fast phonics infant i teachers guide

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s a t p i n ck e h r m d g o u l f b ai j oa ie eeor z w ng v oo oo y x ch sh th th qu oi ue er ar

QADS, Ministry of EducationBelize.

Copyright 2007


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Fast Phonics

Infant I

Teachers Guide

Published by QADS, Ministry of EducationBelize.

Copyright 2007

Fast Phonics, Infant 1 Teachers`Guide was produced to support the teaching of Language Arts in the Lower Division. Fast Phonics is part of the curriculum reform tostrengthen students reading abilities within the teaching of Language Arts in theclassroom.

This publication is to be used in collaboration with following new publications:1. Language Arts Curriculum2. Student Workbook(s)3. Reproducible Worksheets4. Fast Phonics Readers

The information contained in this document is based on information available at thetime and is subject to change. Although every reasonable effort has been made toinclude accurate information and the elimination of errors, it is possible that someremain. Your suggestions in this regard would be greatly welcomed for futurerevision and printing.

Quality Assurance and Development ServicesP.O.Box 369West Landivar, Belize City, BelizePhone: 223-1389 Fax:223-4532Email: [email protected]


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AcknowledgementsThe Ministry of Education through the Quality Assurance and Development Serviceswould like to acknowledge and thank the following persons for their dedication andexpertise in developing and testing this comprehensive support package FastPhonics for primary schools:

ProductionJohn Newport Darlene Belgrave Shannon Gillett SolisLaverne Gillett Jacqueline Sutherland Ines PaquiulDarlene Lozano Desiree Flowers Nelson Longsworth

Special Acknowledgement to the District Education Managers and CurriculumOfficers of the Ministry of Education for their dedication and continuous support.

A special thank you to the management of the Pilot Schools for their unwaveringsupport.

PilotingMaria Martinez Yesenia Tun Elma Garcia Bendicto MenjivarJesusita Carcamo Mirta Young Sheryl Distan Berrisford AwardoDolores Locario Yvonne Casamiro Maria Pook Gilgardo ArcurioDoreen Guzman Gladys Jackson Lloydia Johnson Lavern GillettVeronica Peters Moses Palmar Verna Jenkins Geogette BartleyDeborah Borland Phillipa Williams Kate Salata Odelia CalizRocio Trujillo Orvin Cunil

Desktop Publishing and Graphics John Newport Courtney GillettNelson Longsworth Claudette CardonaMartinique Santos Shalwah Berry

Printing Shalwah Berry Brittany ReynoldsCorina Augustine Karen Froyce


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Contents

Introduction ................................................................. 1 Teaching Fast Phonics .................................................... 2 Group One Letters and Sounds ........................................ 8 Group Two Letters and Sounds ...................................... 14 Group Three Letters and Sounds ................................... 19 Group Four Letters and Sounds ..................................... 23 Group Five Letters and Sounds ...................................... 28 Group Six Letters and Sounds ....................................... 32 Group Seven Letters and Sounds ................................... 36

Appendix One ............................................................. 39 Infant One Learning Outcomes.............................................................................. 39 Related to Phonics and Word Decoding................................................................... 39

Appendix Two ............................................................. 41 The Alphabet Code ............................................................................................ 41

Appendix Three .......................................................... 43 Assessment Grid................................................................................................ 43 Fast Phonics Diagnostic Assessment....................................................................... 44

Appendix Four ............................................................ 49 Tricky Words List............................................................................................... 49


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Introduction

Fast Phonics is a phonics programme that covers the first three years of primary school. The completepackage contains student workbooks and readers (Infant 1 only), and teachers guides containingteaching tips and photocopy resources, letter sets and word flashcards.

Fast Phonics concentrates on four basic skills that are taught at thesame time:1. Identifying the sounds that letters represent2. Forming the letters in writing3. Blending letters and sounds for reading4. Reading tricky, that is, irregularly spelt, words

By the end of Infant I, students should be able to: Recognize and name all the letters of the English alphabet in

upper and lower case Write all the letters of the English alphabet in upper and lower case with correct spacing and size,

using guidelines if necessary Recognize the main 42 letter-sound relationships (see next page) Blend vowels and consonants together to read two and three letter words Read words beginning with common consonant clusters such as br-, tr-, bl-, gl-, st-, sn-, and dr- Read words beginning with common end clusters such as nd, -lp, -st, -sp, and nt. Read commonly occurring irregularly spelt tricky words.

In addition, many Infant I students may be able to: Spell short consonant-vowel-consonant words correctly Read short sentences made up of regularly spelt words and common tricky words. Write short sentences in response to a picture.

In Infant, 2 Fast Phonics introduces students to variant ways of spelling long and other vowel soundsand using c and g for the /s/ and /j/ sounds. 1 In Standard I, students are taught the more unusual spellingpatterns, such as ur, -ear, -ph, wh, igh and ough.

1 When the symbols / / are used it indicates a sound. For example, /s/ indicates an ess sound.

In this book, the term 'letter-sound' is used to mean therelationship between a letter orpair of letters (grapheme) andan individual speech sound(phoneme).


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Teaching Fast PhonicsIn Fast Phonics, Infant I students learn one way of reading and writing the main forty-two sounds of English. For teaching purposes, these letters-sounds are divided into six groups. At the end of eachgroup of letters-sounds, there should be a pause to allow for consolidation. The groups are:

Group 1 s a t i p nGroup 2 c/k e h r m dGroup 3 g o u l f bGroup 4 ai j oa ie ee orGroup 5 z w ng v oo ooGroup 6 y x ch sh th thGroup 7 qu ou oi ue er ar

It is important to realize that, at this stage, students are taught one sound for each letter or lettercombination. Thus, in Infant I, g (group 3) always represents the hard g sound, as in goat. The soft g

sound, as in gel is introduced in Infant 2.

Infant I Fast Phonics Materials

The Student WorkbookThe student workbook is the main textbook for Fast Phonics. It should be used by students every day.In the workbook, 4 pages are dedicated to each letter-sound. Usually the first page introduces the soundand letter, the second page concentrates on identifying the sound in words, the third page concentrates

on linking the sound to the letter and words containing the letter, and the fourth page provides space forpenmanship practice.

In addition, at the end of each group, the workbook contains several pages of review and consolidationactivities. These should be completed before the students proceed to the next group.

The Student ReaderThe student reader provides short texts for the students to read at the end of each group. The textscontain only the letters and tricky words that the students have learnt to that point.

The Teachers GuideThe teachers guide contains support materials and also links to reproducible worksheets. Theseworksheets are designed to be used in addition to the workbook. They can be used as homework, forremediation work with students that are struggling, or as extension activities for students who aremaking rapid progress.

When Should Fast Phonics Begin?


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The Fast Phonics Programme should begin on the first day of the first term of Infant 1 or shortlythereafter. The start of the programme should not be delayed just because some students have not beento pre-school or used a pencil. Schools where the majority of the students do not understand English canstill start the programme, but much their first language may have to be used. Initial progress may beslower in these schools.

Rate of Introduction of Letter-SoundsLetter-sounds are introduced at the rate of at least two per week. Teachers should continue to introduceletter-sounds at the rate of at least two per week until the first group has been completed. The reviewand consolidation activities should then be done. When all the students can link each letter in a groupto its sound, then the next group may be started.

As a minimum, groups 1, 2 and 3 should be completed in first term. All seven groups should becompleted by the end of the first year.

Characters, Actions, Stories and JinglesEach letter is linked to a character, an action, a story and a jingle. For example, for the letter sound s,the character is Sam the Snake, the action is to weave the hand in an S shape (like a snake), and thestory is about Sam the Snake hissing and sliding in the grass. These characters, actions and storiesmake learning phonics fun and help the students learn and remember the letter-sounds efficiently. Theyalso cater to students with different learning styles.

When making the actions the students should say and repeat the sound. They should not say the letters name. When students say consonant sounds, encourage them to make the sound as short as possible,that is to say /b/ and not 'buh'.

Reading WordsIn Fast Phonics, students are taught to read words by blending the letter-sounds together.For example by blending the sounds s+ i+ t to form sit.

Some students find it easy to start reading words by blending, other have more difficulty. Some studentsentering Infant 2 may be able to recognize all the letters but may still struggle to blend. These studentswill need remedial sessions with the teacher.

In Fast Phonics, the blending of two and three letter words is introduced in the first group. At that earlystage, rapid progress through the letters should continue even if all the students can not blend.

PenmanshipStudents begin forming letters from the very beginning of the programme. By the end of Infant I theyshould be able to form, free-hand, the twenty-six letters of the English alphabet with good size, shapeand spacing. In Fast Phonics, students learn to write the tail on many letters, for example a i n . Thismakes it much easier for students to progress to writing cursive scripts.


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Some students may arrive at school for the first time with little or no experience of writing. For thesestudents, progress in forming letters is likely to be slower. They may first have to learn to trace lines,colour pictures and draw lines, slants, crosses and circles.

