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The Phonics Handbook 4th Edition

The Phonics Handbook provides a year’s worth of detailed step-by-step lesson plans and notes for teaching Jolly Phonics. The teaching is multi-sensory with fun actions and stories to engage children in their learning. • Introduces the 42 letter sounds and main alternative spellings of vowels plus tricky words • Guided writing sheets included • Contains reading comprehension sheets • Provides a detailed guide to teaching the five key skills taught in Jolly Phonics • Over 100 photocopiable sheets

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100% found this document useful (3 votes)
2K views229 pages

The Phonics Handbook 4th Edition

The Phonics Handbook provides a year’s worth of detailed step-by-step lesson plans and notes for teaching Jolly Phonics. The teaching is multi-sensory with fun actions and stories to engage children in their learning. • Introduces the 42 letter sounds and main alternative spellings of vowels plus tricky words • Guided writing sheets included • Contains reading comprehension sheets • Provides a detailed guide to teaching the five key skills taught in Jolly Phonics • Over 100 photocopiable sheets

Uploaded by

prusieck
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF or read online on Scribd
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The Phonics Handbook A Handbook for Teaching Reading, Writing and Spelling Sue Lloyd and Sara Wernham pl Prentiss i al The Phonics Handbook A Handbook for Teaching Reading, Writing and Spelling Sue Lloyd and Sara Wernham Illustrated by Lib Stephen Edited by Angela Hockley Fourth Edition Jolly Learning Ltd Burst Edition published February 1902 Reprinted 1992, 1993 Second Edition published November 1994 Reprinted 1996 ‘Third Edition published February 1998 Reprinted 1999, 2001, 2002, 2008, 2004, 2008 (twica), 2008, 2007 (twice), 2008 (twice), 2010, 2011 Fourth Edition published September 2012 Reprinted October 2013, January 2016, June 2016, April 2017, May 2018 dolly Learning Ltd ‘Tailours House High Road Chigwell Easox 1G7 6DL. United Kingdom Tel: (+44 or 0) 20 8501 0405 ‘Fax: (44 or 0) 20 8500 1698 worw jollyloarning.co.ule info@jollylearning.comk: © Sue Lloyd, 1992, Sara Wermbam, 2012 (text) © Jolly Learning Ltd 1992 (Itustrations) Printed and bound in England. All material in the Photocopy Sections may he freely copied by teachers, without permission, if the number of copies is not more than is needed in their school or college. For other copies (such as for an external resource centre), ‘written permission must be obtained, ‘The Photocopy Sections in this book use ‘Sassoon Infant’, a typeface designed for children learning to read and write, Sassoon is a rogistered trade mark of Sassoon and Williams. For more information, visit www.clubtype.co.uk, ‘The front cover shows two children doing the aetions for the sounds /ee/ and /or/, flapping their hands up and down like the ears of a donkey. ‘The page numbers are printed within the binding at the bottom of each page 20 that they do not appear on copies of the photocopiable pages. ISBN 978 1 870946 07 0 Acknowledgements Our grateful thanks go to Joan Dorr, who took the initiative in encouraging the new thinking in this book, which has resulted in greatly improved results in reading and writing. ‘We would also like to thank Ann Foster, who devised the original timetable for the first nine weeks of teaching, on which the new timetable is based. Contents PART 1 Introduction Chapter 1 — Learning the Letter Sounds Chapter 2 — Learning Letter Formation Chapter 3 ~ Blending (Reading) Chapter 4 — Identifying the Sounds in Words Chapter 5 — Tricky Words PART 2 Photocopiable Material Photocopy Section 1 — Information for Parents Learning the Letter Sounds Photocopy Section 2 — Sound Sheets 89 ck 51 s g 68 ai 75 z 85 y 95 a4i e 58 06 j 77 w 87 x 97 t 43 h 55 u 67 oa 79 ng 89 ch 99 i 45 r 57 Lb 69 ie 81 v 91 sh 101 p47 m59 f 71 ee 83 oo 93 th 103 n 49 d 61 b 73 or 83 0093 th 103 que ou ot er ar 105 107 109 ut 1138 115 12 15 23 30 35 37 Photocopy Section 3- Flash Card Sheets Photocopy Section 4— Sound Book Sheets Blending Photocopy Section 5— Word Box Sheets Photocopy Section 6 String Joining Photocopy Section 7— Matching Letters, Words and Pictures Photocopy Section 8 — Sentence Sticking Photocopy Section 9 ~ Letter Clue Pictures Identifying the Sounds in Words Photocopy Section 10 — Missing Sounds Sheets Photocopy Section 11 — Homework Writing Sheets Tricky Words Photocopy Section 12 — ‘Tricky Word Sheets Alternative Spellings of Vowels Photocopy Section 13 — Alternative Spellings of Vowels — Sound Sheets ~ Flash Cards ~ Matching Letters, Words and Pictures Guided Writing Photocopy Section 14 — Guided Writing Sheets Reading Comprehension Photocopy Section 15 — Reading Comprehension Sheets 116 124 129 136 141 149 164 158 166 174 177 178 197 200 203 207 (exe80n g 110 ‘040 ‘op ‘05 ‘soe ‘oq ‘om ‘out ‘ays “ay ‘oT ==pz0m A ZT yerg op [eds pue pear 1 Saute] spzom A135 70 Surjeds oxp Surureery «| SPZOM spiom Syonn Surpeny «| ASOT, ‘spunos ¢) /d-o0-yey (exeBtug y ‘epamos 9) /d-0-[0y ‘(ema g ‘spams @) 0) :pumos Yee ag} zaBlug w dn Suqppoy ‘spumos Tenpraypuy ypu spuodsex SseI0 ~ deoys ‘doo ‘Bop So spxow opduns qno sqjeo sousey, ~ 'spumos oy Bununog « cis | aeons na ee eae ee spon zades psu |» ays 69208 De epemos 203301 70 uoMBOAC! «| spunos FuMApAUOP sprog WORN » sconsquee dias Jamey «| UE SPUTOS spiom zumsex Sempoougy «| SUTAyyWOpy sqdex2ip yyy spiom Seqpnpour ‘Spanos 999] UAOUS] OM osn 1UyR SprOM opdUNS IupUDIG + sprom APL ZT IY ay Mou PUR saxNg po ssuopDey . Ty pas Fnp Be sxe] oqnop - | pros ApEepy UEP - HoTg Woo OT LOPHED 10FS8ePOON AL PO my eae —e ‘sptnos 20799 ysour Mow pre ‘spuo[q qereuosuoo pera - spumos ses 3qupe - PuTg te OM NONPTEGD a0y ssdgz18/80H0q PION « aguA spiom SempwOIg « Supueyg Temy « ‘sox04 ION « sompayogjsoured Lome] « aIpIIp (q zope (e soup £q woxjods uwa9q aaey] sptnos ar seas pros omy Saurwoy «| — SUTPUPTET sod pout ‘spre0g odis-Arp‘syooys pumas :conousd uomeuoy-10;91 JOON + (Sorted Serysasper-pouot Arvo ue Tus sjooK9S 305 AEE) 32 9] UT spina pue eqderarp Sapmop - ‘Sypoq somuoyey saFuyy oy Uy STEHT pesooss / SuPLAM aye -seduys seHE] eu3 SuyeaT + uoreusu0g yoeux00 - Ploy pousd. | VOWeUItos, eoppead Krosuasynyy «| — ToHOTT amsnat| an 10 anny i ‘s3joog Suypwor xoF LOH -snedead uy stoma, paso ‘up » panos oun eyes w Je ‘sous Booty suoHoe PUY SpUNGS 1279[ 0 UORONPOAAT « 9M} Jo epemos oy Burry Pp 0 WaoNp swore puE spt aL JO WORONPOTT] « spance "owat| 40 42 [no nbipl}x fico] mzuo| [w | no 6 we ys loon Bulaa a vo] qf] pw 21-6 Sieg | 830% 1] aorpaBooey 2yeT 2p | 939m | SIPeM | HRPM | eIeEM suppeey, soUOYT KPJOF JO SYM ZT ISA :o]qejourry, poysessng yoy ayn a os aueyt oy woyn | umop acy PI0 auo ou Buoy aus snot aroym | oy apa a4 yuo ut of fous ios uo noe sqpeaz, | peg, | :qpeor, wypeay, | syvez, | move, | -qovos, | :qovoy, | xypeoy, | -qovay, | xpeog, (doyod Suxuampmey-pomo! 