Phonemic awareness

We're going to work phonics with the Phonological Awareness Package, that is divided into 9 levels.

 

• First level: Nursery Rhymes

Hearing, learning and reciting nursery rhymes can help young children toward becoming proficient readers. Not only do children experience the pleasure of words but they also develop early literacy skills. Help children develop an ear for rhyme by:

1. Telling children that the words sound the same at the end.
2. Reading aloud and reciting to children and having the children themselves recite and sing nursery rhymes and poems.

It is important to use care when selecting nursery rhymes, jingles, finger plays, and poems to use in phonemic awareness activities. 

 

 

Which word does not rhyme?

Which word has a different end sound?
Can you think of a word that rhymes with___?

• Second level: Word awareness

When speaking, children do not usually concentrate on individual words, but this is necessary when they are learning to read. In these activities children will develop an awareness of words in spoken and written sentences and understand that word order has an effect on sentence meaning. Compound words are introduced to encourage the child to look within the word for meaningful parts.

Use pictures to discuss compound words, they are words created by bringing two words together. E.g. rain bow.
Teacher holds two pictures together and children discover it can make the word rainbow. Teacher: “Say rainbow. Now say it again but don’t say “bow” Students “rain”

 

Rain (bow)	Broom (stick)	Grass (hopper)	Star (fish)
Door (step)	Moon (light)	Lip (stick)	Foot (ball)
Pig (tail)	Sun (shine)	Pan (cake)	Bus (stop)
Stop (watch)	Gold (fish)	Tea (spoon)	House (boat)
Book (case)	Eye (ball)	Paint (brush)	Sun (hat)
Ball (boy)	Back (door)	House (guest)	Fish (tank)
Bulls (eye)	Movie (star)	Hat (band)	Door (bell)
House (full)	Door (knob)	Watch (band)	Eye (lid)
Straw (broom)	Basket (full)	Spoon (full)	House (work)
Light (house)	Tug (boat)	Cup (board)	Ward (robe)

 

• Third level: Recognition & Production of Rhyme

Rhyme activities introduce children to the sound structure of words. Especially when rhyme recognition skills are not well established, the visual representation of the words provides great assistance, as the child is then free to concentrate totally on the recognition of rhyme, without straining to recall the words presented. Once the skill is firmly in place, the task may be made more difficult by presenting the words completely orally.

Body Name Game:

Begin by modelling how to rhyme. Point to parts of your body; say a rhyming word and your child should say the body part. This puts rhyming into their ears with a visual cue (pointing). If you point to your nose and say rose, they will automatically say nose. Some examples are below:

Deer – ear    Nail – pail     Go –toe     Bye – eye     Bear – hair     Peek – cheek   Sack – back     Gum – thumb    See – knee     band – hand     Feel – heel

• Fourd level: Recognition & Production of syllables

In this section children divide spoken words into syllables or ‘beats’.
Children are provided with visual representations for the syllables to make the task more concrete. They should also be encouraged to move their body, clap, tap etc., to help them find the syllables as they day the words. Later, spelling is facilitated by matching syllables found in spoken words to their written equivalents.

To count syllables in words, activities such as clapping hands, tapping the desk, or marching in place to the syllables in children’s names (Ma-ry), items in the environment (win-dow), or words from a favourite story (wish-y, wash-y), allow the child to learn through a kinaesthetic approach. Initially two syllable words should be targeted, building up to three.

 

• Fifth level: Recognition & Production of Initial sounds

Initial sound activities show children that words contain phonemes and introduces how phonemes sound and feel when spoken in isolation.
With this activity, I spy with my little eye something that starts with ... children guess the object that starts with that sound.

 

• Sixth level: Recognition & Production of Final sounds

Initial sound activities show children that words contain phonemes and introduces how phonemes sound and feel when spoken in isolation.

Beginning Middle or End?:
Requirements: blank 3 x phoneme box card and a counter for each student.
Tell students that you are going to say a list of words. All the words contains /s/. Some words have /s/ at the beginning, some in the middle and some at the end. If students hear the /s/ sound at the beginning of the word they put the counter in the first box, if they hear the /s/ sound in the middle, they put the counter in the middle box and if they hear the /s/ sound at the end of the word they place the counter in the last box.

 

• Seventh and eighth level: Blending and phonemic segmentation

Blending Phonemes to make words: a word is presented, with the individual phonemes isolated. The child needs to put the phonemes together to make the word.
Phonemic segmentation : a child is given a word and is required to isolate the individual phonemes. 

Drawing Lines on Pictures:
An example is given below of how to represent the phonemes in words by drawing lines through a picture. Many pictures can be collected from magazines or anywhere and mad into activities. Children can use counters on top of the pictures or just point as they say the word.

