www.PhonicsTrainingOnline.com

Debbie Hepplewhite’s Online Synthetic Phonics Training Course

Introduction: What, Why...then How?

Focused synthetic phonics teaching and its integration with wider reading, spelling and writing

‘Two-pronged systematic and incidentalphonics teaching and learning’

Module One:

The Systematic Synthetic Phonics Teaching Principles

‘SSP’

Module One: Part 1

a) International conclusions of research

• To be aware there is a wealth of research with summarised recommendations – but despite the findings of international research, it is still ‘chance’ as to the knowledge and understanding of teachers and the reading and spelling instruction and experiences that learners receive

Module One: Part 1

b) The Systematic Synthetic Phonics Teaching Principles

• To establish a common (shared) understanding of the Systematic Synthetic Phonics Teaching Principles including language comprehension and building up spelling word banks

What does ‘leading-edge’ reading and spelling instruction look like?

• Underpinned by the Synthetic Phonics Teaching Principles = principles ‘in common’ to the leading research findings in the USA, Australia and the UK, and studies of the leading phonics programmes and practice

• High consistent results achieved:historic and recent research, national testing, standardised testing, longitudinal studies, objective teacher testimony, classroom findings

International conclusions of research:

1. phonemic awareness

2. phonics

3. fluency

4. vocabulary enrichment

5. comprehension

Phonemic awareness is not a pre-requisite- best developed in the presence of print

UK Reading Reform Foundation

For information about research

and topical message forum:

www.rrf.org.uk

Susan Godsland’s award winning site

For evidence-based information:

www.dyslexics.org.uk

Phonics International message forum

For guidance, information, topical

issues and pointers to research

www.phonicsinternational.com

International Foundation for Effective Reading Instruction IFERI

“IFERI – a new force in advocacy”

“An international collaboration to drive effective practice for literacy instruction” LDA, June 2015

www.iferi.org

IFERI Aims

To promote reading instruction informed by

scientific evidence of how best to teach all children to read: Systematically teach the letter/s-sound correspondences of the English alphabetic code and the phonics skills to decode and encode within a language-rich and literature-rich environment.

IFERI Aims

IFERI will work to draw attention to

ineffective practices that diverge from the international findings of research: A non-systematic approach to phonics along with multi-cueing reading strategies amounting to guessing words from word shape, pictures, initial letters and context is insufficient and potentially damaging.

IFERI Aims

IFERI will inform policy makers at all levels

about specific instructional practices that are inconsistent with, or contrary to, the findings of international research on reading.

First of all ...

Let’s make sure that we’re all on the same page!

What are theSystematic Synthetic Phonics

Teaching Principles?

The Systematic Synthetic Phonics Teaching Principles

To synthesise means to blend – this refers to the decoding/reading process, but the Synthetic Phonics Teaching Principles include bothsynthesising for decoding and oral segmenting for encoding/spelling

S p e ll i ng

Not only are we teaching reading

explicitly from the outset ...

... we are also teaching spelling

explicitly from the outset

This is fantastic – we need to see just

how well we can teach spelling

‘Phonically plausible spelling’

• Teachers sometimes express doubts about a phonics approach to teaching spelling saying that it makes spelling ‘worse’ as children spell with phonically plausible versions of spelling – in effect, invented spelling.

• This criticism will be fully addressed and Debbie’s specific approach towards teaching, modelling, supporting and marking spelling will be outlined during the course.

The Synthetic Phonics Teaching PrinciplesTeach: KNOWLEDGE of the ALPHABETIC CODE

= the letter/s-sound correspondences

*incremental sequence *the code is reversible

THREE CORE SKILLS (‘sub-skills’ to follow ...)

1. Sounding out and blending for reading

2. Oral segmenting then alloting graphemes for identified sounds for spelling

3. Handwriting (not in DfE ‘core criteria’)

Incremental or Systematic Sequence:

• Introduce the 44+ soundsin a specific order and mainlyone spelling = simple (or basicor transparent) alphabetic code

• Revisit the 44+ sounds (may be a different order) and introduce further spelling alternatives andpronunciation alternatives= complex (or extendedor opaque) alphabetic code

sounds

simple code:

mainly one spelling

The sub-skills (reading)FOR DECODING:

1) Model oral blending: “/k/ /ai/ /k/” “cake”

(Start with the parts, end up with the whole word)

2) Learners see the letter/s, and say the sounds

The sub-skills (spelling)FOR ENCODING:

1) Model oral segmenting: “coat” “/k/ /oa/ /t/”

(Start with the whole word, end up with the parts)

2) Learners hear the sound/s, then point to or air-write or select grapheme tiles, or write the graphemes (letters and letter groups)

paper

and pencil

grapheme

tiles

The sub-skills (writing)

Recognise letters...

•shapes & orientation

•relative sizes

•position on writing line

•capital and lower case

Formation of letters...

•directionality

•finger tracing

•copying

•air-writing

•write with correct pencil hold

•formation on writing line

FOR HANDWRITING:

Phonics...

•link capital and lower case

letters with their sounds

•learn about the difference

between ‘the alphabet’

and ‘the alphabetic code’

The SSP teaching principles APPLICATION:• Apply growing phonics knowledge and all

the phonics skills to CUMULATIVE words, sentences and texts

Debbie’s guidance: plain texts without cues

• Apply to reading with CUMULATIVE, decodable reading books as independently as possible

• Apply to the wider curriculum when reading and writing (+ teach incidental phonics with the two-pronged approach + alphabetic code chart)

The SSP teaching principles AVOID:

Multi-cueing reading strategies which amount to guessing the words ...

(that is, guess from the picture, guess from the first letter/s, guess from the word shape, guess from the context)

... but pictures and context are used for

supporting comprehension

A CONTENT-RICH SYSTEMATIC

SYNTHETIC PHONICS PROGRAMME

• Provides great opportunities for vocabulary enrichment and development of language comprehension

• Provides great opportunities for teaching grammar alongside

• Should also be a spelling programme (and continue throughout primary as required)