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Ee ene |e ee eel ces eitoeas anise amos /29y oq soy Sumods «6 oma SuEMOEOL, « worU009%y yydnwy uo9q anny yong SoamoUxERTE aM sn[d ‘spuNOs x9¥aI ZP OU JO HOISTAOY « 0090" ve 8 we 1 v4 6r st ut 1 st vr st SpPoM sorUuoyd MOF JO FZ-ET Soom :olquyewty, peysessng somuoyey ATOF JO 98-Le SOM co[quIoUNL], poyseBang ‘008 weymt | s2ifo rye | skomp | oye ano} Prnom soyjou | e000 jo uodn =| pow om | Pinoys gnd yuo ee vane a0] osyo U0 ‘s20p nyau | pmmoo ems | asnooaq | soyio aout cup sypvay, | sovaz, | sqovoz, | :qovos, | :qpeoy, | :movog, | :qovog, | :qovog, | :uowoz, | qocor, | smovoz, | sovay, (Coyod Suguampuey-pamof Ajzee we YIKM S[ooyDs 19y A[UO) sprom ANOLE] RUTUIOL « SPI qusnwy Woeq eAvy TUT epsom AFOLy oy Suyods puw Surpwes :uopstaoy + API, amram) wasoy9 # uo fyuepuedepar SEEM « ‘woRsroIp Woxy soodeyuS PUY spzom TOBUOT BUREN « sun pimnos yows aoj zaBuy x dn Suppyoy pure spIOM waag wy sptmos yno SURED « 7 SPION\, uorster Tomar ype ‘spunos fomoa Buoy pus azoys omy FUTIOLA, « EEapenog: Barpquepy spojaey | 9/305 pony soy] peoyaog | poy soy | pooyzoy | ey ay sBomgeds | sSumgeds | PUP | HM | ssompeds | sBaryods | sBuygods | sBurjods | somyouoqge| PUTO ROY | Pemos MY | Punos joy a poo] 32 wo) | “paw ar 207 05 ant | a9 sop ap | amp 20y anor asrtzoe| annoy | /0/* fling anyocaons | sass | expocaays | anneaoye | paw qn | Ono oa fa ae io a a ere | Dpcong | Hs se | um gps | ym spsom | yr spuos | yu span | "HEN Teo | TEE Meso ae oe Supusra | Suu Soper | Supeya | sopuet | supose | Sopuenr i i eno] woe oxy 403s tro exopooyy soHOY.r Kpop MOTOS ons porSTEG oA OMA SIOPLOE FUONTT « Suypvor STB vorsuorarduroo s,roxpr ox Bcydoqoxop pure ‘(spIo1s toNRTE 269 BurpUC|G Buus) ofqIssod se ApuANbayy se SoosqUAS pee sored ‘epsom Suppeay .| / SUTPUE[E, nb noo | etre cx | uy ‘yp‘ys | one‘ | x0‘00 Ba'20 | ssp mop oni) 2z-4L + (wooad) sg-uN « iqdeaiyp | isqdexip | ssqdexip | ssqdexsyp | ssqdexsp | ssqdexdp | ssudes8p | A, cndeo ope) Ud - (bea) eg-By - sBustaoy | Smsmoy | Sorsmsoy | Sawrsoy | Susy | Sumter | SomMCT | sercoreny | ‘SdnOXd Pepoo-moqoo ¥ wr yoquadTE oT JO UoTSTASY woreuTIOg Scprupuey sremooe pus vou Suemooue ‘sxoqIoT [wIKkUD pue OseOrTOMOT ays JO COISTAT « Saat me fpemas yay xy exotaam | Spa] wor se Fel mortem sel ‘ue me kegisue ‘op| ‘oo ee | suo tpea, | Panos xo) | punos ey | panos roy 1 eT crpyea) | 215 [uns ‘oro sa] ‘ano ‘eo [hyd top] ‘cm Yao pee | emer e| eee 9 toy ce qo pus | fooje pony] sv sey | sepy | sve i cosaog | PH | PPC | eo ypeay,| sosaoy | sosmoy | cosmoq | sosuoy a go} aap yoea, | aap yPeAy, | co yoway, (ley 10] aw) pure arte, ‘erway ‘Gh pure o» 3yO0s ‘gy 20y «qh Bo Burpeax a0; suso_Ud Surpjeds uomM zeTYo sonpoxyuT ‘amoas aBpayaony prmos-zayai jy. | WOLTUBOOY ‘mney uoed eavy JY} soatUIOATS OM SHIA ‘spIMOS 10739] ZF OM JO MOISTAO « 39920] 98 98 ve 88 ze 1 0g 62 82 1B 98 9 STOOL Introduction The aim of this book is to teach children to read and write through an early, systematic, synthetic phonics programme. The word ‘synthetic’ refers, in this case, to the ‘synthesising’ — as in the blending or combining — of sounds to make spoken words. This means that the children are taught the main sounds of English, not just the alphabet sounds. With this knowledge, they are taken through stages of blending sounds to form words and then to reading. At the same time, they are taught to write by identifying the sounds in words and relating the letters to those sounds. ‘The Phonics Handbook provides a programme for the first year of learning to read and write. The first eight to nine weeks are spent learning the letter sounds, which are introduced at a rate of one letter sound a day. This is followed by learning the main alternative vowel sounds, the tricky words and how to write independently. The programme is multisensory, active and particularly suitable for young children. Step-by-step guidance is given for the teacher, with photocopiable activity sheets for the children. The structured approach is suited to whole-school, whole-class teaching but it also works well with individual children. Teachers following this method of teaching can be assured that their children will read and write independently much more quickly. A suggested timetable for teaching the programme over 86 weeks can be found on the precoding pages. In this introduction, the teaching is divided into five basic skills, each of which has its own chapter in this book: 1. Learning the letter sounds 2, Learning letter formation 3. Blending — for reading 4, Identifying the sounds in words — for writing 5. Tricky words Although the teaching is outlined in this way, it is important to realise that the first four ekills should be taught simultaneously, while tricky words are taught after the first few weeks. Learning to read and write fluently is vital for children. All parents know this and want their children to master these skills, The majority of parents are keen to help but are not sure how to go about it, It is a good idea to invite new parents to a meeting and explain to them how reading and writing is taught in the school. The Jolly Phonics method of teaching was developed and tested over a period of time at Woods Loke Primary School, Lowestoft, in Suffolk, England. Before 1975, reading was taught at the school using, essentially, INTRODUCTION a visual, whole-word approach. Most of the children could read well; however, there was always a group of children who had problems remembering words and who could not cope satisfactorily with reading or writing. These children did not pick up letter sounds easily or relate them to words. It was decided, therefore, to teach the letter sounds first to see if early letter knowledge would help them. 'This approach proved to be much more successful for the children as a whole, and the number of children with problems became much smaller. This outcome reflects the findings of several research studies, which found that knowing the letter sounds is the best predictor of success in learning to read. In the early 1980s, the school introduced some structured blending in addition to the letter-sound work. It also took part in an external research experiment, where the children were first taught to listen carefully for the sounds in words, identify those sounds, and relate them to the letters (enown as phonemic awareness). This method made it much easier for the children to learn to read and write. They became fluent readers much earlier than before and — best of all - the group of children with reading problems was almost nonexistent. Moreover, the children started writing independently at a much earlier stage and began to spell accurately more quickly. Standardised testing confirmed these large- seale improvements. The results also reflect the findings of independent research studies which show that both blending skills and phonemic awareness are strong predictors of reading success. The key advantages of this system are that it teaches children to recognise all the main letter sounds early on and shows them how to use their letter-sound knowledge to work out words: running sounds together (blending) for reading and identifying sounds in words (segmenting) for writing. As a result, the children’s achievements are very much greater, not only in reading but also in writing; at an early stage, the children have a way of writing each letter sound, and this means they are soon able to write whatever they wish in a way that is readable. This active and child-friendly system allows whole-class teaching from a young, even preschool, age and allows parents to be involved. Moreover, the higher achievement is reflected across the class with fewer children needing remedial help. Its effectiveness is highlighted by numerous research studies, in which the achievements of children taught with Jolly Phonics have been much greater than those taught by other methods. Information about this research is available on the Jolly Learning website. To avoid confusion, Jolly Phonics follows the convention of using different symbols to distinguish between letter names and letter sounds. Letter names are indicated by the symbols <> : ‘ship’ begins with the letter «, for