By Tami Reis-Frankfort  Tami Reis-Frankfort began teaching in a public school in London, UK and later worked as a support teacher of English Language Learners. She trained in Specific Learning Difficulties (Dyslexia) and for the first time discovered Structured Literacy. This was followed by training in Phono-Graphix and Sounds-Write, both Linguistic Phonics Programs. Tami began to tutor at a Dyslexia Center and there she found she did not have suitable decodable reading materials for her students. In 2004, together with two colleagues, Wendy Tweedie and Clair Baker, she founded Phonics B ..read more

A Stanford University study on The Achievement Effects of Scaling Early Literacy Reforms  gives high marks to phonics-based reading instruction following research of test scores in 66 of the lowest-performing schools in California. These schools outpaced similar schools after educators adopted a phonics-based instruction. This study offers compelling evidence that Science of Reading methods for reading instruction are effective. In the Science of Reading approach, students are taught to read using phonics, build vocabulary, pronounce words, and read aloud as well as develop comprehension ..read more

In our ‘how to…’ series we are going to delve into all things phonics instruction and give you our expert advice on developing confident readers. *** Did you know that the schwa is the most common sound in the English language? This is because there is a schwa sound in most multisyllabic words. Additionally, did you know that the schwa can be pronounced in more than one way? What is a schwa sound? In most English accents, multisyllabic words are pronounced with at least one stressed syllable. A schwa sound is a “weak” or “lazy” vowel sound in an unstressed syllable. For example, take the word ..read more

Print or email our letter to help parents or caregivers guide children through their literacy journey. The post Letter to parents or caregivers appeared first on Phonic Books ..read more

This is a testimonial by Ann Sullivan. Ann has over 30 years’ experience in mainstream and specialist education. Based in the UK, her career includes roles as a KS1 and KS2 class teacher, SEN secondary literacy teacher, school-based Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO), an advisory teacher for pupils with special educational needs and a Specialist Leader in Education (SLE). Ann is now a literacy consultant, trainer, writer and creator of the Phonics for SEN programme. *** One thing that all teachers agree on is how important it is to get children reading. Our aim is to build lifelong ..read more

In our ‘how to…’ series we are going to delve into all things phonics instruction and give you our expert advice on developing confident readers. *** One of the difficult aspects of the English Alphabetic Code is that sounds (phonemes) can be spelled in different ways. For example, the sound /ae/ can be spelled ‘ai’ (rain), ‘ay’ (day), ‘a–e’ (came), ‘ea’ (great), and ‘a’ (baby), and these are only the common spellings! As students learn more and more of the code, we want them to build a mental framework that incorporates this concept of multiple spellings. We want our students to understand th ..read more

In our ‘how to…’ series we are going to delve into all things phonics instruction and give you our expert advice on developing confident readers. *** Heart words is another term for common words with tricky spellings, or high-frequency words with “irregular” spellings. The term “irregular” is a bit misleading because while beginner readers might find these words tricky to read, as they learn to decode, the words become decodable and therefore no longer “irregular.” These high-frequency words appear in the simplest of sentences, so we need a logical way to teach them. In the past we may have ex ..read more

In our ‘how to…’ series we are going to delve into all things phonics instruction and give you our expert advice on developing confident readers. *** Decodable books often include target words that students may not know. There are many reasons why students may not know words in a text:  The word may be unusual. The students may have limited language as English language learners. The students may have a language disability. The students may have had limited opportunities to read books at home.   Learning new vocabulary is beneficial for all students. It helps them develop their ..read more

In our ‘how to…’ series we are going to delve into all things phonics instruction and give you our expert advice on developing confident readers. *** Dictation is a great way to consolidate the bonds between reading and spelling. It is a controlled exercise where students can succeed because the teacher includes words with spellings the students have already learned. Unlike a story writing activity where the students will attempt to spell words they may not be able to encode yet, dictation provides a “safe” activity where all students can succeed. Dictation can be done at word level or sentenc ..read more

In our ‘how to…’ series we are going to delve into all things phonics instruction and give you our expert advice on developing confident readers. *** One of the most important elements of learning is receiving error feedback (How We Learn, Dahaene). With every error feedback, the student can adjust their knowledge or skill and can fine-tune them and make their reading increasingly accurate. Making and correcting errors is a great learning opportunity! Reading with our students is a fantastic opportunity for error feedback. But before we can address the error, we need to know what kind of error ..read more