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Phonics – How to say the different phonemes

It is very important when children are beginning to read and spell that the phonemes (sounds) are said correctly.

This is a list of the phonemes in the order that they are taught.

(Don’t forget to avoid saying an ‘uh’ sound after some letter sounds – this might be how you remember the sounds, but it’s not helpful to spell a word like ‘dog’ with each letter pronounced ‘duh-o-guh’ – instead, try to just say the very initial, pure sound: ‘d-o-g’.)

1. s Weave your hand in an s shape, like a snake, and say ssssss
2. a Wiggle fingers above elbow as if ants are crawling on you and say a, a, a
3. t Turn your head from side to side as if watching tennis and say t, t, t
4. i Pretend to be a mouse by wriggling your fingers at the end of your nose and squeak i, i, i
5. p Pretend to puff out candles on a cake and say p, p, p
6. n Make a noise as if you are a plane.  Hold your arms out and say nnnnnn
7. e Pretend to tap an egg on the side of a pan and crack it into the pan, saying eh, eh, eh
8. h Hold your hand in front of your mouth and pant as if you are out of breath and say h, h, h
9. r Pretend to be a puppy holding a piece of rag. Shake your head from side to side and say rrrrrr
10. m Rub your tummy as if seeing tasty food and say mmmmmm
11. d Beat your hands up and down as if playing a drum and say d, d, d
12. g Spiral your hand down as if water is going down the drain and say g, g, g
13. o Pretend to turn a light switch on and off and say o, o, o
14. c k Raise your hands and snap your fingers as if playing castanets and say ck, ck, ck
15. u Pretend you are putting up an umbrella and say u, u, u
16. l Pretend to lick a lollipop and say lllllll
17. f Let hands gently come together as if toy fish deflating, and say fffff
18. b Pretend to hit a ball with a bat and say b, b, b
19. j Pretend to wobble on a plate and say j, j, j
20. w Blow on to your open hand as if you are the wind and say wh, wh, wh
21. v Pretend to be holding the steering wheel of a van and say vvvvvv
22. z Put your arms out at your sides and pretend to be a bee saying zzzzzz
23. y Pretend to be eating a yogurt and say y, y, y
24. x Pretend to take an x-ray of someone  and say ks, ks, ks
25. ch Move arms at sides as if you are a train and say ch, ch, ch
26. sh Place index finger over lips and say sh, sh, sh
27. th th Pretend to be naughty clowns and stick out tongue a little for the th and further for the th sound (this and thumb)
28. qu Make a duck’s beak with your hands and say qu, qu, qu
29. ng Imagine you are a weightlifter and pretend to lift a heavy weight above your head saying ng…
30. ai Cup hand over ear and say ai, ai, ai
31. ee or Put your hands on your head as if ears on a donkey and say eeyore, eeyore
32. oa Bring your hand over your mouth as if you have done something wrong and say oh!
33. ie Stand to attention and salute, saying  ie ie
34. oo oo Move head back and forth as if it is the cuckoo in a cuckoo clock saying u, oo,u, oo (little and long oo.)
35. ou Pretend your finger is a needle and prick thumb saying ou, ou, ou
36. oi Cup hands around mouth and shout to another boat saying oi, oi ship ahoy!
37. ue Point to people around you and say you, you, you
38. er Roll hands over each other like a mixer and say er,er,er
39. ar Open mouth wide and say ah. Flap hands as if a seal and say ar, ar, ar

Helping your child with phonics

This week the children will begin to blend (read) and segment (spell) words orally. We call this ‘sound talk’.

For example,  c-a-t = cat. The separate sounds (phonemes) are spoken aloud, in order, all through the word, and are then merged together into the whole word. The merging together is called blending – it is a vital skill for reading.

Children will also learn to do this the other way around: cat = c-a-t. The whole word is spoken aloud, and then broken up into its sounds (phonemes) in order, all through the word. This is called segmenting – a vital skill for spelling.

An important point to remember is to avoid saying the ‘uh’ sound that you might remember from school. Think of ‘b’, ‘c’ without the ‘uh’ – make the sound as short and ‘pure’ as possible for these sounds.  For others, like ‘f’ and ‘l’, the sound should also not have an ‘uh’ sound, but these letters can be more continuous.

At the moment, blending and segmenting is all oral (spoken). Your child will not be expected to match the letter to the sound at this stage. The emphasis is on helping children to hear the separate sounds in words and to create spoken sounds.

Try this at home:

Find real objects around your home which have three phonemes (sounds) and practise ‘sound talk’ – first just let them listen, then see if they will join in, eg:

• ‘I spy a p-e-g – peg’
• ‘I spy a c-u-p – cup’
• ‘Where’s your other s-o-ck – sock?’
• ‘Simon says – put your hands on your h-ea-d’
• ‘Simon says – touch your ch-i-n’
• ‘Simon says – pick up your b-a-g’

Play other phonic games at home, too!

SEAL statement 17 October

This week is the first of our focus on manners over this year with ‘I say please and thank you’ as our weekly statement.

We often receive comments from visitors to school that our children are very polite. 

Over this year, every half term, we will be focussing on a different aspect of good manners to encourage and remind children to consistently use these important qualities both in and out of school.

Staying Safe Week

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOKVqOtUVdA”>Safety Week

14 October 2011

This week, we are learning to spell words with the ‘ay’ sound.

These will be tested on Friday 21 October.

14 October 2011

This week’s spellings are words that end in ‘er’. Your child will be tested on Friday 21 october 2011.

• richer
• smaller
• smoother
• taller
• braver
• safer
• older
• colder
• closer
• longer

14 October 2011

This week’s homework is creative. It’s due in on Wednesday 19 October.

I know about the body.

It links to our new topic Doctor! Doctor!

Your child could produce a:

• poster
• draw a picture
• write some sentences
• label a part of the body
• do some research

14 October 2011

This week’s spellings recap on all the rules for adding ‘ing’. Some of them may be spellings you’ve had before and some may be completely new to you.

The main focus of the learning is to ensure your child understands the rule. There is only one spelling list this week.

Can you come up with any more spellings that follow the rules for adding ‘ing’?

14 October 2011

This week, the spellings are a mixture of the ‘ing’ rules:

• just add ‘ing’
• drop the ‘e’ for ‘ing’
• double up when there’s a short vowel sound

Children will be tested on eight out of the ten words on Friday 21 October.

14 October 2011

The homwork this week is creative and is due in on Wednesday 19 October.

I can find 2D shapes all around me.

Ideas could be:

• trace a picture and colour in the shapes you recognise
• take some photos of buildings or objects and identify the shapes
• draw a picture using only shapes you know and label them
• identify some right angles in shapes you find

I look forward to seeing your creations on Wednesday!