THRASS Phonemic Awareness Method

THRASS Phonemic Awareness Method

Hi Everyone,

I am interested in receiving some feedback on the THRASS / phonemic awareness method of teaching phonics and reading.

Do you use this method in your school / classroom, and how do you find it effective?

It would be great to hear some pros and cons on this method. Please leave comments by clicking the comments button below.

Look forward to hearing from you all,
Thanks very much
Donna

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THRASS Phonemic Awareness Method

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Nov 14, 2008

Thrass DVD
by: Becky M

I can recommend the Sing-a-long dvd, too. It is great fun and there is so much to see and do! Looks good on the interactive board.

Nov 06, 2008

THRASS Sing-a-Long Interactive Book
by: Pete R

The THRASS Sing-A-Long resources are amazing and my class love singing with the Interactive Book and the new DVD. I strongly recommend them to any primary school class teacher. I even showed by class the video from www.thrass.co.uk/wps08.htm and they loved it. It certainly makes you feel good to see so many children enjoying themselves!

Nov 03, 2008

Thrass - How Do You Do IT??
by: Keryne

I think THRASS is a very sensible way to teach phonics and spelling and agree with all the positive comments about it. My question is exactly how do you teach it. How do other teachers run their daily lessons? I have tried a variety of methods but I'm still not happy with the daily format. Any suggestions?

Oct 09, 2008

THRASS is THE BEST
by: Sharon

Just wanted to give THRASS a THUMBS UP - my 9-year-old did two years of THRASS before moving provinces (South Africa)and now attends a school that still uses PHONICS - his writing, spelling and reading are all FAR SUPERIOR to his peers - so much so that I have opted to teach my younger child (age 6) THRASS at home as KNOW IT WORKS - hoping to introduce THRASS to our school soon.

Sep 17, 2008

looking for singalong
by: Sue

Hi Jo, I had a look at the THRASS site but couldn't find the singalong. Where should I look?
Sue

Sep 05, 2008

THRASS is fantastic
by: Jo

Hi I have been using THRASS with a small group of deaf and hearing impaired children. I love it - the children have made significant progress in both reading and writing as THRASS embeds both phoneme and grapheme connections. This then frees the children to write and spell effectively.

If you haven't had any THRASS training then do so at your earliest opportunity.

You can see me singing THRASS songs with my children at the Singlong section of the THRASS website

Jun 26, 2008

THRASS
by: Narelle

Hi Everyone,

THRASS is amazing!!!!!!

I'm a prep teacher and I implement THRASS from the very start of the school year. I would never confuse my students by using jolly phonics, initially. For instance, if you teach that c makes a k sound at the start of the year then it is hard for children to recognise that it can also make other sounds such as the s sound (as in city) later on. And if they can, why not teach them how our language is from the start? Children as young as five are like sponges and absorb anything you teach them. We underestimate their capabilities!!!

Its the results that I see in my classroom that drives me to continue using THRASS. The children also love THRASS. It has to be seen to be believed!!! Who would of thought that in Term 2 of Prep, children are asking everyday to write two pages and actually do so successfully!!!!!

Please feel free to comment or ask any questions regarding THRASS.

May 14, 2008

love THRASS
by: Sue

THRASS is research based - so important. I have used THRASS as a tool for teaching reading, spelling and handwriting since 2004. However, the methodology and theory behind it has been something I used for 20 years as part of my teaching K - 6. It always made sense.

I began using THRASS resources with Kinder when I went to a new school where it was used and their progress was amazing. It gives children the big picture of our language and how it works and allows them to develop skills systematically. I have used it also with year 2 when I was a classroom teacher. In my current school we use it Transition to year 6 and I also use it with my yr 7 and 8 students. ( I am now learning support co-ordinator). Our yr 5 and 6 students love it too. It supports the spelling programme I have written for the school.

It is so important to get away from one letter one sound method to decode and spell. Our language has 44 phonemes but only 26 letters. Children have to be taught the phonemes and their associated graphemes from the start. They also need to know the alphabet very early in the K year (by end term 1). Not impossible, our Kinders know their alphabet already!!!

I am not a fan of Jolly Phonics as students seem to waste time (focus) on learning hand signals rather than learning the concepts, also, they go with tricky sight words rather than teaching the phoneme/grapheme relationship so they can read any word - that's my opinion and some may differ.

Some use J Ph in Kinder then move to THRASS. Sorry, but that does not make sense. Students are capable of learning the skills and concepts from an early age, so they don't need to have information dumbed down and made cute. Wastes learning time and often things need to be retaught and bad habits broken the following year.

I have conducted across school research in spelling and THRASS based spelling tasks - there are so many and I don't have room here - it has made a significant difference to student progress (using SA spelling as pre/post test) over a number of years. This has impacted on reading skills also, with oral fluency gains seen in those students with combined spelling and oral reading fluency difficulties.

The handwriting section is great. So important to get letter formation and pencil grip correct from the start.

As for phonemic awareness, the resources available are great for PA tasks. This is a daily part of every lesson I teach.

