By Sarah Wernham

As the Government (in the U.K) announces an independent review into the role of synthetic phonics in teaching reading, Sarah Wernham co-author of Jolly Phonics asks the most important question.

The term ‘synthetic phonics’ has had a very high profile recently, having finally achieved governmental acceptance of its importance in the teaching of reading and writing. The findings of several research projects, most recently that from Clackmannanshire, has meant that the evidence for this method of teaching has become overwhelming.

What is synthetic phonics?
So, what is synthetic phonics? Well, cutting through the rhetoric and emotion this subject seems to generate, synthetic phonics is nothing more, or less, than a simple step-by-step (i.e., systematic) way of teaching reading and writing. (I would also just like to note here that, despite what has been claimed, the NLS is not based on systematic phonics principles).

The written code of English is based on sounds. It is not a transparent code that is one where one sound is always represented by the same letter. However, it is regular enough that, by learning a small number of variations and applying a few simple rules, the majority of words can be coped with and worked out. It is certainly simpler than trying to learn each word individually or a huge number of word families.

The linguists tell us that there are about 44 sounds used in English. For the purposes of teaching quite small children to read we find that the 42 sounds taught in ‘The Jolly Phonics’ programme are sufficient. A systematic programme introduces these sounds one at a time. The children learn the sound and a letter, or digraph that represents that sound. As Jolly Phonics is a multi-sensory approach there is also an action, picture, story and song for each sound. This not only makes it easier to learn, but makes it fun too!

At the same time that the children are learning the letters and their sounds they are also taught how to use those sounds for reading and writing words. Learning the sounds is an important first step in learning to read but it is important to remember that is it just that – a first step – and not an end in itself. I often have new children turning up at school claiming to have ‘done’ Jolly Phonics. Mostly they know their sounds but often they have no idea what to do with them.

The reason the children must learn the letter sounds is so they can blend them into words to read them, and to listen for those sounds in words so they can write them. If they are unable to do this then their knowledge of the sounds is fairly useless.


Blending
As soon as they have learnt the first three sounds (s, a, t) they should start learning to blend. In order to blend they have to say the sounds and listen for the word (starting immediately with ‘at’ and ‘sat’). The sounds have to be said quite quickly in order to hear the word. To begin with they may only be able to hear the word if someone else says the sounds, and they may need the word virtually said for them. Encourage them to say the sounds so that they run together, and not with big gaps between the sounds. As with all things some find this easy, others take more time and need more practice. Another hint is to say the first sound slightly louder as this will help stop them forgetting which was the first sound in the word!

The children start by reading small regular cvc words (dog, pen, hat) and gradually move on to reading words with digraphs in (rain, bee, goat) and longer regular words (milk, flag, cobweb). Although, obviously there are plenty of books about in the classroom and there should be lots of sharing books with teachers and parents, the children are not asked to read books themselves where they cannot work out the words. As they become better readers they should not sound out each word aloud, but should be encouraged to say the sounds in their heads and only say the actual word out loud. As they become confident readers they only have to sound out (even if its just silently in their heads) unknown, or more difficult words.

Once they know the 42 basic sounds and the letters that are used to represent them they can start learning the alternative ways some of the sounds are spelt.

It is important to get the children to identify the vowel sounds, as these are the ones that have alternative spellings. For example, the first way the sound /ai/ (as in rain) is introduced is with the ‘ai’ spelling. Next they are taught that the /ai/ sound can also be spelt with a ‘magic e’ as in ‘name’, or an ‘ay’ as in ‘day’. The /ee/ sound can be spelt with an ‘ee’ as in ‘sheep’ or an ‘ea’ as in ‘pea’. They then have lots of practice reading words with the various alternatives in.

A good way to help is to teach the general rule that if the short vowel sound (a, e, i, o, u) does not make a word, then try the long vowel sound (ai, ee, ie, oa, ue, etc). We abbreviate this to ‘If one way doesn’t work, try the other ‘, and practice saying ‘if /a/ doesn’t work try /ai/, if /e/ doesn’t work try /ee/ etc. I point to the thumb and the fingers on one hand while saying this, so ‘a’ is the thumb, ‘e’ is the index finger and so on.

Tricky Words
Tricky Words are also introduced to the children gradually.

Unfortunately many of the smaller, most common words that are needed to read or make sentences are irregular, or tricky (the, I, he, to, was etc).

However, many of them have regular parts, such as the /th/ in ‘the’, so if the children know this they only have to remember the ‘e’ at the end. Analysing the words this way makes it easier for the children to remember how to read and write the Tricky Words.

I always think, that for most children reading is by far the easier option than writing. After all when you are reading you have something in front of you to look at and on which to base (hopefully an educated) guess. When children are asked to write something down, however, what they are faced with is a blank page. You can copy from a board, you can use a word wall or word book, you can even ask the teacher, but at some point you need to be able to write words in that blank page for yourself.

In fact, unless you have a phenomenal memory and can recall how to spell every word with no problem, the only clue you have to work with is the word itself, or more specifically the sounds in that word. It is, therefore, very important to be able to hear those sounds and know how to write them down. This way, even if it is a word you have never seen or heard of before, you can attempt to write something that can be read by yourself or someone else.

Children need to be able to hear all the sounds in a word, not just the initial one.
Knowing that the ‘dog’ begins with a /d/ sound is a start but doesn’t mean you have written the word yet. The children need to sound out lots of simple regular ‘cvc’ words, counting the sounds by holding up a finger, or tapping for each sound. Three fingers, or taps, mean three letters (or sounds) in the word. I sometimes tell them to say the word ‘as if their batteries’ are running down, that is very slowly hanging on to each sound. This emphasizes each sound so making it easier to hear. As they get better at hearing the sounds that are in words they can cope with longer and more difficult words. Also, as a teacher, I find it means your class actually produce some independent written work, as they have not spent most of the lesson in a queue waiting to ask how to spell a word. The work is truly independent and says what the children actually wanted to write, and not 30 or so virtually identical pieces using the words that were on the board.

By teaching the children using a synthetic phonics programme you give them the knowledge and skills they will need.

Some parts of the teaching are fast paced and quite intensive, as when teaching the letter sounds. Due to the inconsistencies of the English language this knowledge then has to be refined and practiced for some time.

However, the research that has been done has found that not only do children taught using a synthetic phonics approach make better progress than children using other methods, but also that the gains made are maintained as the children get older.

So, if you haven’t already investigated the systematic phonics material already available, now’s the time to start!

To find out more about Jolly Phonics, contact Extrazeal (M) Sdn Bhd
at Tel. No. 603-7880 0118/0119 or visit www.jollylearning.co.uk