•  Ninth level: Phonemic manipulation

Phoneme manipulation is the ability to delete initial and final phonemes in words, to delete the first phoneme of a consonant blend as well as substitute one phoneme for another. Because sound deletion tasks require this manipulation of phonemes in words, they are considered to be more difficult than other types of phoneme awareness tasks.

Switcheroo:

Explain to the children that you will say a word. You want them to listen carefully to the phonemes in the word. You will then play switcheroo with on of the phonemes. That is you will change one sound in the word: initial, medial, final. You want them to tell you which sound was switched.

 

Curriculum guidelines

Curriculum guidelines from CristinaMartinRedondo

Different genres

Here I'll show you different charts in which are classified the different genres or text types.

 

 

• Expository

 

• Narrative

 

• Persuasive

 

• Procedural

 

• Transactional

Different types of texts for effective reading instruction

This table, designed by J. David Cooper shows the different types of texts for Reading instructions. I think it's useful to read.

Songs for routines

To work daily routines in class, especially with very young learners, it's important to be able to integrate and remember them. For this, we use songs or flashcards with the actions to do it more fun and visual, and our students will remember and perform it correctly.

For example, I'll show you a funny song with a nice rythm for tidy the class, as well as some of the flashcards we make of it.

 

 

 

 

YEAR 6: Kensuke's kingdom

 To work with this book, Kensuke's kingdom, for year 6, we will make a fun activity that will can serve as a "summary" of the story ", touring the different places where the protagonist travels.

For this, we work with an online tool called TripLine.

Tripline is an application that helps you to create animated maps and telling stories through an interactive map that moves through the various points through which we passed. You can add images, music and a brief explanation.


Here you can see an example of the map I made.

 

The true story of the three little pigs

Also, we can work this story with different worksheet to know the point of view of the characters.

 

YEAR 5: The true story of the three little pigs

 This book tells the story of the three little pigs but very changed. From this point of view and knowing the traditional story, a highly recommended activity for our students is to create a Venn diagram with two stories.

This type of visual organiser shows the similarities and differences in the intersections of two circles. Similarities are in the intersection between the circles and differences are in the parts of the circles which do not intersect.

Here I show you two types of Ven diagrams about these two stories.

 

 

 

Venn diagram in Kidspiration

YEAR 4: The owl who was afraid of the night

To work with this book, for year 4, we will use an online resource called nearpod.

It is a useful and practical educational tool with which you can create lessons via iPad and computer and share them on the same platform for students to follow the lesson and interact with performing exercises on the same tablet.

The application also lets you create quizzes, presentations, surveys ... all this material can be shared directly with students.
Once finished the exercises, teachers can see the questions for each student individually or as a class list.

A disadvantage is that every child has an iPad or PC to perform the exercises.


Our nearpod about "the owl who was afraid of the dark" is the next:

Jolly phonics song

With the jolly phonics method our children can learn the sound of the letters, that are divided into seven groups.
Each sound has one song, but all the songs have the same rhythm and are very easy to learn and repeat.
Here you can listen to a song that summarise all of these.

YEAR 3: Lazy jack

LAZY JACK

This book, for year 3, offers the possibility to work in depth with the characters. Therefore, adjectives will be one of the main activities.

With "Kidspiration" you can arrange your characters' adjectives and make a diagram to see them easier.

Here I leave a link to the diagram I made.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/chd2o0ive3qm9ob/JACK.kid?dl=0

Also, we can continue making simple sentences with the selected adjectives.

Once we understand the story, we are able to make a little analysis of the history. To make it more visual, with black cardboard, we'll make the shape of a hat. We could add a red ribbon and also write with chalk, giving a fun touch.

To finish this book, we can choose a part of the story and make a frozen scene (in groups). It's a very funny idea.
This strategy combines movements and learning.

Performance of the water cycle

Another good idea to finish the job with the book "the drop goes plop" is to perform a play about the water cycle.
In groups, each child will be a character (drop, cloud, reservoir ...). It can be performed in different ways, but one of the most simples is to make it through masks or drawings.
I think it's a form of learning in which, although children may come to memorize phrases, they're learning in a fun way. Even so, not everything is memorize because through the drawings, children will relate the different stages of the cycle.
We can also let children express themselves freely, as happens in the story, but in their own words. So we'll make sure they have understood.
When the performance has finished, we can put the masks on the wall of our class to decorate.

O-W-L chart

An O-W-L (Observations, Wonderings, Learnings) chart can help students organize their thinking around a concept. Before reading a book, helps them better engage with the text and, therefore, makes the text more meaningful.

The next pictures show an example of a O-L-W chart designed with the "drop goes plop" book.

Question flashcards

To teach our children to make questions, we can use these flashcards.

Useful connectives

Here I share a table with some connective words that I think will be very useful.

Reading in English

Main priorities when teaching your pupils to read in English:

- Focus on meaning
- Word recognition
- Making the connection between familiar sounds and written words or phrases
- Naming the letters of the alphabet
- Predicting the pronunciation of a written word


Teachers often use it as part of vocabulary teaching. When children learn to say a new word they learn to read it. You can help children with whole word recognition by using printed material as much as you can in your classroom. This can also be done with phrases.

