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The Phonic-Hand System (By Jacqueline Glen) Slide 2 What Is Phonics? What is phonics? Phonics is a way of teaching children to read quickly and skillfully. They are taught how to: Recognize the sounds that different combinations of letters make, such as sh or oo and blend these sounds together from left to right to make a word. Children can then use this knowledge to words that they hear or see. This is the first important step in learning to read. (Department of Education 2013) Slide 3 Why Phonics? Research shows that when phonics is taught in a structured way - starting with the easiest sounds and progressing through to the most complex - it is the most effective way of teaching young children to read. It is particularly helpful for children aged 5-7. Almost all children who receive good teaching of phonics will learn the skills they need to tackle new words. They can then go on to read any kind of text fluently and confidently, and to read for enjoyment. (Department of Education 2013) Slide 4 Phonics Children who have been taught phonics also tend to read more accurately than those taught using other methods, such as Look and Say. This includes children who find learning to read difficult, for example those who have dyslexia. (Department of Education 2013) Slide 5 The Phonic- Hand System The Phonic - Hand is made of acrylic plastic cut into the shape of a hand. The Phonic - Hand was created as a tool to help with reading, spelling and writing and is used in much the same way as a phoneme frame. The difference, however, is that its hand design mimics the childs own hands, encouraging the child to use their own hand as a portable phoneme frame. It is an effective tool that acts as a kinesthetic prompt, encouraging children to sound out letters on their fingers. It has been used for whole class teaching by four complete year one classes 2011-2013 and helped to increase phonic and sentence awareness and consequently writing and reading levels. In 2013, 90% of two year one classes passed the government phonics test. This was in a school where 40% of the pupils were entitled to free dinners. It is used daily in literacy and phonic lessons, small groups, or as a whole class tool. Thus encouraging the children to identify the sounds to words using their hands, and also to form good sentences. Slide 6 Consolidation,Consolidation, Consolidation First stage in using the Phonic-Hand system is to consolidate the learnt alphabet, phonemes and diagraphs. (Working through the phases) (e.g. Through song/rhyme/rap/drama/games/ worksheets exercises. It is also useful to consolidate the sound with one consistent image and matching action e.g (Jolly Phonics) So that the child can use this one starter visual and action as a mental cue when the sound is heard. Slide 7 Phonic-Hand for Writing. Slide 8 How is it used? The Phonic - Hand is used much like a phoneme frame. Words are segmented into their sounds and then recorded on the fingers, capturing each sound on the relevant finger in a systematic way which when completed can then be blended back as a complete spelt word. As the children learn new phonemes and diagraphs (sounds) they will then be able to increase their spelling potential and accuracy. The Phonic - Hand can also be used to teach sentence structure, as each word can be written diagonally across the long fingers. Slide 9 Fun way to Segment Slide 10 Robot Talk (sound talk) for segmenting Slide 11 The children are taught how to speak robotically, paired with using their hands as robotic fingers. Note: A few students respond better to stretched, slow talk, using a stretchy toy to demonstrate. Doing the Robot. Slide 12 Robotic Fingers The Students are asked to say the word and then turn it into robot talk and robotic fingers- physically sticking up each finger, representing each sound, starting from the thumb. Slide 13 Record the sounds on the Phonic- Hand The students are asked to write the identified robotic sounds/letters onto the Phonic - Hand fingers, starting with the thumb. Once completed, the blended word should be written on the palm. Slide 14 Independence Children sometimes need a kinaesthetic trigger to get themselves started. Especially if they have become accustomed to being supported by us. The trigger or prompt is their own fingers. The verbal trigger could be: Ask your fingers, or Let your fingers do the talking. Slide 15 Blend the word to complete on the palm. In time the child will become proficient at visualising the letters and sounds on their own hands and write proficiently directly onto the page, thus supporting their own writing and consequently becoming more independent. Slide 16 Rhyme for Rembering to Use Fingers. Let your fingers do the talking Just like that Th-a-t Slide 17 Phonic-Hand for Reading Slide 18 Turning the Written Word into Robotic Talk. The children are taught how to identify, decode and segment the word into its individual sounds firstly, using their own robotic finger as prompts. The word parts/sounds are then recorded on the Phonic-Hand and read in pieces, robotically, and then blended back into one. Slide 19 Realization The children soon understand how to segment and will often read the word before needing to write it down on the phonic - hand. They then can use their own phonic - hand to visualise the sounds and process the word. Slide 20 Robotically segment/identify/sound out /read. Slide 21 Slide 22 Slide 23 Slide 24 Slide 25 Phonic-Hand for Sentence Recall Slide 26 Robotic Sentences The Phonic-Hand is used as a tool for writing sentences. It helps to segment the chosen sentence into a robotic sentence and therefore into its word parts. The individual words themselves are then also decoded using robotic fingers. Slide 27 Sentence Recall In time the child will become proficient at visualising each word in the sentence on each finger. When a word cannot be recalled easily, the robotic fingers can be used as kinaesthetic memory triggers. Slide 28 Finger Spaces! The spaces between the fingers cement the need for finger spaces on the written page. Slide 29 Rhyme for remembering to use fingers, full stops and capital letters.( Said as a rhyme or rap) Finger spaces And full stop Capital letters At the top Slide 30 Phonic-Hand for Tricky Words. Slide 31 Tricky words just have to be learnt. Write these all over the palm of the hand and fingers, whilst calling out the letters. Slide 32 Engaging, Disarming Games Reading, writing and trying to remember can stress, so playing games helps the child to feel safe. Slide 33 Phonic-Hand Games Throwing letters and words to be caught. Play hang man using a square or house instead. Slide 34 conclusion The Phonic-Hand is a Kinaesthetic tool that helps children to become independent readers and writers. Slide 35 The Phonic-Hand Teaching System Copyright Jacqueline Glen