TEACH READING & WRITING
81
TR&W
| promotion
Shouldwe teachalienwords?No, weshouldn’t!
It’sawasteof valuable time, especially for
childrenwithpoor vocabularies. But should
thePhonicsScreeningCheck includepseudo
words?Yes! They’reexcellent for assessment.
Childrenwhocan readpseudowordscan
decodewell.When theycomeacrossan
unfamiliarword, insteadof struggling towork
itout –or trying tomake it fit a familiarword
– they read it easilyandmostlyaccurately,
andthenusecontext tounderstand it. Their
vocabulary increases, they readformeaning
andtheyenjoy reading.
Incontrast, childrenwhocan’tdecode
pseudowordsmay love readingbookswith
familiarwords, butwhen they’re facedwith
unfamiliarwords in increasinglycomplex texts,
they fail. Theycan’t learn fromtheir readingand
theycertainlydon’t like reading.
Sowhat shouldteachersdo if theydon’t
want towaste time teachingalienwords, butdo
want their pupils tosucceedwith thePhonics
Check?Theanswer issimple: everyday, from
If youwould like training to help your
pupils succeedwith the Phonics Check,
and help pupils of all ages become
excellent readers, contact Teach to
Read at
thedaychildrenbegin to learn todecodewords,
ask themto reada realwordthat isunlikely
tobe in their spokenvocabulary.Makesure it
includesonly letter-soundcorrespondences
they’ve learnt. First ask themtodecode the
wordandthen tell themwhat itmeans. Nomore
aliengamesor pseudowords– just rigorous
syntheticphonics teachingbyawell-trained
teacherwithaneffectiveprogramme.
NoNonsensePhonicsbooks includewords
that are likely tobeunfamiliar tochildrenand
can’tbeguessedeasily, aswell ascolourful
photographsand interesting information
about themeaningof thewords. They’re ideal
for consolidationbefore thePhonicsCheck,
because the letter-soundcorrespondences in
thewordsmatch those inSections1and2of
theCheck. They’repopularwitholder pupils too.
Smarterphonics
Teaching pseudowords is awaste of time, but getting children to
decode real language that is alien to them is anything but...
FromNoNonsense Phonics, by ElizabethNonweiler,
published by Raintree
“Reading is unique because it’s the only
art formwhich is experiencedprivately;
music, art, dance, theatre, all those are
group experienceswe sharewith others, but
reading is intensely solitary – unless you go
toa literary festival to share thewonder of
readingwith others.”
This is the viewof Peter Florence,
director of the annual TelegraphHay
Festival. I was talkingwith himat the launch
of its free programme forWelsh schools,
part of theHayDays festival for children
which gathers some of the biggest names in
children’sfiction.
Itwas afitting conversation to have at
this event, which also celebrated the success
of this year’s partnershipbetween the
TelegraphHay Festival andReadathon, the
charity I work for. Readathon’s sponsored
reading event in schools encourages children
to readwhatever they chose – fromcomics
to classics – to raisemoney for Readathon’s
programme, which provides a regular supply
of brand newbooks and storytellers in all
of theUK’smajor children’s hospitals. In the
weeks before theHay Festival we launched
a nationwide campaign inviting all schools to
read along together by runningReadathon. As
an extra incentive, all thosewho orderedour
free resource kitwent into a prize drawtowin
a visit fromCBBCstars and authors Samand
Mark. An amazing150 schools signed up, with
41,000 children pledging to read!
This remarkable response demonstrates
that reading can indeedbe a shared
experience andonewhich schools can use to
help children embrace reading for pleasure.
During an era inwhich children and young
people sharemuch of their liveswith each
other online, it feels right to champion the very
real experience of reading both as a private
andpublicly shared activity.
Readathon isalsopartneringwith
ManchesterChildren’sBookFestival (mcbf.org.
uk, 23rdJune-4th July) andtheTelegraphBath
Children’sLiteratureFestival (bathfestivals.org.
uk/childrens-literature, 30thSeptember –9th
October). Toorder your freeReadathonkit go
to
Readathon.org/
order or call
08456061151
Whatareyoureading?
Readingcanbeasolitarypleasure, butbooksarealsosomethingwecanandshould
celebrateasawholeschool andcommunity, saysReadathonschoolsmanager
Heidi Perry
...