example. By contrast, letter sounds are indicated by the symbols //: ‘ship’ begins with the /sh/ sound. INTRODUCTION The Letters for the 42 Sounds of English ant, sand, caravan aim, aid, drain (long «@) bat, rabbit, crab cat, act, duck dog, bed, sudden egg, end, shed eel, creep, tree (long «) fog, lift, fluff goat, drag, digger hop, hit, hill ink, instant, drink pie, tied, die (ong «) Jelly, jet, jumper king, bark, whisker leg, tulip, shell man, jam, shrimp nut, hand, spin on, honest, spot oak, oats, boat (long «') pot, pepper, step queen, quick, liquid run, rabbit, barrel sand, hiss, twist top, butter, mat up, under, lung cue, fuel, argue (long «w) van, livid, give wind, went, swim mixer, ox, flex yell, yes, beyond 200, buzzer, fizz song, singer, string chop, richer, much ship, fashion, wish this, feather, with (voiced /Ahy/) thin, moth, method (unvoiced /th/) order, corn, for look, good, foot, (little /oo/) ooze, spoon, z00 (long /oo/) out, cloud, found cil, ointment, spoil herb, stern, her art, car, start get en gU gon Ere ER gone OES 1. Learning the Letter Sounds All words are made up of sounds. There are over 40 sounds in English but only 26 letters that are used to represent these sounds, This means that many sounds are written using more than one letter. For reading and writing, the children need to be fluent in saying the sounds that go with the letters. ‘The Sound Sheets provide the starting point for this teaching (see Photocopy Section 2). Initially, only one way of writing each sound is taught; afterwards, the main alternatives are introduced. For example, in the beginning the /ai/ sound is taught as «ab, as in ‘rain’. Later on, once this spelling has been mastered, the children learn the alternatives «ayy (as in ‘day’) and «@_© (as in ‘came). There are 42 letter sounds on the Sound Sheets. Each sheet has plenty of activity: a suggested storyline; a picture to colour; an action; words for blending; and a line on which to practice writing the letter, or letters. Young children learn particularly quickly when there is activity involved. By doing an action for each letter sound, the children are using ‘body movement — along with their ears, eyes and voice — to help them remember. This multisensory approach is a very effective way of teaching, as well as being fun for the children. There should be an early concentration on learning the letter sounds. Rate of Introduction The first letter sound can be introduced on the children’s first day. Their enthusiasm for learning is high and this provides a meaningful start for thom. It is recommended that the letter sounds are introduced at the rate of one a day. Although it may seem a lot at first, children are able to cope with it and look forward to their new letter sound every day. If all 42 are introduced at this rate, they will have been covered in about nine weeks. The result is that children become competent readers much sooner, and they use all their letter sounds to produce independent writing that is more expressive at a much earlier stage. If the children are younger than five, or there are other special factors, the rate of teaching the letter sounds is likely to be slower. Whatever the pace, it is important to avoid introducing reading books that contain letter sounds which have not yet been taught. LEARNING THE LETTER SOUNDS Introducing the Sound Sheets In the first lesson, the /s/ sound is introduced using the first of the Sound Sheets. Start by telling the story about a boy who takes his dog for a walk, hears the dog barking and then sees a snake rear up, hissing ‘sssssss’. The suggested storyline is deliberately brief so it can be adapted and told in a personal way. The sound and action are incorporated in each story; a snake makes the /s/ sound, so the children weave their hand in an shape, imitating the movement of the snake, and say ‘ssssses'. The children are told that this is one of the letter sounds. At this point, it is useful to look at the fixst of the Finger Phonics books, if they are available. They not only give a colourful illustration of the story but also can be used to introduce the skills needled for reading and writing, which are covered in Chapters 8 and 4. Young children also enjoy singing the songs for each letter sound from Jolly Songs and Jolly Jingles. In addition, the Jolly Phonics Wall Frieze makes a cheerful wall display and acts as a visual reminder of each letter sound. The children are then shown the letter «@ and how to form it correctly. Flash cards can be made for the sounds, using the sheets in Photocopy Section 8, and information on how to teach correct formation is given in Chapter 2: Learning Letter Formation. In the first few lessons, the children can play ‘hunt the letter sound’ by searching for it in storybooks around the classroom. This helps the children to understand the link between the letter sounds and words in books. ‘The Sound Sheet for /s/ is then given to the children, who write the letter « on the bottom of their sheet after forming it several times in the air; the children trace over the dotted letters and then try on their own. ‘The teacher watches them and checks that they are forming each « correctly, The line above and below the row of letters helps the children to understand that all letters are the same size, except for the tall ‘sticks’ and the low ‘tails’. Afterwards, the picture can be carefully coloured. In the beginning, concentration should be on the lower-case letters. The capital letters, also shown in the Finger Phonics books and the Wall Frieze, need only be mentioned briefly. At this early stage, it is important that all the letters are introduced by their sounds and not their names: in this case, ‘ssssecs’ and not ‘ess’ for the /s/ sound. The other letter sounds are introduced in a similar way. Most of the Sound Sheets now have words for blending, and there is a word bank for every sound in the teacher's lesson notes. The blending words have dots underneath, which represent the number of sounds in them. As the children blend the word, they point: to each dot and say the sound. All the words on the Sound Sheet and in the word bank use only the sounds that have been taught so far. The first two Sound Sheets do not have blending words, as no suitable regular words can be made with /s/ and /al. LEARNING THE LeTrer SOUNDS However, auditory blending is possible, where the children are encouraged to listen for a word as the teacher says its individual sounds. ‘When each Sound Shect has been completed, the children take it home; the parents see what has been taught and are better able to help their child learn the letter sounds. Alternatively, the Jolly Phonics Pupil Books introduce the letter sounds in a similar way to The Phonics Handbook; schools may prefer to use these in the classroom and send the Sound Sheot home to be completed. Reinforcement of the letter sounds is very important; in every lesson, flash cards of the letters taught so far should be held up in a random order so the children can call out the sounds and do the actions. The faster the children are at recognising letters and saying the sounds, the easier it is for them to read and write, Slower leamers tend to copy the other children and will need extra practice in a small group. When the letter sounds /a, e, i, 0, w/ are taught, the children can be told that they are ‘special’ letters which are called vowels. These single letter vowels are often referred to as ‘short vowels’, as in ‘cap’, ‘red’, ‘big’, “dog? and ‘sun’. Later, the children will be told useful rules which relate to the