Phase 2 Phonics
This week, we’ll begin Phase 2 of Letters and Sounds. In this phase, children will continue practising what they have learned from phase 1, including ‘sound-talk’. They will also be taught:
- the phonemes (sounds) for a number of letters (graphemes),
- which phoneme is represented by which grapheme, and
- that a single phoneme can be represented by more than one letter, for example, /ll/ as in b-e-ll.
They will be using pictures and hand movements to help them remember these.
VC and CVC words
C and V are abbreviations for ‘consonant’ and ‘vowel’. VC words are words consisting of a vowel then a consonant (e.g. am, at, it) and CVC words are words consisting of a consonant then a vowel then a consonant (e.g. cat, rug, sun). Words such as tick and bell also count as CVC words – although they have four letters, they have only three sounds. For example, in the word bell, b = consonant, e = vowel, ll = consonant.
Now the children will be seeing letters and words, as well as hearing them. They will be shown how to make words using magnetic letters, how to read (blend) little words and how to segment words into individual sounds.
These will be simple words made up of two phonemes, for example, am, at, it, or three phonemes, for example, cat, run.
Tricky words
They will also learn several tricky words: the, to, I, go, no. Children will still be practising oral blending and segmenting skills daily. They need plenty of practice at doing this.
Saying the sounds
Your child will be taught how to pronounce the sounds (phonemes) correctly to make blending easier. Sounds should be sustained where possible (e.g. sss, fff, mmm) and, where this is not possible, ‘uh’ sounds after consonants should be reduced as far as possible. Try to avoid saying ‘buh’, ‘cuh’ etc.
Ways you can support your children at home
- Magnetic letters Buy magnetic letters for your fridge. Find out which letters have been taught – have fun finding these with your child and place them on the magnetic surface.
- Making little words together Make little words together, for example, it, up, am, and, top, dig, run, met, pick. As you select the letters, say them aloud: ‘a-m – am’, ‘m-e-t – met’.
- Make or buy an alphabet poster
- Buy whiteboards and pen These are a good way for children to try out spellings and practise their handwriting.
- Remember to have fun!
Let’s play dress up
Having found a few outfits, some of the children decided to dress up as Victorian servants. They really look the part.
Class assembly
Well done Year 1! I was very proud of you. Thank you to all the parents and visitors who attended today’s performance.
We loved hearing your views; here are a few: ‘Lovely production’, ‘Enjoyed the class telling the story’ and ‘Wonderful to watch.’
Talking about transport…
…this afternoon we split into groups to talk about the many things the children have learned from their talk time discussions at home.
iPad Art
Year Six spent the afternoon combining observational art and art using our new iPads. They created a drawing of a Victorian artefact – a gentleman’s hat in this case. Next, they took a photo and imported it to an art drawing app. Finally, they added to their original drawing by using colours, shades and tones from the app.
I have to say, they did an exceptionally good job.
iPad maths
Learning addition with iPads.
Maths in Reception
The children have been making number games.
Shared Writing
Year Six completed some sensational shared writing about our class novel, Street Child. They say that working with a partner, and using the net books, allows them to think hard about their word choices, mood and speech.
They did a great job.
Roll up! Roll up!
What has your child learnt in our Big Topic so far?
Roll up! Roll up!
Ask your child about what they have been learning in our Big Topic.