It is very important to check that students hold their pencils correctly. A pencil should be held between

the index and middle fingers, supported by the thumb. The grip should be light; a strong grip candamage a young childs muscular development. Natural left-handers should never be forced to writeusing their right hand.

Free Writing and SpellingStudents should be given opportunities to express themselves in writing from the beginning of theprogramme. At first, this expression may take the form of drawings or scribbles. Over time, studentsshould be encouraged to write about their drawings by adding letters or words. Initially, they mayspell these words using only one or two letters to represent the main sounds. By the end of Infant I,most students should be able to write regularly spelt three and four letter words. Many will be able towrite short sentences.

Letter BooksEach student should have an exercise book which is their letter book. When a letter has been taught, theteacher should write, or paste, the letter into their letter books. For homework, the students can copy theletter or they can draw or paste pictures that begin with it. The letter book is a good way of involvingparents in Fast Phonics.

Tricky WordsIrregularly spelt words are often known as tricky words. Some important tricky words include: I, the,he, she, was, do, you, said, two, why and their. There is a list of tricky words on page 49.Methods for teaching tricky words include: Look, copy, cover, write, say and Word Walls.

Alphabet Letter NamesMany students begin Infant I already familiar with the names of the letters. They may have learnt theseat pre-school from their parents or from their siblings. Teachers should build on this knowledge. Theletter name is a useful tool for talking about the letter. Great care should be taken to ensure thatstudents understand that the letter name and letter sound are different.

AssessmentTeachers should constantly monitor their students progress. At the end of each group, teachers should

assess if students can:1. Say the correct sound when shown a letter prompt, for example on a flash card.2. Form letters correctly while tracing dots.3. Match a letter to a picture of a word containing the appropriate sound.

If all students can say the correct letter when shown a prompt, then the class is ready to move to the next group, even if not all the students can form the letters correctly or match a letter to an appropriate

picture.


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As students progress through the Fast Phonics programme, teachers should also assess whether they canblend letters to make words, whether they can form letters freehand, and how they spell words in originalwriting.

There is an assessment chart on page 43.

Teaching Strategies and Learning ActivitiesThe following procedure can be used for introducing the letter sounds, especially during first term.During second and third term, students should be reading and writing increasingly longer texts as part of their phonics work.

Day One1. Tell a short story that includes several examples of the target sound. Thus, if the target sound is

/s/, the story could include the words 'snake', 'Sam', 'slide', 'hiss', and so on. Use the action when

telling the story and encourage the students to do it as well.2. Elicit from students what the target sound is.3. Elicit from students words from the story that contain the target sound.4. Elicit from students other words that contain the target sound.5. Introduce the jingle and, if appropriate, have the students do the action along with it.5. Introduce the letter symbol using a chart or flashcard.6. Encourage the students to say the sound as you show the letter card. They should perform the

action as they do this.7. Write some words containing the letter and read them aloud.8. Ask a student to identify the letter on an alphabet chart.9. Show the students the first page of the workbook related to that letter. Talk about the elements

on the page.10. Ask the students to complete the first activity.11. Review all letter-sounds covered so far in the programme.

Day Two1. Review the jingle and repeat it several times, with appropriate actions.2. Elicit from students the target sound. Elicit other words that begin with (or contain) the target

sound.3. Ask students to identify the target letter on the alphabet chart and in other text displayed in the

classroom.4. Play a game focussing on words with the target sound and/or letter. A popular game is "I spy

with my little I something beginning with * (insert a sound (not a letter name)5. Show a flashcard of the target letter. Demonstrate how it is written. Ask students to imitate you

using their fingers.6. Ask the students to complete the activity on the second page of the relevant section. This

activity is usually one that requires students to link pictures to the target sound. For example,students may have to colour the pictures that begin with the sound.


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7. Ask students to complete the third page of the workbook relating to the letter-sound. Thisusually involves writing the letter to complete a word.

8. Review all the letter-sounds covered so far in the programme.9. Give homework, usually completing the next page in their letter books.10. Ask students to complete the page of the workbook that has hand-writing practice.

11. For extension or remediation activities, use the appropriate worksheets in the reproduciblepackage.

Once students can blend, they can be asked to read words and sentences containing the target letter- sound. They should also be given opportunities to use the letter in their own, original, writing.

End of Group Review and ConsolidationThere is a review and consolidation period at the end of each group. This is very important and shouldnot be skipped. During this time, students review all the letters of the group and do activities in whichall the letters are used. Blending to read words can also be focused on at this time.

The following materials can be used during the review and consolidation process:- The relevant end of group pages in the student workbook;- The relevant text in the student reader;- The end of group read aloud story (see below); and- The reproducible materials from the accompanying package.

Students who are struggling should be given extra help during this time.

Fast Phonics Lesson PlanningWhen planning the Fast Phonics segment of their lessons, teachers should refer to the content standardsand learning outcomes contained in the "Belize National Standards and Curriculum Web for LanguageArts". See also Appendix One, Infant One Learning Outcomes Related to Phonics and Word Decoding,page 40.

It is recommended that there is a distinct segment of Fast Phonics teaching in every single Infant ILanguage Arts lesson. This segment should last between 20 and 30 minutes. Activities in the rest of thelesson should focus on other learning outcomes; however, there can still be a link to the Fast Phonicssegment.

Most Infant I students like teaching routines. Teachers may decide to include the following in their plans

every day: Fast Phonics Activities. The reading aloud of a story, poem or other text by the teacher. A morning circle in which students orally share experiences and ideas. Time for the students to read to themselves. Opportunities for students to write or draw using inventive spelling if necessary. Practice forming letters in writing (penmanship).


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Fast Phonics and Languages other than EnglishThe Fast Phonics materials are in Standard English. However, both teachers and students may use otherlanguages when this helps the students achieve the lessons objectives. Most of the time, teachers shoulduse Standard English when they write. Refer to the Language Policy Statement in the Belize National

Standards and Curriculum Web for Language Arts (page 3) for more details.

The start of the Fast Phonics programme should not be delayed because students do not understandEnglish. However, a slower rate of letter-sound introduction may be necessary.


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Group One Letters and SoundsGeneral CommentsGroup One can be started on the first day of school or shortly thereafter, even if the students did not goto pre-school or do not understand English. The suggested rate of progress is for each letter to becovered in two or three days of teaching. After the end of the group there must be a period of consolidation and review. There is no time set for this review. It should continue until all, or almost all,the students can link the six symbols to the appropriate sound.

It is usual to introduce each new sound and letter with a story. The Fast Phonics programme creates acharacter for each sound. Teachers should use the story starters to build a story around that characterand the action that he or she performs that makes the sound. There is also a jingle associated with eachsound. Usually the jingle can be linked to the story and the character. By using the stories, characters,actions and jingles in their lessons, teachers can make their teaching fun and cater to a variety of learning styles.

sTeaching Points: This is the first letter. It can be done on the first day orshortly afterwards. Follow the procedures outlined in the introduction tothis guide, (page 5). Some teachers may find they need three days tocomplete the activities, especially if their students have little previousexperience in writing or holding a pencil. Note that it is not necessary forall the students to be able to trace the letter before continuing to the /a/sound.Character: Sam the SnakeAction: Weave hands in an sshape, like a snake and say s s s s sWhen making the actions the students should say and repeat the sound.They should not say the letters name. The sound can be drawn out like asnake that is hissing.Story Starter: Sam the snake slides slowly, sliding in the grass. He spies asparrow. Ever so slowly, he weaves toward the sparrow and hisses.The story starters are designed as prompts for the teachers. They can use them to make up stories to introduce the sounds and letters. The stories should feature the character and the action.Jingle: Sam the snake

Sat in the sunWith soap on his scalesHaving such fun


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a

Teaching Points: This is the short /a/ sound, as in cat. Words containingthe long a sound should be used at this point. There are relatively few 3and 4 letter words that begin with the short /a/ sound, so words with theshort /a/ as a medial sound should also be introduced.Follow, or modify, the procedures outlined in the introduction to this guide,

(page 5). These procedures can be used for most sessions in first term.Note that it is likely that teachers will have to modify the writing relatedactivities to meet the needs of their particular students.Words beginning with short /a/: act, add, agony, agree, amber, anchor,and, anger, ant, axe, axle.Three letter words with medial /a/: bad, bag, ban, bat, cab, can, cap, cat,

fan, fat, gap, gas, ham, jam, lad, nap, pad, pan, pat, rag, ram, ran, rat,rap, sad, sag, sat, tan, tap, van, vat, yak, yam, zag.Character: Ann and Andy the AntsAction: Wiggle fingers an your arm as if covered in ants and say a a a a

Story Starter: Ann and Andy are army ants. They like to march andchant. They March onto Agathas arm and begin to bite. A a a saysAgatha as she tries to brush the ants off with her hand. A a aJingle: Andy and Ann the angry ants

Sat on Dans hat and began to chantWhen Dan the Man put on his pantsThey jumped on his arm and began to dance

tTeaching Points: Some students may not hear or pronounce the difference

between the /t/ and /d/ sounds. The /t/ sound is made with a puff of air.This makes it different from the /d/ sound. Students can hold their hand in front of their mouth when they make the two sounds to feel the difference.Note that the stick of the letter t is written with a curve, not straight upand down like a cross.Blending letters together to read words is introduced in the t section.Some students will pick up the concept immediately and some will not. Atthis stage, this is expected and should not be a cause for concern.Words for blending: at, an, sat.Note that as should not be used as a word for blending because the letter

s represents the /z/ sound, (it is az, not ass).Character: Tori the TurtleAction: Push head in and out like a turtle and say t t tWhen students say sound, encourage them to make it as short as possible,that is to say /t/ and not tuh. Story Starter: Tori the Turtle touched ten on the telephone. She wanted totalk to her friend, Myrtle.


