This article provides recommendations for class teachers for students who have challenges with phonics. It primarily focuses on a primary setting; however, there is also a section on older children who still struggle.
To begin with, we explore the concept of 'overlearning', followed by the synthetic phonics approach, the importance of multi-sensory learning, as well as, some practical activities that can be performed in class.
In class is just one part of a child's journey to learning phonics. For more detail on how parents can help with phonics at home you can click here or extra one-on-one support in phonics you can click here.
Best Practice for over-learning, synthetic phonics and multi-sensory
In this section we will discuss three concepts that all educators should try and use while teaching phonics and should be considered in any phonics-based activity. The concepts are Overlearning, Synthetic Phonics and Multi-Sensory Instruction.
Overlearning
This is a teaching strategy that involves practising a skill well beyond the point of initial mastery to ensure it becomes automatic. In the context of phonics, this means practice materials include only words that use the sounds children have already been taught. This ensures that children are not confronted with unfamiliar sounds, reinforcing confidence and competence. To learn more about the logic behind overlearning you can click here.
Synthetic Phonics
This is an explicit, systematic approach to teaching reading and spelling by blending sounds to form words. The term "synthetic" refers to synthesising or combining sounds. Teaching begins with basic sounds associated with individual letters and gradually progresses to more complex patterns, including digraphs, trigraphs, and different spellings for the same sound. To learn more click here.
Multisensory Phonics Instruction
Key Activities to Support Phonics Learning (ages 7-10)
In this section, we will go through some multi-sensory games that you can go through with the students in class.
Talk Like a Robot
What It Is
This game involves breaking down words into individual sounds and saying them in a robotic voice, helping children hear and segment the sounds within words.
How to Play
Choose a word and pronounce it slowly, separating each sound (e.g., "cat" becomes /c/-/a/-/t/). Encourage the child to repeat in a robotic voice. Gradually increase the difficulty with longer words.
I hear with my little ear
What It Is
A twist on "I Spy," this game focuses on identifying sounds within words.
How to Play
Say, "I spy with my little ear something that starts with the sound /s/." The child looks around and names objects starting with the given sound, reinforcing their ability to recognise initial phonemes.
Phoneme frames
What It Is
Visual tools that help children break down words into individual sounds by using boxes to represent each phoneme.
How to Play
Write a word and draw a box for each phoneme underneath it. Ask the child to fill in each box with the corresponding sound, supporting phonemic awareness and spelling skills.
Sound butons
What It Is
Dots or marks placed under each phoneme in a word to help children identify and blend sounds.
How to Play
Write a word and place a dot or button under each letter or phoneme. The child presses the buttons as they say each sound, blending them to read the word.
Phonics in class for older learners (age 11+)
Phonics is a skill that is normally mastered by secondary school. Therefore, if a student is still struggling, we recommend receiving extra support outside of the classroom. To see some tips for older learners, you can click this link and scroll to the relevant section.