Synthetic Phonics Learning and Teaching Glossary

1. Catherine Wayte Primary School Synthetic Phonics Learning and Teaching

2. Glossary • Phoneme - The smallest unit of sound. There are approximately 44 phonemes in English (it depends on different accents). Phonemes can be put together to make words. • Grapheme - A way of writing down a phoneme. Graphemes can be made up from 1 letter e.g. p, 2 letters e.g. sh, 3 letters e.g. tch or 4 letters e.g ough. • GPC - This is short for Grapheme Phoneme Correspondence. Knowing a GPC means being able to match a phoneme to a grapheme and vice versa.

3. Digraph - A grapheme containing two letters that makes just one sound (phoneme) e.g. sh, ch, th. • Trigraph - A grapheme containing three letters that makes just one sound (phoneme) e.g. igh, tch. • Oral Blending - This involves hearing phonemes and being able to merge them together to make a word. Children need to develop this skill before they will be able to blend written words.

4. Blending- This involves looking at a written word, looking at each grapheme and using knowledge of GPCs to work out which phoneme each grapheme represents and then merging these phonemes together to make a word. This is the basis of reading. • Oral Segmenting - This is the act of hearing a whole word and then splitting it up into the phonemes that make it. Children need to develop this skill before they will be able to segment words to spell them. • Segmenting - This involves hearing a word, splitting it up into the phonemes that make it, using knowledge of GPCs to work out which graphemes represent those phonemes and then writing those graphemes down in the right order. This is the basis of spelling.

5. Letters and SoundsOverview of Phases • Phase 1 - Subject Knowledge • Phase 1 is absolutely vital. It is the one phase that shouldn't come to an end. These skills should continue to be developed throughout KS1 and KS2. Phase 1 develops children's abilities to listen to, make, explore and talk about sounds. This phase is split into 7 aspects that are explored and developed through games.

6. 7 Aspects of Phase 1 1 – general sound discrimination – environmental sounds 2 – general sound discrimination – instrumental sounds 3- general sound discrimination – body percussion 4 – rhythm and rhyme 5 – alliteration 6 – voice sounds 7 – oral blending and segmenting

7. Each aspect is divided into 3 strands: • Tuning into sounds (auditory discrimination) • Listening and remembering sounds (auditory memory and sequencing) • Talking about sounds (developing vocabulary and language comprehension)

8. Phase 2 - Subject Knowledge • GPCs need to be introduced in systematic way. • Set 1 - s a t p • Set 2 - i n m d • Set 3 - g o c k • Set 4 - ck e u r • Set 5 - h b f ff l ll s ss • It is very important that you pronounce these phonemes clearly and correctly (see Jolly Phonic actions and pronunciation guide). If you don't, children will find it very difficult to blend them together. • When introducing GPCs, ensure you introduce them with the sounds, pictures, actions and lots of practise for forming the letter. You can form the letter with a finger in the air, on the palm of the hand, on the back of another child, on a rough surface like the floor. All these experiences will need to come before trying to write the letter on a whiteboard or piece of paper.

9. Phase 3 - Subject Knowledge • Phase 3 continues in the same way as Phase 2 and introduces more new GPCs. By the end of Phase 3 the children will know one way of writing down each of the 44 phonemes. • Set 6 - j v w x • Set 7 - y z zz qu • Consonant digraphs - ch sh th ng • Vowel digraphs (and trigraphs) ai ee igh oa oo ar or ur ow oi ear air ure er • Make sure that you are very confident about what the term CVC means. It refers to words with a consonant phoneme, a vowel phoneme and then a consonant phoneme - it is not referring to letters. Therefore hot, bed, boat and ship are all CVC words but cow and toy are not.

10. Make sure opportunities are provided on a regular basis to sound talk the word (sounds buttons/bar/loops) e.g. • Be clear that children know the difference between letter names and letter sounds. A dog says ‘woof’ that is the sound it makes, its name is ‘dog’. • Tricky words can not be sounded out. Do not ask children to. Tricky words need to be learnt as units of meaning. • Don’t be afraid to stop children and explain/introduce idea that sometimes graphemes can represent different sounds e.g. George / Phoebe. Do not allow them to sound out.

11. Phase 4 - Subject Knowledge • The main challenge in this phase is to help children to blend and segment words with adjacent consonants e.g. truck, help. These adjacent consonant phonemes can both be heard when you say the word which makes them different from a digraph where there are two letters that make just one sound. Be careful, lots of people get these confused, including some published materials. • Children with speech and language difficulties can find Phase 4 very tricky. If children struggle to hear all the sounds in a word encourage them to think about the movements that their mouths are making. Looking in mirrors can help with this.