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Jingle: Tory is a tiny turtleWho talks on the telephoneWith her friend Myrtle.Tory likes to talk and tease

Myrtle likes to eat tough cheese.

pTeaching Points: The /p/ sound is made with a puff of air. This makes itdifferent from the /b/ sound. Students can hold their hand in front of theirmouth when they make the two sounds to feel the difference.Words for blending: pat, tap.Character: Prince the ParrotAction: Pat your hand as if patting a pet and say p p p

Story Starter: Prince the Parrot wanted some popcorn. He popped intoPeters house to see if he could pick any up. Luckily, Peter had somepopcorn in a pot. Up jumped Prince the Parrot. He pecked the popcorn.Just then, Peter came in. He caught the Parrot by the tail. What a prettyparrot he said. I will keep him as a pet. Peter began to pat Prince. Pat,pat, pat. Prince liked being patted. P p p he said, to show that he washappy.

Jingle: Proud Peter went pat, pat, pat

On Prince the Parrots hat, hat, hat.Prince the Parrot went p, p, pOn Proud Peters piece of paper

Note that the p p p sound in the jingle is the sound /p/, not the letter p (pee).


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Teaching Points: This is the short /i/ sound, as in ink. Words with the long/i/ sound, for example ice, should not be introduced at this stage.Words for blending: it, sit, pit, sip, tipCharacter: Inky IguanaAction: Pretend to be an iguana, wriggle your fingers on your nose andsay i i iStudents say the sound /i/, not the word I.Story Outline: Inky the Iguana was out hunting for food. He saw an inchlong insect. He tried to lick. The insect jumped up and bit Inky on thenose. i i i said Inky as he wiggled his toes at the insect.Jingle: Inky was a hungry iguana

He ate ten insects and a bananaWhen inky had an itchy noseHe said i i i and waved his toes.

nTeaching Points: Students should continue to have the opportunity to readwords by blending.Words for blending: nip, pin, nap, pan.Character: Nurse NellyAction: Move finger from side to side and say n n n n no.Story Outline: Naughty Nina was not very nice. She was always doingnasty things to her neighbours. One day, Nina trod on nine nails. Sherushed to see Nurse Nelly. I will have to give you an injection, said NurseNelly. I hate injections, said Nina. I will run away. Nurse Nelly waggedher finger at Nina. No, no, no, she said. You must not run away.

Jingle: Nelly is a new nurseShe has a very big purseFull of nylons and pillsFor night time chills

And nine needles to make you feel better.

Review and Consolidation


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13The workbook contains activities to be completed at the end of each group. These are veryimportant. Students need to review what they have learnt and they must begin to work with more thanone letter at a time.

During the end-of-group review activities, teachers should assess the progress made by the students.When all the students can link the groups letters to the correct sounds, the next group can be started.There is no set time allocated for review.

The end-of-group stories allow time for the development of other language arts skills.

Group 1 Story

The Snail and the Snake

Gail the Slow Snail, and Sam the Snake, were very close friends. They were both students of

Saint Stephens School on South Street. This school was on the Southside of Belize City. Gail and Samand some other friends were hurrying to school. It was a bright sunny Saturday afternoon in September.They were going to celebrate the birthday of their Principal Mr. Parrot. Their class had planned a specialparty to celebrate this event.

The children made sure they walked on the side of the street. When they crossed the street, asad thing happened. A silly spider was speeding by on his scooter. He did not slow down. He did notobey the STOP sign. He hit Gail the Slow Snail, and scratched her shell.

Two ants, Ann and Andy were marching by in their army. They saw the accident. Andy raninside and told Mr Parrot, the Principal.

Inky the Iguana had heard a terrible noise when the spider had hit Gail the Slow Snail with hisscooter. He ran to see what the sound was. When he saw Gail with her broken shell, he quickly used

Tory the Turtles telephone to call Gails parents and give them the bad news. He also called Nurse Nellyto come and help them.Soon the sound of blaring sirens could be heard rushing to the scene. Nurse Nelly carefully put

Gail the Slow Snail into the ambulance and took her to the animal hospital nearby.Gail was in a lot of pain, and was feeling very sad. She started to cry.Nurse Nelly said, No, no, Gail, no need to cry.Just then Mr. Pig the policeman came into the room with Gails parents Stuart and Susan Snail.

Gail stopped crying and gave her parents a shy smile. The doctor gave her seven stitches and told hershe would get better very soon.


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Learning Activities for The Snail and the Snake.

Listening Comprehension Activities.

1. Read the story through once without interruptions.

2. Read the story again. After the end of each paragraph ask some literal comprehensionquestions. If students cannot answer the questions, re-read the paragraph.- What is the name of the snail?- What day is it?- Why are Gail the Slow Snail and Sam the Snake going to school on a Saturday?- What happens to Gail?- Who told Mr Parrot the Principal what had happened?- What did Inky Iguana do when he heard a terrible noise?- What did Nurse Nelly say to Gail?- Who visited Gail?- What did the doctor say?

3. Ask students what they think about the story. How did it make them feel?4. Ask students to share similar experiences.5. Ask students to draw a picture of the story.6. Ask them to write about the picture. Expect most students to write only a few letters or letter-

like shapes. These will probably not make an identifiable word.


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Group Two Letters and Sounds

General Comments

The procedures that were used for teaching Group 1 can also be used for Group 2. It is very importantthat all the letters learnt so far, and not just Group 2 letters, are reviewed every day.

Tricky words, that is ones that do not follow phonetic spelling rules can be introduced for the first timeduring the teaching of Group Two. The workbook pages contain suggested tricky words. See also page49

c/kTeaching Points: Students learn both that both c and k can beused to write the /c/ sound (as in cat). They also learn that theycan be combined, as in back. This is the first time that studentsencounter one sound being spelt in more than one way. This is animportant concept and teachers should ensure that all studentsunderstand it.It is not necessary to teach hard c/soft c rules at this stage andsoft c words, as in cell, should not be used. Students can be toldthat words can begin with c or k, but not ck. Similarly, words donot end with c, but they do end with k or ck. If the /k/ sound is inthe middle of a word, it is almost always spelt ck.Character: Clicker the Clock.Action: Move your finger around like the hands of a clock and sayk k k

Story Outline:: Clicker was an old clock. He always told the exacttime and never stopped. But one day, Clickers hands fell off!Clicker still said tick, tock, tick, tock but nobody could tell thetime. Then Prince the Parrot saw Clickers hand on the floor. Hepicked it up in his beak and flew up to Clickers clock face. Verycarefully, so that his claws did not scratch Clicker, he put the handback in place. Then, once again, Clickers hand could go roundand round.Jingle: Clicker is a clever clock

That stands all day and says tick tock.

It never stops tickingAnd never stops clickingUnless you put a key in its lock.


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h

Teaching Points: This is the /h/ sound at the beginning of wordslike hot. H rarely represents this sound in the middle of wordsunless preceded by a suffix. It never represents this sound at theend of a word.Words for blending: hat, hit, hot.

Character: Henry the HorseAction: Hold your hand in front of your mouth, pant as if you arehot and say h . . . h . . . h . .Story Outline: Henry the Happy horse won a race and got veryhot. He panted h h hJingle: Henry the Happy Horse come here!

The sun is all bright and clearHenry the horse come at a trotTongue hanging out because youre hot.

eTeaching Points: This is the short /e/ sound, as in egg. It shouldnot be confused with the long /e/ sound. Few words begin with theshort e sound, so most words used in teaching will have /e/ as themiddle sound.Words beginning with the short /e/ sound include: echo, edge, egg,elephant, elf, elk, end, ever, every, exam. At this stage, studentsare unlikely to read any of these words. Students may be able toread words like pen and ten.Character: Esther the Hen

Action: Pretend to tap Esthers egg on the side of a frying pan andsay e e eStory Outline: Esther the hen lost her egg. She was sad becauseshe had promised Mrs Elton an egg for her cake. All the animalstried to help find the egg. After a long search they found it underan elephant. As fast as she could, Esther took the egg to MrsElton who tapped it on the side of a pan e e e to crack it. Afterthe cake was finished, all the animals had a piece.Jingle: Esther the hen broke her egg

At the edge of the river bend

Elly the elephant saw the eggAnd sat down to make it mend.


