Parent/Teacher GuideJolly Phonics is for children aged 3 to 6

Jolly Phonics is a thorough foundation for re a d i n g andwriting. It uses the synthetic phonics method ofteaching the letter sounds in a way that is fun andmulti-sensory. Children learn how to use the lettersounds to read and write words.

This guide provides background advice for parentsand teachers. It explains the principles behind JollyPhonics so that your understanding of the teaching,and your ability to help a child, is much greater.

All the material is suitable for use in school. Much ofit is also well suited to use at home; those items havebeen marked with a * . The items can be used together, or individually.

Jolly Phonics includes learning the irregular or‘tricky words’ such as said, was and the. Togetherwith these materials you should also use storybooks.

Parental support is important to all children as theybenefit from plenty of praise and encouragementwhilst learning. You should be guided by the pace atwhich your child wants to go. If interest is being lost,leave the teaching for a while and then come back toit later. Not all children find it easy to learn andblend sounds. It is important to remember that this isnot because they are unintelligent, but because theyhave a poor memory for symbols and words. Extrapractice will lead to fluency in reading and help yourchild manage at school.

The five basic skills for reading and writing are:

1. Learning the letter sounds2. Learning letter formation3. Blending4. Identifying sounds in words5. Spelling the tricky words

Although the skills are covered separately in thisguide they will all be taught together.

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1. Learning the letter soundsIn Jolly Phonics the 42 main sounds of English aretaught, not just the alphabet. The sounds are in sevengroups. Some sounds are written with two letters,such as ee and or. These are called digraphs. oo andth can each make two different sounds, as in book andmoon, that and three. To distinguish between thesetwo sounds, the digraph is represented in two forms.This is shown below.

1. s a t i p n2. c k e h r m d

3. g o u l f b4. ai j oa ie ee or

5. z w ng v oo oo6. y x ch sh th th

7. qu ou oi ue er ar

Each sound has an action which helps childrenremember the letter(s) that represent it. As a child progresses you can point to the letters and see howquickly they can do the action and say the sound. Oneletter sound can be taught each day. As a childbecomes more confident, the actions are no longernecessary. There is a list of all of the letter soundsand their corresponding actions on page 8 of thisguide.

Children should learn each letter by its sound, not itsname. For example, the letter a should be called a (asin ant) not ai (as in aim). Similarly, the letter nshould be nn (as in net), not en. This will help inblending. The names of each letter can follow later.

The letters have not been introduced in alphabeticalorder. The first group (s, a, t, i, p, n) has been chosenbecause they make more simple three-letter wordsthan any other six letters. The letters b and d areintroduced in different groups to avoid confusion.

Sounds that have more thanone way of being written areinitially taught in one formonly. For example, the soundai (rain) is taught first, andthen alternatives a-e (gate)and ay (day) follow later.Examples can be found inthe Jolly Phonics Word Book.

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2. Learning letter formationIt is very important that a child holds their pencil inthe correct way.

The pencil should be held in the ‘tripod’ grip betweenthe thumb and first two fingers. If a child’s holdstarts incorrectly, it is very difficult to correct later on.

A child needs to form each letter the correct way.The letter c is introduced in the early stages as thisforms the basic shape of some other letters, such as d.Particular problems to look for are:• the o (the pencil stroke must be anticlockwise, not

clockwise),• d (the pencil starts in the middle, not the top),• there must be an initial downstroke on letters such

as m and n.The Jolly Phonics DVD, Jolly Stories and FingerPhonics books show the correct formation of eachletter. A good guide is to remember that no letterstarts on the baseline.

In time a child will need to learn joined-up (cursive)writing. It helps the fluency of writing and improvesspelling. When words are written in one movement itis easier to remember the spelling correctly. JollyPhonics uses the Sassoon Infant typeface which isdesigned for children learning to read and write.Many of the letters (such as d and n) have an ‘exit’

stroke at the end to make it easier totransfer into joined-up

writing. (Checkyour school’s

policy as manyschools do not

teach joined-upwriting

early on)

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The grip is the same fo rboth left- and right-handedchildren

3. BlendingBlending is the process of saying theindividual sounds in a word andthen running them together to makethe word. For example, sounding outd - o - g and making d o g. It is a technique every child will need to

learn, and it improves with practice. To start withyou should sound out the word and see if a child canhear it, giving the answer if necessary. Some childrentake longer than others to hear this. The sounds mustbe said quickly to hear the word. It is easier if thefirst sound is said slightly louder. Try little and oftenwith words like b-u-s, t-o-p, c-a-t and h-e-n. There arelists of suitable words in The Phonics Handbook andthe Jolly Phonics Word Book.

