18 Ready Steady Parents & Carers - how to help your child with phonics KP 11.4.23 V1

Parents & PParents & Carers& Carers

1: Ready Steady Parents & Carers: How to help your child with phonics

Aims

Aims: This CPD session will develop an understanding of:

• Explanation of phonic terminology knowledge and skills
• Articulation of phonemes
• Matching Graphemes and Phonemes
• Blending to read words
• Segmenting to write words
• Reading and Spelling Common Exception Words
• Modelling correct letter formation
• Reading decodable books

EEF: The ‘Reading Comprehension’ House

To become successful readers children need to be able to decode the words and understand what they mean

• Decoding is through:
• phonics teaching
• Repetition and teaching of Common Exception Words (CEW’s) or ‘tricky’ words

• Understanding (comprehension) is through:
• Talking with children
• Reading to children
• Teaching comprehension strategies

So: what is phonics?

• Phonics is the method of teaching children to decode.
• Decoding is where children hear, identify the separate phonemes/sounds in a word and then blend them together, from left to right, to say the word.
• It involves matching the sounds of spoken English with individual letters or groups of letter.

How does it help children to read?

• Phonics provides the ‘code’ , the building blocks, so that children can sounds out the individual phonemes/sounds in the words and then blend them back together to read as a whole word

So……..

• The teachers will teach the children the phonemes/sounds in a specific order using the Ready Steady Phonics scheme
• This order will allow children to be able to begin to word read from a very early stage
• Children will be taught how to separate out phonemes (sounds) and how to blend them together
• Blending is when you ‘push’ the sounds together, starting from the first sound to the last, e.g. cat is c-a-t and you blend together the three phonemes (sounds) to say the word
• Children will also learn to use their phonics to help them spell and write words as they move through the scheme

Knowledge: Terminology

Phoneme: the smallest unit (bit) of sound in a word

c-a-t 3 phonemes

b-a-t 3 phonemes

sh-ee-p 3 phonemes

sh-i-p 3 phonemes

Knowledge: Terminology

Grapheme: a letter (or group of letters) that represent a single phoneme/sound d-o-g s-n-ai-l

So: what is phonics?

Children are taught to identify the sound/phoneme and then how to match the sound to the letters that make that sound

Knowledge: The Alphabetic Code

So: what is phonics?

• English is an alphabetic language
• There are 26 letters in the English alphabet
• There are approximately 44 sounds (phonemes) in the English language
• Combined they make in excess of 140 letter combinations (graphemes)

Phonics has four main steps:

SIMPLE CODE

1. Sounds/ phonemes can be represented by letters.

2. A sound/ phoneme can be represented by one or more letters

c-a-t sh-i-p l-igh-t

c- s- t-

COMPLEX CODE

3. The same phoneme can be represented (spelt) in different ways.

4. The same spelling can sound different. These are much rarer.

th-ough-t th-r-ough th-ough

m-ee-t m-ea-t f-l-y b-i-k-e t-ie

Phonics Terms

• You will hear your child using words linked to their reading that you may not be familiar with
• This is because phonics has a language all of its own
• Where possible, try to use the same language as your children when you are helping them to decode using phonics as they will be familiar with this
• Your child will probably be more confident in using the terms than you are… don’t worry about this.
• If you are not sure ask your child or ask their teacher
• The simple glossary on the next slide may help.

A simple phonics glossary for parents

Phonics Term

Meaning

Phoneme

Smallest unit (bit) of sound in a word e.g. in the word cat c is a phoneme, a is a phoneme, t is a phoneme

Grapheme

The letter (or letters) that you would see/write to represent the sound

Blending

Pushing the individual sounds together, left to right, to read the word

Segmenting

Splitting the word into its separate, individual phonemes (sounds) in order to sound it out or to help with spelling

Common Exception Words/tricky words

Words where not all the sounds are phonically decodable, they have a ‘tricky bit’ e.g. the tricky bit is said is the ai which sounds like an e

Digraph

Two letters that make one sound e.g. ch in chip, sh in sheep and ee in sheep

Trigraph

Three letters that make one sound e.g. igh in light

Split digraph

Two letter which make one sound, but are split by a consonant e.g. bike, the i-e make one sound but are split by the letter k – bike, cake, plane

V or C

V= Vowel (a, e, i, o, u – occasionally the letter y is used as a vowel e.g. sky) ), C= Consonant (all the other letters). They are used to represent different types of words. E.g CVC words: cat, bat, CCVC words: spot, plot

Adjacent Consonants

Consonants that are next to each other in words. This could be at the beginning, middle or end of words E.g. splat, pants, splintering

How to say the phonemes (sounds) Articulation

• Crucial
• Consistent
• Clear
• Clipped – avoiding any extra ‘uh’ sounds
• Module 3: Ready Steady Parents & Carers: Saying the sounds & Letter formation – will support parents
• There are articulation videos on the parents page or ask your school

Principles

Process of learning

Hear it and say it See it and say it Say it and write it

Matching graphemes and phonemes

• This is how children learn to read (decode)
• REMEMBER: Phoneme= the sound: Grapheme=what the sound look like written down
• Children are taught sounds first and then what the sound looks like in a written form. E.g they hear the sound ‘a’ – then they see what it looks like written as a letter ‘ a’
• This continues for more complicated patterns e.g. they hear the sound ‘i’ and first learn that it can be written as ‘igh’. Later they learn it can also be written in other ways as well such as ‘ie’
• To read children need to be able to ‘spot’ the grapheme (what the sound looks like written down) and then be able to think of the sound it makes.
• They can then move towards blending these sounds together to read.

