ENGLISH KSSR YEAR 1 TEACHING PHONICS 1

Pictures fr English Year 1 Sekolah Kebangsaan Textbook KSSR, Book Cover, pg. 35, pg.39

As stipulated in the Learning Standards, the strategies of phonics are to be used in the teaching of reading for students in Year 1 beginning next year. I would like to stress that the phonics used for English Year 1 is Synthetic Phonics. Synthetic phonics is a method of teaching reading which first teaches the smallest speech sounds and then builds up to blending these sounds together to achieve full pronunciation of words.

UNIT 1: Sounds Around Us
This unit gives opportunity for students to imitate sounds that people, animal or things make. This activity is to develop students' listening & speaking skill and phonemic awareness. It would be fun for teachers to take the students outdoors for a SOUND WALK - take the children around the school or neighbouring area. Get the students to cup their ears & listen and imitate sounds around them. Some teachers in the UK make big ears for the students to wear on their walk.

Teacher:(T): Listen.. What can you hear?
T: Is that a bird tweeting? Can you make the sound?
T: Was that a car? Lets all make the sound of a car.
T: I can hear a loud noise over there. Can you make the sound?
What makes the sound?

Possible sounds you might hear during your Sound Walk - sound of a drill(schools have lots of construction work going on!), motorbikes, cars, planes in the skies, bees buzzing, cats meowing, dogs barking/growling, monkeys(those teaching in rural areas)chattering, cows mooing, goats bleating, clocks ticking, bell ringing,doors creaking, people coughing, sneezing... teachers shouting(oops!)

Now if you have a knee problem and are not able to take the students on a Sound Walk, then you could draw animals & things that make sounds and put them around the class. Get the students to walk around the class with you(use a cane to help you walk) and pretend to hear the sounds. Don't forget to encourage the students imitate the sounds.

But if you have arthritis and can't draw, just open your English Year 1 textbook page 1 & 2 to teach students sounds around them. End your lesson by singing an action song All DAy Long on page 4. Sing again with other sounds - the bird in the tree, the cow/goat on the farm, the bee in the hive.

Remember the brain learns better when there's fun.. So Have fun!

Reading Roadblocks

Writing systems are codes for SPOKEN LANGUAGE. Teaching your child a, b, c ... z(letter names) is the FIRST ROADBLOCK to reading. Letter names(ay, bee, cee) has no relationship whatasoever to the sound of speech these letters represent.

So STOP teaching your children abc. STOP forcing them to memorize & recite the alphabet. STOP making them memorize the upper & lower-case letters.

There is a BETTER way for the children to learn the alphabet. Teach them the SOUNDS.

You could use Cory Cat Phonics Song (VCD). We make learning speech sounds fun by associating the sound with an action. The Cory Cat VCD also comes with a set of flashcards and a colouring book.

Steps to introduce a sound:
1. Say 'buh' a few times.
2. Encourage your child to say after you.
3. Then show the symbol/letter 'b'. Point to the symbol and say "This is 'buh'.
4. Ask "What is this sound?"
5. Sing Bobby Bear b b b as you & your child pretend to bounce a ball.

Many parents ask me what other helpful activites can they do with their children to help them learn to read.

My suggestions:
1. TALK to your child.
Use good language. Don't use baby talk. For parents whose child's first language is NOT English, one of you has to use English most(if not all) of the time. According to research, Reading Accuracy & Fluency are enhanced if the word you are decoding(reading) already exist in the memory.

2. READ to your child.
Reading to your child will not only enrich her language but also familiarize him with the format of books. You could trace along the text with a finger as you read to your child. Thus training your child that reading is from left to right and from top to bottom.

3. DEVELOP your child's fine motor skills.
Developing your child's fine motor skills will help his eye-hand coordination which is very important when learning to read. Good fine motor skills will also enhance his writing skills. Give him lots of opportunities to roll playdough into small balls, squeeze water form a sponge, tear scrap papers, lace beads, play with blocks/puzzles & finger paint.

Don't miss the opportunity to HELP your child learn to read.