Remember that some sounds (digraphs) are represented by two letters, such as sh. Childrenshould sound out the digraph (sh), notthe individual letters ( s - h ). With practicethey will be able to blend the digraph asone sound in a word. So, a word likerain should be sounded out r-ai-n, andfeet as f-ee-t. This is difficult to beginwith and takes practice. The Jolly PhonicsRegular Word Blending Cards can be used inclass to improve this skill.

You will find it helpful to be able to distinguishbetween a blend (such as st) and a digraph(such as sh). In a blend the two sounds, s andt can each be heard. In a digraph this is not so.Compare mishap (where both the s and h aresounded) and midship (which has the quiteseparate sh soun d). When sounding out ablend, encourage children to say the twosounds as one unit, so fl-a-g not f-l-a-g. Thiswill lead to greater fluency when reading.

Some words in English have an irregularspelling and cannot be read by blending, such as said, was a n d o n e .Unfortunately, many of these arecommon words. The irregularparts have to be remembered.These are called the ‘trickywords’.

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4. Identifying sounds in wordsThe easiest way to know how to spell a word is to listenfor the sounds in that word. Even with the trickywords an understanding of letter sounds can help.

Start by having your child listen for the first sound ina word. Games like I-Spy are ideal for this. Next trylistening for the end sounds, as the middle sound of aword is the hardest to hear.

Begin with simple three-letter words such as cat orhot. A good idea is to say a word and tap out thesounds. Three taps means three sounds. Say eachsound as you tap. Take care with digraphs. The wordfish, for example, has four letters but only threesounds, f-i-sh.

R h y m i n g games, poems and the Jolly Songs also helptune the ears to the sounds in words. Other games toplay are:

a) Add a sound: what do I get if I add a p to the beginning of i n k? Answer: p i n k . Other examples arem-ice, b-us, e t c.

b) Take away a sound: what do I get if I take away pfrom pink? Answer: ink. Other examples as above,and f-lap, s-lip, c-rib, d-rag, p-ant, m-end, s-top, b-end,s-t-rip, e t c .

5. Spelling the tricky wordsThere are several ways of learning tricky spellings:

1) Look, Cover, Write and Check. Look at the word tosee which bit is tricky. Ask the child to try writing theword in the air saying the letters. Cover the wordover and see if the child can write it correctly. Checkto make sure.

2) Say it as it sounds. Say the word so each sound is heard. For example, the word was is said as ‘wass’,to rhyme with mass, the word Monday is said as ‘M-on-day’.

3) Mnemonics. The initial letter of each word in a saying gives the correct spelling of a word. For example, laugh – Laugh At Ugly Goat’s Hair.

4) Using joined-up (cursive) writing also improvesspelling.

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Storybooks

A child will benefit greatly from alove of reading for pleasure. Thiscan come from being read to.

Once a child has begun to learn the letter sounds theywill be able to pick them out in words. They shouldthen move on to working out whole words throughblending. As a result it is easier if reading begins withstorybooks that use simple words. The Jolly Readers c a nbe used to provide this progression.

Once there is fluency in reading, the most importantskills for a child will be comprehension and the u n d e r s t a n d i n g of more words. This can be developedby asking a child questions about a story they havejust read.

About Jolly Phonics

Jolly Phonics has been developed by Sue Lloyd andSara Wernham, who were primary/elementary schoolteachers at Woods Loke Primary School in Lowestoft,E n g l a n d .

Independent studies find that, after one year’s teaching, children taught with Jolly Phonics have anaverage reading age around 12 months ahead of theiractual age. Their spelling age is usually slightly further ahead. Boys typically do as well as girls.

Jolly Phonics is multisensory and has been developedso the adult can use it confidently and easily, even at the end of an exhausting day!

Jolly Learning Ltd is an independentBritish publisher, founded in 1987.

