Aims:
To explore and understand the importance of Phase One Letters and Sounds phonics as the foundation to early literacy.
To be able to implement the aspects of the Phase One Letters and Sounds phonics through relevant, practical, planned activities.
Being literate has a powerful impact on children's learning.
"Children who start school without the literacy, language and communication skills they need to learn and flourish will have their futures cut short before they've even started. As children they won't succeed at school, as young adults they will be locked out of the job market, and as parents they won't be able to support their own child's learning - putting social inclusion, and the chance to live in a fairer society, out of reach for generations of children."
Words matter: the role of literacy in combatting social exclusion (2019)
Phonics has been shown to play an important role in becoming literate.
Phonics is a method of teaching reading, which focuses on the sound (phoneme) / symbol (grapheme) correspondence, how these phonemes blend together to make words and how words can be segmented into phonemes. This supports children to decode text and supports spelling.
Educational programme for Literacy:
"It is crucial for children to develop a life-long love of reading. Reading consists of two dimensions: language comprehension and word reading. Language comprehension (necessary for both reading and writing) starts from birth. It only develops when adults talk with children about the world around them and the books (stories and non-fiction) they read with them, and enjoy rhymes, poems and songs together. Skilled word reading, taught later, involves both the speedy working out of the pronunciation of unfamiliar printed words (decoding) and the speedy recognition of familiar printed words. Writing involves transcription (spelling and handwriting) and composition (articulating ideas and structuring them in speech, before writing)." EYFS statutory framework (2024)
Once young children start Reception, they are introduced to a systematic, synthetic phonics (SSP) teaching programme. Here they are taught explicitly the correspondences between letters (graphemes) and sounds (phonemes). The term 'synthetic' phonics refers to the verb 'synthesise' meaning 'to combine'. The recommended SSP approach include Jolly Phonics, Letterland and Fishing for Phonics. Further examples can be found at: Choosing a phonics teaching programme
In her book, What comes before phonics? (2021) Sally Neaum uses the analogy of an iceberg for learning to read.
"The tip of the iceberg peeps out from the water, supported beneath by a huge body of ice... The tip represents the visible skills of reading and writing, which are supported by a huge body of knowledge, understandings, skills and attitudes that underpin it. The robustness and strength of the tip is supported and underpinned by what lies beneath." (2021: p.29)
Neaum recognises the skills needed to support phonological awareness, then phonics, then reading and writing, is underpinned by what lies underneath these, the body of the iceberg.
- Function and forms of print - an understanding of the functions and forms of print.
- The ability to symbolise - represent or express something through the use of symbols.
- Physical awareness and integration - physical activity that supports sensory awareness.
- Meta linguistic awareness - the ability to think and talk.
- Spoken language - the basis of becoming literate. (2021: p.29)
The activities in Letters and Sounds Phase One Teaching Programme (2007) concentrate on developing children's and listening skills, phonological awareness and oral blending and segmenting. Letters and sounds phase one teaching programme
An example of an activity: Drum outdoors (p.12)
Strand: Tuning into sounds
Main purpose: To develop children's listening skills and awareness of sounds in the environment
What resources would you need for this activity?
An example of an activity: Matching sounds (p.19)
Strand: Listening and remembering sounds
Main purpose: To listen to and appreciate the difference between sounds made with instruments
How would you organise this activity?
An example of an activity: Words about sounds (p.26-27)
Strand: Talking about sounds
Main purpose: To talk about sounds we make with our bodies and what the sounds mean
How could you introduce this activity outside?
Each week, plan to deliver an activity from the aspects from each of the three strands. This will ensure the children will cover activities which promote auditory discrimination (tuning into sounds), auditory memory and sequencing (listening and remembering sounds) and developing vocabulary and language comprehension (talking about sounds).
Each of these activities can be repeated across the week, both indoors and outdoors. Once introduced and depending on the age / stage of the children, during child-initiated the children could continue practicing the activities themselves.
Aspect 7: oral blending and segmenting
At the start of the summer term the children moving into their Reception Class in September, will be ready to undertake the activities in aspect 7. Having experienced the range of activities from aspects 1-6, they will now be ready for the oral blending and segmenting activities in aspect 7.
Tips on delivering letters and sounds activities:
- At the end of the week, plan which 3 activities you will be delivering the following week.
- Collect all the resources together and store in 3 labelled boxes e.g. tuning into sounds, listening and remembering sounds and talking about sounds.
- Repeat the activities throughout the week, both indoors and outdoors.
- If they are able to, let the children practice the activity during child-initiated play.
- Make the activity multi-sensory and fun!
Further resources and information:
Pre-phonics is the key to early reading
Collated by Beverley Jones (Early Years Consultant)
beverley.jones@shropshire.gov.uk