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r

Teaching Points: First language Spanish speaking students maypronounce r slightly differently than Kriol speaking students. Thisdifference in pronunciation is unimportant and does not need tobe corrected.Character: Rick and his rag

Action: Pretend to be Rick, a puppy holding a rag in his mouth.Shake your head from side to side and say r r r r rStory Outline: Renita had a new puppy called Rick. Rick alwaysliked to play with a rag in the yard. When he picked up the raghe would say r r r.Jingle: The rabbit goes run, run, run

Eating raisins in a bunThe robin goes tweet, tweet, tweetRushing round with a sweet

Rick the puppy has a ragThat he waves like a flag.

mTeaching Points: Play Mick goes to market to buy a mango. Eachstudent in a circle has to remember the items Mick has alreadybought. Play the game again but say Mick can only buy thingsthat begin with the /m/ sound.Character: MickAction: Rub your tummy like Mick seeing a mango and say m mm mStory Outline: Rick goes to market and buys mangoes, melons,mackerel and mustard. He gets hungry, rubs his tummy and saysmmmJingle: One day I went to market

And met Merry Mick Monster MarkMerry Mick had some maizeAnd a piece of mango tart.m m m said Merry Mick

This tart is very yummyIm sure that in a tickIt will be in my tummy.


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Character: Dicky the DuckAction: Beat hands up and down as if playing Dickies drum andsay d d d dStory Outline: Dicky has a drum. He takes the drum with himwherever he goes and never stops playing it. Dicky plays thedrum when he eats. He plays the drum when he goes to school.The only time he stops playing the drum is when he goes to sleep.Jingle: Dicky the Duck plays the drum

By the kitchen doorD, d, d, d, dDonalds drumming annoys his MumWho cant take it any more.

Group 2 StoryOn the Farm

Mr. Mike was a farmer. He lived in the calm village of Cotton Tree in the Cayo District. At fiveoclock one hot Monday morning, Clicker the Clock, sounded his alarm to wake up the animals.

It was market day. Mr. Mike had to travel to town in his Tacoma Truck. He needed to take the fruits and vegetables to sell. The animals all ran to help load the truck with eggs, craboo, mangoes,cashews, hot peppers, cassava and rice.

Mr. Mike drove off happily. All his animals had helped him. Candy the Cow, Esther the Hen,Donald the Duck and Randy the Rooster ran ahead of the rest. Ms. Mary, the farmers wife was feedingthe other animals. She threw the corn and called their names. Henry the Horse kicked up his hoofs. Hewas very hot and hungry after all that work.

Suddenly Rocky the Rabbit came hopping into the farm yard. Esther has lost her egg! heshouted.

Oh no! said Ms. Mary. What will farmer Mike say?Immediately the animals started to search for the missing egg. Inky the Iguana and Randy the

Rooster ran down to the riverside. They looked and looked, but they did not see the egg. Donald theDuck and Candy the Cow called Henry the Horse to come and help them. Chuck the Chicken took themto check her chicken coop. There was no sign of the egg.

Esther felt so helpless. Where can my egg be? she squawked and shouted at the animals. Sheblamed all the animals. She thought they had stolen her egg.

Just then, Doris the Dove flew in from the roadside. She had seen a brokem egg shell near the forest. The animals all raced to see. There in the hot morning sun, a small baby chick was seen calling for its Mom. Peep, peep, peep, peep it said. Peep, peep, peep, peep. Esthers egg had hatched into atiny chicken.

Esther was so happy, but she was also sorry that she had behaved so rudely and shouted at heranimal friends.


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Learning Activities for On the Farm.


1. Before reading the story, ask students what they know about hens. Elicit that hens lay eggs

that hatch into chickens. Ask if any students keep chickens and get them to share what theyknow with the class.2. Read the story through once without interruptions.3. Read the story again. After the end of each paragraph ask some comprehension questions. If

students cannot answer the questions, re-read the paragraph.- What time did Clicker the Clock sound the alarm?- Why did Mr Mike go to town?- What did Esther lose?- What did the animals do when they heard that Esther had lost her egg?- What did Esther do?- Who found the egg?- What had happened to the egg?- Why was Esther sorry?

4. Ask students what they think about the story. How did it make them feel? Ask them theiropinions about Esther. Ask what words could be used to describe Esther.

5. Ask students to share an experience about when they lost something special.


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Group Three Letters and SoundsGeneral CommentsGroup Three should normally be completed before the end of first term. Many teachers will start Group4 before Christmas. During this time, students can also be introduced to new tricky words every day.By the end of Group 3, many students will be blending to read short words. It is important to checkthat students can understand the words they are sounding out.

This is a good time to focus on encouraging the students to write short words for themselves. They canadd words as captions to their own drawings.

gTeaching Points: This is the hard /g/ sound, as in goat.Character: Gabriel the GoatAction: Pretend to be a baby in a buggy and say g g g

Story Starter: Gabriel the goat finds a baby in a buggy. Thebaby says g g g. Gabriel tries to find the babys mummy. Helooks in the garden. He looks by the gate. He looks in thegarage and in the garbage. All the time, Gabriel is pushing thebaby in the buggy as the baby says g g gJingle: The girl is at the garden gate

For good food she must waitThe goat and goose are waiting tooFor the golden grapes that are only a few

oTeaching Points: This is the short /o/ sound as in hot. Very fewwords begin with the short /o/ sound. These include off, on,onto, okra (ochre), opera, offer, often, olive, otter.. ostrich,octopus and October. However, students should know manywords with /o/ as the middle sound. Many will be able to readwords like cot, hop, and hot.Character: Otto the OctopusAction: Pretend to be Otto the Octopus. Pull up your hands as

if you have touched something hot and say o o o.Story Starter: Otto the Octopus likes okra. He likes to chop inand drop it in a pot. When the okra is very hot, he picks upout of the pot and says o o o.

Jingle: Otto the Octopus likes his okra hot.


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But Olga the Otter definitely does notWhen Otto picks his okra from the boiling potHe lifts it with his fingers saying o o o o o

Note the short /o/ sound is used for this jingle.

uTeaching Points: This is the short /u/ sound, as in cup.Character: Uncle Ulrick and his UmbrellaAction: Keep one hand still. Raise the other and say u u uStory Starter: One day Uncle Ulrick went out. It began to rain.He tried to open his umbrella but it was stuck. Up, up, up, hesaid, but he couldnt get the umbrella open. I must findsomething to hide under, he saidJingle: My Uncle Ulrick had an umbrella,

He loved it very muchBut one day he was out of luckIt rained but his umbrella got stuck.

lTeaching Points: The /l/ sound is made by pressing the tongueon the roof of the mouth behind the front teeth.Character: Lizzy LizardAction:: Pretend to eat licorice, lick lips and say l l lStory Starter: Lizzy was a lazy lizard, but she loved to eatlicorice.Jingle: Lazy Lizzy wanted the licorice

She saw lying in Larrys lapLucky Larry wanted it moreSo he licked it and left through the door.


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f

Teaching Points: The shape of the letter f used in Fast Phonicshas been chosen to make the transition to cursive writingeasier.Character: Freddy the FirefighterAction: Pretend to be fishing by casting a rod and say f f f Story Starter: Freddy the firefighter helped to put out a fire.The hard work made him very hungry so he decided to go

fishing. He went to the sea front and cast his rod. f f f f f went the fishing line as it flopped into the water.Jingle: Fanny the funny fish

Got fried for Freddys dishFanny was big and fresh and fatAnd Freddy was hungry so that was that

bTeaching Points: The sounds and letters b and p are easilyconfused by young students. The /p/ sound is made with a puff of air which can be felt by holding a hand in front of themouth. When /b/ is made, no air can be felt.Character: Barry and his bright blue ballAction: Pretend to bop a balloon and say b b b

Story Starter: Barry was a big boy. He liked to play baseball.He could always be seen carrying his bat and his special blueball.Jingle: Barry the boy on the bus

Batted a balloon and made a big fussHe bumped and batted, bounced and boppedAll until the balloon got popped


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Group 3 Story

Beyond the Reef

Mr Lloyd was a fisherman who lived on the beautiful island of San Pedro in the country of

Belize. Mr. Lloyd was famous for catching a gigantic fish. One day a very strange thing happened tohim.It was early in the morning. Mr Lloyd and his friends boarded his fishing boat, the Glenda B.

They sailed out to the Barrier Reef. It was a perfect day for fishing. The sun was shining brightly, andthere was a cool breeze blowing.

