instead of the word represent) a speech sound.

3. Teach all 44 speech sounds of spoken English and the associated spelling choices.

4. Teach that the phonemes (speech sounds) of English can be represented by graphs (one-letter-spelling-choices e.g. 'a' as in
cat), digraphs (two-letter-spelling-choices e.g. 'ck' as in duck), trigraphs (three-letter-spelling-choices e.g. 'are' as in square) and
quadgraphs (four-letter-spelling-choices e.g. 'eigh' as in eight). Don’t be afraid to teach the correct terminology. Basic terms such
as phoneme, grapheme, graph, digraph, trigraph and quadgraph should be as familiar to students as square, triangle and circle.
Learners will pick up these terms quickly once you start working with them.

5. Make sure that the type of phonetics information you impart to your child is sustainable. For example if you teach that the
letter 'a' only makes the sound ( a ) as heard in the middle of the word cat, then this is unsustainable, because in words such as
many, baby, was, ball, banana etc. the letter 'a' does not make the sound as heard in the word cat.

6. Approach your school for advice on strategies that you can use at home concerning all aspects of literacy. If you feel that there
is a need (in consultation with the classroom teacher), ask for strategies to assist and support classroom work in phonetics, oral
language development, comprehension, shared and guided reading, vocabulary development, reading aloud etc. In many
schools that do THRASS teachers will be proactive in involving parents in the process.

DON’T
1. Don’t teach your learners that the letters of the alphabet in isolation 'have' or are directly associated with one particular speech
sound. This is unsustainable and only leads to confusion and a slower uptake of understandings about the structure of English.
See the section in the 'THRASS Information Brochure' headed, 'Why Change? Problems With Conventional Phonics Teaching'.
At THRASS we say that letters do not 'have' sounds until they are inside a word. Emphasise this to your learners at all times.

2. Don’t use 'conventional' or 'bad' phonics as an answer to any problem your child may be experiencing with reading and spelling.
They may already have had years of this and it hasn’t worked. When you hear teachers or tutors say they are going to take learners
'back to the basics', enquire as to what they mean by this, as you don’t want the basics to include further and more intense doses
of 'conventional' or 'bad' phonics.

3. Don’t use spelling rules. All that these rules do is provide even more confusion for the very students who need the most
help. English is not a language you can readily apply rules to.

4. Don’t teach learners that there are 'silent' letters in English. One of the problems with 'silent letters', is that when we tell
learners that there is a 'silent letter' in a word, they often leave out that very letter, when they write it down. The notion of 'silent
letters' has arisen because 'conventional phonics' teaching has had to find a way to 'explain away' the teaching method that
equates one- letter-with-one-sound. For example the word knee. Learners are often told that the letter 'k' is silent. Why, because
'conventional phonics' teaching associates the letter 'k' with the first sound as heard at the beginning of words like cat and kitten.
In a word like knee this doesn’t work - that strategy then is immediately illogical. So as not to discredit the strategy, learners are
told to treat the letter 'k' as 'silent'. That way the next letter, the letter 'n' comes into play, and naturally as learners have been
taught that the letter 'n' represents the sound ( n ) heard at the beginning of words like net and nod, all seems right. However
what happens when we get to a word like knight?

5. Don’t perpetrate the myth of 'sight words'. Words such as 'is', 'the', 'they', 'why', 'there', 'what', 'was' etc. are commonly give
the term 'sight words'. We are often told, “these are words, you can’t 'sound out', you just have to learn them”. These words can
be 'sounded out' and taught if you have an understanding of all 44 speech sounds of English and the related spelling choices. The
term 'sight words' then, was invented to 'explain away' the pitfalls of 'conventional phonics' teaching. These words should be
correctly referred to as 'high frequency words' - that is, words that learners often encounter in their reading, spelling and
writing. The inability of learners to read and spell these so-called 'sight words' is also a major contributory factor to poor scoring
on many tests. THE THRASS INSTITUTE Australasia & Canada 3
 WHY HAVE A THRASSCHART?

The THRASSCHART is a teaching tool - or as we reference it, a toolbox for teaching

phonics.
As with any toolbox there are various tools each of which has a specific function. It is
important that the user of the toolbox understands the function of each tool and knows
how to use it.
As a teacher, you must know how to use each ‘tool’ provided by the THRASSCHART and
its function. With this knowledge you are then able to explain the use of each tool to your
learners. Your subject knowledge as a teacher is imperative in the learning process.

