Download Spelling and Phonics June 2013

Madley Brook CP School
Phonics and Spelling
At Madley Brook Primary School we aim to provide children with the skills, understanding and
knowledge to become fluent and accurate in reading and spelling. It is our aim to inspire children to
develop a curiosity for words, their structure (morphology), origins (etymology) and an awareness of
language patterns.
The English Alphabetic system is complex as there are numerous spelling and pronunciation
alternatives as well as irregular spellings. Children therefore need to be taught explicitly and
systematically to enable them to become competent in reading and spelling.
Research has shown that the most effective way to accomplish this is by means of high-quality,
discrete phonic teaching which is systematic and progressive in nature.
The children will be taught the core code of knowledge of the ‘Alphabetic System’ in systematic
steps. Daily discrete phonic lessons will be delivered to enable the children to learn the technical
skills of decoding and encoding. Phonics will be used as their first port of call when trying to decode
and encode words. The three core skills are:
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Reading – to synthesise (sound out and blend) the phonemes (sounds) represented by the
letters and letter groups, following reading conventions from left to right.
Spelling – to segment the word by identifying the smallest unit of sounds (phonemes)
Writing – to record the graphemes (shape of a letter or group of letters) which represent
phonemes, following writing conventions from left to right.
They will also learn multisensory strategies, rules and conventions to improve their spelling. For
example:
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Visual – remembering common patterns; ‘having a go’ - writing words down to check
whether they ‘look right’; words within words; morphological knowledge of a word (how it is
structured); proofreading printed text and their written work
Aural and Oral - hearing and pronouncing words; breaking words into phonemes/syllables;
rhythmic strategy - Mrs d, Mrs i, Mrs ffi, Mrs c, Mrs u, Mrs lty: difficulty; rhyme (to spell by
analogy) - ‘To spell a word I don’t know, I think of a word I do know.’
Kinaesthetic - link handwriting lessons to spelling (Kingston Cursive style), writing common
patterns/word families, tracing over words, and sky-writing
Cognitive – knowing rules, conventions, possible and impossible combinations;
morphological knowledge of words (word structure: base (root) words, compound words,
suffixes, prefixes and etymology); knowledge of grammar; mnemonics - because elephants
can add up so easily: because
Good Practice
The teaching sequence of phonics should provide opportunities where children:
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Revisit, Explain, Use: What do we already know? Previously learnt letter/sound
correspondence, prefix, suffix..., Oral activities to confirm prior knowledge, Explain the
purpose of new learning, use vocabulary orally in context
Teach, Model, Define: How the pattern/rule/structure works, Model spelling examples,
Define the rules, pattern and conventions, Whole class/individual whiteboard spelling
practice
Practise, Explore, Investigate: A range of interactive activities for children to practise the
new learning, Whole class activities, Group work, Extension activities, Independent work,
Homework
Apply, Assess, Reflect: Revise new learning, Apply in writing, Reflect on learning
The learning environment
The learning environment within the classrooms should encourage and support independent
learning. Every class will display an A0 poster of the Alphabetic System (Madley Brook School’s
Code Cracker). This will enable the children to develop self help skills, referring to it for reading and
spelling. It will also promote incidental phonics as and when it arises throughout the curriculum.
FS and KS1 are to provide alphabet strips in designated work areas so that children can make
reference to phoneme, grapheme correspondence (PGC) when writing. This is also applicable to
those children in KS2 who have yet to secure PGC. High-frequency and tricky word cards should be
accessible to children when writing to encourage self-checking and proofreading skills.
The use of dictionaries and etymological reference dictionaries should be encouraged and freely
available to children, particularly in KS2.
Marking
Spelling log books are to be used by all children from Year 2 to Year 6, to promote accuracy in
spelling.
When marking children’s work, staff will identify frequently misspelt words and write the word/s to be
added to the child’s spelling log. The word/s will be accompanied by the symbol SP. These words
are then to be added by the child to their spelling log to learn and to make reference to.
Transition from KS1 to KS2
The children will have previously followed a programme of daily discrete phonics teaching in KS1.
By the end of Year 2, the National expectation is that most children will be secure at phase 6,
though further work will be required to ensure they have the knowledge and understanding of
alternative spellings for each phoneme.
The first term of Year 3 should be dedicated to the revisiting and reviewing of phrase 5 and 6 of
Letters and Sounds. This should include the reading and spelling of de-codable and tricky words as
well as high-frequency and common words.