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The Actionss Weave hand in an s shape, like a snake, and say ssssss.a Wiggle fingers above elbow as if ants crawling on you and say

a, a, a.t Turn head from side to side as if watching tennis and say t, t, t.i Pretend to be a mouse by wriggling fingers at end of nose and

squeak i, i, i.p Pretend to puff out candles and say p, p, p.n Make a noise, as if you are a plane – hold arms out and say

nnnnnn.

c k Raise hands and snap fingers as if playing castanets and say ck, ck, ck.

e Pretend to tap an egg on the side of a pan and crack it into thepan, saying eh, eh, eh.

h Hold hand in front of mouth panting as if you are out of breathand say h, h, h.

r Pretend to be a puppy holding a piece of rag, shaking head fromside to side, and say rrrrrr.

m Rub tummy as if seeing tasty food and say mmmmmm.d Beat hands up and down as if playing a drum and say d, d, d.

g Spiral hand down, as if water going down the drain, and say g, g, g.o Pretend to turn light switch on and off and say o, o; o, o.u Pretend to be putting up an umbrella and say u, u, u.l Pretend to lick a lollipop and say ll llll.f Let hands gently come together as if toy fish deflating, and

say ff f f f f.b Pretend to hit a ball with a bat and say b, b, b.

ai Cup hand over ear and say ai, ai, ai.j Pretend to wobble on a plate and say j, j, j.oa Bring hand over mouth as if you have done something wrong

and say oh!ie Stand to attention and salute, saying ie ie.ee or Put hands on head as if ears on a donkey and say eeyore, eeyore.

z Put arms out at sides and pretend to be a bee, saying zzzzzz.w Blow on to open hand, as if you are the wind, and say wh, wh, wh.ng Imagine you are a weightlifter, and pretend to lift a heavy

weight above your head, saying ng…v Pretend to be holding the steering wheel of a van and say vvvvvv.o o o oMove head back and forth as if it is the cuckoo in a cuckoo clock,

saying u, oo; u, oo. (Little and long oo.)

y Pretend to be eating a yoghurt and say y, y, y.x Pretend to take an x-ray of someone with a camera and say

ks, ks, ks.ch Move arms at sides as if you are a train and say ch, ch, ch.sh Place index finger over lips and say shshsh.th th Pretend to be naughty clowns and stick out tongue a little for

the th, and further for the th sound (this and thumb).

qu Make a duck’s beak with your hands and say qu, qu, qu.o u Pretend your finger is a needle and prick thumb saying ou, ou, ou.oi Cup hands around mouth and shout to another boat saying oi!

ship ahoy!ue Point to people around you and say you, you, you.er Roll hands over each other like a mixer and say ererer.ar Open mouth wide and say ah. (British English)

Flap hands as if a seal and say ar, ar, ar. (Nth Am English)

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Jolly Stories*Join the adventures of InkyMouse and her friends. Follow them throughseven stories as they learn the 42 letter sounds. Thisbeautifully illustrated board book has 40 spreads,each covering one or two letter sounds. Eachspread has a number of words for reading and forspelling, and Jolly Phonics action. A large letter isembossed, so that it can be felt by children.

Jolly Phonics DVD*The DVD covers all the letter sounds and the five basicskills for reading and writing. There are fun bonus activitiesfor children, the Using Jolly Phonics footage for adults anda section explaining the letter sounds of English, ideal forthose learning English as a foreign or second language.

Jolly Phonics CD-ROM*Enter the interactive world of Inky

Mouse and her friends as they helpyour child to learn to read and write.

With 20 fun activities, children will be able to practice the five skills in Jolly Phonics. The

games come in different levels, easy, medium orhard, ideal for children (ages 3-6 years) at all levels

of early reading.

Finger Phonics books 1-7*Ideal to use with your child after watching theDVD. Each of the seven books deals with onegroup of letter sounds. Cut-out letter shapesshow children’s fingers the correct formation,while the actions help them to remember thecorrect sound.

Jolly Phonics Workbooks 1-7*A fun way for children to build on the skillsthey’ve learned. The seven books cover simpleletter recognition, joined-up writing and thealternative spellings of the vowels. Strategiesfor tricky spellings and challenging puzzles fordeveloping phonic skills are also provided.Ages 4+.

Jolly Songs*A collection of songs set to popular tunesfor each of the 42 letter sounds in JollyPhonics. These songs are sung by childrenon the audio CD. Perfect for use at home,one-to-one teaching or small groups.Includes recordings of all the 42 lettersounds.

* Suitable for use at home

Jolly Phonics Puppets*Bring the Jolly Phonics charactersof Inky Mouse, Bee and Snake tol i fe with these three soft, p l u s hpuppets.

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Stencilets*Stencilets help young childrenwith their pencil control and letter formation. They clip thepaper firmly in place and aremade of durable, washable plastic.

