Sponsored by
Sound ideas that make learning fun
MPs want schools to use a reading scheme called synthetic phonics which has been a great success in Scotland. Jill Armstrong meets a teacher in Bradford who believes this is the best way to give all children an equal chance.
There's just an hour to go before home time and most four and five-year-olds could be forgiven for not giving the teacher their undivided attention at this stage of the day. But at this Bradford school they are all sitting up and taking notice. They are learning to read and loving it.
As the teacher holds up letters written on cards they are enthusiastically naming the sounds and make corresponding actions. So the letters "s h" are met with lots of "sh, sh, sh" sounds as the children put their fingers to their lips. The letters "q u" prompt the class to flap their arms and quack like ducks.
At the end of the exercise the cards all go back in the basket and the children chorus: "We know 42 sounds and we are very, very clever." Next term they will be able to write the letters they recognise and the following term they will be able to refine theirs skills. And, says their teacher, Marj Newbury, it's easy peasy lemon squeasy.
These children are learning to read using a system called Jolly Phonics which uses a combination of touch, sound and action which makes it easy for them to remember each sound. "It's the story and the sounds that drive it and above all it's fun," says Marj, who has been using this system for 11 years. "The children feel good because they are doing well."
Jolly Phonics is a version of synthetic phonics, the method used to such great success in Clackmannanshire in Scotland and where a report published earlier this year showed that children taught using the technique progressed more quickly. The basis of the phonics method – where children aged between five and eight learn the sounds of individual letters and combinations of letters before they are taught whole words – is simple and now the Commons Education and Skills Committee has recommended Ministers should take a fresh look at all teaching methods, because the number of 11-year-olds unable to read and write properly is unacceptably high.
One in five 11-year-olds across the country fails to reach the expected standard in English in national tests and the government is being urged to review its National Literacy Strategy which was first introduced in 1998.
Marj Newbury, who is foundation stage co-ordinator at Byron Primary School in Barkerend Road, Bradford, first discovered a book called The Phonics Handbook written by Sue Lloyd in 1994 while browsing around WH Smith. She was literacy co-ordinator at her previous school in Birstall at the time where they had a directory of phonic material but it wasn't very child friendly. This was different, involving the children with sounds and actions, a method which appealed to boys just as much as girls if not more so.
"I saw the potential within three weeks of using it. It had a huge impact and it gave me a real buzz , feeling the children were progressing. This is what makes you want to put more into your work."
The children soon learn to blend sounds to make words and the class I saw could easily read words such as pet, pat, tap and nip. Some could also identify slightly harder words such as green, seen and horn.
She has been particularly impressed at the way in which boys have responded to this system. Two years ago at her previous school,18 out of the 24 children in her class were boys and they were all better at literacy than the girls. She found her class "whizzed along" through the curriculum and 69 per cent of one year were a year ahead of the average reading age.
This was at an all-white, English speaking village school and now at a school in inner city Bradford, all the children in her class arrive with English as their second language. However, the results are proving to be the same and by the end of this term the majority of the children will be able to read independently.
"Some speak very little English when they come here and I'm thrilled at how well the children have done."
She is so committed to using this way of teaching that she's become something of an ambassador, spreading the word to teachers in Nigeria and India.
In this country she reckons that about half of our schools are using synthetic phonics simply because teachers have discovered the method for themselves and have found it works.
Not everybody shares her evangelical approach but now that synthetic phonics is finally receiving official recognition this is one teacher who is convinced that this is the way to give every child the best chance as they start out in life. Back in the classroom it's nearly time to go home and everybody is feeling very pleased with themselves.
"We know 42 sounds and we are very, very clever."
jill.armstrong@ypn.co.uk
As easy as ABC? The Jolly Phonics alphabet
a Wiggle fingers above elbow as if ants crawling on you and say a, a, a.
b Pretend to hit a ball with a bat and say b, b, b.
c k Raise hands and snap fingers as if playing castanets and say ck, ck, ck.
d Beat hands up and down as if playing a drum and say d, d, d.
e Pretend to tap an egg on the side of a pan and crack it into the pan, saying eh, eh, eh.
f Let hands gently come together as if toy fish deflating, and say f f f f f f.
g Spiral hand down, as if water going down the drain, and say g, g, g.
h Hold hand in front of mouth panting as if you are out of breath and say h, h, h.
i Pretend to be a mouse by wriggling fingers at end of nose and squeak i, i, i.
j Pretend to wobble on a plate and say j, j, j.
k see c
l Pretend to lick a lollipop and say l l l l l l.
m Rub tummy as if seeing tasty food and say mmmmmm.
n Make a noise, as if you are a plane – hold arms out and say nnnnnn.
o Pretend to turn light switch on and off and say o, o; o, o
p Pretend to puff out candles and say p, p, p.
qu Make a duck's beak with your hands and say qu, qu, qu.
r Pretend to be a puppy holding a piece of rag, shaking head from side to side, and say rrrrrr.
s Weave hand in an s shape, like a snake, and say ssssss
t Turn head from side to side as if watching tennis and say t, t, t.
u Pretend to be putting up an umbrella and say u, u, u.
v Pretend to be holding the steering wheel of a van and say vvvvvv.
w Blow on to open hand, as if you are the wind, and say wh, wh, wh.
x Pretend to take an X-ray of someone with an x-ray gun and say ks, ks, ks.
y Pretend to be eating a yogurt and say y, y, y.
z Put arms out at sides and pretend to be a bee, saying zzzzzz.
Other sounds
ai Cup hand over ear and say ai, ai, ai.
oa Bring hand over mouth as if you have done something wrong and say oh!
ie Stand to attention and salute, saying ie ie.
ee or Put hands on head as if ears on a donkey and say eeyore, eeyore.
ng Imagine you are a weightlifter, and pretend to lift a heavy weight above your head, saying ng...
oo oo Move head back and forth as if it is the cuckoo in a cuckoo clock, saying u, oo; u, oo. (Little and long oo.)
ch Move arms at sides as if you are a train and say ch, ch, ch.
sh Place index finger over lips and say shshsh.
th th Pretend to be naughty clowns and stick out tongue a little for the th, and further for the th sound (this and thumb).
ou Pretend your finger is a needle and prick thumb saying ou, ou, ou.
oi Cup hands around mouth and shout to another boat saying oi! ship ahoy!
ue Point to people around you and say you, you, you.
er Roll hands over each other like a mixer and say ererer.
ar Open mouth wide and say ah. Flap hands as if a seal,
Email to a friend
Print this page- Three-inch blanket of snow heading our way today
- Alan Shearer in list of favourites for Leeds and England jobs: Latest odds
- Barnsley’s Keith Hill invokes Fawlty Towers over link with Leeds job
- McCormack feels United search can be narrowed down
- Redfearn throws down gauntlet as queue builds at Elland Road
- Rival chips in with £500,000 to restore the original Harry Ramsden’s
- Visit from Princess as Serbian culture celebrated
- SportsTalk: Leeds United’s manager search, Super League and Calcutta Cup
- Libraries aren’t like supermarkets, they are magical places where dreams begin
- Strategic review will lead to job losses at Yorkshire Bank
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Yorkshire
Saturday 11 February 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: -1 C to 1 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: South east
Tomorrow
Light rain
Temperature: 1 C to 6 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: North west
