Reports are coming back from schools that, despite Synthetic Phonics being taught in Reception classes, many children are failing to learn to decode. This has been reflected in the results of the Year 1 Phonics Check, with 58% of children reading 32 out of 40 words correctly. Why is this happening?
Read MoreApproaches to Teaching Reading
Why we need to teach children that graphemes can spell different sounds
Read or listen to a clear explanation why teachers should teach children explicitly about graphemes that can represent different sounds on the Literacy blog. Well worth it! http://www.theliteracyblog.com/
Read MoreShould Systematic Synthetic Phonics be denied to our weakest readers?
The DfE has carefully approved and selected phonics programmes and resources for mainstream classrooms and ‘catch-up’ pupils according to strict synthetic phonics criteria. These are featured in the DfE Phonics Match-Funding catalogue. This follows the Jim Rose report that concludes that Systematic Synthetic Phonics is the best method of teaching children to read. Next we hear that the DfE has […]
Read MoreWhat is a ‘tricky word’?
Fluent readers may find it difficult to understand why beginner readers find some words difficult to decode. These are often called ‘tricky words’ – but what’s so tricky about them?
Read MoreYear 1 phonics screening check 2015 – FAQs
Soon the Year 1 Phonics Screening Check will take place. Here are some answers to questions that parents, carers and teachers may have about the check: 1. When will the screening check take place? The screening check will take place on the week commencing June 15th 2015. 2. How will the test be administered? The […]
Read MoreWhat are adjacent consonants?
Synthetic Phonics programmes now talk of ‘adjacent consonants’. What are adjacent consonants? Why is it that the letters ‘bl’ in the word ‘black’ are adjacent consonants while the letters ‘ck’ are not?
Read MoreWhy non-words should be included in the Year 1 Phonics Check
Non-words are nonsense words made up of the spellings (graphemes) a child has already been taught: words like ‘bip’, ‘steg’ or ‘shromp’. Read more to find out why non-words should be included in the Year 1 Phonics Screening Check.
Read MoreUsing both decodable books and ‘real’ books with beginner readers
Recent articles in the media about the approach to teaching reading suggest that educators are divided into two camps: the camp supporting ‘real’ books and the camp supporting synthetic phonics. The camp supporting ‘real’ books is promoted by a number of prominent authors, such as Michael Rosen. They have voiced their concerns that using decodable […]
Read MoreWhat is a grapheme?
A grapheme is a letter or a number of letters that represent a sound (phoneme) in a word. Another way to explain it is to say that a grapheme is a letter or letters that spell a sound in a word.
Read MoreYear 1 Phonics Screening check – a good or bad idea?
The DFE will launch a Year 1 phonics screening check from 2012. This test is intended to assess the progress of the pupils’ phonics skills, with the aim of identifying pupils who are falling behind.
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