Guest Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 I teach in Reception, I am currently thinking about revamping the way i send home words for reading for children to practice at home. All children get a word wallet in which I add words each week - I have always used words linked to our old reading scheme (and i mean OLD!!) Ginn 360 - Ben and Lad etc.! Have people changed the order they introduce word ssince the introduction of letters and sounds? How many words do your send each week, or do you wait til the children have learnt one set before sending home the next? Thanks H xoxox Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 I use OLD Ginn too. First we try to assess reading readiness skills -story telling, sequencing, predicting, matching pics, shapes, words etc then send first set of words home (Ben, Lad, Mum, Dad, look, in, is, here) for children to recognise and use to make and read sentences with their parents , and also cut and stick practise at school and ordering sentences together on smartboard etc etc. Then we add no, not, yes, then words for book 3, then book 4 and when they are confident making and reading sentences in context with these words we start with the scheme books (previously taking home 'discussion' books and library books to share with adults). We do this so their reading vocabulary gives them a few books to go at and consequently they succeed and are confident. New words added to word wallet is ongoing so they are always ready for next book. Works well, thought I should update sceme to more phonic type for letters and sounds but no money yet. We also add cvc words from Jolly phonics when appropriate, and later, HF words not in scheme. We colour code Ginn words in wallet to help parents help children - black words to be blended, red words are tricky words to learn by sight. Our reading profile was slightly improved this year even though we felt cohort were poorer. Probably teaching granny to suck eggs scenario but just to let you know there is someone else out here slaving away with Ginn - it works though! What do you do? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_9844 Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 We do the same but with Oxford Reading Tree. We send home the characters names to learn first in their wallet and also the books without the words. Then add more words each week that appear in the books and build to make sentences. I would love to find a new way that didn't involve photocopying and chopping up 4 words a week for each child and feeding them into wallets. It takes ages! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 I just use some of the tricky words plus cvc words to create my own sentences which I then make into short reading 'books' where the noun is the picture clue. This has made a huge difference to reading results, especially for boys! Takes time initially but keep on computer so can use any time! will send you a copy if you want! Jenni Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 I would really love to see your ideas carmad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 Hi I have made sets of a selection of words (2 copies of each word, approx 6 -8 words per set) from each group of letters in Letters and Sounds so the children can practise their blending skills. I encourage the parents to play matching and pairs games in the beginning and model blending until they become confident. I send some of the phrases from the end of Phase 2 and 3 home when appropriate. I also send home a set of HFW to learn once phonics is confident. Once they are getting confident giving blending a go i let them chose a Pink reading band book to go home and read (these include Ginn, New Way, Rigby Star and National Geographic books). The children really like New Way because of its phonic base and do well on Ginn Level 2 upwards again because of phonic content, they don't seem bothered by the age of the book just delight in the fact they can read them independently! Last year all the children responded really well, only one struggled to blend, others ranged from Orange Book band down to a couple on Yellow. Helen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 28, 2009 Share Posted August 28, 2009 We send home the phonemes as per Letters and Sounds and gradually make a phoneme fan and after that we send home cvc words etc as here. Parents really loved learning the phonemes in the way the children were and it helped with their attitude to reading. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_4544 Posted August 28, 2009 Share Posted August 28, 2009 Last year I started using the word cards from Phonics International once children had been taught the first set of phonemes so the children could practise blending alongside the Tricky words as they were introduced. I didn't give reading books until the children were confidently blending and because we initially use phonics reading schemes didn't need to give words relating to the schemes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 28, 2009 Share Posted August 28, 2009 I didn't send word cards home last year - we previously had done the same as H. Last year we sent home the phonemes from letters and sounds that we had been working on that week, plus some cvc words to match to pictures. Then as they became more confident and towards the end of Phase 2 we sent home an additional tricky word or two. Then as their writing ability improved I added pictures for them to write the appropriate CVC word. We didn't send home reading books home until we felt they were confidently learning the phonemes and able to blend. We then sent home Oxford Reading Tree books, but didn;t sent home word cards. Most children were OK with this. But I did have one group who I gave the Ginn books, just because the first 1st stage has far fewer words than the Oxford Reading Tree books that we have (only have one set of wordless books, and then stage 1+) Very interesting thread, it's good looking at how others are doing things and picking up ideas. Thanks, Harricroft Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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