12. Phase 5a (Weeks 1-4) - Subject Knowledge • These 4 weeks introduce some new GPCs in the same way as in previous phases. Five of these GPCs are known as split digraphs. They are a_e, e_e, i_e, o_e, u_e. These used to be taught as magic e but now it is recommended that children learn to recognise these in the same way as other graphemes but simply explaining that in these particular graphemes the two letters work as a team but they aren't directly next to each other. Phase 5b (Weeks 4-7) - Subject Knowledge • These 3 weeks introduce the idea that some graphemes can be pronounced in more than one way. E.g. the ch grapheme can be pronounced in each of these ways check, chef and school. This is a vital lesson for children to learn and they need to learn to apply it in their reading. Make sure you model trying to read a word by sounding out the most obvious phonemes then blending it together. If it doesn't make sense model looking at each grapheme and seeing whether there are alternative pronunciations. Try sounding out the word with the alternative pronunciation and blending it together. Does it make sense now? This can be quite a jump for some children to make as they have to realise that English isn't quite as straightforward as it once seemed. However, it can also be quite empowering to know that just because a word doesn't make sense first time, it doesn't mean that they can't go back and figure it out for themselves. Phase 5c (Weeks 8-30) • This part of Phase 5 is all about learning that some phonemes have more than one spelling (in fact some of the really awkward ones have loads of different spellings). In the past, some people have thrown in the towel with phonics at this point and decided that there is no point in teaching it as there is no rhyme and reason to how these phonemes are spelled. The fact is that there is much more rhyme and reason to which spelling we use for these phonemes then most people are aware of. Certainly we can teach children how to make the best guesses when spelling these phonemes. They aren't always infallible but it leaves children with far fewer 'tricky' spellings that they have to just learn in other ways. It is important that children try to discover these rules by themselves by playing investigative type games and looking for patterns.

13. Phase 6 - Subject Knowledge • Phase 6 reinforces much of the learning from Phase 5, helps children to develop greater automaticity in reading, and begins to explore spelling rules and conventions e.g. adding -ing and -ed.

14. How does phonics fit into the big picture of teaching reading? • Phonics is simply the code that turns written language into spoken language and vice versa. It is the vital initial step in teaching children to read but it is far from the whole picture. Phonics will only work in an environment where Speaking and Listening Skills are promoted and developed. Children should also be regularly exposed to a wide range of quality texts. They should be regularly read aloud to. Regular, well planned Guided Reading sessions are essential and reading skills should also be explicitly taught in Shared Reading sessions within literacy lessons. • Once children reach Phase 6, we work on helping them to move away from blending and segmenting and develop automaticity in their reading. We can then devote even more of our attentions to developing all the other areas of reading that need to teach. • Phonics Bug resources *

15. When phonics isn't working Is phonics fast enough? • Sluggish phonics sessions are a symptom of other problems. Aim for quickfire practise not long explanations and discussions. • Don't talk too much. Phonics sessions should be about children blending and segmenting, not teachers explaining and discussing things at length. • Use clear, familiar routines to save time and prevent behaviour problems. • Allow 15-20 minutes of pure teaching time. If you need extra time to get in from playtime or clear up after a session then build that into the timetable as well. • Pace and variation is essential!

16. Is it fun? • Games, games, games - Record scores and times. Challenge the children to beat them. Split the class in half and get the two halves to compete. • Variety is the spice of life – Use computer games, real objects, pictures. Use whole class, small group and individual games. Do sessions: outside, standing up, to music, in fancy dress etc.

17. Is it systematic? • Learning in phonics builds on what has gone before. Follow a clear system (e.g. Letters and Sounds) and cover all the learning in the right order. Use assessments to check that you are teaching at the correct phase.

18. Are you including all the elements of the teaching sequence (don't let Revisit and Apply get forgotten)? • Introduce - Let the children know the learning objective and get them motivated for the session. People sometimes forget that this is part of our job too. You can’t expect children to necessarily show up full of enthusiasm. • Revisit - Tackle any areas of previous learning that assessments have shown to need more work. Quickwrite Graphemes and Flashcards are key games but any games can be used. • Teach - Explicitly teach the phoneme/grapheme or skill identified in the learning objective. • Practise - Play games to rehearse the new learning as many times as possible. • Apply - Read or write sentences that involve the new learning.