What tools are in the THRASSCHART?

K. English words are produced using 44 sounds.

TOOL
The THRASSCHART has 44 boxes. The function of these boxes is to give a physical reference
for each sound in English.

K. English is made up of two distinct groups of sounds.

TOOL
The THRASSCHART has two distinct parts. One part groups the sounds that are the
consonant phonemes of English, the other groups the sounds that are the vowel phonemes
of English.

K. English words are written using letters, Capitals and Lower-Case.

TOOL
The Alphabet is placed at the top of the THRASSCHART showing both the Capitals and
Lower-Case versions of each letter.
Letters are used to represent sounds in written words. Learners need to be able to name and
identify them.
Alphabetic knowledge is important as this code is used as an indexing reference system in
books, electronically etc.

K. Pictures can be named and described using words. We use words to write a
story.
TOOL
The THRASSCHART has a picture (120) for each word on the chart. Learners learn to read
by associating with a picture.
Oral and written language skills can be developed by using the pictures on the chart for
identification, classification and story telling.

4 THE THRASS INSTITUTE Australasia & Canada

K. Sounds in English words can be represented with different letter
combinations.
TOOL
Each of the 44 boxes on the chart contains the most common spelling choices for that
sound. It also has a word for each spelling choice.
The THRASSCHART allows the learner to quickly identify a group of letters as depicting an
associated sound in a word.
When we read we have to identify grapheme groups and associate them with a sound. The
sounds are then blended together to make words.
When we write we have to identify sounds we can hear and choose a spelling choice for that
sound.

K. Sounds have common written patterns.

TOOL
Each word on the THRASSCHART contains only spelling choices that are on the chart. This
analogous cross-reference allows the learner to start to visualise common spelling patterns
thereby building an understanding of spelling. Each word on the THRASSCHART can be spelt
using patterns from other chart words. e.g. bird is made up of bird, shirt, dog.

K. Words can be classified into nouns, verbs and adjectives.

TOOL
The THRASSCHART has 120 words and a picture for each word. Learners can classify each of
the words into the above categories and identify which words can be used in different
ways.

K. Singular and plural, tense (past, present and

future). TOOL
Use the 120 words on the chart to show common spelling patterns that occur when
changing words from singular to plural or changing tense.

THE THRASS INSTITUTE Australasia & Canada 5

 GETTING AROUND THE THRASSCHART
REMEMBER
1. IT IS IMPORTANT THAT CHILDREN VERBALISE/ ECHO THE STORY
OR WORDS AFTER THE TEACHER.
2. CHILDREN MUST BE POINTING TO THE WORDS AS THEY SAY THEM.
3. THIS IS ONLY A STARTING POINT. THE VOWELS MUST BE DONE AT
THE SAME TIME. FOLLOW THE SAME PROCEDURE FOR THE
VOWEL CHART.

Encourage the children to tell their own stories using the words from the chart.
To develop memory and social memory skills, encourage children to remember and retell each
other’s stories.

Always identify the part/side of the chart you are working on (consonant or vowel) or both
as you progress.

To begin, you need to locate the four corners of the chart to hold it together spatially.

Find the first word on the first line of the consonants and say ‘bird’.
Move away from the chart. Question - “What is the first word on the first line of the
THRASSCHART?”
Find the last word on the last line of the consonants – cheese. Move away from the chart,
question - “What is the last word on the last line of the consonant chart?”
Ask learners to find the bird, then find the cheese a number of times and move away from the
chart and question the same from memory.
Do this until the learners feel comfortable with those boxes.

Go to row 2, box 2 point to the words ‘jam, giant, cage, bridge’.

At this point, the words are used in story form for oral language and memory work.
START
Find the giant, he lives over the bridge. He has a bird that he keeps in a cage. Find the jam
and the cheese and the egg that the giant likes to eat. Find the bird that laid the egg in her
cage for the giant that lives over the bridge.
Practise pointing to the words and question.
Who lives over the bridge? Who has a bird? Where does the bird live?
What does the giant like to eat? Who laid the egg? Where did the bird lay the egg?

Go to row 3, box 5
shark, station, chef - practice pointing to the words.
Then continue the story.
Find the giant who lives over the bridge that is next to the station.
Find the shark that lives under the bridge next to the station.

