Supported by an experienced and skilled Reception teacher, Kay taught children how to read through learning a bank of letter sounds, and then blending these along words in order to read them. Children were encouraged to spell words by using their knowledge of sounds and then read the words back to themselves. This system is now known as synthetic phonics.
Synthetic phonics involves blending letter sounds to form whole words. The Government’s current literacy strategy recommends a mixture of methods, including inferring words from pictures and context. Teaching synthetic phonics will be highly recommended as the first approach to teaching reading from September 2006 onwards. Kay has used synthetic phonic methods for many years, developing and improving them from research, advice and the practical experience she has gained from her extensive teaching experience.
Throughout her varied teaching career, Kay employed synthetic phonics to teaching reading. She was recently asked to run a project that aimed to raise attainment in reading and writing by the end of KS1. Kay found that weaker readers and spellers were still not confident with knowing enough sounds automatically and found the task of both blending and spelling very hard and unrewarding. So Kay developed a daily session to enable teachers to cover key phonic skills in a fast, focussed and effective way - covering phonemes, blending, segmenting, irregular words, plus reading and writing sentences on alternate days - all in one 10- minute session.
The Rose Review, the Governmentcommissioned report published by Jim Rose in March 2006, recommends teaching phonics in short daily sessions. Knowing the phonics ‘nuts and bolts’ are covered in Kay’s ‘10 minutes a day’. Teachers reinforce children’s phonic learning with further activities at other times in the day, for example using puppets, ‘hands-on’ sorting games, magnetic letters - and of course, reading and writing activities, which foster independence, enjoyment, expanding vocabulary and the love of books.
Based on the success of her daily 10 minute sessions, Kay has now developed a new phonic resource that can be depended upon to interest and engage children. Developed with Collins Education, Collins Big Cat Phonics comprises an easy-to-use CD-ROM which is ideal for use on an interactive whiteboard with a PC, a teacher’s Handbook and 24 decodable fiction and nonfiction readers by top authors such as Emma Chichester Clark and Martin Waddell, which teachers and children will love using.
Critics of synthetic phonics argue that although children can decode a word, they may not understand what the word means. This is something which Kay refutes, saying, “Teachers know that understanding words and sentences is not achieved by decoding text alone - qualityfirst teaching means that the teacher will develop and extend the meaning of the text for every child, through shared discussion at whole class, small group, and where needed, at an individual level. Catching the interest of children through quality decodable reading experiences means every child can accurately read, then discuss and think about the meaning of the book. Children are not guessing these words - they can read them.”
There have been vast improvements in children’s literacy over recent years, but sadly one in five 11-year-olds still leave primary school without reaching the necessary standard in English. The Rose Review intends to give a clear strategy on how to drive forward further improvements by starting at the very beginning and building solid foundations when children first come to school. The report also stresses how important it is that young children are quickly and systematically taught to segment as well as blend, as this is essential to effective writing later on.
In her work, Kay has seen ICT have a huge effect on teaching and learning. She believes using ICT motivates children as they are very individual learners. “Using an interactive whiteboard has a very positive effect on the teaching of phonics, Embedding e-learning products in literacy is a crucial factor in enhancing the learning environment and can accelerate children’s progress in the classroom in a number of ways.”
Kay continues, “Children have grown up in a digital age with computers and games consoles and find them fun, which is why they find ICT incredibly engaging. For the teacher, another huge benefit of running an interactive phonics session on the whiteboard means that they can focus their attention completely on the children and their progress, assessing and intervening early, rather than having to concentrate on shuffling flashcards.”
As far as Kay is concerned it is all about good quality teaching: “The Rose Review stresses that good teaching, attention to speaking and listening skills and the systematic learning of phonics are crucial to raise standards, with early interventions to prevent children from falling behind. It also stresses the importance for children of enjoying a rich, creative language experience. Getting children to love reading is central to its success”.
Further information can be obtained from Annette Matthew, Marketing Executive, Collins Education, HarperCollins Publishers, 77-85 Fulham Palace Road, London, W6 8JB Tel: 0208 307 4158 Annette.matthew@harpercollins.co.uk Web: www.collinseducation.com