short vowels that will help them with reading and spelling. They can then be told that the other letters are called consonants. ‘When the ‘long vowel’ sounds /ai, ee, ie, oa, ue/ are taught, the children need to know that they are usually written using two letters, rather than one, as in ‘rain’, ‘sheep’, ‘pies’, ‘road’ and ‘cue’. The second vowel is silent, but influences the first one to give its long vowel sound, which is also its letter name. Later on, when children learn the letter names, they can be told that When two vowels go walking, the first does the talking’. Sounds written using two letters are called digraphs. After the first six letters have been taught, the children can be shown the first story in the Jolly Phonics pvp (formerly the Jolly Phonics Video 1), as a revision of the sounds and as a reward for working hard. In English, there are over 40 sounds but only 26 letters to represent them. This is why digraphs are sometimes used to represent a new sound, not only for the long vowels but also for sounds like /shy, /cb/, /¢h/ and /ng/. It is important to note that digraphs are different from blends, A digraph has just one sound (such as /sh/ in ‘ship’, whereas a blend has two or more sounds (like /s-t/ in ‘stop)). This is an important difference, as will be seen later in Chapter 4: Identifying the Sounds in Words. The coor and ¢hy digraphs are initially introduced in two sizes. This helps the children to understand that they each make two sounds, as in ‘book? and ‘moon’, and ‘this’ and ‘thin’. 00 book th this eo = =meon th thin LEARNING THE LETTER SouNDS Ifearly cursive writing is to be used, it is helpful to show the children how the two letters in a digraph join. This gives an easy start to joined writing and develops the understanding that sometimes two letters are needed to make one sound. Forming the letters in the air enables the children to feel how they go together. Order of the Letter-Sound Groups The letter sounds are arranged in groups of six. They have been ordered carefully to help make the learning easier. For instance, the first six letter sounds make many simple words, such as ‘pin’, ‘sat’, ‘tip’ and ‘pan’, which the children can blend at an early stage. The sound /c k/ is introduced early on, as letter «@ forms a template for writing the letters «@, ch, «0», and «@. Furthermore, the letters that are easily confused, such as by and «b, are in separate groups. Letter-Sound Groups ‘These letter-sound groups are used throughout the Jolly Phonics material: sat i pn ck, oe, hx, md - 841 fb ai, j, 0a, ie, ee, or 2, W, Dg, V, little 0, long 00 ¥, % ch, sh, voiced th, unvoiced th qu, ou, oi, ue, er, ar Noe ee Revision of the Letter Sounds Each lesson should contain some revision of the letter sounds already taught. A good way of doing this is to hold flash cards up, one at a time, in quick succession so all the children can do the actions and say the sounds. Sometimes the children should be encouraged to omit the action and say the sound only once, as this is the skill they will need for blending. There are lots of other activities that can be done to help the children remember the letter sounds. For example, large letters can be placed in the corners of the school hall. When the teacher shows or says a letter sound, the children must run to the covrect corner of the room. LEARNING THE LETTER SOUNDS Sound Books Each child should have their own Sound Book. This could be a plain exercise book that has been cut horizontally in half. As soon as a letter sound has been taught, it is stuck onto the next clean page; copies of the letter sounds are provided in Photocopy Section 4: Sound Book Sheets, Older children in the school can help with this task and enjoy sticking the letters in during their lunch break. It is best to keep the Sound Books quite simple and not provide extra visual prompts, such as a snake for the /s/ sound. The Sound Book should be taken home every day so that parents can help their child become fluent in knowing the letter sounds. The importance of this can be explained at an initial parents’ meeting, and parents who are unsure of the letter sounds can listen to them on the Jolly Leaming website, The following day, the teacher listens to each child saying the sounds in the Sound Book. This is the ideal, although in large classes it is impossible to do so without the extra help of a parent helper or assistant. If this is not available, a compromise has to be made, such as hearing a group of children at a time or focusing mostly on the weakest every day, along with some of the others. When a child knows the first six sounds, a coloured star can be stuck on the back of the book to show his or her achievement. A different coloured star can be used when the next group of letter sounds is known. ‘This acts as an encouragement to the children. Pairs Game The Sound Book Sheets can also be made into letter-sound cards, which can be used in a variety of ways, both at home and at school. Parents are encouraged to mount the Sound Book Sheets onto card, cut them up and play games and activities with their children. Playing the Pairs Game, in particular, is a simple but pleasant way of helping the children learn the letter sounds. Instructions for parents are given in Photocopy Section 4: Sound Book Sheets. Letter Names Initially it is important to use only the sounds, and not the names, of letters when teaching the letter sounds, or children can become confused, However, the children need to know the letter names too, and it is best to introduce them later on, when the children are used to saying the sounds. LEARNING THE LETTER SOUNDS In this way, the children are less likely to muddle the sounds with the letter names when they are blending. A good way of introducing the letter names is through the alphabet, This can simply be sung or recited. Later on, knowing the alphabet will help the children look up words in the dictionary; to find words more easily, Jolly Phonics teaches the alphabet in four colour-coded groups: Aa to Ee (red); Ff to Mm (yellow); Nn to Ss (green) and Tt to Zz (blue). By thinking of the dictionary as divided into four roughly equal parts, the children can quickly narrow the search for a particular word to that part of the dictionary. Supplementary Work In most classes there will be a few children who are not learning the sounds fast enough to keep up with the other children. This could be for a number of reasons: 1. The child may have a poor memory for letter sounds. 2. The child’s attendance is limited for some reason. 