I teach Phonics every morning. My group is currently on Phase 5 phonemes, and we are about to move onto split-digraphs. The children are very excited about this, and are speeding through the last remaining sounds so that we can progress onto the 'Year 2 work'. My group is comprised of 11, higher-ability children, and our lessons are half an hour long. We occupy a large table just outside the main classroom The school has a very set teaching structure for Phonics, almost a script, and Powerpoints which follow a strict progression. Each lesson begins with a review of the previous work, introduction of a new or alternative phoneme, practice reading and writing that phoneme, word writing, and finally a few 'tricky words' to memorise. The powerpoints have been created by the English subject lead, and I display these from a laptop. This consistency does seem to help the children to learn new sounds - they all chant along 'We have learnt the /igh/ soung - i-g-h'. I would be interested to use interactive games in Phonics lessons, or possibly try assessment using tech. I know that my FPP school follows a more interactive strategy for Phonics, and so I will make sure to observe this when I move placements. I have previously taught Phonics within an EYFS setting, using the Jolly Phonics scheme. This lends itself to integration of Computing, and I downloaded the app to support my teaching. The scheme includes songs, rhymes, video content and associated pictures, and the app can be used on-the-go to support learning. Although I have never used them myself, there are also many other popular apps including Teach Your Monster to Read, Alpha Writer and abcPocketPhonics. As many parents - and increasingly young children - have smart devices, these apps could be used anywhere to aid work in school. There are also several popular online videos, especially Mr Thorne's Youtube Channel, which features the Geraldine the Giraffe videos. Geraldine, a hand puppet, teaches Phonics in a series of videos following Letters and Sounds. I have heard from other trainees and staff that these are very popular in some schools, and the videos are quite entertaining - I have even watched a few at home!
With the ever-changing world of tech continuing to mark inroads into teaching, it will be interesting to see how early reading and writing are taught in coming years. I will ensure that I ultimately cater my teaching to my students. No approach suits every student, something that I am definitely learning on GPP. Recommended Links Jolly Phonics Onine - www.jollylearning.co.uk Teach Your Monster to Read - www.teachyourmonstertoread.com Mr Thorne - www.youtube.com/channel/UC7sW4j8p7k9D_qRRMUsGqyw
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