KSSR ENG YEAR 1 TEACHING PHONICS 3

UNIT 3 LET'S BE FRIENDS
Phonemes: /s æ t p/
Graphemes: s a t p
Words: sat, pat, tap, at, sap, ap, *as
(Bold- words taught in the textbook. The rest are other words including 'nonsense words'.
'as' - the 's' in 'as' is /z/ but you can introduce the word in this unit. Just model the correct pronunciation for 'as'.)

LESSON 1
Phoneme:/s æ t p/
Graphemes: s a t p
Content
Standard: 2.1
Learning
Standard: 2.1.2a, 2.1.3
Teaching Aids: Sound card 's'(3), a(3), t(3), p(3); pocket chart; chalk or masking tape
Time: 30 minutes
Activity:
1. Revise phonemes /s æ t p/. Flash sound cards and sing Association Action Song.
2. Do oral blending for words sat, tap, pat.
2. Show Sound Card Blending for words sat, tap, pat.
3. Play Blending Game Kangaroo Hop, Textbook pg 11.
4. Show Sound Card Blending again.

Reflection:

LESSON 2
Phoneme:/s æ t p/
Graphemes: s a t p
Content
Standard: 2.1
Learning
Standard: 2.1.2a, 2.1.3, 3.1.2a
Teaching Aids: Sound card 's'(3), a(3), t(3), p(3); pocket chart; chalk or tape.
Time: 30 minutes
Activity:
1. Revise blending.
2. Do Hands-on Look & Build and Listen and Build.
3. Do writing activites:

• AB pg 9.
• Dictation

Reflection:

LESSON 3
Phoneme:/s æ t p/
Graphemes: s a t p
Content
Standard: 2.1
Learning
Standard: 2.1.2a, 2.1.3
Teaching Aids: Sound cards s, a, t, p; pocket chart; Chant Poster(Textbook pg 11)
Time: 30 minutes
Activity:
1. Revise blending.
2. Teach the chant(decodable reading text) in Textbook pg 11.
3. Stick Chant Poster on the board. Let pupils use musical instruments as they chant.

Reflection:

LESSON 4
Phoneme:/s æ t p/
Graphemes: s a t p
Content
Standard: 2.1
Learning
Standard: 2.1.2a, 2.1.3, 3.1.2a
Teaching Aids: Sound cards s, a, t, p; pocket chart; Chant Poster(Textbook pg 11)
Time: 30 minutes
Activity:
1. Revise blending.
2. Do dictation/spelling test.
3. Do manipulation.

Reflection:

POINTS TO PONDER:
BLENDING: Pupils are taught to read by blending the individual sounds. This is the first time they are taught blending. It's crucial for teachers to show the blending steps clearly and smoothly(and also quickly), many times. In my personal experience with 6 year olds, a majority of them are able to grasp this blending concept after couple of weeks(They have reading lesson everyday).

For slow learners, we do Hands-On Blending(Look & Build, Listen & Build) for remedial, on one-on-one basis, the better. Hands-On Blending is one powerful tool. I haven't got the chance to put a video clip. Do join my Readeasy Intensive course to have an hands-on experience.

SEGMENTING: Pupils are taught to spell by segmenting. It can be oral or written. For new Phonics teachers, do bear in mind that the pupils will spell by saying the SOUNDS not the letter names.
Spelling is harder than reading because there are no visual clues. A pupil has to think in his/her mind what are the sounds in a word and then transcribe each sound. It gets tougher when s/he learns there are more than one spelling(grapheme) for a sound( Unit 10, phoneme /k/ can be represented by grapheme c, k or ck).

So do a lot of oral spelling with your pupils. Play Phonics Spell-It-Right. Do spelling tests(during my days in primary school, we have spelling test all the time). Reward your best spellers, weekly, monthly, in class and also in school assemblies.

MANIPULATION:
STEP 1: Teacher shows manipulation by

• adding a new sound t ... at
  
• deleting a sound at ... a
  
• substituting a sound cat ... cot
• reversing sounds cat ... tac

STEP 2: The pupil manipulates the letters according to teacher's instructions. Give each pupil only the sound cards they will need for the sequence.

Suggested manipulation sequence for sounds represented by s a t p:
a - as - ap - at - sat - pat - tap - ap - sap

This manipultaion exercise is very powerful because you are training your pupils to read any possible sound combinations.

KSSR ENG YEAR 1 TEACHING PHONICS 2

UNIT 2 ALL ABOUT ME

Phonemes: /s æ t p/
Graphemes: s a t p

Note: Pupils are NOT taught to read yet in this unit.

LESSON 1(Introducing A Sound)
Phoneme: /s/
Grapheme: s
Content
Standard: 2.1
Learning
Standard: 2.1.1, 2.1.2a, 3.1.1a, 3.1.2a,b
Teaching Aids: Sound card 's', Cory Cat Phonics Song
Time: 30 minutes
Activity:
1. Teacher introduces /s/. Watch my mouth.
(Position your mouth, teeth, tongue for phoneme /s/. DO NOT say the sound yet. Make sure all your pupils can see your mouth.)

2. Teacher says /s/ 5 times with pauses in between.

3. Teacher asks 'What sound did you hear?'

4. Practice saying /s/ , class, group, individual.

5. Sing Association Action Song(from Cory cat Phonics Song), Sammy Snake s s s(weave your hand in an 's' shape, like a snake ).

6. Introduce grapheme 's' for /s/. 'This is /s/. What sound is this? Say /s/ 5 times with me(class, group, individual).'

7. Do writing activities(model the correct way of writing the grapheme):

• touch sandpaper letter
• form 's' with modelling clay(Textbook pg 8)
  
• copy, write 's' (AB pg 6; intergrate ICT, use Microsoftword. Let pupils choose font, colour it and print.)

