Literacy Meaning must be a priority

by Anne Dale
(Sunshine Coast)

I always make sure whatever phonics/spelling I'm teaching takes place within meaningful reading/writing experiences.

Big books with a sheet of plastic over the top (try a large sheet of laminating plastic) and white board markers are perfect for looking at print.

Circling letters, words, colouring spaces between words, looking at word endings, letter patterns etc.

First you would read the text lots of times to enjoy the story and then you would begin to look at the print/phonic/spelling patterns.

Daily modeled and interactive writing sessions become an extension of oral language sessions or reflecting after play in prep.

A whole class diary is an idea I have used. (Get a large A3 art book from Big W. The ones with the black plastic covers. They are perfect.)

Compose the sentences with the students and have children come up and write the parts of words that they know.

Set up a word wall with all the most frequently used words (with the students of course, so it has meaning for them!)Build it as the weeks go by.

Children will learn to spell the high frequency words and use them in their own writing - even in Prep!!

Have one student illustrate the diary entry every day. They love it! They also love to revisit it during shared reading sessions.

All the phonic sounds/spelling patterns will come up as you write daily with the children. You may use some kind of a 'Thrass' or 'Soundwaves' chart to refer to as you write (because that's actually what those charts are for!) or you may even develop your own with the children as they begin to see the patterns (I have my own that I could share)

One thing I never do is waste children's time with phonic worksheets or workbooks. Children learn to read and write by reading and writing whole texts in meaningful contexts!

Also, the phonic workbooks often involve a lot of colouring in... just busy work! Foster a love of drawing rather than colouring.... that's probably a forum for another month??