3, The child’s concentration is week. 4, There is little individual help given at home. Whatever the reason, the problem has to be overcome. Instead of going through the Sound Book it is better to concentrate on those sounds that the child knows. These letter sounds can be put in a box or envelope for the child to take home and practise. The remaining sounds can be added to the box as quickly as possible, at a pace that suits the child, Stars can be used to reward the child’s achievements. A child who knows the letter sounds well can be a supporting ‘buddy’ to a child struggling to remember the letter sounds. Activities like this and the Pairs Game will help struggling children become more fluent in their reading and writing. Once this happens, these children can generally manage very well in school and are able to ‘keep up with the others. The cooperation of parents is invaluable. At the parents’ meeting, it helps to inform them that approximately 20 percent of children have some problems with learning to read and write: not because they are unintelligent, but because they have a poor memory for letter sounds and. find blending particularly difficult. If their child is struggling to learn the letter sounds, then if is likely this child is one of the 20 percent with a weak memory, (Please note, this figure is only an approximation and will vary according to the children's home background and social environment.) Knowing this will help the parents understand why their child is struggling and encourage them to give their time and support. LEARNING THE LETTER SOUNDS Alternative Spellings of Vowels Once the children have learnt the 42 letter sounds on the Sound Sheets, they need to be aware of the alternative ways in which some of the vowel sounds can be written, A list of these alternative spellings can be seen on the page opposite, and the Jolly Phonics Alternative Spelling Poster makes an attractive visual reminder in the classroom. There is also a set of Sound Sheets, flash cards and activity cards for the Alternatives in Photocopy Section 13: Alternative Spellings of Vowels. The Sound Sheets now follow the same format as those for the initial 42 sounds and can be used in much the same way. There are no teacher's notes for these lessons, but relevant information can be found in the corresponding lesson notes in Photocopy Section 2. So, for example, when teaching the alternative spelling «ay, the lesson notes for Sound Sheet /ai/ can be referred to; there is a word bank of «ay» words in the ‘Further Phonics’ box, along with more information about the alternative spellings. The recommended rate for introducing the alternative spellings is one or two por week. Conclusions It is vital that the children know the letter sounds, and that they are able to say a sound as soon as they see the letter, or letters, that represent that sound. However, learning the letter sounds is not enough; the children need to know how to apply their letter knowledge from the beginning. For reading, they need to know how to blend sounds together to hear a word. For writing, the children need to be able to hear the sounds in a word and know which letter, or letters, to write down for that sound. These are techniques that can be taught and are explained in Chapters 2 and 3. ‘LEARNING THE LeTrER SOUNDS Alternative Spellings of Vowels Long «a ai . rain, waist, drain ae date, plate, flame ay day, stay, play Long e> ee seed, bleed, street ee theme, these, scheme ea seat, cream, read y daddy, funny, body Long «> ie pie, tie, die ie pipe, line, shine igh night, fight, bright y my, fly, ory Long «o> oa boat, goat, float oe bone, close, smoke ow snow, slow, pillow Long «a» ue cue, rescue, value ue cube, mule, fuse ew few, skew, pew ‘The /er/ sound supper, sister, blister bird, shirt, third . turn, burn, purse The Jor/ sound — or fork, port, storm au August, pause, fraud aw claw, saw, shawl al talk, walk, chalk The /ow/ sound ou Joud, mouse, cloud cow, clown, brown The /oi/ sound oi oil, coin, spoil boy, toy, enjoy 2. Learning Letter Formation For young children to learn fluent and neat handwriting, they need to be taught how to hold their pencil and how to form their letters correctly. Early mastery is well worth the extra effort involved. Anyone who has tried to correct an older child’s bad pencil hold or incorrect formation knows how difficult, if not impossible, it can be. It is much better to teach it correctly from the start. Pencil Hold The pencil rests between the thumb and the first finger; the next finger prevents the pencil falling down, and the last two fingers are tucked away. This pencil hold applies equally to both left- and right-handed children. ‘The hand rests on the table and the movement of the pencil is through the thumb and first finger. It is important that the knuckles point outwards. Young children are amused if their fingers are likened to ‘froggy legs’, which they must move forwards and backwards. ‘Using Jolly Phonics’ on the Jolly Phonics pvp shows this ‘froggy legs’ movement. Letter Formation A multisensory approach to teaching helps the children to learn more easily, For this reason, the children are introduced to the formation of each letter in the following ways: 1. The teacher shows the formation on the board. 2, The teacher shows the formation in the air, taking care when facing the children to do it in ‘mnirrox’ writing (60 it is the correct way around for the children). The children watch and then form the letter in the air, saying the sound. They do this several times. 8. The children are each given a Sound Sheet, which includes an example of the letter(s) with the formation indicated by arrows and numbers. A line is provided for the children to practise on. ‘Learninc Lerrer FORMATION First the children trace over the dotted letters, and then they try forming the letters independently, using only the starting dot as a guide. 4. While the children are colouring and writing on the Sound Sheets, they can take it in turns to feel the formation in the large grooved letters in the Finger Phonics books. If Jolly Phonics for the Whiteboard, the -Jolly Phonics DvD, or the Jolly Phonics Games cp is available, the children can also watch the formation there. The basic letter knowledge needed for good handwriting is: 1. All the letters are the same size except: — the seven tall letters that have ‘sticks’ above the body of the letter: b, d, fh, k, |, t. (Note that «b is not quite as tall as the others). — the six letters that have ‘tails’ that go below the line: f, 9, j, Pi q Ys 2. Most letters go down towards the line first: b, fh, j, kl m,n, p, 5 t, U, \5 wx, y, (Note that fy has a little arch backwards beforehand). 8. The following letters start like a and toughy «y»: In English, the letters @ and gp often change places and when they do, the q» becomes a vowel. It amuses children to think that & is very shy and that ‘toughy q’ takes its place; they can be told, for example, that ‘day and ‘boy’ are not written ‘dai’ or ‘boi’ because ‘shy @” does not like being on the end of the word and is replaced by ‘toughy qr’. Usually, ‘toughy «y’ replaces ‘shy « on the end of longer words, such as ‘funny’ (where it is now pronounced more as an /ee/ in most parts of the world) but sometimes it happens when the /i/ sound is not at the end, in words like ‘pyramid’, ‘gymnastics’, “hythm’ and ‘myth’. For young children, it is enough for them to know that if q is not the first letter, it is often taking the place of « and, when this happens, it is acting as a vowel. In this way, the children know that if they are blending a word and y is not the first letter, they should first try the short vowel /i/ and if that does not work, try the long vowel /ie/ (as in ‘my’ and ‘rhyme’). Later on, the children learn that when a word ending in « is made longer, as in ‘funny’ and ‘funnier’, the « usually reverts to an «; in other words, ‘shy «” does not mind coming back, because it will not be on the end! 4, Soft «e and soft «: If the letter « is followed by the vowels «, « or «y, the sound is usually softened to a /s/, as in ‘ice’, ‘race’, ‘city’, ‘circle’ and ‘cycle’. Similarly after a letter «p, an ‘&, @ or q usually changes the sound to //, as in ‘gently’, ‘giant’ and ‘gymnastics’. Flash cards showing these types of words help to reinforce the rule. 5. Alternative Spellings: Seven of the main alternative ways of writing the vowels cannot be worked out using helpful hints and need to be learnt by sight: igh ew ir ur aw ae al night few bird tum saw — pause _balll light stew girl curl «= draw = haunt — talk high flew shirt nurse