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reception phonics

2 replies

sleeplessinderbyshire · 27/10/2013 22:56

Struggling a little with DD's reading. She's just 4 (aug birthday) and loving learning new things and loving school.AT parents evening her teacher was full of how well she's doing and how well her reading is coming on. I bloody hate the stupid Biff, Chip, Kipper books but am plugging along (much preferred "Tom's mad mop" from bookstart....

Her book for half term is called "Look at me" and she read it all with no prompting the first try so we've been playing around with me reading her stories and picking simple words/sentences for her to try.

How do you explain that was is "woz" not "wass"?
Also I've seen stuff on here about "magic e" or calling it "split digraph" - no idea how I ever learned to read as know I could do it well before school no thought we ever had that stuff in my education.... Am I right in thinking you say (as per alphablocks) that the e at the end of the word makes the vowel say its name not its sound?

With respect to the whole accent thing how do we explain how to read "bath" and "grass"? In the midlands, I suspect her friends with say bath/grass where I'm originally RP southern and my family all say "grarse" and "barth" (I say either interchangably according to what others around me are saying)

Last one, do they just sound out and then modify the "oo" sounds

eg look, book, took
good, hood,have a different "oo" sound to blood

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strruglingoldteach · 28/10/2013 07:14

Was: 'a' often makes the sound 'o' when it comes after 'w' sound.
Watch, was, want, wander, what, squash etc. S/z are so close that my DD didn't have a problem with making the link in words like was/is, but you can just say that 's' is read as 'z' in this word.

Bath/grass/last etc- 'a' is sometimes read as 'ar' so if 'a' doesn't sound right, she should try saying 'ar' to see if it fits.

Same with 'oo'- they usually try 'oo' first as in 'food' but if it isn't right just encourage her to sound out again with the sound from 'book'.

With a_e I would check with her teacher to see how they refer to it. I prefer split digraph, but DD's school use 'magic e' so of course I used that term with her. One tip is that she often didn't notice the magic e, so I would put my finger on the page and run it back and forth between the two vowels, in a sort of arc (so touching both vowels but not the consonant in between). It was an instant, visual cue to the correct sound. It really seemed to help her.

mrz · 28/10/2013 07:21

In was the letter represents the sound /o/ as in watch, want, wand, what, squad, swap etc ... (common spelling following the sound /w/) and the represents /z/ again common in words like as, is, has, his, cosy, busy etc.

The letter can represent the sound /ar/ in words like father but in a southern accent it is more common as you say.

represents 2 sounds /oo/ as in moon and /oo/ as cook and are normally taught as different sounds with the same spelling (th as in thin and than)

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