Let’s PLAY!

Phonics and Learning Activities for You!

 Wow, cool, ooh wee,
I’m so excited I’m learning to read (Repeat)

I feel my hands shaking – shake, shake

My hips swaying – sway, sway
My feet jumping – jump, jump
My heart beat thumping – thump, thump
My toes tapping – tap, tap
My hands clapping – clap, clap

And if you ask me why this is happening to me, I think and say,
I’m so excited I’m learning to read (Repeat)
Course Outline

Learning phonics through play enables children to explore reading at early stages by being
actively involved in their own learning. Along the different sessions we will focus on creative
activities to make learning phonics more memorable and effective.

The aim of the course is to provide motivating and challenging activities, ideas and material for
developing literacy at early stages.
Objectives

To provide a practical introduction to Phonics in the classroom.

To introduce the teaching of phonemes and graphemes.
To practise a phonics routine with young children.
To work on tips for teaching phonics.
To develop the different phases of phonics with engaging activities for each phase.
To talk about how to teach non-decodable words.
To integrate a play-based approach in Phonics.
To help teachers structure a Phonics lesson.
To work on the three core skills.
To use games for consolidating phonics and reading skills.
To develop reading comprehension strategies.
To develop writing skills.
Course Structure for Synthetic Phonics

Session 1: 18th October 2021 Practical introduction to Phonics in the classroom.

Play based Learning Approach.
Phonics Phases .
Phase 1: Skill Development – Building on oral
skills at early stages.

Session 2: 21st October 2021 Phase 2: Introducing the First letters.

Working on Phonics Routines.
Session 3: 25th October 2021 Phase 3: Expansion.
Phase 4: Consolidation.
Session 4: 28th October 2021 Working on sights words – non decodable words.
Session 5: 4th November 2021 Structuring a Phonics lesson.
Working on the three core skills.
Session 6: 8th November 2021 Phase 5: Further Development.
Session 7: 11thNovember 2021 Phase 6: Achieving Fluency.
Session 8: 15th November 2021 Building on Literacy Skills.
Session 9: 18th November 2021 Writing for Literacy.
 1. A PLAY- based approach

But what does “play-based learning” mean and why is it important?

To put it simply; children learn through playing. During the act of play children are
exploring, taking risks, engaging their imagination, and solving problems.

They are learning valuable skills that support social, physical and cognitive
development.
Children take an active role in the learning environment.

They are engaged.

Information is meaningful.

Learners interact in a social context.

Children learn well when they are mentally active, engaged, social, and can make
meaningful connections to their lives, which are all characteristics of play.
 Phonics is...

• an effective way of teaching kids how to read, decode and eventually write words
in English.

• the relationship between the spoken and written language.

• recognising sound-spelling patterns.

• learning tricky words.

• best learned as you go along!!!

 What are the skills used in phonics?

There are five different phases used in phonics to help develop and improve reading and
writing skills:

Letter sounds - There are 42 letter sounds to be learnt in the English language.

Letter formation - Using sensory methods to understand the way words are formed.

Blending - Blending word sounds to read and write words.

Sounds in words - Using auditory learning to understand sounds in words.

Tricky Words - These are the irregular spellings.

Blending and segmenting words is a skill developed in both phonemic awareness and phonics
instruction.

Blending involves pulling together individual sounds or syllables within words; segmenting

involves breaking words down into individual sounds or syllables.
 Blending
•Guess-the-word game
•Robot talk
Sound blending using songs

This activity is to the tune of "If You're Happy and You Know It, Clap Your Hands.“

If you think you know this word, shout it out!

If you think you know this word, shout it out!
If you think you know this word,
Then tell me what you've heard,
If you think you know this word, shout it out!

After singing, the teacher says a segmented word such as /k/ /a/ /t/ and students
provide the blended word "cat."
 Segmenting
Segmenting cheer activity

Listen to my cheer.
Then shout the sounds you hear.
Sun! Sun! Sun!
Let's take apart the word sun.
Give me the beginning sound. (Children respond with /s/.)
Give me the middle sound. (Children respond with /u/.)
Give me the ending sound. (Children respond with /n/.)
That's right!
/s/ /u/ /n/-Sun! Sun! Sun!

Segmenting with puppets:

what’s the sound Mr Wolf? / Introducing first sound segmenting

 What is the difference between high frequency and tricky words?
High-frequency words - A sight word or high-frequency word is a commonly used word
that children should be able to memorise by sight.
Tricky words - Tricky or phonically irregular words differ from sight words as children need
longer to decode. 
What are Tricky Words in Phonics?
Learning and identifying the sounds
The English Alphabet has 26 letters
44 English Sounds
Phonics is taught in steps or phases
 Phase 1
-Listening, vocabulary & speaking skills
-Environmental sounds Phase 2
-Rhyming and action songs -First 19 sounds are introduced:
-Adult modelling s,a,t,p,i,n
m,d,g,o,c,k,
-Vocabulary games e, u, r, h, b, f, l
-Segmenting & blending
CV & CVC words
at – CV word
cat – CVC word
-Some non-decodable words are
introduced
I, go
 Phase 3
-Remaining 7 letter sounds are introduced:
j, v, w, x,y, z, qu Phase 4
-Diagraphs and triagraphs are introduced: - No new graphemes are introduced.
ch, sh, th,ng,ai, ee,ie, igh, oa,oo,ar, or,ur, er,
ou, oi, ear, air, ure. -Segmenting & blending more complex
words.
- More non-decodable (sight) words are CVCC word = milk
introduced -Spelling most phonetically
-Letter names
-More sight or tricky words are introduced
 Phase 5
-Alternative graphemes are introduced
ai – ay Phase 6
-Alternative sounds are introduced - Developing reading Fluency
ea in ‘team’, ‘head’ & ‘break’
-Developing Spelling Accuracy
-Split diagraph is introduced
Magic e Students become fluent readers and
o_e as in rope accurate spellers
- More non-decodable words are introduced
Phase one: ‘The phonics approach helps children to become good listeners.’

This phase consists of seven aspects

Aspect 1: General sound discrimination – environmental sounds

Aspect 2: General sound discrimination – instrumental sounds
Aspect 3: General sound discrimination – body percussion
Aspect 4: Rhythm and rhyme
Aspect 5: Alliteration
Aspect 6: Voice sounds
Aspect 7: Oral blending and segmenting
Aspect 1: Environmental sounds

• Listening walks
• What’s in my egg?hat’s in my egg?
• Monkey is lost in the jungle
• Sound lotto 1
• Sound stories
• Mrs. Browning has a box
• Describe and find it
 Aspect 2: Instrumental sounds

• Which instrument? I am the Music Man

• Grandmother's footsteps

• Matching sound makers

• Hidden instruments
Aspect 3: Body percussion

• Action songs: I can make music

• Listen to the music
• Fast and Slow
• Follow the sound
• Words about sounds
 Aspect 4: Rhythm and Rhyme

Rhyming books: there was an old lady who swallowed a fly

Learning songs and rhymes: Colour Song

Rhyming bingo

Rhyming pairs

Odd one out

I know a word
Aspect 5: Alliteration

I spy names
Sounds around
Digging for treasure
Bertha goes to the zoo
Musical corners
Our sound box/ bag
Mirror play
Silly soup
 Aspect 6: Voice sounds

• Mouth movements
• Voice sounds: old Macdonald had a ……
• Metal Mike
• Sound story time
• Animal noises
• Singing songs
 Aspect 7: Oral blending and segmenting

• Oral Blending
• Toy Talk
• Clapping sounds
• Cross the river
• I spy
• Segmenting / Say the sounds