KS2
In KS2 the children will build upon their phonemic knowledge by learning alternative spelling
patterns, rules, conventions and homophones. They will develop their morphological knowledge and
be taught the principles underpinning word construction. This includes: base words, compound
words, suffixes, prefixes and etymology (word derivations). The high-frequency/common words
from phases 2 - 5 (Letters and Sounds) will be continually revisited throughout the curriculum.
Searchlights for Spelling scheme
Years 3 - 6, will use the Searchlights for Spelling scheme (Cambridge) to delivery discrete phonics.
The learning resources and activities should be differentiated where appropriate.
The Searchlights for Spelling is a comprehensive spelling scheme so therefore must be used and
delivered as intended for it to be effective. Resources, learning materials and activities include:
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Teacher’s Book - This includes the teaching of ‘Oddbod’ words (‘tricky’ word that causes
common difficulties)
CD-ROM for Interactive Whole-Class Teaching (and individual learning where appropriate)
Pupil’s Book (opportunities to practise, explore and investigate)
Photocopy Masters (for the provision of homework, reinforcement and revision)
Tracking Sheets (for assessment of progress)
Test dictation (practice of spelling in context)
Activities: Brush-ups (revisit objectives from previous year), Catch-you-out (a word that is an
exception), Get Up and Go (children come out to the front to demonstrate something), Show
Me (children respond on dry-wipe boards), Snip-snap (ideas for further practice or in learning
key words), Think about/Extra challenge (exploring or applying a spelling concept)
Spelling log (spellings which are specific to the individual: oddbod (tricky words), words they
often get wrong, words arising from investigations, spelling targets, record strategies for
remembering tricky words, e.g. mnemonics.)
Children need frequent practise to apply what they have learnt for reading and spelling to become
automatic. Opportunities should be made for children to practise and apply what they have learnt on
a daily basis, ‘little and often’ being the key.
Assessment and grouping
The children will be grouped according to their phonic ability and as an outcome of on-going phonic
assessment. This will ensure that children, who are performing below the majority of their peers, will
have their learning needs met through daily intervention within small groups delivered by TAs.
Additional support to help fast track a child, will be delivered by the SEN team where appropriate in
meeting the individual needs of pupils.
Involving parents and carers
Parents and carers play an important role in supporting their child in learning the alphabetic system.
It is our aim to keep parents informed as to what their child is learning so they can practise and
consolidate their learning at home.
An introduction pack will be made available to all new parents and carers.
This will include:
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Madley Brook School’s Code Cracker
Explanation of ‘Synthetic Phonics’
An overview of the progression in phonics throughout the school
How best to support their child’s reading and spelling
A list of useful web-links to support phonics
Reference to the school’s KLP Shared Space - ‘How to support your child with reading and
spelling’
In FS2 and KS1, each pupil will take home a phonic pack which is to be kept in their book bag for
home school learning. This pack will include: a parent explanation page, GPC and accumulative
word lists for reading and spelling.
In KS2, pupils will take home the corresponding activity sheet from Searchlights to revisit and
practise their learning as well as relevant spellings such as ‘Oddbod’ and high frequency words.
Children, who are receiving intervention, will also take home the phonic pack for home school
learning as previously mentioned above.
Madley Brook School’s Progression in Phonics
FS1
Phase 1 (Letters and Sounds)
Aspect 1: General sound discrimination - environmental sounds
Aspect 2: Instrumental sounds
Aspect 3: Body percussion
Aspect 4: Rhythm and rhyme
Aspect 5: Alliteration
Aspect 6: Voice sounds
Aspect 7: Oral blending and segmenting
FS2
Phase 2 (Letters and Sounds) Phonic: knowledge of letter and sound correspondence
(GPC/PGC), segmenting and blending phonemes in speech and how these influence
spelling. Phonological knowledge: syllables, rhyme and analogy
Set 1: s, a, t, p
Set 2: i, n, m, d
Set 3: g, o, c, k
Set 4: ck, e, u, r
Set 5: h, b, f,ff, l,ll, ss
Phase 2 – Decodable words
a
is
dad
him
an
it
had
his
as
of
back
not
at
off
and
got
if
on
get
up
in
can
big
mum
but
put
Tricky words
the
to
I
n
go
into
Phase 3 (Letters and Sounds)
Set 6: j, v, w, x
Set 7: y, z,zz, qu
Graphemes
ch
sh
th
ng
ai
ee
igh
oa
oo
Sample word
chip
sho[
thin/then
ring
rain
feet
night
boat
boot/look
Phase 3 - Decodable words
will
see
that
for
this
now
then
down
them
look
with
too
Graphemes
ar
or
ur
ow
oi
ear
air
ure
er
Sample word
farm
for
hurt
cow
coin
dear
fair
sure
corner
Tricky words
he
she
we
me
be
was
you
they
all
are
my
her
FS2
Revisit & Review Phase 3 (Letters and Sounds)
Phase 4
CVCC, CCV, CCVC, CCVCC, CCCVC and CCCVCC words using sets 1-7 letters.
