Phonics Mossgate Primary School

1. PhonicsMossgate Primary School

2. Most important thing – From a very early age… • Talking and Listening. • Reading with and to your child • Playing listening games • Singing songs and rhymes • Simple movement games All these things will help to build up connections in the brain, an enjoyment of language and confidence to try things out.

3. PHONICS • Correct pronunciation • Correct vocabulary • We all need to use the same language at home and at school. • Little and often is the key. Does not have to be formal. • Link it to your child’s interests.

4. PHONEME • The smallest unit of sound in a word. • There are 44 phonemes that we teach.

5. The 44 phonemes

6. GRAPHEME • Letters representing a phoneme e.g. c ai igh Children need to practise recognising the grapheme and saying the phoneme that it represents.

7. BLENDING • Recognising the letter sounds in a written word, for example c-u-p b-a-t m-a-t and merging or ‘blending’ them in the order in which they are written to pronounce the word ‘cup’ • The blending finger

8. SEGMENTING • ‘Chopping Up’ the word to spell it out • The opposite of blending • Use your ‘ROBOT ARMS’

9. Segment and Blend these words… • drep • blom • gris Nonsense games like this help to build up skills – and are fun!

10. Once children are good with single phonemes… • DIGRAPHS – 2 letters that make 1 sound ll ss zz oa ai • TRIGRAPHS – 3 letters that make 1 sound igh dge

11. Segmenting Activity • Use your ‘robot arms’ to say how many phonemes in each word. • shelf • dress • sprint • string

12. Did you get it right? • shelf = sh – e – l – f = 4 phonemes • dress = d - r - e – ss = 4 phonemes • sprint = s – p – r – i – n – t = 6 phonemes • string = s – t – r – i – ng = 5 phonemes

13. Tricky words Some words cannot be read by blending, such as said, wasand one and these just have to be remembered. We will send home tricky words later on in the year on green paper for you to read with your child. With lots of practice children will begin to recognise them. Children will also be sent home with words they can decode using their phonics as and when they learn new sounds. Things to do at home – practice the flash cards, ask your child to select the correct word, find it in other texts e.g. books.

14. Letter Formation It is very important that a child holds their pencil in the correct way. The pencil should be held in the 'tripod' grip between the thumb and first two fingers. The grip is the same for both left and right handed children.

15. Letter Formation It is important that letters are formed correctly. It is often helpful to use dots so that your child knows where to start. c a t Activities you could try at home – Writing letters in the air, writing letters on each others backs, sticks in the mud, writing in flour, shaving foam, water, chalk on the wall.

16. Other ways to help at home....... • Play lots of sound and listening games with your child. • Read as much as possible to and with your child. • Encourage and praise – get them to have a ‘good guess’. • Ask your child’s teacher if you want to know more.

17. Useful websites • www.parentsintouch.co.uk • www.bbc.co.uk/schools/parents • www.jollylearning.co.uk/ • www.focusonphonics.co.uk/ • www.syntheticphonics.com