Part 3 in Kat2’s series about how she discovered Phonics International, an online Synthetic Phonics programme written by Debbie Hepplewhite. For those using Jolly Phonics in their classroom, this programme is worth checking out. In this post, Kat2 talks about meeting Debbie and how she introduced her to this vast and exciting programme. Kat2 also explains how she adopted this programme into her class. The final segment compares Jolly Phonics to Phonics International and explains how the resources can compliment each other.
Debbie very kindly agreed invited me to her house to introduce me to her programme.
The first thing that struck me was the sheer volume of the programme content.
Each of the 12 units was filed in a colour coded folder and each was an impressive volume in itself but collectively the units formed an amazing body of work!
I was very quickly caught up in the excitement and pride of the author as she expertly guided me through this content.
We spent the best part of 11 hours perusing the programme resources and discussing potential applications right throughout the school.
I left Debbie’s house, filled with her infectious enthusiasm and even more importantly, with the confidence that I now knew how to proceed and to begin planning and also armed with a vast bank of advice and resources to aid me.
By ‘planning’, I mean more from the logistical side, as in fact the actual planning is already done and all that the educator must do is follow the programme systematically, adapting the vast bank of resources for use in one’s own international setting, be that a school or home setting.
For my setting, I now knew that I should simply begin from the beginning with the JI children, while I would begin by revising the basic code with SI, filling in gaps in code knowledge according to Debbie’s schedule ( see alphabetic code overview chart) as I did so and continue from there.
But I now also knew I had the material I needed to meaningfully engage each class group while I worked with the other, to fully inform and equip parents with the required information, resources which would save me hours of preparation in addition to the answer to my ‘sound book’ dilemma..
Each of the units 1-5 has the same format and resource banks and if, as suggested, two new GPCs are introduced @ week, this will take the JI children to/close to the end of unit 5 which is all of stage one, or simple code – but also delves into complex code from time to time as Debbie felt was appropriate along the way.
Unit 1 is completely free and contains not only the resources listed below but also some additional ones eg. English alphabetic code overview (several versions), baseline assessments, record keeping and pupil tracking proformas, pairs games etc:
Units 2-6 contain the following resources and more:
- Programme Overview and Guidance manual
- Alphabetic code charts
- Alphabetic code frieze posters
- Picture Cards
- Picture posters
- Colour in sounds books
- Say the sounds booklet
- Giant posters
- Mini posters
- Say the sounds posters
- Sounds Book Activity Sheets
- Flash Cards
- Grapheme Tiles
- ‘Read the words make up a story’ vocabulary development sheets
- Blend Word cards
- My wordlists- a cumulative wordbank
- I can read write and draw sheets
- I can read (decodable text)
- Various proformas
- Hear the sounds (audio)
Units 6-12 introduce complex code and while unit 6 repeats the format of the first 5 units, units 7-12 offer some additional resources including:
- Questions- based on decodable text provided
The resource bank is vast and it will take trial and time to discover its full potential.
The lynchpin of the progamme is the alphabetic code overview chart, which provides a clearcut and systematic masterplan for teaching the alphabetic code from simple to complex.
I did have a version of this chart in my first SP year but to be honest I was unaware of its importance.
Now a giant version has pride of place on my classroom wall and both I and now, with training, the children continually refer to it.
When a child encounters an as yet untaught GPC or requires one for spelling, I tell the pupil that we haven’t come to that yet but that we will in time.
I then simply direct the pupil to the alternative required, showing them where it fits in the overview and circle it on the chart explaining that “in this word, the code for the _ sound is _”.
Having the complete alphabetic code laid out in this concise way makes it very manageable for both the pupil and the teacher.
Knowing exactly what the next step is and where each GPC fits into the plan leads to a sense of confidence and competence
There are a number of different versions of this chart available in unit 1 to suit varying purposes.
Another vital feature of the programme is the information and advice for parents and teachers which is threaded right throughout the programme.
This begins with the programme overview and guidance document which I feel Debbie is very generous to provide as a free resource.
More teaching points are included on a version of the alphabetic code chart.
Further parental guidance documents are available in unit 1.
For class teachers, perhaps the most important advice and information appears on each “sounds book activity sheet”
Each sheet includes detailed guidance and ensures commonality of approach between home and school.
Debbie’s programme is built around these essential activity sheets. With each successive sheet, a new letter/s-sound correspondence is introduced; cumulative words are provided for blending; handwriting practice links shape to sound; picture drawing provides phonemic awareness rehearsal, pencil control, vocabulary development and a personal mnemonic system; and a segmenting, handwriting and editing routine rehearses spelling. Thus, all the necessary knowledge and skills teaching and learning is focused on one activity sheet!