As the group neared the reef, Mr. Lloyd slowed the motor and lowered the anchor to the bottomof the sea bed. The anchor hit the sea bed with a loud thud.

The fish who saw the anchor drop became very frightened. They knew they had to swim verycarefully. The older, wiser fish all hid under the big rocks.

Larry the lobster, Fanny the fish, and Brenda the barracuda, were very busy planning a party.Suddenly Brenda the Barracuda felt a great weight on her fins. She was caught in the fishermens net.

Brenda the Barracuda banged her tail against the net. She tried to bite through its ropes. Shetried to squeeze through its holes. But Brenda the Barracuda was trapped!

Mr Lloyd felt the net was heavy. We have a good catch, he said. Lets go home.Mr Lloyd started his boat. Keep the net in the water, said his friend. That way, the fish will

stay fresh.Meanwhile, Tori the Turtle saw Brenda the Barracuda being towed away in the net.

Desperately, Tori swan alongside the net and began to take little bites at the ropes. Soon the other fishsaw what Tori was doing and they all joined in.

Snip, snip, snip they went as they swam along, biting the net. Snip, snip, snip.The fish noticed that the water was getting shallow.We have to hurry, said Tori. The boat will soon reach San Pedro.Snip, snip, snip went the fish.Finally, the ropes on the net came loose. With a flick of her tail, Brenda the Barracuda swam

free!Meanwhile, Mr Lloyd and his friend reached the sandy shore of San Pedro. Mr Lloyd began

boasting about his big catch. They called the other fishermen to come to help them lift the net.What a disappointment Mr Lloyd had. When he pulled the net out of the water, all the

fishermen saw it was empty. The big fish had escaped.Out in the sea, at the barrier reef, all the fish had a big party. Meanwhile, Mr Lloyd went home

to his wife feeling very hungry.


1. Before reading the story, ask students what they know about San Pedro and the barrier reef.2. Read the story through once without interruptions.3. Orally, teach some vocabulary words that appear in the story, for example famous, gigantic,

barracuda, boarded.4. Ask the students what they remember about the story.3. Read the story again. After the end of each paragraph ask some comprehension questions. If

students cannot answer the questions, re-read the paragraph.


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- Where did Mr Lloyd live?- Why was Mr Lloyd famous?- Who got caught in the net?- How did Tori the Turtle try to rescue Brenda the Barracuda?

- Why did the animals have a party?- Why was Mr Lloyd hungry.

4. Ask students what they think about the story. How did it make them feel?5. Ask the students to draw a picture about the story. Ask them to write about their picture.

Some students may be able to write one or two short words. These will probably be written asthey sound.

Group Four Letters and Sounds

General CommentsGroup 4 introduces digraphs (two letters representing a single sound) for the long vowel sounds. This isa new concept and teachers may wish to slow down the rate of introducing new sounds until they arecertain the students have grasped it.

By this stage, some students may be able to read short sentences. Some will be able to read most of thewords of the jingles. These can be presented on a chart.

aiTeaching Points: This is the long /a/ sound, as in bait.Students should not be introduced to the a_e or ayspellings of the long /a/ sound at this time.

Ai words include: again, bail, bait, braid, brain, chain, claim,email, fail, jail, sail, laid, maid, mail, main, paid, pail, plain,raid, rail, rain, sail, snail, stain, tail, train, vain, wail, wait.Introduce the digraph using a flashcard. Explain to studentsthat sometimes two letters are used for one sound..Character: Gail the SnailAction: Cup hand over ear and say ai ai aiStory Starter: Gail the snail was a little bit deaf. Whenevershe could not hear the other animal talking to her she wouldput her hand to her ear and say ai ai aiJingle: Gail the Snail went out in the rain.

Got all wet and went home again.When she got home she began to wailThe rain had stained her lovely tail.


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j

Character: Junior the JaguarAction: Pretend to be a jaguar jumping and say j j jStory Starter: Junior the Jaguar went hunting in the jungle.He saw a juicy jackdaw and jumped.Jingle: Jolly Jack in a jeep

With a jumping Jaguar and a herd of sheep.Jimmy is juggling jelly beansDressed up in a shirt and jeans

oaTeaching Points: This is the long /o/ sound, as in coat.Students should not be introduced to the o_e spelling of the long /o/ sound at this time.Character: Toad and his toastAction: Hold your hand to your mouth in surprise and say oaoa oaStory Starter: Mister Toad had a red coat. He loved his coat

and never went anyway without it. One day he was followed by a goat. The goat began to eat Mr Toads coat.When Mr Toad saw the goat he was very surprised. He puthis hand to his mouth and said oa oa oa.Jingle: Mister Toad eats his oats

Floating on a piece of toastCatch a boat from the coastTo see this toad in his coat..


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ie

Teaching Points: This is the long /i/ sound, as in pie.However, students will probably have already encounteredlong /i/ words ending in y, for example by and my. Someteachers may wish to also introduce i_e spellings at this time.Character: Ryan and his pie.

Action: Stand to attention, salute and say ie ie.Story Starter: Ryan was a soldier in the BDF. Soldiers haveto be very neat and tidy. One day just before the bigparade, Ryan was eating a lemon pie. He dropped some pieon his tie. He tried and tried to get the tie clean but he couldnot. Then the General came. Ryan leapt up and saluted,shouting aye aye sir. The General saw the pie on Ryanstie.Jingle: Ryan liked lemon pie

Until he spilled some on his tie

He tried to get out the spotHe tried and tried but he could not.

eeTeaching Points: This is the long /e/ sound, as in tree. Thereare many other common ways of spelling the long /e/ sound,

for example ea (eat). Furthermore, students should already be familiar with the words be, he, me, and she. Under nocircumstances should these words be incorrectly written ashee, shee, etc. It is useful for students to understand that thesame sound can be written in different ways, and teachers

may want to elicit from students other long /e/ words.However, the focus at this time must be the /ee/ spelling.Character: Screechy JeepAction: Pretend to be driving. Screech to a halt and say ee eeeeStory Starter: Screechy was a very old jeep. Whenever heused his brakes he would squeal ee ee ee. Jeeves wasScreechys driver. One day he was driving when a bee flewinto the jeep and bit Jeeves. He slammed his foot on thebrakes. Ee ee ee went the brakes.

Jingle: Jeeves the driver of the jeepHad an accident, he fell asleepWhen he woke, three friends did seeScreechy Jeep in a tree.


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or

Teaching Points: This is the first r-controlled vowelintroduced to the students. The other r-controlled vowelthey encounter in Infant I is ar. The letter r modifies thepreceding vowel and is not, usually, pronounced.Character: Corkie the Stork

Action: Flap hands like the wings of a stork and say or or orStory Starter: Corkie the Stork lived in the North. His

favourite food was corn. Whenever he saw corn getting ripehe would flap his wings in excitement and say or or or.Jingle: Way up in the Belizean North

Lived Corkie the Jabiru StorkHe ate leaves with his beakBut corn with a spoon and a fork.

Group 4 Story

Deep In the Rainforest

Deep in the rainforest of Belize, the animals were very busy. Inky the Iguana, Prince the Parrot,Corkie the Jabiru Stork, Dorian the Deer and Keiri the Keskidee were holding a meeting. They had aproblem. A serious problem.

The hunters are back, said Corkie the Jabiru Stork. I have seen them myself. They have netsand guns! They have been putting down traps.

They want to catch Junior the Jaguar, Prince the Parrot said. They want his beautiful furcoat.

Soon there will be no jaguars left, said Dorian the Deer.Soon there will be no animals left at all, said Keiri the Keskidee.We need a plan, said Inky the Iguana.

All the birds of the forest agreed to act as look-outs. We can fly high in the sky, said Prince the Parrot.When we see the hunters we will scream out a warning.

One hot afternoon, while the toads were resting in the cool pools of the rainforest, Edith theEgret saw the hunters.

Ie, ie, ie, she squawked, as loud as she could.


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When the animals heard Edith screeching, they rushed off to hide. Korkie the Jabiru Stork andPrince the Parrot flew up into a big tree. Dorian the Deer hid in a cave. Inky the Iguana found a hole inthe ground.

Junior the Jaguar also heard Ediths cries. He began to run as fast as he could. Suddenly,Junior fell into a deep hole that had been covered with leaves and branches. It was the hunters trap.

Junior the Jaguar let out a big roar. He roared and roared. He roared so loudly that all theleaves in the trees began to shake.We have caught a jaguar, shouted the hunters happily. They began to run to where Junior

was caught in their trap.


1. Before reading the story, ask students what they know about the rainforest. Ask them to listanimals that live there.

2. Read the story through once without interruptions.3. Ask the students what they remember about the story.3. Read the story again. Ask some comprehension questions. If students cannot answer the

questions, re-read the paragraph.- Why did the animals hold a meeting?- Who had seen the hunters?- What did the birds agree to do?- Why did Edith the Egret squawkie ie ie ?- What did the animals do when they heard Ediths cries?- Which animal was caught in the trap.

