When asked how they teach reading, many teachers pride themselves that they are teaching ‘balanced literacy’ in their classroom. This idea seems to imply that they are covering all the approaches their pupils may need to learn to read. But what is ‘balanced literacy?’ Can it be defined or measured? Read this article by Professor […]
Read MoreSynthetic Phonics
Should ‘alien words’ be part of the Year 1 Phonics Check?
It is that time of year again and the Year 1 Phonics Check is looming. It will take place this year during the week commencing June 12th. There had been a lot of criticism about the check in general but specifically about the nonsense, ‘alien words’ in the check that children are asked to decode. […]
Read MoreQuestions about the efficacy of phonics
If you are not convinced that phonics works for everyone or feel that you have tried it and still some of your pupils struggle – here are answers to often held views about teaching to read with synthetic phonics. Professor Pamela Snow addresses each argument. http://pamelasnow.blogspot.co.uk/2017/01/the-story-of-ugly-duckling-aka-phonics.html
Read MoreIt’s time all teachers had a good grasp of synthetic phonics
Five years after the introduction of synthetic phonics into classrooms, it is time that teachers made it their business to have a good understanding of synthetic phonics and what science tells us about effective ways to teach reading. Read this short article on the Phonics Blog by Mike Lloyd-Jones. http://www.phonicsblog.co.uk/
Read MoreShould we teach tricky words as ‘sight words’?
The new year has started and children are sent home to learn to read and spell tricky words by sight, that is by the shape of the word. Does this make sense if they are learning to read with Synthetic Phonics? Read this thoughtful post on the Phonics Blog. http://www.phonicsblog.co.uk/#/blog/4565770755/Common-Exception-Words-and-the-Muddle-over-Tricky-Words/7631625
Read MoreReading strategies – what not to do
Here is a list of strategies that do not help children become fluent, independent readers and spellers. http://www.dyslexics.org.uk/what_not_to_do.htm Thanks Susan Godsland of www.dyslecix.org.uk for this post.
Read MoreHow to correct phonic pronunciation
A fun activity for learning phonic sounds
Read MoreNonsense words – why everyone needs them
I visited the Victoria and Albert Museum this weekend. As I travelled on the underground, I saw lots of signs, many of which had really strange words. I needed to use my decoding to break down these words, as I had never seen them before. When breaking down a multi-syllabic word, one often reads syllables […]
Read MoreThe importance of alternative spellings
One of the most difficult aspects of the English Alphabetic Code is that a sound in a word (phoneme) can be spelled in different ways. In ‘transparent’ alphabetic codes, a sound is consistently spelled the same way. Children learning to read English soon discover that many vowels and consonants can be spelled in different ways. […]
Read MoreIs the word ‘yacht’ decodable?
Read this entertaining post about whether and how the word ‘yacht’ is decodable. Thanks to John Walker of the Literacy Blog http://literacyblog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/the-strange-case-of-word-yacht.html
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