Phonics and ReadingA Love of Reading! |
Reading fluency and accuracy is a priority here at Ashton Vale. We teach reading through a strong phonics and reading curriculum where class book choices are linked to topics. Books are chosen carefully by our staff who have up to date knowledge of the latest titles through links with the Bristol Book Project, courses they've attended and book groups. We also wish to inspire a life-long love of reading in our pupils. We approach this in a number of ways including; Weekly Infant reading mornings where parents and children share books together in class, reading certificates, our annual Book Week, staff enthusiasm and recommendation, visits from Authors and the plethora of book choices available in our newly developed Library. The library is wonderful resource in which to find out information or get lost in the latest children's novel. Classes visit the library weekly to select and change books. The library is also open every Tuesday morning before school for children to visit with their parents and carers. Why don't you pop in and take a look! |
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Here at Ashton Vale, we teach phonics through Letters and Sounds. Letters and Sounds is a national, systematic approach for teaching children to read using phonics. It is split into six phases, from starting to learn about sounds in reception to becoming fluent readers.
The phonic approach encourages us to directly link letters (graphemes) to sounds (phonemes), and to teach children pure sounds like ah, b, k when encountering the alphabet (instead of letter names). So, children learn how to put sounds represented by letters or letter groups (like ch or igh) together to read words in a more straightforward way.
We use the familiar resources from Ruth Miskin’s Read Write Inc. scheme to support our phonics teaching and to help form letters correctly.
The phonic approach encourages us to directly link letters (graphemes) to sounds (phonemes), and to teach children pure sounds like ah, b, k when encountering the alphabet (instead of letter names). So, children learn how to put sounds represented by letters or letter groups (like ch or igh) together to read words in a more straightforward way.
We use the familiar resources from Ruth Miskin’s Read Write Inc. scheme to support our phonics teaching and to help form letters correctly.
The information below outlines the letter-sound correspondences children will learn in different phases of Letters and sounds. There are a few "tricky words" introduced at each phase. These words are common and useful for early reading and writing, but children won’t be able to decode them following the phonic rules taught up to that point. You can help your child learn them by reading aloud together.
Phase 1 Letters and Sounds
Phase 1 supports children's developing speaking and listening skills and linking of sounds and letters. Activities are divided into seven groups:
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Phase 2 Letters and Sounds
Phase 2 introduces simple letter-sound correspondences. As each set of letters is introduced, children are encouraged to use their new knowledge to sound out and blend words. For example, they will learn to blend the sounds s-a-t to make the word sat. Set 1: s, a, t, p at, a, sat, pat, tap, sap, as Set 2: i as in it, is, sit, pit, tip n as in an, in, nip, pan, nap m as in am, man, mat, map, Tim d as in dad, and, sad, dim, Sid Set 3: g as in tag, gag, sag, gas, pig o as in got, on, not, top, dog c as in can, cot, cop, cap, cod k as in kid, kit, Kim, Ken Set 4: ck as in kick, sack, dock, sick, pocket e as in get, pet, ten, net, pen u as in up, mum, run, mug, cup r as in rip, ram, rat, rocket, carrot Set 5: h as in had, him, his, hot, hut b as in but, big, back, bed, bus f, ff as in of, if, off, fit, fog, puff l, ll as in let, leg, lot, bell, doll ss as in less, hiss, mass, mess, boss Phase 2 tricky words the, to, no, go, I, into |
Phase 3 Letters and Sounds
In Phase 3 children build on the letter-sound correspondences learned in Phase 2. They learn consonant digraphs (sounds made up of two letters together such as ‘ch’ or ‘ll’) and long vowel sounds (such as 'igh' or 'ai'). Set 6: j as in jet, jam, jog, Jan v as in van, vet, velvet w as in wig, will, web x as in fox, box, six Set 7: y as in yes, yet, yell z as in zip, zig-zag zz as in buzz, jazz qu as in quit, quick, liquid Consonant digraphs: ch as in chip, chat, rich sh as in shop, shed, fish th as in thin, moth, that ng as in ring, thing, song Vowel digraphs and trigraphs ai as in rain, tail, aim ee as in bee, leek, see igh as in high, sigh, might oa as in boat, toad, foal oo as in boot, food, moon oo as in book, wood, foot ar as in park, art, car or as in for, torn, fork ur as in hurt, fur, surf ow as in cow, owl, town oi as in coin, boil, oil ear as in dear, shear, year air as in fair, pair, hair ure as in sure, pure, manure er as in dinner, summer, letter Phase 3 tricky words as in he, she, we, me, be, was, you, they, all, are, my, her |
Phase 4 Letters and Sounds
Children will consolidate their knowledge during this phase and they will learn to read and spell words which have adjacent consonants, for example trap, strong, milk and crept. Phase 4 tricky words said, have, like, so, do, some, come, were, there, little, one, when, out, what |
Phase 5 Letters and Sounds
Children will learn some new graphemes for reading. They will also be taught alternative pronunciations for known graphemes. For example, they have already learned ow as in cow and will now learn ow as in blow. In addition, they will learn alternative spellings for known phonemes. For example, the sound /igh/ has been learned as the grapheme igh as in night, but can also be spelled y, ie and i-e. New graphemes for reading: ay as in day, play, crayon ou as in cloud, sound, about ie as in pie, tie, cried ea as in sea, meat, read oy as in toy, enjoy, boy ir as in bird, shirt, first ue as in blue, true, glue aw as in paw, claw, yawn wh as in wheel, whisper, when ph as in photo, dolphin, alphabet ew as in new, crew, flew oe as in toe, foe, tomatoes au as in Paul, launch, haul a-e as in make, game, snake e-e as in these, Eve, extreme i-e as in like, time, slide o-e as in home, bone, pole u-e as in rule, June, flute Phase 5 tricky words oh, their, people, Mr, Mrs, looked, called, asked, could |
Phase 6 Letters and Sounds
In Phase 6 children will read with increasing fluency. They will have learned most of the common letter-sound correspondences and can read familiar words automatically without needing to sound out and blend. Children will work on spelling, including prefixes and suffixes, doubling and dropping letters, and so on. |
Careful pronunciation of the sounds is really important. It will help your child to hear each sound in a word much more easily. This will then help them to read and write that word more accurately.
Have a look at this video to help you pronounce each sound → |
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Phonics Screening Check The phonics screening check takes place in June. It is a statutory check for all Year 1 children. It contains a mix of real words and ‘non-words’ (or ‘nonsense words’). How does the check work?
If you would like some extra practise at home, have a go with the real and nonsense words on the sheet below! Scroll down and you will also find a past screening paper for your information. Please speak to your child's teacher if you have any questions. |