6 THE THRASS INSTITUTE Australasia & Canada

Find the chef that cooks for the giant.
Find the egg and cheese that the chef uses to cook for the giant who lives over the bridge
next to the station.

Practise and question

Who lives over the bridge? What is the bridge next to? What lives under the bridge?
Who is going to cook? Who does the cook for? What will the chef use?

Go to row 4, box 4
water, wheel, quilt. Practice finding the words and continue the story.
Find the water that goes under the bridge that is next to the station.
Find the shark that lives in the water that goes under the bridge next to the station.
Find the wheel that is on the station.
Find the quilt that the giant uses to put on the cage that the bird lives in.

Practise and question.

Where does the water go? What is next to the station? What lives in the water?
Where is the wheel? Who is going to use the quilt and what for?

Go to row 1, box 5.
fish, coffee, dolphin
Practise finding the words and continue the story.
Find the fish, the dolphin and the shark that live in the water that goes under the bridge
next to the station.
Find the coffee that the chef drinks with the giant who lives over the bridge that is next to
the station.
Find the water that the chef uses to make the coffee to drink with the giant who lives…

Practise pointing to the words and question.

What lives in the water? Where does the water go? Who drinks the coffee?
Who makes the coffee? What did the chef use to make the coffee?
Where did the chef get the water?

Go to row 2, boxes 3 & 4.

Leg, bell, mouse, hammer, lamb
Practise finding the words and continue the story.
Find the bell that is on the station next to the wheel. Find the hammer we use to hit the bell
that is on the station next to the wheel. Find the mouse that took the cheese that the chef
was going to use to cook for the giant who ….......
Find the lamb that lives over the bridge near the giant. Find the giant, find his leg.

Practise and question

Where is the bell? What is the bell next to? Who took the cheese? Who was going to use
the cheese? What was the chef going to do with the cheese? Where is the hammer?

THE THRASS INSTITUTE Australasia & Canada 7

What is the hammer used for? So what is on the station? Where does the lamb live?
Whose leg did we find?

Go to row 2, box 5
net, dinner, knee
Practise finding the words and continue the story.
Find the net that the chef used to catch the fish, that he cooked for dinner, with the cheese
and egg, for the giant who lives…
Find the giant find his leg, find his knee.

Practise and question

Who used the net? What did the chef use the net for? Where did the chef catch the fish?
Why did the chef catch the fish? What was the chef going to cook with the fish?
Who laid the egg? Who took the cheese?

Go to row 1, boxes 3 & 4

chair, watch. dog ladder
Practise finding the words and continue the story.
Find the chair that the chef sits on to drink his coffee with the giant.
Find the watch that the giant gave to the chef for cooking his dinner.
Find the chef’s watchdog.
Find the ladder that the giant fell off when he hurt his leg and his knee.

Practise and question

Who has a watch? Who gave the chef a watch? Why? Who has a watchdog?
What would a watchdog do? Does a watchdog wear a watch?
Who sat on the chair? Why? Who fell off the ladder? What did they hurt?

RELATED ACTIVITIES TO RE-ENFORCE AND EXTEND

Use the Phoneme-Grapheme cards for each word to retell the story in order or chapters.
Picture side then word side.

Use the Magnetic Grapheme for each of the words to retell the story in order or chapters.

Use the ‘Say, Name and Overwrite’ sheet from the Resource File/Resource Kit or the Overwrite
Chart, to retell the stories. Children overwrite the graphemes from the words in the story
identifying them as graphs, digraphs or trigraphs and naming the letters as they do so.

Use the blank ‘Say, Name and Write’ sheet in the Resource File/Resource Kit to retell the
stories. Children write the graphemes from the words in the story identifying them as
graphs, digraphs or trigraphs and naming the letters as they do so. This ensures chart
knowledge.

Retell the story from memory identifying the graphemes in each word.

8 THE THRASS INSTITUTE Australasia & Canada

ACTIVITY
Teacher says, “Find the giant”.
Class replies “g”
Teacher says, “That lives over the bridge”.
Class replies “dge”

TEACHING SKILLS
It is important at all times to be aware of what skills you are teaching children when doing
any activity.
Listed are some of the skills that you will be teaching whilst doing these activities.