4. Ask students what they think about the story. Ask them what they think happened next. Elicitvarious ideas.

5. Ask the students to draw a picture about the story. Ask them to write about their picture.Some students may be able to write one or two short words. These will probably be written asthey sound.


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Group Five Letters and Sounds

General Comments

Most classes should complete Group Five no later than the end of second term. By this time, moststudents should be blending to read words and short sentences. When writing words for themselves,they are likely to spell words as they sound.

zCharacter: Zelda the Zoo KeeperAction: Flap hands very fast like a bee and say z z zStory Starter: Zelda the Zoo Keeper has lost her bees.Jingle: Zelda the Zesty Zoo Keeper

Gathered a zillion bees around herTo some she gave zinniasTo others zirconiasJust to make them feel better.

wCharacter: Willy and the Water MelonAction: Pretend to hold a piece of watermelon and blow flies from it.Story Starter: Willy had a watermelon. He wanted to eat it but hisMummy whispered that he had to wait. Willy put the watermelon inhis hand and watched it. He saw a fly pitch on the watermelon.Willy wished the fly would go away but it did not, so he picked up thewatermelon and blew hard. w w wJingle: Wilda the wicked witch

Went wildly into a ditchWilly walked over to help herAnd fell into the water beside her.


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ng

Teaching Points: In words like sing and bang, the sound at the end of the word is not n+g but the single, nasal sound /ng/. This can beunderstood by paying attention to what the mouth and tongue dowhen saying sing compared to saying sin+g with the n and g asseparate sounds.

Character: Ching with the broken wing.Action: Pretend to be lifting something heavy above the head and sayng ng ng.Story Starter: Ching was a small bird, but he thought he was verystrong. He went to the eagle and said, I know I am stronger thanyou. To prove his strength Ching tried to lift a big rock over hishead. As he tried to lift it he said ng ng ng. But the rock was tooheavy and Ching broke his wing.Jingle: Cheerful Ching broke his wing

Banging into a clanging thingThe wing got put in a slingSo Ching felt strong enough to sing.

vTeaching Points: Some children may confuse /v/ and /f// When saying/v/, the air vibrates as it passes the teeth and lips. Ask students to puttheir fingers on their throats and say /v/ and /f/ alternately. Theyshould feel vibrations with /v/.Students who speak Spanish may also confuse /v/ and /b/. In English,the lips touch when saying /b/ but not when saying /v/. Tell thestudents that b is a lip-smacker sound but v is not.

Students can also learn that when the /v/ sound is at the end of aword, it is spelt -ve.Character: Violet the Vulture.Action: Pretend to be driving a van and say v v vStory Starter: Violet the Vulture was very vain. She liked to look ather reflection in glass windows. One day she was so pround of herappearance that she flew straight into the glass. She dropped to theground just behind a van driven by Velda the Vet. . .Jingle: Velda the very good vet

Saw Violet the Vulture in bed.

She put Violet in her VanAnd drove her to the vaccination man.


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oo

Teaching Points: The digraph oo has two common pronunciations,short as in book and long as in moon. The short sound isintroduced first.Words: book, cook, good, hood, hook, look, took, wood, woof Character: Brooke the CookAction: Help Brooke turn the pages of a recipe book and say look,look, look.Story Starter: Brooke was a cook in a restaurant. But her cookingwas not any good. Every day she took a book to work and looked upthings to cook.Jingle: Brooke did not know how to cook

She always had to use a bookOh how long things always tookBut her meals tasted nicer than they looked.

ooTeaching Points: This is the long oo sound, as in moon and spoon.Words: boom. boo, boot, food, hoof, hoop, hoot, moo, moon, roof,root, spoon, too, zoom, zoo.Character: Mr MaroonAction: Lift your arm high into the air as if holding a balloon.Story Starter: Mr Maroon put on his boots. He was going to the zoo.At the zoo he saw a baboon eating with a spoon. The spoon put MrMaroon in the mood for food. On the way to the food stall he boughta big balloon. The balloon was full of gas. It lifted Mr Maroon off his

feet so fast he thought he would zoom to the moon.Jingle: One day big Mister Maroon

Blew up his balloon too soonLike a baboon he actedThe string was retracted

But the balloon still flew to the moon.


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Group 5 Story

A Visit to the Zoo

Principal Parrot and the teachers of St. Stephens School told the pupils that they were going on

a trip to the Belize Zoo.Ms Vilma, the cook, made lunch for everyone. She prepared buffalo wings and fries withvegetable salad. She also made fudge, cutobrute and tableta from half green coconuts. The bus left atseven oclock and they arrived at the zoo at eight oclock.

The pupils from St. Stephens School entered the zoo. They saw a flag on top of a big pole. Itis very pretty, said a pupil. That is our national flag, said a teacher. Next they saw a toucan. What abig beak it has, said one pupil. That is our national bird, said a teacher.

All the pupils walked around the zoo. They saw April, the tapir. She is big and strong, said apupil. That is our national animal, said a teacher. A few minutes later they saw a huge tree. It wasvery tall and very wide. That is the biggest tree I have ever seen, said a pupil. It is called a mahoganytree, said a teacher. It is our national tree.

As the visiting children walked around to view the animals, the teacher told them about theimportance of the national symbols. They make us feel proud of Belize, she said.

At the end of the visit, the pupils were very happy. They had seen lots of birds and animals.They had also learnt about their national symbols. It was a great day. As they got on the bus to goback home, they could barely wait to tell their parents about everything they had seen.


1. Before reading the story, ask students what they know about the zoo. Ask them to list animalsthat live there.

2. Read the story through once without interruptions.3. Ask the students what they remember about the story.4. Read the story again. Ask:

- What is the national bird of Belize?- What is the national animal of Belize?- What is the national tree of Belize?

5. Ask students if they know about the other national symbols.6. Give the students an outline of the national flag to colour.


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Group Six Letters and SoundsGeneral Comments:By this time, students should not need the actions to link letters to sounds. However, they are still a funway of introducing new sounds.

yTeaching Points: This is the consonant, not the vowel sound. In otherwords it is the sound found at the beginning of words such as year andyeast. Many students have difficulty pronouncing this sound. It is madeby resting the tip of the tongue on the ridge of the gum below the lowerteeth.Character: YoliAction: Pretend to eat yogurt and say y y y yummyStory Starter: Yoli is a young girl who liked adventure. She decided to

visit Mount Everest with Yasser her yellow yak. She put a yogurt and ayam in Yassers pack and set off. When they were climbing MountEverest they saw a huge hairy man. It was Yousef the giant Yeti. Theyeti roared and began to chase her. Yoli yelled with fright but Yasserthe Yellow Yak said, Do not worry, he is hungry. So Yoli gave the yetiher yam and her yogurt. The yeti ate the yogurt and thought it wasyummy. Y y y yummy he said as he patted his big hairy stomach. Afterthat Yousef the Yeti showed Yasser and Yoli how to reach the top of Mount EverestJingle: Yasser the yellow yak

Had a yam in his back pack

Yousef the giant yetiHad yogurt and green spaghetti.

A yeti is a giant man-creature, like the North American Big Foot. They live in the Himalaya Mountains in South Asia.

xTeaching Points: This is the /ks/ sound, as in taxi. X is never used inEnglish to make the /ks/ sound at the beginning of a word. It should notbe confused with ecks as in X-Ray or z as in Xylophone.

Character: Twiz the OxAction: Take a picture with a camera and say x x xDuring the action the students say ks, ks, ks Story Starter: Twix the Ox was a famous photographer. He wanted totake a picture of a fox in a box. Jingle Old Mr Alex Cox

Had a lovely jack-in-the-box


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In the box there lived an oxAnd a purple giant fox.

chTeaching Points: The /ch/ sound, as in chop, should not be confused with/k/ as in Christmas, or /sh/ as in Charlotte. Play the game Charley likeschocolate but not candy. Students get a point if Charley likes asomething beginning with /ch/ but not something beginning with anothersound.Character: Charley the Chick chops the cheese.Action: Pretend to chop cheese and say ch ch ch.Story Starter: Charley the Chick was a very fussy bird. He would only

eat certain foods. He would eat chocolate but he would not eat candy.He would eat chips, but he wouldnt eat dips. He would not eat yogurtbut he loved cheese.Jingle: Chubby Charlie

Chewed some cheeseHe choked on itAnd began to wheeze.

shTeaching Points: The difference between /ch/ and /sh/ is that in making

/ch/ the flow of air is temporarily blocked by the tongue touching theroof of the mouth whereas when the /sh/ sound is made, the air flow iscontinuous and uninterrupted. /sh/ usually has the same spelling at thebeginning, middle and end of a word.Character: Shedae on the Sea ShoreAction: Move hand like a sea wave and say shhh.Story Starter: Shedae loved the sea shore. She loved to walk on thebeach and pick up shells. One day she saw a big shell. She went to theedge of the beach to polish it and shine it on her shirt. Just then a hugewave rushed to the shore. Sh sh sh. It pushed Shedae off her feet.