(Ask 'What are you doing?' as pupils do the writing activity. Train them to say the sound not the letter name. Use the term 'sound' when teaching phonics NOT 'letter'.)



REFLECTION:
95% of the pupils are able to say 's'. Zaid and Jugah have lisping problem. Everybody enjoyed singing Sammy Snake( He he). Everybody can write 's' except Zaid, Aina and Aiman(letter reversal).

MY SUGGESTIONS:
Above are the basic teaching steps when introducing a sound.

• Follow the same steps for sounds /æ t p/.
• Teach the sounds over a period of 1 week, preferably everyday. If not 3x/week, alternate days. Play games once you have introduced more than 1 sound(Textbook pg 7, Jumping Frog).
• Revise sounds taught before each lesson.
• DO NOT introduce letter names.

LESSON 2(Introducing picture names)
Phoneme: /s /
Grapheme: s
Content
Standard: 2.1
Learning
Standard: 2.1.1, 2.1.2a,
Teaching Aids: Sound card 's'(2); Picture cards or objects beginning with /s/ - sun, seal, snail, socks, spider(from CD Koleksi Grafik bacalah Anakku & Readeasy if you are lazy to draw on your own)
Time: 30 minutes

Activity:
1. Teacher revises the sound taught. Show sound card 's'.
Sing Sammy Snake s s s(with action please).

2. Stick the 's' card on the board.

3. Teacher introduces pictures with initial sound /s/. Show the first picture, sun. Ask 'What is this?(sun). Say 'sun'. Can you hear /s/(show sound card 's')when I say 'sun'?(show picture)
Encourage pupils to repeat '/s/ as in 'sun'(exaggerate the /s/ sound in the word 'sun').

4. Put the picture on the board below the sound card 's'.

5. Repeat Step 3 for othe pictures.

6. Play Musical Pictures. Sit in a circle. Put all the picture cards in a box. Teacher plays the music and the pupils pass the box. When the music stops, the pupil with the box will pick a card and name it. Teach the pupils to say '/S/ as in (spider)' after naming the picture.

REFLECTION:

MY SUGGESTIONS:
Above are the basic teaching steps when introducing picture names.

• Follow the same steps for sounds /æ t p/.
• for enrichment, make a Sound Poster(refer my link Teaching Phonics, Phonics Poster) for each sound taught(group/class project. Stick it/them around the classroom.
• Go slow when teaching sounds for the first few weeks. Personally I do not advise you to teach all 4 sounds in one lesson in the early stages of teaching reading.
• Play Jumping frog after introducing all the 4 sounds at the end of Week 1. Refer Textbook pg 7. For enrichment, I prefer pupils to say "Hello I am /p/. /P/ as in pencil." as he stands on grapheme 'p'.

The above teaching steps may look elaborate but once you get the hang of it, teaching phonics will be a breeze. Do have fun when you teach!

Learning To Read = Learning To Drive

I can still remember waiting for my driving instructor everyday, eagerly, during the school hols after my SPM.(1980). I can still remember I had to learn from A to Z about driving - from holding (& also turning) the steering; to putting the car into first gear and letting the clutch pedal go slowly while pressing down the gas pedal(Ayo don't ask me how many times my car mati at roundabouts :p). I practised all these small steps everyday. And when I got my license, I told my passengers NOT to talk to me while I'm driving. It took me many many years to become an expert driver. Now I can talk nonstop while driving. I can also eat kuaci while driving. BUT I don't talk on the phone while driving(ehem).

It's the same thing with reading. Like driving, reading is a complex skill. It has to be taught from the bottom up, from the simple parts to the complex whole. In order for a person to become an expert reader, a good speller and writer, s/he has to be 'good' at it. In order to be 'good', s/he has to be competent. Competency stems from practice(repetition). Children have to practice reading, spelling, writing everyday to obtain mastery.

So my advice to Year 1 English teachers to teach phonics everyday. Please DON'T teach reading once a week. If you do so, then your pupils will be facing READING FAILURE!
Bear in mind, whether a child becomes an expert reader depends upon:

• the teaching method(synthetic phonics , please)
  
• the teacher's skill in teaching(hope BPK has trained you well)
  
• parental support(definitely not in rural areas)
  
• the child's motivation and talent
• the number of lessons & hours of practice

Readeasy Phonics has been successful at preschool level, especially, for the past 10 years because we

• use synthetic phonics.
• train our teachers thoroughly in reading instruction.
  
• teach reading(blending, segmenting) everyday for half an hour.

Never forget that the teacher of a young child is the custodian of that child's destiny...

Reading & Writing Station

Since using phonics is something new in primary schools in Malaysia, I would like to suggest a Reading & Writing Station in Year 1 classrooms.

You will need:
1. Sound cards. Put them in envelopes or 'ziplocks' according to units. Unit 1 - Put s a(3) t(2) p(2) in each envelope. It's great if you can have one envelope of sound cards for every student in your class.

2. Handy Pocket Charts. I teach my course pax to make their own.

3. Picture cards according to the units.

4. Magnetic letters & board(if your school have the budget to buy).

5. Sandpaper or sensory letters (I stick them to the wall at pupil's eye level).

6. Modelling clay - keep them in airtight containers.

7. Sand/Salt box

8. Sound Cubes

9. Phonics Board & Card Games

10. Sound Posters

11. Letter Formation Cards(laminated- use small transparent plastic bags if your school doesn't have a laminator).

12. Word cards(sight words too, in blue please. Other word cards can be written in black).

13. Decodable Texts(poster size)

14. Phonics Dictionary

15. Writer's Wall - Stick mahjung paper on a wall. Have crayons, colour pencils and pencils nearby. Encourage pupils to write whatever they like on it.
In my preschool, we have to change the paper every other day.