Oral language skills Picture recognition

Memory skills Spatial Skills
Articulation Mapping skills
Phoneme recognition Linking words to tell a story
Letter recognition and identification Handwriting skills
Comprehension Grapheme recognition
Recall Word recognition
Retelling stories Categorising
Ordering

Encourage the children to tell stories their own stories using the words from the chart.
To develop memory and social memory skills encourage children to remember and retell each
other’s stories.

For example: Who was it that told us the story about the snail and the lion? What was the
snail doing? What happened?

THE THRASS INSTITUTE Australasia & Canada 9

 HOW TO USE THE CHART
Each phoneme box shows different spelling choices for a
specific speech sound of English. For example, the graph ‘n’
in net and the digraphs ‘n’ ’n’ in dinner and ‘k’ ’n’ in knee, can
each represent the same speech sound, ( n ). Not all spelling
choices (including some common ones) are on the chart,
as it was designed primarily as a ‘Teaching Chart’ not as a
reference. Apart from ‘word level’ work such as ‘THRASSING
OUT’ words, the chart can be used for much of a teacher’s
oral and written language development, including grammar
activities such as introducing nouns, pronouns, adjectives and
verbs.
IT IS AN ILLEGAL ACT TO PHOTOCOPY OR RE-CREATE THIS CHART
©1998 DENYSE RITCHIE & ALAN DAVIES ISBN 978 1 876424 02 2 • Code T-103
THE THRASS INSTITUTE (Australasia & Canada) 2012
www.thrass.com.au • www.thrass.ca

pyramid

lure

ure *

GCA (GRAPHEME CATCH-ALL)

The chart should always be displayed as above The asterisk in each box denotes that there are
and permanantly placed at a height and distance or may be, more spelling choices possible for
from learners so as to facilitate ‘explicit’ teaching. this particular speech sound.

‘THRASSING OUT’ WORDS USING THE CHART

Use the chart to read and spell words, including so-called ‘sight words’. THE NEUTRAL VOWEL BOX (SCHWA)
Take for example the word was, which is often referred to as a ‘sight word’. This is the largest box on the chart and the most important
This is how to teach it using the chart. You’ll see that it’s done by analogy. for English speakers. The sound that this box represents is
Brackets ( ) indicate a speech sound. Apostrophes ‘ ‘ indicate letter names. known commonly as the neutral vowel or the ‘schwa’. It is
often not taught at all or is taught poorly, yet it is the most
The letter ‘w’ makes the speech sound ( w ) like in water.
important speech sound we make and has the largest number
The letter ‘a’ makes the speech sound ( o ) like in swan. of spelling choices by far. Without a complete knowledge of
The letter ‘s’ makes the speech sound ( z ) like in laser. this sound and its multiple spelling choices, a learner’s spelling
and reading potential are severely compromised.

BASIC TERMINOLOGY
Phoneme: A speech sound.

WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN THERE ISN’T A SPELLING CHOICE Grapheme: A spelling choice. Either a graph, digraph,

FOR A PARTICULAR SOUND? trigraph or quadgraph.

For example, the word said (another so-called sight word). Obviously there
Graph: A one-letter spelling choice e.g. (‘a’ as in cat)
is no correct spelling choice in the ( e ) phoneme box, that we can use to
Digraph: A two-letter spelling choice e.g. (‘c’ ’h’ as in school)
represent the ( e ) sound in this word. Therefore write the letters ‘a’ ‘i’ (the
Trigraph: A three-letter spelling choice e.g. (‘a’ ‘r’ ‘e’ as in square)
correct spelling choice), next to the asterisk in the ( e ) phoneme box.
Quadgraph: A four-letter spelling choice e.g. (‘e’ ‘i’ ‘g’ ‘h’ in eight)

Spelling choices that aren’t on the chart such as this one are referred to as
GCAs. This same GCA (‘a’ ‘i’) could also be used to ‘THRASS OUT’ the word If you use the above terminology
again. correctly it is very easy to talk accurately
about speech sounds and spelling
The learning and application of GCAs is a vital part of THRASS
choices.
methodology. The THRASS PICTURECHART is formost a ‘TEACHING’ chart.
For those who know how to use it, the chart is a powerful and empowering
teaching tool.