straw = August — also BLENDING BLENDING Supplementary Work In the early stages nearly all reading problems are decoding problems: either the child does not Imow the letter sounds well enough or has not done enough blending practice. A few children find blending particularly difficult. It is tempting not to give them blending practice until they are more mature or to try and teach them to memorise whole words, but this is a mistake; these children need more blending practice rather than less. By modelling the blending of simple words every day, in small groups or individually, the children gradually learn to do it on their own. If they are slow at saying the letter sounds, then extra time should be devoted to practising them. It is important to have sufficient and appropriate decodable books for the slower learners. These children need bold print, plenty of repetition and the very gradual introduction of new phonic knowledge and tricky words. Reading Comprehension For children to become fluent readers, they must be able to understand what they are reading. Comprehension is taught aurally in the early stages of teaching children to read; they listen to stories, poems and nursery rhymes, for example, and are encouraged to discuss what happens in them and also to give spoken answers to comprehension questions. This improves the children’s understanding of language, develops a wider vocabulary and increases their interest in learning to read. The Reading Comprehension Sheets in Photocopy Section 15 can be used with the more able readers towards the end of the first year. Care should be taken to ensure that the children have been taught the tricky words used in these activities and that the other words used can be worked out with the letter-sound knowledge they have been given, Conclusion Children who can blend words fluently have few problems with reading, Once the fluency is there, reading extension and comprehension become the more important aspects of learning. Early systematic synthetic phonics makes it easier for all children to become fluent readers. The ultimate aim is for the children to reach the stage where they are reading to learn, rather than learning to read. 4. Identifying the Sounds in Words In order to write words successfully, the children must be able to say a word, hear the sounds in that word and then write the letters for those sounds, For example, the word ‘big’ has three sounds /b-i-gl; if the children can identify these sounds and know how to write the letters, they can write the word ‘big’ without help. The ability to hear sounds in words is called ‘phonemic awareness’, it is a skill which involves the opposite process to that of blending. From the very beginning, the children are taught to listen for the sounds in words. As with blending, the Finger Phonics books are a good place to introduce this skill. On the /s/ page, for example, the teacher ean ask the children if they can see hear a /s/ sound in ‘sun’, ‘snake’ or ‘dog’. In the beginning, the children tend to think that /a/ is in all the words; gradually, they realise what is expected and start to listen carefully. This activity can also be done with a simple picture of something like a dog, sock, mouse or hat; such pictures are available on the Jolly Phonics Resources cD, along with other useful material. ‘The next step is to ask the children to listen and identify all the sounds in a word such as ‘pin’ and to hold up a finger for each sound: /p-i-n/. This can begin once the first few Sound Sheets are done, using short, simple words like ‘ant’, ‘sit, Sn’, ‘cat’, ‘pin’, ‘tap’ and ‘pant’. In the beginning, the children hear and say the first sound easily, but the other sounds may need teasing out of them gradually. The aim is for the children to be able to hear each sound, one after the other. Some children will hear the sounds easily while others may require far more help, but with regular practice most children are able to identify the sounds in small words by the end of the first few weeks. After the first couple of weeks, the teacher can start to demonstrate the skill of writing words, either on the board or by using magnetic letters. ‘The children are asked to help write a word like ‘per’, for example, and the teacher writes the sounds on the board as the children say them. Then the children read the word by blending the sounds. This helps them see the significance of ‘decoding’ to read and ‘encoding’ to write and how these processes are linked. It is this understanding that makes the children confident and the systematic teaching of synthetic phonics so successful. As soon as most of the children can call out the sounds in short words, longer words can be tackled. IDENTIFYING THE SOUNDS IN WoRDS Consonant Blends It is important that the children hear the individual sounds in consonant blends. If they fail to hear one of the consonants, they will write the word incorrectly, putting ‘fog’ instead of ‘frog’ or ‘wel’ instead of ‘went’, for example. To help develop this skill, say the blend — in this case /er/ — and ask the children to respond with /e-x/, putting up a finger for each sound. Practise a few examples every day, taking care to use consonant blends which only use letter sounds that are known. Gradually, the children will become fluent in identifying the sounds in consonant blends. Initial Consonant Blends Examples include: bl-, br-, cl-, cr-, dr-, fl-, fr-, gl-, gr-, pl-, pr-, se-, sk-, sl-, sn-, Sh-, sp-, st-, sw-, tr-, tw-, ser-, shr-, spl-, spr-, str-, thr-. These can be used to make the following words: blot bran clap = clip, = lub_—crab crop drag drip «== drop drum_— flag flap flat frog_—=s from glad_— grab grip plan plot_~— plug prod_— scan skip slap slim slug smog _— snap snip spot. = stom = swims trip ~—twig scrub shrug splat sprig strum _ throb Final Consonant Blends Examples include: -ct, -ft, Ib, -ld, -If, Ik, -Im, -In, -Ip, -It, -mp, -nd, -nt, -pt, -sk, -sp, -st, -xt. These can be used to make the following words: fact gift lift soft bulb held golf milk silk film kin gulp help belt. = melt. = quilt. += camp = damp lamp plump bend grand mend pond wind bent hunt mint pant. tent went kept slept desk = risk ~—erisp best frost. lost must nest next. After identifying the sounds in words with consonant blends, virtually any words can be sounded out. IDENTIFYING THE SOUNDS IN WorDs For example: spending —/s-p-e-n-d-i-ng/— 7 fingers, 7 sounds in the word ground —/g-r-ou-n-d/ —5 fingers, 5 sounds blister —/b-li-s-ter! —6 fingers, 6 sounds shoot —/sh-oo-t/ — 8 fingers, 3 sounds Gradually, the children become accustomed to hearing all the sounds and understand that some sounds are represented by two letters. Hearing sounds such as the /n/ in ‘went? and the /ex/ in ‘supper’ tends to be more difficult, but regular practice is the key to success. Word Building: Letter Board A letter board can be made from a large i £) jo) [4 piece of card with three smaller strips of card stapled across it. Letters for making words are slotted into the strips: the five vowels are placed on the top row and the selected consonants are put on the bottom row. The teacher asks a child to make a word, such as ‘peg’, by putting the letters on the middle row. The children listen for the sounds in the word —/p-0-g/—and the child picks out the letters and places ; them in the correct order, left to right. Ye Then all the children blend the letter sounds to read the word. The teacher might then ask, ‘Who can change a letter to make the word “pen”?’ and build more words with the class, moving from ‘pen’, to ‘spend? and ‘spending’. Regular use of the Lotter Board is a practical way of showing the children how to build regular words, These techniques can be seen in ‘Using Jolly Phonics’ on the Jolly Phonics DvD. Alternatively, word building can be done with magnetic letters or in Jolly Phonics for the Whiteboard. < Dictation Dictating letter sounds, words or sentences is important for developing writing skills. It can start almost immediately with the teacher calling IDENTIFYING THE SouNDs IN WoRDS out a letter sound that has been taught, All the children attempt to write the letter and afterwards the teacher writes it on the board, revising the formation. The children can then lock and see whether they have written it correctly; if they have, the children enjoy giving themselves a tick. The number of letter sounds dictated can increase as confidence grows. It is a way of revising the letter sounds, keeping the children active, and preparing them for writing words. Children are ready for word dictation when they can hear the sounds in short words and have been taught how to write the appropriate letter sounds. Regular short sessions of dictation are extremely effective and popular with the children. Suitable words for dictation can be found on the Sound Sheets and in the word banks for each lesson. It is bost to start with simple cvc (consonant-vowel-consonant) words and then move on to more challenging words with consonant blends and digraphs; the digraphs can be written in joined-up handwriting, as mentioned in Chapter 1. In the early stages, it is best to avoid any words with double letters and, when they are used, guidance will be needed. Extra care should also be taken to stress the vowel sounds in words with schwas. Dictation homework is well worth implementing, It should only be given when a child is able to write words from dictation in the classroom: the aim of the homework is to build confidence and fluency in writing, In Photocopy Section 11, there ave lists of regular dictation words and instructions for parents. Using Jolly Phonics’ on the Jolly Phonics pvp shows a parent giving dictation at home in this way. This section of the DvD can also be useful to show at a parents’ meeting. Sentence Dictation and Guided Writing Once the children have some fluency in word dictation and have been taught the 42 letter sounds and the first twelve tricky words, they are ready for some sentence dictation and guided writing. This is usually after the first nine weeks in school. The sentences should use only those tricky words that have been taught, as well as regular words that can be worked out by listening for the sounds. It is important to give some regular dictation of simple sentences. Dictating sentences not only gives the children plenty of practice in writing words independently but helps give them a feeling for what a sentence is. Although the alternative spellings of vowels are introduced during the year, the children are not expected to know which ones to use in their writing: so, for example, /ai/ words in dictation sentences should be restricted to those with the «i spelling, such as ‘rain’ and ‘drain’. Suitable sentences can be found on the Jolly Phonics Resources cb. IDENTIFYING THE SOUNDS IN WorDs Sometimes, dictation of capital letters is needed to make sure that the children can write them; frequently, young children have the ability to recognise capitals but this does not mean they can write them properly. Guided writing is an important step in preparing the children for independent writing. It gives them a basic understanding of what @ sentence is and provides the initial support and guidance that most children need to write their first sentences. In Photocopy Section 14, there are twelve model sentences and one picture for each sentence. The children are shown the picture and are encouraged to talk about what is happening. It is a good idea to choose some key words from the discussion and look at how they are written. Then the sentence is written on the board; at each stage, the teacher models the writing and discusses it with the children. They can be reminded, for example, that a sentence always starts with a capital letter and that capital letters are tall; that they need to leave a space between words; that the words T,, ‘are’ and ‘the’ are tricky; and that they must remember to end with a full stop. The childven should be encouraged to call out the sounds before each word is written on the board and to blend the word afterwards. Once the sentence has been modelled, the teacher and children can read the sentence together; this helps them realise they can write for themselves. Then the children copy the sentence down and those who can already write independently should be encouraged to write a few sentences on their own. It will not be conventional spelling at this stage, butiit can be read: ‘mie mumi poot mie book in mie scool bag’, for example. Independent Writing In time, the aim is for all the children to be able to write independently. About half way through the first year most children can write a fow sentences by themselves; they are then ready to move from guided writing to writing their own sentences on a given theme, such as ‘My News’, ‘This Is Me’, ‘My Family’, ‘My House’, My Best Day’, My Day Out? and ‘The ____ I Like Best’. The last example could be anything the children like, such as dinner, an animal, a game or a story. Alternatively, the children could write a well-known story in their own words, or they could imagine what their favourite character might do on a day out. It is worth encouraging the children not to ask for spellings when they are writing; instead, they should listen for the sounds and make an attempt at writing the word. Once children start asking for spellings, long queues develop, they lose the flow to their writing and the amount they write is far less. Although spelling is considered very important, it is taught at a different time. IDENTIFYING THE SouNDs IN Worps Lith Mare, Os ~ ats andohe caieug. +t : Popes, RMb Ler and i@ howd Sum a0? 98 @ Qegovece As soon as children can hear the sounds in words and know a way of writing each sound, they can write anything they want to say. Above is an example of a girl's writing after just over half a year (reduced to half af its original size); notice how she has joined up the digraphs «ch and «eo. However, she needs to listen more carefully to some words: she will then hear that ‘lots’ has a /t/ sound, and that ‘had’ does not have a /n/ sound. With writing, as with reading, the children gradually need to be taught to use the alternative ways of writing the vowel sounds (a list of these spellings is on pago 11). For example, the children learn initially that the Jong © is written ‘ee, Regular cee words can then be dictated, such as ‘feet, ‘sheet’, ‘keep’, ‘peep’ and ‘sleep’. Later the main alternative, «ea, can be practised by having regular «ea words dictated, such as ‘cream’, ‘seat’, ‘eat’, ‘meat’, ‘heat’, ‘dream’ and ‘treat’ The Iess common ways of writing the long «@ sound are also taught at this time, more for reading than writing, such as _e», asin ‘scheme’, and «p, as in ‘sunny’. Spelling is always more difficult to master than reading because the children have to remember which alternative spelling to choose. Accurate spelling comes through reading many books, knowing the letter-sound correspondences, and following a systematic spelling programme, such as the one in The Grammar Handbooks. Marking Policy ‘The children’s earliest efforts at independent writing do not need rigorous marking. Missing