As a reception teacher, you play a crucial role in laying the foundation for children's reading and writing skills. Phonics is at the heart of this journey, helping young learners decode words and develop early literacy skills.
Here we explore what reception children need to learn in phonics, outline what teachers need to know and provide 15 creative teaching ideas to make phonics fun and engaging.
What reception children need to learn in phonics
Reception-age children are at the beginning of their phonics journey. Here's what they need to learn:
- Letter-sound correspondence: Recognizing and pronouncing the sounds that individual letters and letter combinations make.
- Blending: Combining individual sounds to read whole words.
- Segmenting: Breaking words down into individual sounds for spelling.
- High-frequency words: Recognizing and reading common words that appear often in texts.
- Phoneme awareness: Developing the ability to hear and manipulate individual sounds in spoken words.
What reception teachers need to know
To effectively teach phonics, reception teachers should be familiar with:
- Systematic Synthetic Phonics (SSP): Understanding and implementing a structured approach to teaching phonics.
- Phonics phases: Familiarity with the different phases of phonics learning, particularly Phase 1 to 4 for Reception.
- Multisensory teaching: Using various sensory approaches to reinforce learning (visual, auditory, kinesthetic).
- Assessment: Regular monitoring of children's progress and adapting teaching accordingly.
- Inclusive strategies: Adapting phonics instruction for children with different learning needs.
- Engaging activities: Creating fun, interactive lessons to maintain children's interest and motivation.
- Parent involvement: Strategies to involve parents in supporting phonics learning at home.
Enhancing phonics teaching with A flying start to phonics
The A flying start to phonics teaching pack is an essential resource for reception teachers looking to elevate their phonics instruction. This comprehensive pack offers:
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By incorporating 'A flying start to phonics' into your teaching toolkit, you'll be well-equipped to provide a robust and enjoyable phonics programme for your reception class. Click here to explore 'A flying start to phonics' and give your pupils the best possible foundation for reading and writing success!
15 creative phonics teaching ideas
Here are 15 engaging ideas to make phonics learning fun and effective for reception children:
1. Sound treasure hunt. Hide objects or pictures around the classroom that begin with a specific sound. Children search for the items and sort them into sound groups. This activity reinforces letter-sound correspondence and phoneme awareness.
2. Blending race. Use the Blending with letters sets 1-5 resource to create a fun race. Divide the class into teams and have them compete to blend words correctly. This game practices blending skills in an exciting way.
3. Phonics hopscotch. Create a hopscotch grid using chalk or tape with each square containing a letter or digraph. Children hop and say the sounds as they move through the grid. This kinaesthetic activity reinforces letter-sound correspondence.
4. Sound sorting stations. Set up stations around the classroom, each representing a different sound. Use the Letters and sounds group 1 resource to create picture cards. Children move around, sorting the pictures into the correct sound stations. Browse more letters and sounds resources.
5. Phonics board games. Try the v – phonics board game or create your own. Board games are an excellent way to practice various phonics skills while having fun. Find more phonics board games.
6. Silly sentences. Encourage children to create silly sentences using words that start with the same sound. This activity promotes phoneme awareness and creativity.
7. Sound fishing. Adapt the ur - phonics fishing game for different sounds. Children 'fish' for words or pictures and sort them based on their sounds. This game practices both letter-sound correspondence and segmenting.
8. Phonics 'Simon Says'. Play a version of 'Simon Says' using phonics instructions, such as "Simon says touch something beginning with 's'." This game reinforces letter-sound correspondence and listening skills.
9. Sound detectives. Read a story and ask children to listen for words containing a specific sound. When they hear the sound, they act e.g. stand up, raise their hand. This activity develops phoneme awareness and active listening.
10. Rhyming pairs. Create a memory game using rhyming words. Children turn over cards to find rhyming pairs. This game helps develop phonological awareness. Discover more rhyming phonics activities.
11. Phonics popcorn. Use the ow - phonics popcorn game as inspiration to create similar games for other sounds. Children 'pop' words containing the target sound. This game is great for practising sound recognition and blending.
12. Phonics charades. Create cards with words or pictures representing different phonemes. Children take turns acting out the words without speaking while others guess the sound. This activity enhances phoneme awareness and encourages creative expression. Browse picture-based phonics resources.
13. Phonics twister. Create a Twister-style game with sounds instead of colours. Children place their hands and feet on the correct sounds as called out. This kinesthetic activity is perfect for active learners.
14. Sound sorting pizzas. Inspired by the ar - phonics pizza game, create pizza-themed sorting activities for various sounds. Children 'top' their pizzas with words or pictures containing the target sound.
15. Phonics read and roll. Use the ure - phonics read and roll resource as a template to create similar games for other sounds. This dice game combines reading practice with an element of chance, making it exciting for young learners.
By incorporating these creative ideas and ready-to-use phonics resources, you can create an engaging and effective phonics program for your reception class. Remember to keep lessons fun, interactive and multisensory to cater to different learning styles and maintain children's interest. With consistent practice and enthusiasm, you'll help your students build a strong foundation in phonics, setting them up for success in their reading and writing journey.