Note: To avoid confusion for readers unfamiliar with the IPA, the most common phonic representation of a speech sound is used instead of IPA symbols.
10 THE THRASS INSTITUTE Australasia & Canada
 IMPORTANT RESOURCES
PICTURECHART (T-103)
RAPS AND SEQUENCES CD (T-
151) IT IS AN ILLEGAL ACT TO PHOTOCOPY OR RE-CREATE THIS CHART
©1998 DENYSE RITCHIE & ALAN DAVIES ISBN 978 1 876424 02 2 • Code T-103
THE THRASS INSTITUTE (Australasia & Canada) 2012
•

me beach

This CD should be used be used with the

PICTURECHART (T-103), GRAPHEME-WORD
CHART (T-105) and the OVERWRITE CHART (T-
106). y

lu

pyramid

Using the Raps and Sequences CD with the Picturechart

Use the Teaching Tracks on the CD with the chart. Then use the Revision and Consolidation as such. Remember not to
overuse the CD as a replacement for good explicit teaching and use the Revision and Consolidation tracks only after you
have completed the formal work with the Teaching Tracks. It is vital that the Teaching Tracks are used extensively prior
to moving on to the Revision and Consolidation. Note: Simply playing the Rap Songs, without having done any
explicit teaching with the Teaching Tracks beforehand is not recommended, as it will result in minimal impact to
the learner’s underlying understanding of the phoneme/grapheme relationship.

Once you feel that the learner has attained competence with the Teaching Tracks or as a reward you may wish to let them
work with the Revision and Consolidation tracks.
OVERWRITE CHART (T-106) Using the Overwrite Chart with the Raps and Sequences CD
TRACE OVER THE LETTERS Use this chart in conjunction with handwriting tracks on the Raps &
a b c d e f g h i j k l m Sequences CD. Arrows on each letter show the learner where to start
the letter and in which direction to go. The wording on the CD Down,
.
Around, up, down, aroundDown, Around. Around, Around, Around, Around, Down, Down, Down, Down, Down, around,
up,

mimics the wording on the chart.

up, up, around. down, up, up, around around around. down, up,
around. down, around, down, around, , lift, , lift, around, around,
around. lift, around. down, dot. dot. down, down,
cross. around. around. around.

A BC D E F G H I J K L M
Down,
lift, down, lift, cross. Down,
lift,
around,
Around. Down,
lift,
around.
Down,
lift, cross,
lift, cross,
Down,
lift,
cross,
Around,
up,
lift,
Down,
lift,
down,
Down,
lift,
cross,
Down,
around,
lift,
Down,
lift,
down,
Down,
cross.
Down,
lift,
down,
Use dry erase markers to overwrite the letters, starting at the dot and
following the direction indicated by the arrow.
around. lift, cross. lift, cross. lift, lift, cross. down. up,
cross. cross. cross. down.

n o p q r s t u v w x y z
Around.
Down, up, around, down, around. Down,

Do some handwriting practice every day to increase automaticity.

Around, Down, Around, Down, Down, Down, Down, Down, Down, Cross,
up, up, up, around. around, around, up. up, lift, around, down,
around down, around. lift, up, down, down, down. up, down, cross.
up. cross. around. up. around.

N O P QR S T U VWX Y Z
Down,
lift, down, up.
Around. Down, Around, Down, Around, Down, Down, Down, Down, Down, Down, Cross,
MINI MAGNETIC GRAPHEMES (T-183)
lift, lift, lift, around. lift, around, up. up, lift, lift, down,
around. cross. around, cross. up. down, up. down. down, cross.
down. down.
THE THRASS INSTITUTE (Australasia & Canada) 2012 • Code T-106 • • •

These magnetic tiles are for assisting with teaching the phoneme/grapheme ®

principle of English - the building block for reading and spelling, i.e. the 44
phonemes (speech sounds of spoken English) and the graphemes
(spelling choices) of written English.
Mini Magnetic

The magnetic board found in this box can be used to assemble and
GRAPHEMES
display words, or if you wish use a larger magnetic board, so you can
display many more of the tiles.
o i c
DENYSE RITCHIE
TILES
This tactile resource is vital for learning and consolidating spelling patterns
and the relationship between vowels and consonants.

