Phonics

At Sunnyside Primary Academ, we aim to develop confident, fluent and passionate readers and writers from an early stage. We use Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised which is a complete systematic synthetic phonics programme (SSP). This is a process that first teaches the letter sounds, building up to blending these sounds together to achieve full pronunciation of whole words.

Reading underpins children’s access to the curriculum and it clearly impacts on their achievement. There is considerable research to show that children who enjoy reading and choose to read benefit not only academically, but also socially and emotionally. To be able to read, children need to be taught an efficient strategy to decode words. That strategy is phonics. It is essential that children are actively taught and supported to use phonics as the only approach to decoding. Other strategies must be avoided. Phonic decoding skills must be practised until children become automatic and fluent reading is established.

Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised

At Sunnyside Primary Academy, we use Little Wandle Letters and Sounds revised programme as our phonics programme. Fluent decoding is only one component of reading. Comprehension skills need to be taught to enable children to make sense of what they read, build on what they already know and give them a desire to want to read. Reading increases children’s vocabulary because they encounter words they would rarely hear or use in everyday speech. Furthermore, children who read widely and frequently also have more secure general knowledge.

Reading Practice Sessions

Children are given regular opportunities to apply the phonics they have learned by reading fully decodable books. The phonic progression in these books must match the progression of Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised. Reading practice sessions take place at least three times a week. Each reading practice session has a clear focus, so that the demands of the session do not overload the children’s working memory.

The reading practice sessions have been designed to focus on three key reading skills:

decoding
prosody – reading with meaning, stress and intonation
comprehension – understanding the text

Resources

In order to ensure a successful reading practice session, prior preparation is key. The following resources are prepared in advance of the sessions:

grapheme cards
word cards
tricky word cards
pages from the book which will be used to model prosody
comprehension questions
reading books

Content and Structure

The reading practice sessions have a clear structure:
• Pre-read: Revisit and review
• Reading practice: Practice and apply
• Review: Pacey review of any misconceptions and explanation of what is expected for home reading.

Pre-read: Revisit and review
It is important to start every reading practice session with a ‘revisit and review’. This will enable the children to bring the GPCs they have learned to the forefront of their memory. This makes it easier for them to automatically recall the words and set them up to succeed when they read the book. This part of the session is short and pacey. It provides the ideal opportunity to:
• revise the graphemes the children should already know
• practise fluently reading three or four words from the book, applying their phonic knowledge
• revise the tricky words that appear in the book
• Teach the meaning of unfamiliar vocabulary.

Reading practice: Practise and apply
‘Practise and apply’ is the main part of the reading sessions. The specific content will vary according to the key reading skill being taught. When the focus for the reading practice session is decoding, each child reads the book independently, applying their phonic skills. The session which focuses on prosody, should begin with an opportunity for the children to read the book independently to practise their fluency, followed by the teacher/teaching assistant working with the reading group on how to develop prosody and practise this skill. In the third session, the focus is on comprehension. When the children are reading independently, the teacher/teaching assistant moves round the group, ‘tapping in’ to listen to each child read for two or three pages, depending on the length of the text.

Review

At the end of the reading practice session, it is important to leave a few minutes to pick up on any common misconceptions and explain the home reading practice.

Accelerated Reader

From Year 3, children are assessed on Accelerated Reader (Star Reader Test) and are then able choose a book from the library which is then matched to their level (these are called ZPDs). Once children have read a book at home, they then complete a comprehension quiz on https://global-zone61.renaissance-go.com/welcomeportal/6713373 to check their understanding of what they have read.

During the year, children are reassessed on the Star Reader Test and they are given a new ZPD to choose from their level range in the library.

There is a huge range of books available to quiz on. You may find books that children have at home have a quiz on AR. Check here: https://www.arbookfind.co.uk/UserType.aspx?RedirectURL=%2fdefault.aspx

You can find our more about Accelerated Reader here.