An introduction for parents at St Swithun’s Catholic Primary School

Phonics, Reading and Writing

This PowerPoint is designed to go side by side with my new parents’ talk. Please come and see me or email me if you are unsure about anything at all or if you wish to discuss your child’s progress.

Mrs Verhiest

Guidance from the DFE...

Phonics should always be used to decode first, before any other strategies to help unpack meaning.

Phonics should be used as the ‘prime

strategy’ for decoding. NOT the first of several alternative

strategies (sight, pictures etc)

The frog jumped over the stones.

The buzzing bee landed on the furthest stone, not knowing a frog was above him.

‘Yummy,’ said the frog.

What is …a sound?

Something audiblea grapheme?

Letter groups

Why is English such a difficult language for children to learn?

Complex alphabet code, the most complicated in the world…sorry kids! They have over 150 graphemes to learn in order to read and spell the 44 speech sounds.

What does this look like?

Graphemes

PURE Sounds!

Stretchy sounds...

s, n, m, r, f, l, v, z

Bouncy sounds...

a, t, p, i, d, g, o, c, k, e, u, h, b, j, w, y, qu

MINIMAL ‘UH’

We don’t say ‘muh, uh, muh’, we say ‘mmmm, u, mmmmm’

PractiseIn every aspect of our day we offer and encourage

opportunities for children to practise what we teach!

We try and find as many practical and exciting ways to do this as possible...

Flashcards with colours highlighting the new sound Actions – robots, wiggles, waves, football, boogie,

rockets, etc etc etc! Games – Best bet, treasure chest (phonicsplay.com) Phoneme fingers/sound buttons Phoneme spotter passages Alien Words

Examples of Activities: Magnetic letters and baking trays

Parachutes (chn to find objects with correct phoneme from underneath)

Hula hoops – chn to jump in and say phoneme/sort objects into after a treasure hunt

Find my pair (sentences/word cards hidden around the classroom/outdoor area)

Phoneme treasure hunt (sand)

Dance mats/fly swats

Water pistols

Cut/stick columns

Reading Promoting a love of reading and creating lifelong

readers!

Why read!

Reading opens doors for our children! They love to feel that accomplishment

of reading words independently. It introduces them to new characters,

places and adventures. It gives them information and allows

them to find out new facts. It lets them access the whole

curriculum, in fact the whole world!

What can they read?In class we will constantly be reading and whether you encourage it or not this will carry on after school (sorry!)

We will be reading story books, non-fiction, poems, comics, signs, labels, recipes, maps, word cards, games, catalogues…

We will read some books over and over again (just like bedtimes). This is soooo beneficial as it give children the understanding of a story structure and characters… If they know a story they can retell it, change bits and eventually write stories.

Guided Reading

Guided reading will take place as the year progresses.

It will be linked to their phonics and tricky words.

It will look at their understanding.

It will develop both decoding skills and understanding.

Individual Readers Reading books will be sent home.

They may sometimes have the same book twice!

Your child will have two reading days a week at school.

I would recommend they read their reading book three times a week (but had access to books constantly).

As time goes on they will have phonics and key words sent home.

Your child may not want to read at home – and this is normal!

My child isn’t a green reader?!(No, and nor is anyone else in the class!)

Children will learn to read at their own pace.

Our Aim - All our children will progress and develop a love of books.

The curriculum is now far more focused on breath of reading, (and developing a love of reading) rather than climbing levels. This approach makes sure we have strong foundations to build on.

Think back to when your child started to walk. Some were 9 months, some 18 months. Look at your children now in the playground. They can all walk and run. The same happens with reading. Some will pick it up quicker than others, but they will all learn to read. It is our job (and privilege) to support and help each child reach their potential!

Writing This will come, usually after the phonics and

reading starts.

There will be opportunities for them to write everywhere at school!!

At first it will look like a scribble or zig-zags then it will progress into circles and shapes before taking the form of letters. It’s important to be aware that to them it will say ‘I love my mummy’.

Eventually the letters will clearly represent initial sounds for example d for dad…

Soon after you will be able to read their words and simple sentences.

Handwriting

We teach letter formation as we introduce each sound.

As a school we will be teaching cursive.

There will be a handout to show an example of what each letter looks like and how it’s formed. (Always start on the line…)

St Swithun’s handwriting

Below is a useful handout for reading, first given out at the New Curriculum talk (also on our website.)

Reading with your childThe focus for reading in each year group is reading a breadth of books, including fiction, non-fiction, topic books, comics, newspaper articles, catalogues… rather than racing through the levels. We need to make sure our children are confident, fluent readers with excellent comprehension. This will lead to our end goal – to foster a love of reading! 

Some questions to ask your child whilst you are reading together: Look at the front cover. What could the book be about? Why do you think that?   Who is the author? Have you read books by this author before? Did you like those books?

Why?   What is an illustrator? What do they do? Do you like the way they have used illustration in

the book? Why?   What does this word mean? Read the words around it to help you figure it out? Can you think

of a different word that the author could have used instead?   How can you read an unfamiliar word? Can you sound it out and then blend it?   Who are the main characters? Can you tell me about them? What words would you use to

describe them? Why do you think they are acting that way/said that/ did that?

What do you think will happen next? What makes you think that?

 

How do you think the character feels? Why? How would you feel in that situation? What would you do?

 

Can you predict how the story will end?

 

Who is your favourite character? Why?

 

Is there a hidden message in the story? What is it?

 

Can you retell the story in your own words? Can you use prompts or puppets to retell the story?

 

What was your favourite part of the story? Why?

 

Do you like how the story ended? Why? How would you end the story?

 

Can you make a similar story changing the characters or settings? Can you tell/write/illustrate me this story?

 

Can you find words beginning with? Can you find a word on page… that means …? Can you find a word that rhymes with…? Can you find a word that you would change to improve the book?

 

Other things you can do to help your child develop a love of reading is visiting a local library, have a special place or time when you read together and be seen to be reading yourself!

Useful websites/information:

For parents: www.gov.uk/government/publications/learning-to-read-through-

phonics-information-for-parents www.letters-and-sound.com www.phonicsplay.co.uk/WhatIsPhonics.htm For children: www.phonicsplay.co.uk/ChildrensMenu.htm www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/alphablocks/ www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks1/literacy/phonics/play/ www.familylearning.org.uk/phonics_games.html www.oxfordowl.co.uk www.primaryresources.co.uk www.ictgames.com/literacy/ www.northwoodoorg.uk/phonics www.enchantedlearning.com/themes