SPELLING MASTER CHART (T-194) Canada

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

bird rabbit cat kitten duck school queen chair watch dog ladder fish coffee dolphin gate egg
b bb * c k ck ch q * ch tch *d dd *f ff ph *g gg *
be bh pb cc que qu ke che x cq cch cqu kh kk t ti c cced de dh fe gh ffe ft pph gue gu gh tg
cube bhaji account plaque bouquet like ache excellent
IT IS AN ILLEGAL ACT TO REPRODUCE, PHOTOCOPY OR RE-CREATE THIS CHART
nature question played aide knife laugh giraffe league guess
cupboard acquire zucchini© 2rTHE
0a15THRASS NYeStE RAustralasia
cDqEuINSTITUTE kIThCHaIE&kiCanada
ISBcNh9 1578k1k8a76424 94 7 Cocdee:l To-194cappuccino44
20u Phonemdheasl ToHftRenASsSa®pphire • Gdrianpghh- y1 lemttoerrtsgpealglieng choice • Trigraph - 3 letter spelling choice
• • 24 consonants 20 vowels SPELLING MASTER • Digraph - 2 letter spelling choice • Quadgraph - 4 letter spelling choice

hand jam giant cage brid

h * j g ge dge ant baby tape snail tray hair square car bananabed bread me beach tree key pony

wh j who jalapeno dj dg d gg gi d a * a a-e ai ay * air are * ar a *e ea *e ea ee ey y *

adjective budget educ ai al i ey eigh ea aigh et e ee ei au ae ie ere eir ear a ai ae are au ear al er aar ah a ai ay ie u eo ei eo ie i uay ae ei oe
suggest region soldi plait
ge they leg eight
bell great straight
mouse hammerar lamb
heir aire ayor netayer kneelaugh heart calm
dinner are any said says people movie radio quay
salmon balletkingcafe
ink melee reign there their wear scary fairy aerial clerk bazaar galah friend bury larvae protein phoenix
meringue
* gauge l maelstrom
ll * lingerie mscarce
mm heir
mb millionaire
* mayor prayer n nn kn * jeopardy leisure
ng n *
panda hippo rain cherry wrist
p pp * r rr wr *
i le lle e me mn gm mme ne gn nne pn mn dne
teacher ear deer
collar doctor measure zebra garden fossil lion circusfern shirt worm fur
ngue ngg came Autumn gone assign tonne pneumonia
pe ppe gh rh rrh er ar ear
tongue or ation
ure* a gale
eer e igrille
o umuscle
*er ir or ur * mnemonic Wednesday
er paradigm programme
cape steppe rhythm diarrhoea ere oure ea
re ier ir eir
ou mahjongg
ur oi ai l ei eur eo ea ough ae yr ue ir oar ere our yr ear err urr yrrh
hiccough here zero idea piercolour metre famous femur tortoise certain principle foreign amateur were journey myrtle souvenir weird luncheon ocean thorough anaesthetic martyr guerrilla elixir cupboardearth err burr myrrh

sun dress horse city ice treasure shark station chef tap
thumb feather letter
th * th * tin spyramid
ss se c ce * sh ti chfrog
tiger skite light fly
* *
swan tnose
tt boat note snow coin toy

h the i y* * i i-e igh y * o a * o oa o-e ow * oi oy *

breathe e a ia ie o u ui ie ei ye uy eigh eye ih ay ais ai au ho i ou eau e oeteeau
tte ough
pt btauz ot ol ew oo aoh owe uoy awy
eighth sc st sw
pretty sausage z ps sth
marriage si ge
pie either byeg buy
z ti height
ci si eye
ssi schsausage
ss c schonest che ce shidoeedbureau
s sci lingerie dough chauffeur depot buoy lawyer sieve women busy build annihilate papaya aisle bonsai cough bureaucracy genre yolk sew brooch pharaoh owe
ct th

book bull moon screw glue lure fork ball sauce saw doorcow house bus glove
oo u * oo ew ue ure *
* or a au aw oor *ow ou * u o *
oul o ough o u ou ui oe oeu oup eu ousour ewer oer u ore o ar oar our augh ough ough au ou oo country blood
could woman tour sewer al aur awe aul ure orps oa bough
through movie flu soup fruit shoe doer jury more story award board your taught thought sauerkraut manoeuvre coup sleuth rendezvouswalk dinosaur awesome baulk sure corps broad

THE THRASS INSTITUTE Australasia &

This chart is designed for use as an advanced
working chart for:

– Students who have mastered the

understanding of the phonographic/
orthographic principle using THRASS
and who are ready for language
extension.

– To introduce THRASS to older

students who have not used THRASS
in their early learning.

– As an adult ESL chart to provide an

understanding of the phonographic and
orthographic principles of English.

