Integrating Synthetic Phonics

and EFLTeaching sound-spelling relationships to improve our students’ pronunciation and literacy skills

Karen Elliott

Sounds and language

splash cluck tap tap crunch drip beep tick tock boom knock moo pop oink

Pictures, symbols and phonemes

b c / k d f g h

batrabbit

catkick

dogdaddy

fishpuff

elephant

golfdog

bigger

hat

j l m n p r

jamgiraffeorangebridge

legsilly

mapmummy

netsunnyknow

pighappy

rockhurrywrite

s t v w x y z

sundresshorsecircle

topkitty

van windwhen

box yes zoobuzz

cheeselegs

ch sh th / th qu ng

chipswitch

shipchef

that / three queenkingthink

The English Alphabetic Code with some alternative spellings: consonantsGraphemes: one letter = one sound. Digraphs: two letters = one sound

a e i o u

ant egg in on up

ai ee ie oa ue oi

raindaylake

seeeat

scenefunny

piemy

lightmine

boatyellowhome

cuenewcube

oilboy

ou oo / oo ar or er

housebrown

look / moon blue rule

park shorttalk

awfulautumn

herbird

nursesister

The English Alphabetic Code with some alternative spellings : vowelsGraphemes: one letter = one sound; digraphs: two letters = one sound

Blending and segmenting

• Blending is putting the letter sounds together in order to read words

• Segmenting is separating the letter sounds out in order to write words

• r – e – d• gr – ee – n• bl – a – ck

Tricky words...• Don’t follow the sound-

spelling patterns of the Alphabetic code

• Are usually still semi-decodable

• Can be learned through words that rhyme or have the same sound

• Are taught progressively

• A, the, I• We, he, she, me, be• You, to, do, two• Go, so, piano• One, done, come, some

Pronunciation: consonant pairs

Vic sells fans from the back of his van.• f / v

Snakes hiss and bees buzz.

• s / z

Pronunciation: key vowel phonemes

Short vowel sounds • a (fan) / u (fun)

Short / long vowel sounds• i / ee (sit – seat)• o / oa (got – goat)

Other important vowel sounds

• or (for, saw, walk)• er (person, circle,

purple, learn, word)• er /ǝ/ (computer)

Pronunciation: vowel sounds

• rain• cheese• tied• road• blues• noise• noun• fern

• boys• plane• news• code• town• please• turn• ride

Green words Go!

bag pen rubber

bb is the same as b

Yellow wordsCheck

pencil crayon pencil case file

Sometimes c has the s sounday has the ai sound: daya_e has the same sound as ai (train, rain)i_e is the ie sound: it’s a split digraph

Red wordsStop!

notebook ruler sharpener

note rhymes with boat and book rhymes with lookThe u in ruler is long /’rooler/; it comes from rule (u_e is a split digraph)sharpener is an easy word but it’s long! It has two short er sounds /ǝ/.

Topic: Classroom objects. The green words below are easy to read. You need to learn some basic spelling rules to read the yellow words. There are no tricky words in this list, but you need a bit more information to read the red words.

Some websites VideosPhonics at Brookland’s Schoolhttp://vimeo.com/4845390Phonics without tearshttp://www.tes.co.uk/teaching-resource/

Teachers-TV-Phonics-without-Tears-6044429/

http://jollylearning.co.uk/

http://www.communication4all.co.uk/http/PhonicsWeb.htm

http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storyCode=6012398

http://www.letters-and-sounds.com/

http://www.starfall.com/

http://www.sparklebox.co.uk/literacy/#.T0UWpHm4KSo

http://www.didax.com/newsletter/archive.cfm/NewsletterID/24.cfm#123

Good literacy skills give access to rest of the curriculum