Rarher than stick each sheet into a ‘sounds book’, I have found it more appropriate to staple all the sheets for each individual unit together so forming a sounds booklet for each unit.
We work through a sounds book(let), sending it between school and home in a button down folder, and file it with other completed units in a separate button down folder when finished.
The parents are encouraged to revise GPCs with their children each night and also to carry out some blending, segmenting and handwriting work using the sheet content
Another invaluable timesaving resource is the cumulative wordbank, which cuts out hours of teacher preparation.
While on the “sounds book activity sheets” the target grapheme is highlighted, on the corresponding wordlists, there is no such highlighting as the children have now been alerted to look out for that grapheme.
This is particularly important where digraphs are involved.
By presenting lists of words in this way Debbie has provided opportunities for differing teaching and learning intentions.
I use the cumulative wordlists when training the children to sound out and blend to read, and also to segment, counting the sounds, drawing the dashes and writing the graphemes in order all through the word.
Again these lists contain a selection of words chosen to provide opportunities for vocabulary enrichment.
The children also work in pairs taking turns to blend and read a word for their partner to segment and spell words from the lists.
All words on the soundbook activity sheets /wordlists/ I can read write and draw sheets, appear on lines throughout the programme which is a very important feature as it promotes neat handwriting and letter sizing.
I regularly find myself wondering how on earth I managed without the resources provided by the Phonics International programme.
I have now cut down my rate of introduction to 2 GPCs @ week as opposed to my faster rate of 4 @ week last year.
In my situation this is unavoidable due to my mixed class and lack of teaching assistant, however, even if I had a single class, to get the value out of all the available resources and to consolidate, and focus on developing all skills involved, I would still teach at the same rate.
There is ample time in a JI/SI class to go slower but deeper with the teaching and I do believe that they will fare very well with this built-in additional revision and rehearsal on a week by week basis, making full use of the resources provided.
While my situation is not typical I include an outline of my current routine and the resources I most regularly use:
I use the picture posters and sounds posters to introduce the sounds – the target graphemes are presented in all positions in words and the teachers models reading the word, blending the sounds from left to right, the children indicate if and where they hear the sounds and point to the grapheme.
The correct letter formation is modeled and the children air-write/palm-write while individual children model the formation on the whiteboard.
Words from the appropriate cumulative wordlist are selected by the teacher for blending, segmenting and vocabulary development exercises.
Magnetic grapheme tiles/whiteboard markers are provided depending on ability and children are encouraged to sound out and blend all through words teacher has formed to read or segment, draw sound dashes and map the correct grapheme onto the dashes to spell.
When a child has segmented to spell, another is chosen to edit the first childs work to check the spelling and is then asked to use that word in a sentence.
If it is an unfamiliar word some vocabulary development work will take place.
The words chosen and tasks assigned allow for differentiation in ability, always aiming for a successful experience for the child.
The appropriate colour the sounds sheet and one or two wordlists are stuck into the children’s sound books for homework.
The older children are currently using a booklet made of the ‘I can read’ cumulatively decodable text sheets from unit 2 as their reading material.
As they are very familiar with all the GPCs, they are working on developing fluency.
They also draw little pictures to illustrate the text.
This shows they comprehend the material, gives the children a sense of pride and makes the decodable text more attractive and personal.
They also add to a ‘table of contents’ as they complete a page.
The decodable text also provides opportunities for the learner to search for words containing target graphemes which they can then list on the proformas provided.
The younger children (JI) will begin doing similar work on the unit one decodable text shortly.
The JI are currently using the unit 1 ‘I can read, write and draw’ pages (again stapled into a booklet format) to do similar work but at word level.
I try to get time to do a ‘Read the words make up a story sheet’ each week, as I feel it is a wonderful way to develop speaking and listening skills and to develop vocabulary all in a very integrated way, however this is not always possible.
Even though I don’t get a chance to work formally on these sheets as often as I would like, I glance at the suggested vocabulary and try to find a way to use some of the unfamiliar words during the week to help develop their vocabulary.
I feel it is extremely important to be consistently aware of the importance of developing children’s language skills and expanding their vocabulary both formally and incidentally throughout the school day.
Debbie’s ‘I Can Read’ decodable text also provides many opportunities for vocabulary development and enrichment. They also include ‘figures of speech’ which are interesting and often require explicit explanation for ‘literal readers’ particularly for younger children and those for whom English is a second language