Matching graphemes and phonemes

• hat – h-a-t
• shop – sh-o-p
• trap – t-r-a-p
• light – l-igh-t
• blink –b-l-i-nk
• bike – b-i-k-e (sounds like biek but spelt bike - this is called a split digraph)
• catching – c-a-tch-i-ng
• dance – d-a-n-ce

Blending to read words

• Encourage your child to ‘spot’ the graphemes in the word if they are having difficulties (or the more difficult graphemes)
• Encourage your child to sound them out as they see them (remember they are sounding out the graphemes NOT the letters)
• Encourage your child to blend the sounds together, starting from the left and moving to the right
• Encourage your child to re-read when they have done this
• Show your child how to do this if they are struggling (and if you feel confident in doing this)
• If you are not sure how to sound out the word tell them the word and ask the teacher

Possible prompts

• Can you see any tricky graphemes in this words we need to think about? How are these said?
• Can you sound out this word to help you read it?
• Can you blend the sounds together? Remember we need to push them together to make the word. Lets start at the left.
• Well done – you sounded that word out really well, Can you read it again?
• Let me show you how to do it….
• This is the word, lets ask your teacher how we sound it out properly.

Segmenting to spell (splitting it up)

• Encourage your child say the individual phonemes (sounds) in the word they want to spell
• Encourage them to ‘count’ the phonemes in the word on their fingers (remember they are sounding out the phonemes NOT the letters)
• Encourage your child to think about what grapheme (written representation) matches the first sound they say, then the second and continue to do this through the word. You can use their fingers to help them think about the phonemes in order.
• When they have written the word encourage them to re-read it, focussing on any tricky graphemes in the word if necessary
• Show your child how to do this if they are struggling (and if you feel confident in doing this)
• If you are not sure how to do this ask the teacher to help

Possible prompts

• Lets sound out this word?
• Can you count the phonemes on your fingers when you sound it out? How many are there?
• Can you start with the first phoneme? What is it again? How could you write it?
• What about the next phoneme? (re-visit them if necessary) Can you write down what that one is?
• Well done – you used your phonics really well to split that word up and spell it.
• Let me show you how to do it….
• I’m not quite sure, lets ask your teacher how to do it.

Reading and Spelling Common Exception Words (CEW’s) words

What are CEW’s? Definition: Common exception words are words that do not follow the common phonetic spelling rules children learn in Year 1 and Year 2. These are also called tricky words or sight words as you must learn to recognise them. Usually part of the word can be sounded out but there are ‘tricky bits’ Most schemes also include words that can be sounded out at some point but it may be that the children haven’t learnt that phoneme (sound) yet. E.g. the children are taught ‘my’ early on, but later learn that the ‘y’ grapheme can sound like an ‘i’. This is so that they can learn to read very common words early to support their reading.

Reading and Spelling Common Exception Words (CEW’s) words

• ‘The spelling of CEWs is introduced throughout Ready Steady Phonics
• The ‘tricky bit’ of the word is focused on
• These words are practiced so that they become secure in spelling and reading
• These words are interwoven into the reading books.

Reading and Spelling Common Exception Words (CEW’s) words

• How to help your child

Reading:

• Encourage your child to read these as a whole word
• If they are struggling ask them to think about the ‘tricky bit' of the word e.g. said
• If they are really struggling tell them the word and speak to the teacher

Writing:

• Encourage your child to remember it is a CEW so it can’t be sounded out easily
• Encourage them to think about what the tricky bit of the word is
• If they are really struggling explain how to spell the word and focus on the tricky bit
• If you are not sure speak to the teacher

Modelling Correct Letter Formation

• Ready Steady Phonics teaches letter formation throughout.
• The children learn how to form lowercase letters (a, b, c, d etc) and uppercase letters (Capitals A, B, C, D etc)
• There is practise built into the scheme
• It is modelled by the teacher and the use of animated letters which show clearly where to start the letter, how to form it correctly and where to finish.
• Ready Steady Phonics has little rhymes or songs to help the children remember how to form the letters. You may hear them saying these.
• Your school should also be teaching handwriting separate to the phonics

How to help your child with correct letter formation

• When writing encourage them to think about where to start their letter(s) and how they are shaped
• Encourage the children to think about where the letter(s) sit on the line
• Ask your teacher for support so that your child follows the Ready Steady Phonics letter formation. There are worksheets that may be helpful.
• Use the Ready Steady Phonics rhymes or songs which may help the children remember how letters are formed. Ask your teachers about this.
• Model for the children if you feel confident enough to do this
• Encourage your child to have a correct pencil grip – again the website or the teacher will be able to advise you about this
• REMEMBER: writing is challenging for young children as there is a lot to think about. Be supportive, explain how to do it, show them the animations again, talk to the teacher if you are concerned at all.

Reading books

• These have been written to exactly match the sounds your child has been learning
• They can be accessed on line as well as an actual book
• They cover narratives, non fiction and rhyming books
• They are engaging and interesting
• There are comprehension questions to help with understanding
• There are supportive parental notes at the beginning and the end of the book
• These books are designed to consolidate and practice what the children have learned. Your child will read the same book multiple time so they can become confident, fluent, secure and happy readers
• How to help your child with reading : Module19 Ready Steady Parents & Carers: Reading Decodable books with your child

e: info@readysteadyphonics.co.ukw: www.readysteadyphonics.co.ukt: 07522 514759

Thank you

w: www.literacycounts.co.uk

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