Guest Posted August 19, 2007 Share Posted August 19, 2007 Hi I work in a Reception class in an independent school. I am going to start Letters and sounds in Sept and have a few questions! How much of phase one should I cover (for how long) before starting phase two? In the past we have started teaching two letters a week after about two weeks at school. We use Jolly phonics. I am now hoping to start the recommended 4 letters a week but when to start introducing these letters? A lot of our children come into school knowing several letter sounds already so don't want to hold them up it's difficult. Also has anyone set up a weekly plan of how they are going to teach this, that would be really useful! Thanks guys! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_1195 Posted August 19, 2007 Share Posted August 19, 2007 The wonderful Marion has added a suggested timetable to the Resource Library in the literacy planning section. I've tried to do a link but it won't work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_5677 Posted August 19, 2007 Share Posted August 19, 2007 I think they recommend that phase one continues when you progress to phase two. Elfy x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_4544 Posted August 19, 2007 Share Posted August 19, 2007 Phase one should continue alongside all the other phases. Depending on children's previous experiences you can either teach this prior to starting Phase two in reception or begin phase two right away ensuring children still have the Phase one opportunities. suggested_phonics_teaching_timetable.doc phase_1_activities.doc phase_two_activities.doc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 19, 2007 Share Posted August 19, 2007 Thanks for your very helpful attachments, Marion. Moisy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 19, 2007 Share Posted August 19, 2007 Thanks Marion this is very helpful! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 30, 2007 Share Posted August 30, 2007 HiI work in a Reception class in an independent school. I am going to start Letters and sounds in Sept and have a few questions! How much of phase one should I cover (for how long) before starting phase two? In the past we have started teaching two letters a week after about two weeks at school. We use Jolly phonics. I am now hoping to start the recommended 4 letters a week but when to start introducing these letters? A lot of our children come into school knowing several letter sounds already so don't want to hold them up it's difficult. Also has anyone set up a weekly plan of how they are going to teach this, that would be really useful! Thanks guys! Hi there I have found some resources related to the words we should be covering in Letters and Sounds look at www.sparklebox.co.uk and they are free to download. They might save you some time! Nellie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 30, 2007 Share Posted August 30, 2007 Thanks again marion for your attachment - very useful. Thanks Nellie - I have got the CD from Sparklebox which has lots of Letters and Sounds things on! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_832 Posted August 30, 2007 Share Posted August 30, 2007 Not sure wether we are allowed to quote other forums but there is an overview of letters and sounds which is really good on the TES website. I have downloaded it and it is very useful. It is called - Letters and Sounds Overview and Weekly Planning - and you can find it in the resources bit under - Early Years > Foundation > Communication, language and literacy http://www.tes.co.uk/resources/home.aspx You do have to log in if you haven't already used the site but it is free. Sue Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 20, 2007 Share Posted September 20, 2007 Not sure wether we are allowed to quote other forums but there is an overview of letters and sounds which is really good on the TES website. I have downloaded it and it is very useful. It is called - Letters and Sounds Overview and Weekly Planning - and you can find it in the resources bit under - Early Years > Foundation > Communication, language and literacy http://www.tes.co.uk/resources/home.aspx You do have to log in if you haven't already used the site but it is free. Sue The planning only covers phase 1 on the TES but the activities in playing with sounds and progression in phonics are also helpful Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest heywood Posted September 21, 2007 Share Posted September 21, 2007 (edited) I wonder how others are going on. Last year we began much later with phonics, covering much of Jolly Phonics before segmenting/ blending. Then we bought Big Cat Phonics which provides a 10 minute lesson but needs supplementing with the activities. This year, I have begun much earlier. The children have experienced several sounds with Jolly Phonics in Nursery which I have continued with and introduced Big Cat. (They do fit in easily with each other). I have found that the children (I am generalising here because obviously not all can do this) can recognise the letter/ say the sound but find segmenting and blending really difficult. I am becoming concerned that this part is difficult for them and they will be put off. Do others have experience of this where the children cannot move on? thanks heywood Edited September 21, 2007 by heywood Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_4544 Posted September 21, 2007 Share Posted September 21, 2007 I use JP and BCP and have just finished the 2nd set of sounds (using Letters & Sounds order) Most of the class are coping well with recognising the letter and saying the corresponding sound and I have a good group who are blending well........segmenting not so good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 21, 2007 Share Posted September 21, 2007 OOOOHHHHH!!!!! begining to REALLY panic now. I've spent the last three weeks settling children in and assessing. Last intake started mornings only this week ... and I haven't started phonics lessons yet, as I felt I didn't/couldn't begin with early intake and then recap everything. Hearing that you've finished 2nd set is really worrying me Marion From assessments I know that I have one child who is going to work with a Y1 group as he knows all alphabet, can rhyme, blend and segment. The rest of the class have little or no letter recognition, don't recognise rhyme ( apart from 2), and certainly can't blend (not even tried segmenting). Was planning on starting Phase 2 next week, running alongside Phase 1 activities ... but now I'm worried I'm behind PS my youngest children have only been in for 5 half days and the noise level/concentration/and willingness to co-operate has been frightening!!!!!!!!! Anyone else finding it worse this year??