TR&W Issue 20

www.teachwire.net | 35 T E ACH I NG T E CHN I QUE S builds on the basic sounds and letter combinations introduced in the earlier phases. The fundamental skills that are the building blocks for Phase 5 phonics include: • Recognising and identifying all Phase 2, 3 and 4 grapheme-phoneme correspondences. • Blending to read familiar and unfamiliar Phase 2, 3 and 4 words. • Segmenting to spell P hase 5 phonics is undoubtedly the most challenging element of phonics to teach and learn. Building on Phases 2–4, it tackles the complex part of the English alphabetic code step by step. Children are introduced to the many alternative ways of representing spoken sounds using different spellings. They also learn that some spellings can be pronounced in several different ways. When to step up Although it is commonly introduced in Year 1, teaching of Phase 5 should only begin once the learning from Phases 2–4 has been properly established and consolidated. This is because the complex alphabetic code familiar and unfamiliar Phase 2, 3 and 4 words. • Recognising all Phase 2, 3 and 4 tricky/common exception words on sight. • Reading and writing simple sentences, including Phase 2, 3 and 4 words. How to teach Phase 5 phonics How Phase 5 is taught generally depends on the systematic synthetic phonics programme a school follows. Most schools in England follow the prescribed routines and strategies outlined by programmes validated by the Department of Education ( tinyurl.com/ TP-PhonicsProgrammes ). This is a strongly recommended route, but is not mandatory. Most phonics programmes follow a similar pattern of delivery, based on the most effective ways children learn. This usually follows a four-part teaching sequence introduced in Letters and Sounds ( tinyurl. com/tp-LettersSounds ): • review and revisit • teach • practise • apply Revision and prior learning Phase 5 phonics lessons generally begin by revising prior learning. This always relates to the new learning introduced in the lesson. For example, words containing the common ‘ igh ’ trigraph will be revisited in a lesson which introduces the alternative ‘ ie ’ spelling for the same spoken sound. This part of the teaching sequence is designed to bring stored learning into the working memory, ready to be used for reading and writing new words. This provides little impact on learning beyond an initial reminder, so should be delivered as rapidly as possible. The revise and revisit part of a Phase 5 lesson may include using flashcards or slides, where children recall and join in with a call and response to the visual prompt. It may also involve finding or isolating a particular letter combination from a collection of letters or words. Teaching new sounds New Phase 5 sounds are always taught by building on the children’s knowledge of The next STEP Emma Spiers takes a detailed look at how to teach Phase 5 phonics “The complex alphabetic code builds on the basic sounds and letter combinations introduced in the earlier phases”