Explore thedeep
connectionsbetween
spokenandwrittenEnglish
The sounds and the sightsof Englishare
connected, but the roots aredeepandcomplex.
Phonics at phase4andbeyondstarts tohint
at the complexity, and this canbea significant
hurdle formanypupils.Manyparentswill not
haveanunderstandingof howphonics relates
towrittenEnglishas theywere taught it, and
sowill find it difficult tosupport at home. Also,
many teachers lack confidence in just how
deep togo inorder tohelppupils unpick the
patterns and theexceptions to the rules that
start toappear after phase3hasfinished.
To teach thesepatterns in context requires
muchmore thana soundunderstandingof the
phonicsphases, it requires a senseenjoyment
tobehad.
Usebrilliant stories
Noone can resist awell-toldstory and
thepull ofwhat’s going tohappennext, or
tofindout if theherowill save theday; even
thoughweknoweverythingwill probably turn
out for thebest, we still want tobe sure. It’s
inourDNA. On theother hand, anyone can
resist learning takenout of its context and
put forward just for itsown sake. TheEnglish
language is incredibly rich, withadeephistory
anda verywidevocabulary. Its rhythms and
patterns havebeenpasseddown tous in
songs and rhymes and talesofwonder,
in fairy tales andsnippetsof Shakespeareand
in the language childrenuse toconvince, cajole
anddiscover.
TEACH READING & WRITING
61
to thinkonly about thepartsof theuniversewe
cannamewithCVCwords.
Taughtwell, syntheticphonics cangive
children some tools tohelp themexpress
themselves andfindoutwhat theywant to
know. Taught out of context, with littlepurpose
other than toget better at phonics andwithout
adeepunderstandingof the relationship
between spokenandwrittenEnglish, it canbe
ademotivatingexperience for childrenandset
upa lasting tensionbetweenwhat theywant
fromschool andwhat they actuallyget fromit.
Make theexperience
as richaspossible
Amulti-sensory approachmeans somuchmore
than simply usingmagnetic lettersor phonics
frames. Theworld is full of sights andsmells,
textures and tastes, andeverygreat story
or poemweaves these intoeverypage. Even
more than that, our language is fraughtwith
emotion – fear, hope, dreams, suspense. The
more childrenexperience languageand texts
throughdrama, throughplay, through touchand
feel and themovement of theirwholebody,
themore theywill haveahookonwhich to
hang their newunderstanding. Themore they
sense the languageas apart of theirmagical,
wonderful world, themore theywill see that
their newphonics knowledge canhelp them
explorewhat’s in it.
E
ver satwithablankpage in front of you,
feelinga little lost andafraid? It isn’t
whether or not youknowhowtowrite
that holds youback, it’s actually
having somethingyouwant tosay. Even the
urge towrite isn’t enoughon itsown.Many
people feel the creative call towrite, paint,
sculpt or compose, but then sit andstare
at ablank, silent spacenot knowingwhere
tostart orwhat theywant tocommunicate.
Anyonewhohas experienced this –whichmust
surelybeall of us –will havea senseof how
disheartening it is.
Asignificant part of learning to read is
having somethingyouwant tofindout anda
significant part of learning towrite is having
somethingyouwant tosay. Childrendonot cap
their thoughts andcuriositybasedon thephase
of phonics they happen toknow. Childrenare
magical, crazy learningmachines. Theyput
snails in theirmouths just tofindoutwhat
slime tastes like; theymixmilkandwashing-up
liquidandmud together tomakemagicpotions;
theywade throughmuddypuddles towatch the
ripples turn into tidal-waves. Theyexasperate
their parentswithquestions like, ‘Whatwould
happen ifmammoths got their tusks stuck in
afire-engine’s hose?’ drawn froma seemingly
bottomlesswell of curiosity. Childrenwant
to talkand readandwriteabout theendless
varietyof theworldaround themand tomake
senseof it in their ownway. Theydonotwant
MICHELLE LARBEY
creator ofStoryTimePhonics isa former LeadingEnglish teacher andLAConsultant.
In association with
PHONICS
Theworldisfullofwonder,solet’snotrestrict
children’sexperienceofittothepartsthatcanbe
namedwithCVCwords,says
MichelleLarbey...
MichelleLarbeyas thePhonicsFairy,
presentingon theTTSstand
Fortheloveof
