Ysgol Gynradd Pontsenni
Sennybridge C. P. School
Before we can read and write, a strong understanding of letters and sounds is needed.
Phonics is a way of teaching children how to read and write. It helps children hear, identify and use different sounds that distinguish one word from another.
Written language can be compared to a code, so knowing the sounds of individual letters and how those letters sound when they’re combined will help children decode words as they read.
Understanding phonics will also help children know which letters to use when they are writing words.
Jolly Phonics is built on three Steps. Step 1, Step 2 and Step 3. It is important to remember that each stage needs to be secure to support decoding and blending when reading and writing.
In Step 1 we look at phonemes (the distinct units of sounds).
In Step 2 we look at trickier patters such as double letters, short vowels, long vowels etc.
In Step 3 we look at consolidating digraphs (a combination of two letters making one sound) and split digraphs.
When we are learning our phonic groups, we learn the sounds through the Jolly Phonics songs. Each sound has an action to help us.
Once we know the sounds, we then start to learn how to blend them together to begin to read words and be able to make them.
Below are the sound songs and then examples of how to blend sounds to make words.
Once we have an understanding of the phonemes, we then look at the digraphs and the split digraphs. These are as follows...