Phonics in the foundation stage
Subject Knowledge Quiz
Match the Letters and Sounds terminology to
their definition!
Subject Knowledge Quiz - Answers
Phoneme: Smallest unit of sound in a word
Digraph: Two letters that make one sound
Can be consonant digraph e.g. sh, ck, th, ll
Or vowel digraph containing at least one vowel e.g. ai, ee, ar, oy
Trigraph: Three letters that make one sound – igh, air
Split digraph: This has a letter that splits the two letters in the digraph e.g. make.
Grapheme: A letter or a group of letters representing a phoneme (written form)
Segmenting : Splitting up whole spoken words into individual phonemes to spell
Blending: Merging individual phonemes together into whole words to read
Tricky words: Words that cannot be sounded out – High Frequency Words
CVC: Consonant vowel consonant e.g. cat, mop, jip
Phase One
Before children can begin to learn the sounds and letters they need to be able to:
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Listen attentively and discriminate between sounds (auditory discrimination)
Listen and remember sounds (auditory memory and sequencing)
Talk about sounds (developing vocabulary and language comprehension)
Exploring the sounds in words as opportunities arise throughout the course of the day’s
activities
Planned adult-led sessions with whole class and groups
Children’s curiosity in letter shapes and written words is fostered throughout Phase One
Oral blending and segmenting the sounds in words (sound talk)
Recognising alliteration (words that begin with the same sound) is important as
children develop their ability to tune into speech sounds
Rhyming
Overview of Phase 1
6 aspects
● Environmental sounds, sound discrimination
● Instrumental percussion
● Body percussion
● Rhythm and rhyme
● Alliteration
● Voice sounds
● Oral blending and segmenting
● http://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/AnimalBingo.html
Phase 1 Ideas
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We are going on a bear hunt
Listening walk
Sound Lotto
I hear with my little ear something that sounds like ….
Favourite Rhyme books
Silly soup
Odd one out
Alliterative names
Segmenting instructions
Buried treasure http://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/BuriedTreasure2.html
Treasure Hunts
Structure of a phonics lesson
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Revisit/Review
Teach
Practise
Apply
Overview of Phase 2
s
i
g
ck
h
a
n
o
e
b
t p
m d
c k
u r
f, ff l, ll
Children start to segment and blend
words using learnt letters
S, a, t, p, i, n, m, d,
is, it, in, at,
pin tap man dip
ss
Tricky Words:
the, to, no, go, into
The man is in a pit.
(build up into a simple sentence
incorporating taught ‘tricky words’)
Articulation of sounds
Overview of Phase 3
j, v, w, x, y, z, zz, qu
Digraphs (two letters that make one
sound)
ch chip
ar farm
sh shop
or for
th thin/then ur hurt
ng ring
ow cow
ai rain
oi coin
ee feet
ear dear
igh night
air fair
oa boat
ure sure
oo boot/look er corner
Tricky words: he, she, me, we, be,
was, they, you, are, all, my
Chop ch - o - p
Light l - igh - t
Shark sh – ar - k
NB Teach the
alphabet/letter names
Overview of Phase 4
Consolidates their knowledge of graphemes.
Introduces reading and spelling words
containing adjacent consonants
e.g. spot s – p – o – t
CCVC
next n – e – x – t
CVCC
and also polysyllabic words:
thundering, Tottenham, chimpanzee
Tricky words:
one, said, some, come, do, were, when, have,
there, out, like, little, what
Monster, Monster
Adapt for phase 2,3,4
Some other ideas ..
Look out for...
● Words to Nursery Rhymes
● Sound books
Some useful links
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwJx1NSineE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqhXUW_v-1s
http://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/
http://www.letters-and-sounds.com/phase-1-games.html
www.ictgames.com/literacy