Jolly Phonics Read and See*These themed word books help childrenpractice sounding out and blending oncet h ey’ve learned the letter sounds. An i l l u s t ration of each wo rd they read is hiding under a flap.

Everything classroom teachers need to get started with Jolly Phonics. Aset of materials is contained in a bright carrying case for neat and easystorage:

• The Phonics Handbook • Jolly Phonics Word Book • Jolly Phonics DVD • Finger Phonics Big Books 1-7 • Jolly Phonics Wall Frieze • Jolly Phonics Letter Sound Strips• Jo l ly Phonics Ca rds • JP Alt Spelling & Alphabet Posters • JP Tri c ky Wo rd Wall Fl owe r s

Jolly Phonics Starter Kit

Jolly Phonics Letter Sound Poster*A po s ter showing the 42 lette rsounds, each with a reminder of theaction. Useful for home, or classroomrevision with older children.

*Suitable for use at home

Jolly Phonics Wall FriezeComes in seven illustrated strips which c an be put up together or individually. The strips can also be cut up into separate letter sounds.Measures 9.33m/30’ 6” in total length.

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Jolly JinglesAn enjoyable and interactive way to reinforce the letter sounds anddevelop reading skills. Each page gives the words to the Jingle, thea ction for the letter sound(s), and the traditional tune used.Accompanied by an audio CD of the Jingles,sung by Canadian children.

Jolly Phonics Word BookA useful bank of words listed according to letter groups, initial and finalconsonant blends, alternative vowel spellings and tricky words.

Jolly Phonics CardsFour sets of flashcards suitable for whole-class use:• Letter sounds and alternative spellings, e.g. igh • Regular blendingwords, e.g. bus • Blending words with alternative spellings, e.g. play• Tricky words, e.g. said

Finger Phonics Big Books 1-7A set of seven Finger Phonics books in Big Book format, for whole classuse.The storyline and action appear on each page. The set comes witha wipe-clean plastic sheet for letter fo rm ation pra ct i ce and other exercises.

Jolly Phonics Letter Sound StripsA spelling aid for each child in class, with the 42 letter sounds on oneside and the alternative vowel spellings on the other.

Jolly Phonics Tricky Word Wall FlowersThis attractive wall display is ideal for teaching and reinforcing trickywords. There are 72 tricky words which can be put up as each word istaught.

JP Alternative Spelling & Alphabet PostersA two-poster pack with alternative vowel spellings on one and alphabetletters on the other.

Jolly Grammar Big Books 1 and 2These large format books allow new grammar concepts, such as verbs,nouns and conjunctions to be taught to the whole class. Each topic hasa double-page spread.

The Grammar Handbooks 1 and 2Following on from Jolly Phonics, these books introduce grammar,spelling and punctuation for the next two years.There are 36 lessonsin each book and lots of photocopiable games and activities. Similar toThe Phonics Handbook, they include actions for each area of grammar.

The Phonics HandbookThe best place to start when teaching Jolly Phonics to a class. The PhonicsHandbook is a complete resource for teaching reading, writing andspelling. With over 100 photocopiable pages, it introduces the 42 mainletter sounds. This is followed by activity sheets and games for readingand spelling.

Jolly Phonics Tricky Word HatA plush hat that can be used with the Tricky Word Wall Flowers. Includesa bag of 72 small velcro pads for attaching the words.

Tailours House, High Road,Chigwell, Essex, IG7 6DL, UKTel: 020 8501 0405 Fax: 020 8500 1696

50 Winter Sport Lane,Williston,VT 05495, USATel: 1-800 488-2665Fax: (802) 864-7626

Jolly Learning Ltd

JollyReaders*Interesting storybooks for children who are just ready to read.Controlled vocabulary enables them to read the words from theirletter sound knowledge. There are only a few essential tricky words,and these are shown at the back of each book.There are three series,Inky Mouse and Friends, General Fiction and Nonfiction. There are 6different books in each series pack.

Jolly Dictionary*Designed to help children improve their readingand writing, and become independent learners.The 6,000+ age-appropriate words have carefullyselected definitions that children find easy to readand understand. The award-winning Jolly Dictionaryis beautifully illustrated throughout, often using theJolly Phonics characters to help clarify examples.

• Divided into 4 colour sections to help childrenlearn how to use the dictionary

• A unique Pronunciation Guide for each wordusing joined digraphs and showing the stress

Level 3

Level 2

Level 1

www.jollylearning.co.uk

* Suitable for use at home

Email: info@jollylearning.co.uk

Level 4