Jingle: Sh. . . sh. . . sh and be quietShelly and Shedae are on a sea food dietSh sh.. sh.. they are eating shell fishShrimp and lobster on a shiny dish.


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th

Teaching Points: There are two /th/ sounds. One, as in thumb, isunvoiced. meaning that there is no vocal chord vibration. The other, asin this, is voiced. When making the /th/ sound correctly, a person can

feel the tip of the tongue vibrating on the teeth.Many students will say /d/ for /th/. Both the unvoiced and voiced /th/

sounds are made with the tip of the tongue on the teeth. There is alsoan unbroken flow of air as the sound is made. The /d/ sound involvedstopping the flow of air temporarily.Unvoiced /th/ words: thirty, three, thousand, theatre, thimble, thumb,thump, third, thick, thin, think. thanks, throw, healthy, wealthy,Character: Mr ThumbAction: Put your thumbs up and say th th thStory Starter: Mr Thumb went to the theatre at three oclock. As heentered the theatre he trod on a thick thorn..Jingle: Mr Thumb is very thin

Almost like cotton thread,He had three thorns on his chin.And thirty thimbles on his head.

th Teaching Points (see above,)Voiced /th/ words: the, this, that, those, other, another, mother, brother,

father, they, them, than, thoughCharacter: Brother ClownAction Point left and right and say this and that. Story Starter: Brother Clown, his mother and father were trying tochoose some pants. I want this one and that one said Brother Clown. Iwant this one and not any other.Jingle: I have to do this

I must do thatI need money to buy a hatI need it for my lovely motherShe has a hat but wants another.


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Group 6 Story

Tour of the City and Museum

Teacher Thelma had a group of children in her class that always liked to talk about things that

took place in the past. She decided to take them out on a tour of the city to visit the museum of Belize.It was a beautiful, sunny day. The yellow bus drove up to the school. The children chattingabout what they hoped to see and learn. They were all excited and happy.

First, they started with the tour of the city.Michael said, Look, teacher, that is Holy Redeemer Church!

Yes, Michael, said Teacher Thelma as the bus headed down Albert Street, and that is St. JohnsCathedral, the oldest church in the country.

Next, they went to the Belize Museum and saw many interesting objects from the Maya period.They passed Baron Bliss lighthouse. The teacher talked about his donation of money to our

country and about his yacht the Sea King,After the tour finished, it was off to eat in a restaurant. They had grilled chicken and

vegetables, and ice-cream for dessert.On their way home, everyone was wide awake. All the children were talking excitedly about

their trip. They were eager to get home and tell their parents about their wonderful day.


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Group Seven Letters and Sounds

General Comments

This group should be completed before the end of Infant 1.

quTeaching Points: Qu is pronounced kw.Character: Queeny the Quacking DuckAction: Move fingers on hands as if to show a duck quacking. Sayqu qu qu (kw, kw, kw)Story Starter: Queeny the Quacking Duck needed help to answer aquestion in her quick quiz. She asked all the animals on the farm.The question asked, Qunatisha the Quail had a quaint quilt. Shecut it into four parts. What size was each part. Quincie the Drakeknew the answer. He began to quake with excitement. Theanswer is a qu . . . . . , he quacked. What do you think Quinciesaid?Jingle: Queenie said quack to her friend the quail

She quickly sang and wagged her tailShe questioned the quail about his quiltAnd the quiet house he had just built.

ouTeaching Points: This is the sound in out and cow. The /ow/spelling is not introduced until Infant 2 because it is easilyconfused with the sound in low.Character: Proud PouAction: Pretend your finger is a needle and prick your thumb, sayou ou ouStory Starter: Proud Pou was in his house. He had a lovely cleancouch. He sat in the couch and felt a prick. He had put his handon a needle. Ou (ow) ou ou he said.Jingle: Shout, shout, shout it out

Holler out loud! Open your mouth!Way up north and way down southProud Pou sat on a needleLying down on his couchShout, shout and shout it out.Ou ou ou ou ouch.


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oiTeaching Points: This is the sound in oil, oink and boy. With a fewrare exceptions, the sound is always spelt oy at the end of a word.It is almost always spelt /oi/ in the middle of a word unless there isa suffix like ed or ing after it.Words: boil, choice, coil, coin, foil, noise, oil, oink, soil, toil, voice.Character: Toycie with the loud voice.Action: Put hand next to mouth and shout oi oi oi stop that noise.Story Starter: Toycie had a very loud voice. Wherever she went,she made lots of noise.Jingle: After a long, hard days toil

Toycie put some water on to boilShe fried some fish in cooking oilAnd put a tamale in kitchen foil.

ue

Teaching Points: This is the long /u/ sound. Variations such as ew(flew) should not be used at this time. However, students may beaware of words like uniform and unit.Character: Clueless SueAction: Point to people around you and say ue ue ue (or you you

you) Story Starter: One day someone stole Sues pot of glue. Sue said toher friends, Who has my glue, is it you or you or you?Jingle: There was a maid named Sue

Who lost her bottle of glue.She said I wanted youTo stick on this blueAnd now I dont know what to do.

erTeaching Points: This is the sound that is usually written /er/ at theend of words like father and mixer. It is the sound technicallyknown of as a schwa.Character: Maria and her corn grinder.Action: Roll a hand over and over as using a corn grinder and sayer er er


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Story Starter: Maria had to grind some corn. First she tried ahammer but that didnt work. Then she tried a cake mixer but thatdidnt work either. Finally she tried a corn grinder. It ground thecorn perfectly. As she turned the grinders handle it went er er er.Jingle I wish the weather was cooler

And I could work slowerI wish I was much wiserAnd that people were much nicer

ar

Teaching Points: This is the second r-controlled vowel in the FastPhonics programme. The r is not usually pronounced.Character: Carter the FarmerAction: Twist your arm and say ar ar arStory Starter: Carter the Farmer drives fast in his car. One day hewas driving along and tried to get some peanuts out of a jar. Hegot is arm stuck in the jar.. Carter the Farmer stopped the car andtried to free his arm but it was stuck. He tried to twist the jarround and round. It hurt him a lot. Ar ar ar he said.Jingle: Instead of eating a chocolate bar

Or driving too fast in a carAnd trying to get nuts from a jar,It would be better to sing

Like a Belizean star.


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Appendix OneInfant One Learning Outcomes

Related to Phonics and Word Decoding

Content Standard 1: Identify and Distinguish Between Sounds1.1 Identify a series of words that begin with the same sound.1.2 Listen to rhymes and songs to begin developing a sense of rhyme.1.5 Identify and distinguish between the main 42 phonemes used in the English Language.1.6 Identify, orally, all the individual phonemes in consonant-vowel-consonant and vowel-consonant-vowel words.1.7 Blend three phonemes together to make a word.1.8 Understand the terms vowel & consonant as they relate to sounds.

Content Standard 20: Apply Phonics Knowledge20.1 Recognise and name all letters of the alphabet in upper and lower case.20.2 Recognise the most common letter-sound relationship for all the letters of the alphabet and for the digraphs ng,

ck, ch, sh, th, ai, ee, ie (pie), oa, ue, ou (ouch), ar, er, or, oi, oo (moon and look).20.3 Identify the initial sound and the corresponding letter of a spoken word, object or picture.20.4 Blend a vowel and a consonant together to read a two letter word, for example, at, it, ma, pa, in, am .20.5 Blend letters by sound to read regularly spelt Consonant-Vowel-Consonant and Vowel-Consonant-Consonant

words.20.6 Read words with initial consonant clusters, br-, tr-, bl-, gl-, st-, sn-, and dr -.20.7 Sound out most phonetically spelt one and two syllable words that contain short vowel sounds and long vowel

sounds spelt using ai, ee, ie, oa, oo, a_e, i_e.

20.8 Read words ending with the consonant clusters, -nd, -lp, -st, -nk, -sp, and -nt .20.9 Understand the terms vowel and consonant as they relate to letters and sounds.

Content Standard 21: Recognize Words by Sight21.2 Read on sight a range of familiar words, for examples, numbers one to twenty, labels, captions, names of familiar

people, days of the week, and approximately fifty high frequency words from books.

Content Standard 21: Read Aloud25.1 Read consonant-vowel-consonant and vowel-consonant-consonant words and short sentences containing these

words aloud to the teacher.25.2 Individually and in chorus, read aloud words which are used on a regular basis, e.g. numbers, days, and weather

words.

Content Standard 34: Write Stories34.1 Illustrate a sentence or short story with a picture and add a caption made up of one or two letters or short

words.


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Content Standard 40: Write Clearly and Legibly40.1 Demonstrate correct technique for holding a pencil.

