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Parent workshop: Phonics and early reading

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A love of reading is the biggest indicator of future academic success.

OECD (The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development)

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How many times have you already read today?

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Phonics

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Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised

Our school has chosen �Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised as our systematic, synthetic phonics (SSP) programme to teach early reading and spelling.

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Phonics is:

making connections between the sounds of our spoken words and the letters that are used to write them down.

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Blending to read words

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Terminology

Phoneme

Split vowel digraph

Grapheme

Blend

Digraph

Segment

Trigraph

Explain what each word means – use our glossary to help: https://www.littlewandlelettersandsounds.org.uk/resources/my-letters-and-sounds/getting-started/

Phoneme

The smallest unit of sound that can be identified in words. We sometimes simply call this a ‘sound’, although it is helpful for children to use the term ‘phoneme’ from the beginning of our programme. (Note: We do not usually notice discrete sounds in words. We deliberately separate them out so that children can learn how our writing–reading system works. Children are first helped to identify the separate sounds in words through oral blending and segmenting, and this is reinforced as they begin to work through our systematic synthetic phonics programme.)

Grapheme

A letter or group of letters used to represent a particular phoneme when writing. With children, we sometimes call this ‘a sound written down’, although, as with ‘phoneme’, it is helpful for children to learn to use the correct term from the beginning. The way graphemes are used to represent phonemes in our written language is known as the ‘alphabetic code’.

Digraph

A grapheme using two letters to represent one phoneme. With children, we frequently reinforce it with the mantra ‘two letters, one sound’. At the appropriate stage, it is useful for children to learn to use the term and to understand what it means.

Trigraph

A grapheme using three letters to represent one phoneme. With children, we frequently reinforce it with the mantra ‘three letters, one sound’. At the appropriate stage, it is useful for children to learn to use the term and to understand what it means.

Split vowel digraph

A digraph representing a vowel sound where its two letters are split by an intervening consonant (for example, ‘a_e’ in ‘take’). Despite having a consonant in between them, the two letters involved (here ‘a’ and ‘e’) still count as one digraph, making one sound. The vowel sound is pronounced at the position of the first of the two letters of the digraph (that is, in the middle of ‘take’). At early learning stages, a split digraph is often highlighted with a short line joining the two halves of the digraph above the intervening consonant.

Blend

To combine individual phonemes into a whole word, working all the way through from left to right. Once the GPCs involved have been learned, blending is the key process involved in reading words effectively. It is a skill that needs extensive practice. Practice in oral blending is very helpful, both before and during the process of learning to read. It is important to understand that blending sounds into a word is not simply a matter of saying them more quickly, nor of mixing them together like paint. Phonemes need to be joined into one continuous stream of sound to make a spoken word. Extensive practice, following teacher modelling, is the key

Segment

To identify each of the individual phonemes in a word, working all the way through from left to right. This is an important first stage of writing (spelling) a word but needs to be practised orally first. Counting the phonemes is often helpful in reinforcing this process.

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Teaching order

Gradually your child learns the entire alphabetic code.

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How we make learning stick

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Reading and spelling

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Reading and spelling

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And all the different ways to write �the phoneme sh:

shell

chef

special

caption

mansion

passion

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Tricky words

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Spelling

Say the word.
Segment the sounds.
Count the sounds.
Write them down.

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How do we teach reading in books?

Reading practice sessions are:

Taught by a trained teacher or teaching assistant
Taught in small groups.

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We use assessment to match your child the right level of book

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Reading a book at the right level

This means that your child should:

Know all the sounds and tricky words in their phonics book well
Read many of the words by silent blending (in their head) – their reading will be automatic
Only need to stop and sound out about 5% of the words by the time they bring the book home – but they should be able to do this on their own.

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Reading at home

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The most important thing you can do is read with your child

Reading a book and chatting had a positive impact a year later on children’s ability to…

understand words and sentences
use a wide range of vocabulary
develop listening comprehension skills.

The amount of books children were exposed to by age 6 was a positive predictor of their reading ability two years later.

Parental involvement in the development of children’s reading skills: A five-year longitudinal study (2002) Senechal, M. and Lefvre, J

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Books going home

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10 top tips to support your child reading at home

1. Encourage your child to read

2. Read aloud regularly

3. Encourage reading choice

4. Read together

5. Create a comfortable environment

6. Make use of your local library

7. Talk about books

8. Bring reading to life

9. Make reading active

10. Engage your child in reading in a way that suits them

1. Encourage your child to read

Reading helps your child’s wellbeing, develops imagination and has educational benefits too. Just a few minutes a day can have a big impact on children of all ages.

2. Read aloud regularly

Try to read to your child every day. It’s a special time to snuggle up and enjoy a story. Stories matter and children love re-reading them and poring over the pictures. Try adding funny voices to bring characters to life.

3. Encourage reading choice

Give children lots of opportunities to read different things in their own time - it doesn’t just have to be books. There’s fiction, non-fiction, poetry, comics, magazines, recipes and much more. Try leaving interesting reading material in different places around the home and see who picks it up.

4. Read together

Choose a favourite time to read together as a family and enjoy it. This might be everyone reading the same book together, reading different things at the same time, or getting your children to read to each other. This time spent reading together can be relaxing for all.

5. Create a comfortable environment

Make a calm, comfortable place for your family to relax and read independently - or together.

6. Make use of your local library

Libraries in England are able to open from 4 July, so visit them when you’re able to and explore all sorts of reading ideas. Local libraries also offer brilliant online materials, including audiobooks and ebooks to borrow. See Libraries Connected for more digital library services and resources.

7. Talk about books

This is a great way to make connections, develop understanding and make reading even more enjoyable. Start by discussing the front cover and talking about what it reveals and suggests the book could be about. Then talk about what you’ve been reading and share ideas. You could discuss something that happened that surprised you, or something new that you found out. You could talk about how the book makes you feel and whether it reminds you of anything.

8. Bring reading to life

You could try cooking a recipe you’ve read together. Would you recommend it to a friend? Alternatively, play a game where you pretend to be the characters in a book, or discuss an interesting article you’ve read.

9. Make reading active

Play games that involve making connections between pictures, objects and words, such as reading about an object and finding similar things in your home. You could organise treasure hunts related to what you’re reading. Try creating your child’s very own book by using photos from your day and adding captions.

10. Engage your child in reading in a way that suits them

You know your child best and you’ll know the best times for your child to read. If they have special educational needs and disabilities

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Listening to your child read their phonics book

Your child should be able to read their book without your help.
If they can’t read a word read it to them.
Talk about the book and celebrate their success.

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Supporting your child with phonics

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Read to your child

The shared book is for YOU to read:

Make the story sound as exciting as you can by changing your voice.
Talk with your child as much as you can:

Introduce new and exciting language
Encourage your child to use new vocabulary
Make up sentences together
Find different words to use
Describe things you see.

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One of the greatest gifts adults can give is to read to children

Carl Sagan