19. Are there earlier gaps that need filling (the usual suspects are: Phase 1, Phase 4 and Phase 5b)? Phase 1 - Phase 1 develops vital skills that will be built on for many years to come. In particular, children need to be able to be able to recognise rhyming words and alliterative words. Children may also need to spend time exploring and making particular voice sounds that they find difficult. Phase 4 - In Phase 4, pronouncing and identifying adjacent consonants is tricky for some children. Thinking about mouth movements and using mirrors is usually the key to unlocking this. Know the difference between adjacent consonants and digraphs. Watch out for old resources that try to tackle blends (the old name for adjacent consonants) as if they were digraphs (one unit of sound). This can really overcomplicate things for some children. Phase 5b - Phase 5b is sometimes under-appreciated but it is vital as it bridges the gap between children reading simple texts where each grapheme represents one sound and beginning to read texts where choices have to be made about how to pronounce some graphemes. • Remember the importance of ruling out the basics! Have children had recent sight and hearing checks?

20. Are children taught to apply what they have learned? • Give children regular opportunities to read/write at the phase they are on in all curriculum areas. This will make your life easier too as they will be able to read/write these things independently. • Train children to use what they have learned in phonics to tackle unfamiliar words in reading and writing. Model this and practise in shared and guided reading. • Hopefully it goes without saying but children should also be encouraged to revel in a wide and wonderful variety of ‘real’ and challenging texts as well. In the same way, they should be encouraged to make exciting and daring word choices in their own writing and not just stick to dull words that they can spell easily.

21. Useful Websites and Resources Planning and Assessment support: • www.phonicsplay.co.uk • www.phonics4free.org • www.letters-and-sounds.com • Jolly Phonics Resourcing support: • www.twinkl.co.uk • www.communication4all.co.uk

22. Jolly Phonic Actions Group 1 • s           Weave hand in an s shape, like a snake, and say ssssss. • a           Wiggle fingers above elbow as if ants crawling on you and say a, a, a. • t           Turn head from side to side as if watching tennis and say t, t, t. • i            Pretend to be a mouse by wriggling fingers at end of noise and squeak i, i, i. • p           Pretend to puff out candles and say p, p, p. • n           Make a noise, as if you are a plane – hold arms out and say nnnnnn. Group 2 • c k        Raise hands and snap fingers as if playing castanets and say ck, ck, ck. • e           Pretend to tap an egg on the side of a pan and crack it into the pan, saying eh, eh, eh. • h           Hold hand in front of mouth panting as if you are shaking out of breath and say h, h, h • r           Pretend to be a puppy holding a piece of rag, shaking head from side to side, and say rrrrrr. • m          Rub tummy as if seeing tasty food and say mmmmmm. • d           Beat hands up and down as if playing a drum and say d, d, d. Group 3 • g           Spiral hand down, as if water going down the drain, and say g, g, g. • o           Pretend to turn light switch on and off and say o, o, o, o. • u           Pretend to be putting up an umbrella and say u, u, u. • l            Pretend to lick a lollipop and say l, l, l, l, l, l. • f           Let hands gently come together as if toy fish deflating, and say f, f, f, f, f, f. • b           Pretend to hit a ball with a bat and say b, b, b.

23. Group 4 • ai          Cup hand over ear and say ai, ai, ai • j           Pretend to wobble on a plate and say j, j, j. • oa         Bring hand over mouth as if you have done something wrong and say oh! • ie          Stand to attention and salute, saying ie ie. • ee or     Put hands on head as if ears on a donkey and say eeyore, eeyore. Group 5 • z           Put arms out at sides and pretend to be a bee, saying zzzzzz. • w          Blow on to open hand, as if you are the wind, and say wh, wh, wh. • ng         Imagine you are a weightlifter, and pretend to lift a heavy weight above your head, saying ng… • v           Pretend to be holding the steering wheel of a van and say vvvvvv. • oo OO   Move head back and forth as if it is the cuckoo in a cuckoo clock, saying u, oo; u, oo (Little and long oo) Group 6 • y            Pretend to be eating a yoghurt and say y, y, y. • x            Pretend to take an x-ray of someone with an x-ray gun and say ks, ks, ks. • ch          Move arms at sides as if you are a train and say ch, ch, ch. • sh          Place index finger of lips and say sh sh sh. • th th      Pretend to be naughty clowns and stick out tongue a little for the th, and further for the th sounds (this and thumb). Group 7 • qu          Make a duck´s beak with your hands and say qu, qu, qu. • ou          Pretend your finger is a needle and prick thumb saying ou, ou, ou. • oi           Cup hands around mouth and shout to another boat saying oi! Ship ahoy! • ue          Point to people around you and say you, you, you. • er          Roll hands over each other like a mixer and say er er er. • ar          Open mouth wide and say ah.