This is a testimonial by Ann Sullivan. Ann has over 30 years’ experience in mainstream and specialist education. Based in the UK, her career includes roles as a KS1 and KS2 class teacher, SEN secondary literacy teacher, school-based Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO), an advisory teacher for pupils with special educational needs and a Specialist Leader in Education (SLE). Ann is now a literacy consultant, trainer, writer and creator of the Phonics for SEN programme.
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One thing that all teachers agree on is how important it is to get children reading.
Our aim is to build lifelong readers who read with fluency and understanding for enjoyment and utility. So, as well as providing high quality phonics instruction, we should be opening up the world of books to them.
From day one our teaching plans include reading carefully selected books matched to the phonics the child is working on in class. Decodable readers are the ‘training wheels’ of accessing literature, building confidence as children practise their reading. They support the child on their journey to accurate reading, but they are also crucial in motivating learners, showing them how they can access exciting and interesting written stories, rhymes and poems by mastering reading.
As well as the main text there is a Knowledge Builder section at the end of each book that provides information about the subject for the teacher or teaching assistant to read to the learner. Teachers are increasingly aware of the importance subject knowledge holds in reading comprehension so this could be read first to the child to support this.
Also, for teachers, there is a handy note at the front of each book identifying which high frequency words (containing phonic knowledge the child hasn’t yet worked on) are in the book. There is also a word list that the child can work through for additional reading practice.