The chart has a comprehensive list of

over 360 spelling choices covering the
44 phonemes of English.
11
 iThrass
The Digital THRASS Chart App for iPad

This digital format THRASS Easily flip between the consonant

PICTURECHART is a multisensory and Vowel Sections of the chart

teaching tool for accessing the 44 Activate the audio option to hear
phonemes of spoken English and selected letter names and 44 phonemes

the 120 most common graphemes

Tap to expand the selected
of written English. phoneme box or letter box

Tap the to display a dropdown

box listing words containing
Volume purchasing
discount available additional spelling choices
through the App
Store (GCAs) for each phoneme

1
 An app for teaching handwriting,
reading and spelling skills
provides an interactive platform for both teachers and
learners of THRASS. For teachers, it provides a built-in teaching and assessment
tool and for learners it provides the opportunity to practise, test and track their
own progress in handwriting, reading, spelling and THRASSCHART knowledge.

Users can select from a range of functions

to learn the THRASS Charts, practise letter
identification and formation, deconstruct and
analyse key words and explore phonemes,
graphemes and blends.

Designed for teachers, parents, learners

and support staff for use with groups
or individuals.

Has both ‘Learn’ and ‘Practise’ functions

and provides the option for either one
or two player use.

Available soon on:

THE THRASS INSTITUTE Australasia & Canada

For more information

phone (08) 9244 2119
or visit us online at

www.thrass.com.au
ABN 15 081 990 490

2
 SUGGESTED THRASS RESOURCES FOR PARENTS
THRASS is designed to assist with the 'word level' component of literacy. The work that you do with THRASS
needs to be continually reinforced by regular reading sessions with a variety of content.

The resources below should be used after reading the THRASS Information Brochure (visit our website www.
thrass.com.au) and the notes contained in this booklet. Ideally you should also attend a THRASS Course in
order to gain maximum benefit from these resources. Our training courses may be viewed in the Training
section of our website - www.thrass.com.au

SUGGESTED BASICS
Code Item Price

T-103 THRASS Picture Chart (Desk Size) $ 6.95

T-188 THRASS Hotwords Chart (Desk Size) $ 5.95
T-194 THRASS Spelling Master Chart (Desk Size) $ 7.50
T-177 THRASS My Phonics Chart (suggested for pre-schoolers) $ 25.95
T-151 THRASS Raps & Sequences CD $ 17.95
Use this CD in conjunction with charts T-103, T-105, T-106
T-106 THRASS Overwrite Chart $ 5.95
Use this chart with the handwriting tracks on the Raps & Sequences CD.
T-182 THRASS Phonics Word Bank $ 9.95
T-69 THRASS Spelling Book: Level 1 $ 8.95
T-183 THRASS Mini Magnetic Graphemes $ 32.95
T-194 THRASS Spelling Master Chart (Desk Size) $ 7.50

iThrass App (digital THRASSCHART) $ 19.99

(Available now through iTunes - for iPad)

THRASS-it App (Available soon through iTunes for Apple & TBA
Android)

SUGGESTED OPTIONS (not in priority order)

T-112 THRASS Dictionary $ 6.95
T-105 Grapheme-Word Chart $ 4.95
T-70 THRASS Spelling Book: Level 2 $ 9.95
T-173 The THRASS Workbook $ 8.95
T-13 THRASS Teacher’s Manual $ 38.95
T-146 THRASS Jigsaw $ 46.95
T-176 THRASS Playing Cards $ 38.95
T-81 Alphabet Cards $ 29.95

THRASS Early Reading Books

T-53 All About Me (Student Reader) $ 6.95
T-54 I Lost My Cat (Student Reader) $ 6.95
T-55 Mr Read’s Haircut (Student Reader) $ 6.95
T-56 The Circus (Student Reader) $ 6.95
T-57 The Mouse In My House (Student Reader) $ 6.95
T-58 Treasure Hunt (Student Reader) $ 6.95
T-72 Pack of all six readers $ 36.95

THE THRASS INSTITUTE Australasia &

Canada PO Box 1447, Osborne Park, Western
Australia 6916 Tel. 08 9244 2119 • Fax. 08 9244
4044
E-mail. enquiries@thrass.com.au
Web/Shop. www.thrass.com.au

• All prices are inclusive of GST • Freight and handling charged on all orders LP 01/14
•