Also, children need to learn how to recognize sounds and letters.


Young learners:

- Can learn obvious letter patterns that help with sound recognition and help them predict words, for example, shop, jam, etc. Visual clues make words and phrases easier.

- Will not need to know the formal names of the letters until they start to write and spell. Another way to help children with sounds is to let them play with the sounds as they repeat a word they are reading on a card or in their book.

Activities to help children connect sounds with letters

 1. Memory games.

 Match the letter with the correct picture. Remember the places!

 2. Initial letter games.

Write the first letter of these pictures.       

 

3. Feel the letter.
Close your eyes and find the letter “C” of cat.



4. Make an alphabet frieze with card spaces underneath for lots of extra words those children can recognize and read.

 

 Activities to help children connect sound recognition with clusters of written letters.

- Make children aware of the patterns in - Final word endings that rhyme in songs and chants
- Games and songs with a focus on beginning sounds - Displays or games that emphasize a particular sound.
- Help them focus on visual sound patterns, for example, pl cluster in plant, planet, plane, and the st cluster in star, stamp, story. - Talk about these patterns with the children - help them to see how they can use this awareness to guess words.
- Let children point to these patterns/words when you are all reading something together.
- Colour or highlight these patterns on word cards.


It’s important to help our pupils remember and pronounce new vocabulary. Using 'word reading' as part of vocabulary learning, children learn about rhythm and intonation as they learn new words and how to associate meaning and sound with the written word when they read.


Summary of the class activities:

- First sticks up pictures of the six words on the board.

- Then uses a tambourine to beat out the rhythm of the new word.

- Finally says a chant with the children using the new words they are learning.

Developing social skills

Class routines

•  Enjoy participating in a story

In this activity each child is a character of a story. First, the teacher will read the story, while the children listen attentively. Then, the roles are distributed and each child will make a different character.

In this way they will develop social skills and teamwork, and also the strengthening to understanding of history.

 

 

 

Another way to get kids involved in the story and enjoy it is interacting with them while the story is told. So, if the teacher says: the snakes are moving across the floor, children crawl by the floor imitating them. With moves, jumps, gestures, etc., children will feel into the story.

 

• Greetings and goodbyes

Say good morning, good afternoon, hello and goodbye.

How are you? Fine, thank you.

 

 To work with the different forms of greeting, as well as to ask "how are you?" and know how to answer correctly, it's very useful to employ songs. If they are attractive and catchy, the kids will learn more easily.

Muffin Songs - Hello (nursery rhyme)

 

 

 

Good Morning Song | Circle Time Song for Children

 

 

 

The Greetings Song

 

 

• Feelings

Express feelings: happy, sad, cross, angry, hungry, frightened, scared, surprised and shy.

 

In this game we will learn to differentiate and express emotions. First, the teacher shows to only one child a flashcard with an emotion, for example happy. This child has to represent that same emotion with his face or gestures, and show it to a partner. All other children will be in a line, and they will pass the emotion to the mate of the back. The last student in the line will have to identify the emotion that his partner has provided with other flashcard located in the table.

 

The first flashcard should match with the last.

 

 

• Personal hygiene and health

Understand that sweets cause tooth decay.

Healthy eating and brushing your teeth is very important for health!

 

First, we show a simple song that explains the importance of brushing your teeth every day. Later, we'll do an activity in which we qualify, in one hand the healthy food and in the other, those that cause tooth decay.

 

Song: Brush your teeth

Activity:

 

 

 

• Behaviour patterns

Promote positive behaviour patterns in the school, in the classroom and in the playground.

For a good behaviour we will use some simple and clear rules. They shall be attached by drawings that represent it and will be located at a specific site, for example, the rule: throw papers in the bin, will be placed on the wall above the bin. So children can learn and remember it more easily.

 

• Sharing and participating

To work with children the values ​​of sharing and taking turns we will use the book: "share and take turns".

 

The literature, especially in very young learners, it's very useful and effective in learning.

 

   

• Showing respect

For people:

 

Have an appreciation of people who help us in our daily lives.

With this activity we will teach the different people that live in our community and provide different services.

The goal is to match each person with their job. In this way, children can understand how others help us.

 

 

For things:

 

Take care of classroom equipment.

The activity consists of a PowerPoint presentation in which Mr. Wiggles is giving different advices about the use of books to teach children to take care materials.

 

 

 

Mr. wiggle says... from CristinaMartinRedondo

 

 

For the environment:

 

Show curiosity about the immediate environment.
To make children aware of environmental pollution, we will use a video of a few minutes in which, in addition to explaining how pollution affects to the world, gives some advices to prevent these problems.
This animation is very visual and entertaining so kids will learn while having fun.