40.2 Develop motor skills through colouring, tracing and scribbling.40.3 Write slants, curves and letter-like shapes free-hand.40.4 Write letters on a page from left to right and top to bottom.40.5 Form the 26 upper and lower-case letters of the alphabet and numbers by tracing dots on a page.40.6 Distinguish in writing between easily confused letters, for example b,d,p,q.40.7 Write on a line provided in a notebook.40.8 Write with correct letter size and space using guidelines.40.9 Form letters with the "tails" necessary for cursive writing.40.10 Colour an outline shape while keeping between the lines.

Content Standard 41: Spell Words Appropriately41.1 Include letter like forms or single letters when communicating through drawing.41.2 Spell words using one or two feature letters, for example, first and last letters only.


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Appendix TwoThe Alphabet Code

Spoken words are made up of individual sounds, called phonemes. The Alphabet Code is the relationship between thesesounds and the letters that represent them in writing. In English, there approximately 40-45 individual phonemes

2

, orsounds of speech. These are represented by 26 letters.

Fast Phonics concentrates on the 42 main sounds, of which 24 are consonant sounds and 18 are vowel sounds, (seeTable 1, below).

Table 1: English Phonemes.The Consonant Sounds

b as in bedd as in dog

f as in fan or graph

g as in geth as in hat j as in jamk as in cat or kitel as in laugh

m as in mann as in netp as in pig

r as in rabbits as in silk or cellt as in tapv as in vanw as in water

y as in yellowz as in zoo.sh as in sheep

ch as in chipsdj as in pleas ureng as in singth as in thisth as in thumb

The Vowel Sounds5 short vowel sounds

a as in cate as in bed

i as in fito as in hotu as in cut

5 long vowel sounds

ai as in baitee as in feet

ie as in pieoa as in boatue as in blue

8 other variant and r-controlledvowel sounds

ar as in carir as in bird

or as in fordair as in chairoo as in lookoo as in mooner as in fatherow as in owl

Letter-Sound RelationshipsOften a sound is represented by a single letter. Thus, the words cat , dog, pig and hen all have 3 sounds represented by3 letters. Similarly, in all the following words, each sound is represented by one letter: front, me, jump , and blink.

However, single sounds are also often represented by a pair of letters, called a digraph. The main consonant digraphs

are ch, sh, ng and th. Long vowels are usually represented by digraphs, as in boat , beat, cake (a_e), and pie. Variantvowel sounds are also usually represented by digraphs.

Two features of the English alphabet code make it complicated:

1. Most consonant sounds and all the vowel sounds can be written in more than one way. For example, all the following words contain the long a sound written in a different way.: cake, bait, eight, play, atheist, grey.

2 The exact number of sounds in spoken English depends on the dialect of the speaker.


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2. Most of the letters can be used to represent different sounds. For example, all these words begin with a /s/sound: sell, cell, psychic, tsunami.

Fast Phonics and the Alphabet Code

Fast Phonics divides the alphabet code into three segments.

1. The basic code, in which the 42 main sounds of English are written in one way. This is taught in Infant I.2. The main variations, that is the most common different ways of writing the main sounds. This is taught inInfant 2.

3. The complete code, which includes all the ways of writing the 42 main sounds of English. This is taught fromStandard I onwards.


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Appendix ThreeAssessment Grid

Class:Term Year

Letter Groups>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

G r o u p

1

G r o u p

2

G r o u p

3

G r o u p

4

G r o u p

5

G r o u p

6

G r o u p

7

Says the correct sound to flashcard prompt

Forms the letter correctly while tracing dots.

Matches letter to picture containing the sound.

Says the correct sound to flashcard prompt Forms the letter correctly while tracing dots.






Says the correct sound to flashcard prompt Forms the letter correctly while tracing dots.Matches letter to picture containing the sound.




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Fast Phonics Diagnostic Assessment

This assessment is designed to be conducted before the end of the second week of September. It should help the

teacher understand what the students know and can do as they begin school. However, teachers should not

wait until the test has been completed to start the Fast Phonics programme .

There are three tests in this assessment

1. Vocabulary Test2. Letter Recognition Test3. Word Recognition Test

If necessary, use the childs first language to explain the instructions for each test.

1. Vocabulary TestShow the student six common objects or pictures. Ask the child to name each one. Record whether the childresponds in English or in another language. Do not prompt the child or provide the correct answer. Substitutenames for the pictures, for example wrench instead of spanner are acceptable.

2. Letter Recognition TestEquipment: One set of six upper case letter flashcards.

One set of six lower case letter flashcards.

Place the page of upper case letters on the table in front of the child. Ask the child to name the letters. If thechild is reluctant, ask the child to point to a named letter, for example, say show me the letter A.

Repeat this process for the lower case letters.

3. Word Recognition TestShow the child the page of words. Point to each word and ask the child to read it. Record as correct any readingof the word, however hesitant. The tests are designed to be conducted by the teacher or another adult one on onewith each student.


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FAST PHONCS PRE-TEST RESULT CARD

School Name Language Used by StudentPlease tick:Entirely EnglishMostly English *Mostly another Language *Entirely another Language *

* Please specify which languages were used

Use this space for comments

Students NameStudents Register NumberStudents Age Yrs Mths Students First LanguageStudents Pre-SchoolExperience

At least one year

Summer pre-school

No pre-schoolOther

Date of Test

Test 1: Vocabulary TestTick appropriate box for each correct answer.Note that an alternative word that describes the picture, for example spanner instead of wrench, should be ticked as correct.

Objects (Write in) Rabbit House Light Wrench Star Ball Lock Tree Triangle TotalEnglishOther Language

Test 2: Letter RecognitionTick appropriate box for each correct answer

A F P J C X Total

m h s e b r Total

Test 3: Word Recognition Tick appropriate box for each correct answer. If the word is read correctly, even with much hesitation, then tick box.

me ant it I the man Total


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m hs eb r


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me antit I

the man

Fast Phonics Word Recognition Test


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Appendix FourTricky Words List

A tricky word is one that does not follow the spelling rules of the basic alphabet code introduced by Fast Phonicsin Infant 1. Tricky words are introduced a few at a time in the students workbook. It is recommended thatteachers introduce the words in the same order, since they are also used in the reader. However, they may chooseto vary the rate of introduction of these words.

In the following table, the words are arranged in columns from left to right. The words in the first column shouldbe introduced before the words in the second column, and so on. Teachers may add other tricky words from otherreading materials and from other subject areas.

Itheheshemewebewastodoareallyou

yourcomesomesaidheretheretheygonosomyoneby

likehavelivegiveonlyoldlittledownwhatwhenwhywherewho

whichanymanymorebeforeotherwerebecausewantsawputcouldshould

wouldrighttwo

fourgoesdoesmadetheir

Additional tricky words for Infant 1 include the numbers one to twenty, names of familiar people and the days of the week.


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Group 1

s a

t ip n


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Group 2 (For the letter k, see group 5)

c e

h rm d


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Group 3

g o

u l f b


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Group 4

ai j

oa ieee or


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Group 5, plus the letter k (group 2)

z w

ng voo k


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Group 6

y x

ch shth


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Group 7

qu ou

oi ueer ar


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Tricky Words

Flash Cards.


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I the h

she me w

be was t


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do are a

you your com

some said he


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60606060

there they go

no so m

one by li


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have live gi

only old litt

down what wh


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62626262

when who w

any more w

many before o


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were because w

saw put cou

right two sh


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four goes w

does their m


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Name ________________________________ (Practice Sheet for Capital Letters)


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66666666Name ________________________________ (Practice Sheet for Small Letters)


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Name ________________________________ (Practise Sheet for Combined Letters)


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68686868

ittin

patnipsatas

anttippansit

tappin

ispit

snapin

naptansnipPat

manred

dip pesthippet

matrandip

hammaprathisripset

handsandmenram

end

cathencanhat

neck

campkickmetpen

sack

deckimpdennut

fluff

losthogtuggot

stuck


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slugslab

fill egg first

bin fedelf hilllock

kissmist

pramhisstestgetpiglog fatbat

dripmiss

rockbackduckpotgas fit

stampbad

pub

gun flipland funbandbunloftrungift

rain

jogcoat jailloaf lierail

snailtree

feed

or

corksee

seedsheetstormborn

floatoaksnail


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InstructionsA stack of word cards is needed anda dice with the numbers restrictedto1, 2, and 3. (Cover 4,5,and 6)Counters are needed for each player.Each player takes turn to throw thedice and move along. If you land onpick card you try to read the word. If correct you move forward one spaceif not you move back one space. The

first person to reach finish is thewinner.

Cards


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Ministry of Education

s c/k g ai z y qu

a e o j w x ou

t h u ao ng ch oi

p r l ie v sh ue

i m f ee oo th er

n d b or oo th ar

fast phonics infant i teachers guide

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