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What is phonics?
What is phonics?
When using phonics, we teach the relationship between the sounds of the spoken language (phonemes), and the letters (graphemes) or groups of letters of the written language. For example, the sound k can be spelled as c, k, ck or ch. Words are made up from small units of sound called phonemes. Phonics teaches children to be able to listen carefully and identify the phonemes that make up each word. This helps children to read words and to spell words. Teaching children to blend the sounds of letters together helps them decode unfamiliar or unknown words by using their phonics knowledge to read these words.
In Belgrove IGS we use an explicit and systematic programme that teaches students the foundational skills necessary for proficient reading. It follows a carefully developed scope and sequence designed to ensure that students systematically acquire each skill needed and learn to apply each skill with automaticity and confidence. Letter sounds are taught in a way that is fun and multi-sensory. Children learn how to use the letter sounds to read and write words. The programme is designed to be used for core instruction in the primary classroom or for intervention with struggling students in any year group.
The four basic skills for reading are:
Learning the letter sounds
Blending
Identifying sounds in words
Sight words knowledge
The four basic skills for reading
The four basic skills for reading
1.Learning the letter sounds
When teaching phonics, we teach the sounds that letters spell as well as the letter name. In Junior Infants, we teach the sounds of single letters in the following order:
/a/ /m/ /s/ /t/ /p/ /f/
/i / /n/ /o/ /d/ /c/ /u/
/g/ /b/ /e/ /k/ /h/ /r/
/l / /w/ /j/
/y/ /x/ /qu/
/v/ /z/
/ch/ /sh/ /th/
Once the first group of letter sounds has been learned, the children can then blend these sounds together to make simple 2- and 3-letter words such as am/ sam/ pat/ tap.
In Senior Infants, we teach the more challenging sounds which are written with two letters, such as ee and or. These are called digraphs. oo and th can each make two different sounds, as in book and moon, that and three.
2. Blending: Putting sounds together to read words
Blending is the process of saying the individual sounds in a word and then running them together to make the word. For example, sounding out d-o-g and making dog.
Sound out simple words to your child, such as cat, c-a-t, bus, b-u-s, mum, m-u-m, dad, d-a-d, etc. You can use counters for each sound in a word. You can stretch the sounds by slowing down how you say the word. This helps us to blend the sounds continuously without a gap between each sound e.g. mmmm-uuuu-mmmm
Some words in English have an irregular spelling and cannot be read by blending, such as said, was and one. For more on these words, see the Sight Words tab below.
3. Identifying Sounds in Words
The aim is for the children to be able to hear a given sound in a word and to be able to say where it comes in that word - beginning, middle and end.
Start by having your child listen for the first sound in a word. Games like I-Spy are ideal for this.
Next try listening for the end sounds, as the middle sound of a word is the hardest to hear. Begin with simple three-letter words such as cat or hot.
A good idea is to say a word and tap out the sounds. Three taps means three sounds. Say each sound as you tap. Take care with digraphs. The word fish, for example, has four letters but only three sounds, f-i-sh.
4. Sight Words Knowledge
Sight Words are mostly irregular key words that are not possible to blend or to write by listening for the sounds. They need to be learnt by heart.
Building your child's sight word knowledge will help with her reading fluency as she will not have to decode these words every time they come across them in their reading.
The children will be encouraged to read them before learning to spell them.
What you can do…
Talk to your child about letters in the sight word that they do know, e.g. in the word said they may know the sound /s/ at the beginning and /d/ at the end. The part of the word that doesn't follow the rule is /ai/ which normally says /ay/ but in said, /ai/ spells /e/.
Stick the sight words being covered in class in plain sight at home (on the fridge) and ask your child to read them frequently.
Play sight word games - match pairs of sight words written out on cards, make a sight word bingo game.
Find sight words in shared stories and poems that you read together.
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