sounds can be pointed out and any tricky words that have already been taught can be corrected. IDENTIFYING THE SouNDs IN WoRDS It is impossible for young children to have the freedom to write exactly what they want to say and spell all the words correctly. If everything is corrected, it is demoralising and discourages the children from writing freely. Generally speaking, itis best to restrict the errors marked to about four words. These words can be practised with the Look, Copy, Cover, Write and Check’ method referred to in Chapter 6: ‘Tricky Words, once the work has been marked. By the end of the second year at school, the majority of words are written correctly. If a child makes an unexpected error, the mistake should be marked. However, if the error is not due to carelessness, and the word is out of the ordinary, a dot can be put underneath it. This tells the child that although the spelling is wrong, the attempt was a good one and that it will be taught later. Again, four words can be chosen by the teacher for extra practice underneath. When children with a good visual memory and a certain amount of maturity are careless, they need to be marked more rigorously than those children who have a poorer memory. In the end it comes down to judgement; it is not encouraging for children to have too many red pen marks all over their work, but as they get a bit older they need to know when their work is wrong and to learn from their mistakes. Supplementary Work The aim of this teaching is to enable the children to hear the sounds in regular words and to write the letters that relate to those sounds. In every class there will be a few children who struggle to remember the letter sounds and who find it difficult to blend and identify the sounds in words; they tend to have a weaker visual memory and poor auditory skills. However, these children do not need to be taught differently; they simply need more practice in a smaller group or, if possible, individually. It is necessary to identify the children who are struggling at an carly stage and provide some extra teaching, if possible. Not all these children will be at the same stage; there will be a range of abilities. Some children will only need extra support for a few weeks before they make steady progress. Others may need more extensive practice and individual attention. With regular revision of the letter sounds, and plenty of blending and writing practice, the children will eventually master these skills. A different technique is needed for coping with English words that are more difficult to work out, This is covered in the next chapter: ‘Tricky Words. 5. Tricky Words ‘Tricky words are frequently-used words that the children are unable to read and write simply by blending and listening for the sounds. This is either because the words use phonic knowledge that the children have not learnt yet, as in the d_e» spelling in Tike’ and the q» in ‘my’, or because the spelling is irregular, as in ‘said’, ‘one’ and ‘two’. Regardless of how ‘tricky’ a word may be, some part of it will always be regular: for example, in the word ‘some’, the « says /s/ and the am says /ra/. By knowing the letter sounds, and being able to relate the sounds to the letters, the children find it easier to read and write tricky words; they are able to look at them carefully and find it amusing to look for the ‘tricky’ part. This kind of extra attention is really the start of analysing words and helps put the spellings in the children’s memory. A list of 72 tricky words is given in Photocopy Section 12: ‘Tricky Word Sheets; they have been carefully chosen as examples of words that the children use most frequently. The words can start being introduced after the fifth letter sound group has been taught, when the /sh/ in ‘she’ and /¢b/ in ‘the’ will be familiar to the children. Learning to Read Tricky Words For reading, a good pace of teaching is three new tricky words a week. The children look at them carefully and identify the ‘tricky’ part: in ‘of”, for example, the « is regular but the is sounded like a @. It is also important to regularly revise the tricky words already taught; flash cards are a good way of doing this and can be used just before going out to play and in other spare moments. Some children need plenty of practice before the words are known and it may be necessary to give them extra support, teaching them separately in a small group. Learning to Spell Tricky Words The children should start learning how to spell tricky words when they can read the first ones easily. For spelling, a good pace of teaching is two new words a week, along with revision of those already taught. Some fortunate children have a sufficiently good visual memory to master the spelling of tricky words simply by reading them, but most children have to be taught, The following techniques for teaching spelling are all useful. Tricky Worps 1. Look, Copy, Cover, Write, Check In this method, the children first look at the word and identify the tricky parts. For instance, in the word ‘said’ the «» and qb are regular but the /e/ sound in the middle is tricky because it is written «air. Once they have done this, the children could say the letter names — not the letter sounds ~ several times and copy the word, saying the letter names as they write them. Then the children cover the word and write it again, saying the letter names. Finally, they check to see if the word is correct. This is repeated until the children reach the end of the line, and the paper can then go home for revision. ‘This method works equally well with the ‘say it as it sounds’ technique. Instead of saying the letter names, a tricky word like ‘was’ would be pronounced as if it rhymed with ‘mass’; this helps remind the children to write the letter «@, and not the «, for the /o/ sound in this tricky word. ‘The important point here is to be aware of the ‘tricky’ part and learn how it is written. Looking, copying, covering, writing and checking a few times for each tricky word is usually enough for most children to remember how to spell them. Regular revision and dictation will help all the children master the spellings. A page for practising this technique can be found at the back of the Jolly Phonics Workbooks 3 and 4. It is also used regularly in Jolly Phonics for the Whiteboard and in the Jolly Phonics Pupil Books. 2. Say it as it Sounds This spelling technique is particularly useful for any words (not just the 72 tricky words) that have only one clement that makes it difficult to spell: for instance, in ‘Monday’, the « is tricky because it is pronounced as ful; and in words like ‘lemon’ and ‘button’ the vowel sound in the unstressed syllable is swallowed and loses its distinct /o/ sound. By emphasising the real letter sounds in such words, the children are reminded of the correct spelling. Teacher says Children respond mother mother (to rhyme with ‘bother’) doctor doctor (emphasising the /or/) Wednesday Wed-nes-day front front (with the /o/ sound, instead of /u/) It is helpful to make 4 list of such words and practise them in spare moments; the words can then be called out, for the children to respond by TRIcky WorDs saying them the way the spellings should sound. Frequently, these irregular spellings are used in other words and they can be practiced together. For example, the « saying /u/ in Monday’ is also found in ‘monk’ and ‘month’, As the list develops, the children can find some of their own to add: for example, flam-b/ for ‘amb’ (emphasising the silent

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