Parenta Magazine November 2019

Tips for teaching Tips phonics for
teaching phonics
The early years foundation stage (EYFS) sets standards for the learning, development
and care of all children from birth to 5 years old to try to give them the best start in life.
All English schools and Ofsted-registered early years providers must follow the EYFS,
including childminders, preschools, nurseries and school reception classes. There are
different early years standards in Scotland and Wales, but that said, all the provisions
include the need to develop good communication and language skills. Teaching in the
early years is mostly achieved through games and play but there will be opportunities for
sessions to learn numbers and letters for example, including phonics.
What is phonics?
Phonics is a way of matching sounds
with letters, to help build up words
and subsequently, reading. It is a
proven system and many children
using phonics are able to read letters
and short words before they enter a
formal education in their reception year.
Phonics can also help children to write
and spell words too. But what is the
best way of teaching phonics? Here are
some tips to help you.
There are different forms of phonics
with a slightly different teaching
emphasis. These include:
Synthetic phonics
Analytical
phonics
Analogy phonics
Embedded
phonics
the most widely
used - breaks
down each
syllable e.g. c-a-t
examines how
words are
similar/different
e.g. pat/pail/park
looks at rhymes
in words e.g.
cake/make
taught
opportunistically
in the course of
reading
There are different stages of phonics
teaching.
Phase 1 – early years
Way before children start learning letter
names, they begin their development of
language skills through listening. They
need to learn to listen first, enabling
them to differentiate between different
noises, and then tune in to the different
sounds in words. You can help children
become successful readers later by
helping them with these listening skills.
1. Start by asking the children to listen
for different sounds in the room
or outside. You could use different
instruments to see if they can identify
different pitches or tones.
2. Get them to use their bodies and
voices to copy sounds. They can be
percussive sounds, or just noises,
but the emphasis is on copying the
things they hear.
3. You can play games like “I spy” to
help identify sounds at the start of
words, or repeat the consonant at the
start of a word several times, e.g. c, c,
c, cat to emphasise the ‘c’ sound.
4. Ask them what kind of noises
different things make, e.g. a dog, a
car, a train etc.
5. Ask them to identify different sounds
that rhyme such as in nursery
rhymes, or alliterative beginnings,
e.g. rotten rain.
6. Split different words up into their
component sounds, such as D-O-G
or C-A-T.
7. Use words from topics that the
children are interested in.
Phase 2
At this stage, children start to learn to
correspond letters (graphemes) with
sounds (phonemes). There are 44
phonemes in the main phonics set,
varying slightly depending on the type
of phonics used. It is usual to start with
the most common, simple, single-letter
sounds. There are 19 of these, such a
‘s’, ‘a’ and ‘t’. Nurseries often start this
but it’s definitely taught in reception.
Phase 2 tips:
1. Start simply – teach a few letters at a
time, e.g. s, t, i, a, m, p, n.
2. You can build simple words with only a
few letters, e.g. with the 7 letters listed
above, you can create the words ‘sat’,
‘sit’, ‘mat’, ‘pin’, ‘pat’ etc. This is known
as ‘blending’. Simple words like these
are known as CVC words because
they include a consonant, vowel and
another consonant.
3. Once children know a few letters,
use games and as many everyday
opportunities as possible to point
out letters in things around them. For
example use road signs, adverts or
magazines.
4. Ask students to think of things that
begin with a letter: “Tell me 3 things
that start with the letter c” (cat, cake,
candle).
5. Stick labels on objects to identify
them and use posters showing
images and simple words. Label
the ‘door’ or the ‘wall’ for example.
Remember to use lower-case letters
at this stage.
6. Use cut-out letters, letter blocks or
magnetic letters and let children
start making words, experimenting
with blending different sounds.
7. Some systems use actions to help
children learn the letters too and
there are a myriad of phonics
systems games and apps too.
Phase 3
In this phase, children learn the
remaining 25 sounds, which are more
complex two-letter sounds, such as
‘au’, ‘ar’ and ‘ee’. This phase (and
higher phases), are usually taught
from year 1 and in combination with
reading simple books as part of a
formal reading curriculum.
In nursery settings, focusing on phases
1 and 2 will provide a solid foundation
for more formal approaches when they
go to school.
Teaching phonics is just like teaching
any other skill that the child is
developing, so remember:
• Each child is different and will
learn at different rates
• Children have different preferred
learning styles; some learn better
by visual methods, some are more
kinaesthetic and some, more
auditory. Try to include different
styles in your phonics teaching
using sounds, images, pictures
and tangible items such as letter
blocks to cover most styles.
• Reading and recognising letters
is not the same as understanding
what is read. We may be able to
read a sentence in French, but
if we don’t understand what the
words actually mean in English,
then the activity has little effect
in helping us communicate.
Therefore, help children
understand the words they read
and build their vocabulary too.
This way, they will not only be able
to read the word ‘mat’ but will also
understand what a mat is, what it
is used for, and where they might
find one.
And finally…
• Make it fun
• Keep sessions short to aid
concentration
• Don’t teach phonics when
children are tired
• Keep reading to children
• Give them lots of praise!
For more information, see:
www.literacytrust.org.uk/
information/what-is-literacy/
what-phonics
www.readingbyphonics.
com/about-phonics/types-ofphonics.html
www.theschoolrun.com/whatare-phonics-phases
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