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_4544 Posted September 21, 2007 Share Posted September 21, 2007 Don't worry the reason I have worked this ways is because I teach in a FSU so know all of the children (getting a new one on Monday who I have yet to meet) and more importantly most of them have known me for 5 terms now, so they are settled in a familiar environment with familiar adults. They were all full time from day one so basically we had two days then straight into Letters and Sounds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 29, 2007 Share Posted September 29, 2007 The lady mentioned earlier from the TES website/forum is now selling a years worth of weekly plans (phase 2 onwards) for letters & Sounds on Ebay for £8.50- I was unsure as to how good it would be but so many people were raving about how much time it was going to save them that I took the plunge and it arrived today - worth the £8.50 in my eyes - it will just need a little peronalising each week but so much better than starting from scratch - will save me a lot of precious weekend time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Wolfie Posted September 29, 2007 Share Posted September 29, 2007 (edited) Is there ANYTHING that you can't buy on eBay??? Sounds good though! Edited September 29, 2007 by Wolfie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 29, 2007 Share Posted September 29, 2007 i was sent the planning by a friend and yes i agree it will save precious time at weekends LOTS OF HARD WORK PUT IN, i don't mind sharing these now adapted plans. to be honest i was slightly miffed by said persons attitude to selling planning. I share things on TES website as do many others on here and I am starting to feel confident to share things on here too, I wouldn't dream of selling it, i share because i respect and recognise the expertise and committment to EYears we all have and want to give back to the people who give so much to me a big thank you to all on here who like me like to share and better themselves through professional discussions and sharing of resources Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 30, 2007 Share Posted September 30, 2007 Well said! I agree - some generous people on here could be millionaires by now if they sold everything they shared! A BIG THANK YOU TO ALL YOU POOR SHARERS! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_4544 Posted September 30, 2007 Share Posted September 30, 2007 I haven't actually seen Nicky's planning (I find it difficult following other peoples plans) but she has said that she wrote it straight from the document and now she is using it with a class she is struggling to fit it all in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_2776 Posted September 30, 2007 Share Posted September 30, 2007 Half of my group is new in school this year and they had little or no knowledge of English, so I have concentrated in Phase 1 for this half term. I will start with Phase 2 after the Autumn break. I have 4 children who have English as their native language, but 2 of them are very young, the other one is doing well, but one... he has a lot of difficulties distinguishing between sounds and following instructions. I have had to work with his behaviour as well. Another girl has good English, but... talks, talks and not much listening . I am glad I followed the children's pace last year, because the Y1 teacher is amazed on how they are working. I only took 2 letter sounds/week and it worked well. The last term was constant consolidation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 30, 2007 Share Posted September 30, 2007 I haven't actually seen Nicky's planning (I find it difficult following other peoples plans) but she has said that she wrote it straight from the document and now she is using it with a class she is struggling to fit it all in. There must be a few diff planning sets out there as the stuff being sold on EBay was by a lady called Donna. Don't think there will be anything out there that you can just pick up and use will always have to be adapted to suit you, your classroom and your children but it is often a really useful starting place rather than being faced with a blank planning grid! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_4544 Posted September 30, 2007 Share Posted September 30, 2007 The planning mentioned by Sue is by a lady called Nicky Byrne but I do know someone has bought her planning and has also been selling it on ebay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_1195 Posted September 30, 2007 Share Posted September 30, 2007 Yes there has been a bit of a fuss about that. It seems that someone copied her freely shared planning and was selling it on ebay. When she complained ebay said that they couldn't do anything about it, so Nicky decided tha the only thing that she could do was sell it herself on ebay as the original planning. If someone is generous enough to give their planning freely, it is really appalling that others claim it as their own, and then try to make money out of someone else's work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 11, 2007 Share Posted October 11, 2007 HiI work in a Reception class in an independent school. I am going to start Letters and sounds in Sept and have a few questions! How much of phase one should I cover (for how long) before starting phase two? In the past we have started teaching two letters a week after about two weeks at school. We use Jolly phonics. I am now hoping to start the recommended 4 letters a week but when to start introducing these letters? A lot of our children come into school knowing several letter sounds already so don't want to hold them up it's difficult. Also has anyone set up a weekly plan of how they are going to teach this, that would be really useful! Thanks guys! I started Letter and sound in Sept and first started them on phase1. Only did this for 2 weeks because they found this very easy so moved them onto phase 2. I always start the lesson off singing a phonic song so that they continue to learn the sounds they have laernt then continue with introducing a new sound each day. It is working really well but I basically adapt it to my children's interests, planning activities from all different programmes, it seems to be working! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 11, 2007 Share Posted October 11, 2007 OOOOHHHHH!!!!! begining to REALLY panic now. I've spent the last three weeks settling children in and assessing. Last intake started mornings only this week ... and I haven't started phonics lessons yet, as I felt I didn't/couldn't begin with early intake and then recap everything. Hearing that you've finished 2nd set is really worrying me Marion From assessments I know that I have one child who is going to work with a Y1 group as he knows all alphabet, can rhyme, blend and segment. The rest of the class have little or no letter recognition, don't recognise rhyme ( apart from 2), and certainly can't blend (not even tried segmenting). Was planning on starting Phase 2 next week, running alongside Phase 1 activities ... but now I'm worried I'm behind PS my youngest children have only been in for 5 half days and the noise level/concentration/and willingness to co-operate has been frightening!!!!!!!!! Anyone else finding it worse this year??? You are not alone. I am still working on phase 1 in my reception/yr 1 class. Following assessment I found only 1 in 16 of my new intake had any knowledge of letter sounds/recognition despite the majority having attended nursery and so decided to start at beginning of phase 1. To begin with they found the intial phases easy. However, as we progressed into aspect 3 of phase 1 they are really struggling with tuning in and lots of repetition is becoming necessary. I will not be starting phase 2 until after half term. What worried me more than anything is that Letters and Sounds activities seem to take up most of my allotted CLL focus sessions. I have four groups of children and a TA to support alongside myself. I tend to do a whole group CLL intro and then we both work with a group each day for a 15/20 minute Letters and Sounds session while the other two groups work independently on child initiated activities across all areas of learning. This leaves very little time to undertake any other literacy activities as I also do a daily math focus and cover other areas of learning throughout afternoons. I have not attended any training on implementing Letters and Sounds and so have very much been left to work it out for myself. Am I placing too much emphasis on it? There just seems to be so much to get through. Helen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 We have been using Nicky Byrne's planning for the last 4 wks and it is very good. It does have a lot to fit in the 15min session but we have adapted it to suit our situation. Plus the Apply ideas are great for small group activities. It has saved me time and enabled me to concentrate on others areas of the curriulum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_79 Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 Thats what Im really hoping will be the benefit too, Vertiyn. When I get my new class and job and January that it will give me a more manageable starting point and a format to work within. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 In reply to Helen's query ... re phonics taking all CLL allocated time, I agree. And am partly worried BUT I also feel that (please don't shoot me down ) asking children to write in a guided task, if they don't know letter sounds/shapes etc - is pretty much just a mark making exercise - valid I know - BUT if the children are getting used to the shape of the letters, identifying sounds in words - they will be able to produce more meaningful 'marks' which we/practitioners will be able to interpret without help, and we all know how children's pride in their efforts increases if they don't have to explain what they've written. I also believe children need to learn to sit and listen/enjoy stories before they start disecting texts, so my text level work is storytime, with the aim that children will engage with the stories/texts. (Wouldn't dare to print this on another site, but I know I can do here, and if you disagree [you will do so kindly] and I will listen with interest) Not sure whether OFSTED will be pleased with my lack of children's writing, but I hope to be able to argue my case. ALSO my lot are getting much better at oral blending from my segmentation ???? - we've been playing George's Gym ... and I'm please with the results. Hope it all works out well (and I can satisfy 'O' when they descend) Harricroft. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 Thanks Harricroft. What you say makes a great deal of sense and with my nerves calmed I will carry on with phase 1. Somewhere else on this site someone also reminded me that CLL is being provided for throughout the day through many of the child initiated activities such as role play, story corner, puppet show etc and so I am beginning to feel better. By the way I am really enjoying implementing the activities within Letters and Sounds. They are good fun and enjoyable for the adults too. Helen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_79 Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 I agree Harricroft, just dont forget to offer role paly writng activities and I am sure you can justify it for O. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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