Don't forget good, systematic, explicit teaching!
For interest, in the latest Special Education Perspectives, there is a literature review by Peter Westwood reviewing issues in spelling instruction 1995 - 2007. THRASS is the only programme ( for lack of a better word because it is not a programme) that gets a mention.

My advice to you is to do the two day course and see for yourself. It is the best PD you will do.

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May 14, 2008
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Submitted by: Sue

Title

Comment
THRASS is research based - so important. I have used THRASS as a tool for teaching reading, spelling and handwriting since 2004. However, the methodology and theory behind it has been something I used for 20 years as part of my teaching K - 6. It always made sense. I began using THRASS resources with Kinder when I went to a new school where it was used and their progress was amazing. It gives children the big picture of our language and how it works and allows them to develop skills systematically. I have used it also with year 2 when I was a classroom teacher. In my current school we use it Transition to year 6 and I also use it with my yr 7 and 8 students. ( I am now learning support co-ordinator). Our yr 5 and 6 students love it too. It supports the spelling programme I have written for the school. It is so important to get away from one letter one sound method to decode and spell. Our language has 44 phonemes but only 26 letters. Children have to be taught the phonemes and their associated graphemes from the start. They also need to know the alphabet very early in the K year (by end term 1). Not impossible, our Kinders know their alphabet already!!! I am not a fan of Jolly Phonics as students seem to waste time (focus) on learning hand signals rather than learning the concepts, also, they go with tricky sight words rather than teaching the phoneme/grapheme relationship so they can read any word - that's my opinion and some may differ. Some use J Ph in Kinder then move to THRASS. Sorry, but that does not make sense. Students are capable of learning the skills and concepts from an early age, so they don't need to have information dumbed down and made cute. Wastes learning time and often things need to be retaught and bad habits broken the following year. I have conducted across school research in spelling and THRASS based spelling tasks - there are so many and I don't have room here - it has made a significant difference to student progress (using SA spelling as pre/post test) over a number of years. This has impacted on reading skills also, with oral fluency gains seen in those students with combined spelling and oral reading fluency difficulties. The handwriting section is great. So important to get letter formation and pencil grip correct from the start. As for phonemic awareness, the resources available are great for PA tasks. This is a daily part of every lesson I teach. Don't forget good, systematic, explicit teaching! For interest, in the latest Special Education Perspectives, there is a literature review by Peter Westwood reviewing issues in spelling instruction 1995 - 2007. THRASS is the only programme ( for lack of a better word because it is not a programme) that gets a mention. My advice to you is to do the two day course and see for yourself. It is the best PD you will do.

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May 14, 2008

THRASS and phonemic awareness
by: Paul ... year 2 teacher

Phonemic awareness is a huge topic and where does one start?
Rather than get into teacher talk, I'll put in 2c worth on behalf of my year 2 kids :)
We begin the year using Jolly Phonics because
- it reinforces and consolidates basic letter / sound relationships through use of complementing hand movements.
- it gives opportunity for those who have knowledge gaps to catch up
- it helps make handwriting automatic (redundant)
- it is fun and lots of English games are innate with this strategy

In term two, we begin using THRASS because the children are desperate for an organised framework that supports new territory. I find that they are moving fast i.e.
- confronted with increased spelling choices
- fluency in reading and comprehension is ramping up
- vocabulary bank is expanding
- their thinking has moved away from what sound does this letter / letter group make to tell me the word teacher, and then I'll tell you what sound the phoneme makes
- and we have fun with English still :)
- we still use Jolly Phonics but only in so far as the grammar program because it has complementary hand movements and colour coding for nouns, pronouns, verbs, etc

The above is brief and just a snapshot of what I am doing at this point in time.
I find that I continually change my teaching style due to the needs of students; departmental professional development; interaction with peer professionals; parental support; and how many biscuits I have left in my barrel(energy).
cya Paul

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May 14, 2008
Rating

Submitted by: Paul ... year 2 teacher

Title

Comment
Phonemic awareness is a huge topic and where does one start? Rather than get into teacher talk, I'll put in 2c worth on behalf of my year 2 kids :) We begin the year using Jolly Phonics because - it reinforces and consolidates basic letter / sound relationships through use of complementing hand movements. - it gives opportunity for those who have knowledge gaps to catch up - it helps make handwriting automatic (redundant) - it is fun and lots of English games are innate with this strategy In term two, we begin using THRASS because the children are desperate for an organised framework that supports new territory. I find that they are moving fast i.e. - confronted with increased spelling choices - fluency in reading and comprehension is ramping up - vocabulary bank is expanding - their thinking has moved away from what sound does this letter / letter group make to tell me the word teacher, and then I'll tell you what sound the phoneme makes - and we have fun with English still :) - we still use Jolly Phonics but only in so far as the grammar program because it has complementary hand movements and colour coding for nouns, pronouns, verbs, etc The above is brief and just a snapshot of what I am doing at this point in time. I find that I continually change my teaching style due to the needs of students; departmental professional development; interaction with peer professionals; parental support; and how many biscuits I have left in my barrel(energy). cya Paul

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