Adjacent consonants (blending for reading and segmenting for spelling)
CVCC adjacent consonants (sets 1-7)
ft, lf, lk, lp, lt, mp, nt, nd, nk, pt, sk, sp, st,
xt
CVCC Phase 3 graphemes
lsh, nch, nth, xth
CCV and CCVC
bl, cl, fl, gl, pl, sl, tw, br, cr, dr, fr, gr, pr, tr,
st, sp, sn, sn, sw, sk, sc
Phase 4 Decodable words
went
it’s
from
children
just
help
Year 1
CCCVCC Phase 3 graphemes
scr, shr, spr, str, thr, (final adjacent
consonant - nch)
Polysyllabic words
Reading and spelling of two-syllable
words.
Tricky words
said
have
like
so
do
some
come
were
there
little
one
when
out
what
Phase 5
New graphemes for reading
ay - day
oy - boy
ou - out
ir - girl
ie - tie
ue - blue
ea - eat
aw - saw
wh - when
ph - photo
ew - new
oe - toe
au - Paul
a-e - make
e-e - these
i-e - like
o-e - home
u-e - rule
Known graphemes for reading: common alternative pronunciations
i - fin, find
ow - cow, blow
y - yes, by, very
o - hot, cold
ie - tie, field
ch - chin, school, chef
c - cat, cent
ea - eat, bread
ou - out, shoulder, could, you
g - got, giant
er - farmer, her
u - but, put (south)
a - hat, what
Alternative spellings for phonemes
/c/
/ch/ /f/
/j/
/m/ /n/ /ng/
k
tch ph g
mb kn
n(k)
ck
dge
gn
qu
x
ch
/r/
wr
/s/
c
sc
/sh/
ch
t(ion)
ss(ion, ure)
s(ion, ious, ial)
/v/
ve
/w/
wh
Year 1
continued
Alternative spellings for phonemes
/e/
/i/
/o/
/u/ (south) /ai/
ea
y
(w)a
o
ay
ey
a-e
eigh
ey
ei
/ar/
a (south)
/or/
aw
au
al
our
/ur/
ir
er
ear
/ow/
ou
/oi/
oy
/ee/
ea
e-e
ie
y
ey
eo
/igh/
y
ie
i-e
/ear/
ere
eer
/oa/
ow
oe
o-e
o
/air/
are
ear
/oo/
ew
ue
ui
ou
/ure/
our
/oo/
u
oul
o (north)
/er/
our
e
u
etc
New phoneme
/zh/
vision
Phase 5 Decodable words
don’t
came
old
make
I’m
here
by
saw
time
very
house
put (south)
day
made
Tricky words
oh
their
people
Mr
Mrs
looked
called
asked
could
Reading and spelling of two-syllable and three-syllable words.
Year 2
Phase 6
Adding suffixes
-ed
Past tense, regular (e.g. looked) and irregular (e.g. go - went)
-s/-es/-ies
Plural - when to change base word
-ing
Identify if a base word needs to be changed before adding a suffix
(e.g. words ending in: -e, -y, single consonant)
-er
-est
-y
-en
-ful
-ly
-est
-er
-ment
-ness
-en
As well as knowing how a word is constructed, additional aids to memory will be taught
through investigation to help learn and practise spellings.
Strategies
Syllables
Base word
Analogy
Mnemonics
Explanations
To learn my word I can listen to how many syllables (claps) there are
so I can break it into smaller bits to remember
(e.g. Sep-tem-ber)
To learn my word I can find its base (root) word (e.g. Smiling - base
smile + ing
To learn a word I don’t know, I think of a word I do know. (e.g.
could: would, should)
To learn my word I can make up a sentence to help me remember it
(e.g. could - O U Lucky Duck; people - people eat orange peel like
elephants)