Interview For Reception

[Guest]

I have an interview in a few days for a Reception teaching post. I will have 15 minutes to teach 15 children a phonics session - any ideas? I have been teaching in Reception for a year, though I wasn't formally trained in this area. I previously worked in KS2 and have never had an interview for this curriculum stage, as I was offered the post by my head teacher. My confidence is much lower than usual because of this. I'm a specialist in music, drama and ICT and would love to use this within the phonics session if possible.

 

Thank you so much.

Rob

[apple]

could you do something with drumming the syllables in words? Give each child a chopstick and a paper plate and hey presto they have their own drum. They could start by 'drumming' the syllables in their name and progress onto syllable picture cards - choose a child to hold up cards with photos that have 2,3, 4 etc syllables in them - a similar game is played in Phase 1 of letters and sounds. To extend it you could challenge a child to write the word on the board (having simple regular words will help).

[Guest]

could you do something with drumming the syllables in words? Give each child a chopstick and a paper plate and hey presto they have their own drum. They could start by 'drumming' the syllables in their name and progress onto syllable picture cards - choose a child to hold up cards with photos that have 2,3, 4 etc syllables in them - a similar game is played in Phase 1 of letters and sounds. To extend it you could challenge a child to write the word on the board (having simple regular words will help).

 

Sounds great - it's got me thinking. I'll report back on my ideas. Thanks!

[Guest]

I was thinking of using the song below along with rhythm sticks, following your suggestion. The children could report back to me no how many syllables there are in certain words. Rocket, firework, whizzer, whoooosh.

 

However, this isn't an obvious phonics session. Perhaps I need to stick to something like you suggested. I want to showcase the way I use music in teaching... It would also be fun, it's a great song.

 

On bonfire night at 5 o'clock i took my money to the firework shop.

I bought a rocket and it cost 5 pence and I put my rocket by the fence

and my rocket went

WHOOOOOOOOSH.

 

On bonfire night at 5 o'clock i took my money to the firework shop.

I bought a whizzer and it cost 4 pence and I put my whizzer by the fence

and my whizzer went

Whizz whizz whizz whizz whizz

and my rocket went

WHOOOOOOOOSH.

 

On bonfire night at 5 o'clock i took my money to the firework shop.

I bought a roman candle and it cost 3 pence and I put my roman candle by the fence

my roman candle went

Swish swish swish swish swish

and my whizzer went

Whizz whizz whizz whizz whizz

and my rocket went

WHOOOOOOOOSH.

.

On bonfire night at 5 o'clock i took my money to the firework shop.

I bought a bangerand it cost 2 pence and I put my banger by the fence

and my banger went

bang, bang, bang,bang,bang

my roman candle went

Swish swish swish swish swish

and my whizzer went

Whizz whizz whizz whizz whizz

and my rocket went

WHOOOOOOOOSH.

 

On bonfire night at 5 o'clock i took my money to the firework shop.

I bought a rick rackand it cost 2 pence and I put my rick rack by the fence

and my rick rack went

rick rack rick rack rick

and my banger went

bang, bang, bang,bang,bang

my roman candle went

Swish swish swish swish swish

and my whizzer went

Whizz whizz whizz whizz whizz

and my rocket went

WHOOOOOOOOSH.

[Guest]

To link the session with letters and sounds phase 3 - I thought that I could rewrite the song. Using the graphemes below. The song could start:

On Saturday Morning I went to the market

and I needed to buy some food for my tea.

I bought a bag of cherries and they cost 5 pence

and I put my cherries in my bag....

This would reinforce the blends for the unit - ch - and syllables could also be referred to. I think I might get them to clap the syllables out - the instrument/sticks might prove too distracting.

I would also have a shopping bag and show the children all of the items in my bag..

Is this too complicated? My current school is outstanding I tend be able to really push my children. However I’ve never work with these children.

 

[Guest]

Altered lyrics

 

On Saturday Morning I went to the shops

and I needed to buy lots of things.

I bought a bag of cherries and they cost 5 pence

and I put my cherries in my bag.

And the cherries were mmmm tasty and sweet (rubbing belly).

 

On Saturday Morning I went to the shops

and I needed to buy lots of things.

I bought shoes and they cost 6 pence

and I put the shoes in my bag

And the shoes were shinny and new and cool (mining lacing shoes).

And the cherries were mm tasty and sweet (rubbing belly).

[apple]

I like the rhymes/song but what are the children doing? Is it interactive enough? I would be careful not to make it too complicated as you have a limited time. Keep it simple and to the point

[Susan]

I'm not sure that is phonic based enough. You want to teach not entertain! Assuming reception children at this stage could be consolidating in phase 4, is there anything there you could adapt?

[Guest]

I like the rhymes/song but what are the children doing? Is it interactive enough? I would be careful not to make it too complicated as you have a limited time. Keep it simple and to the point

 

I agree with you. Though I would like to showcase some music and ICT. Using the song we could review the blends and then the children could play a phonics game where they have to write a word, using one of the phonics we have been singing, and screw it up and throw it in the shopping bag. This would be continued and they just add to the piece of paper that they retrieve from the bag. A plenary would used be to examine the words they have come up with and use the words to write a sentence on their whiteboard.

 

See reviewed song lyrics below.... I definitely need to streamline the lesson.... I will have flash cards for each blend on the IWB.

 

On Saturday Morning

 

On Saturday Morning I went to the shops

and I needed to buy lots of things.

I bought a bag of cherries and they cost 5 pence

and I put my cherries in my bag.

And the cherries were mm tasty and sweet (rubbing belly).

 

On Saturday Morning I went to the shops

and I needed to buy lots of things.

I bought a pair shoes and they cost 6 pence

and I put the shoes in my bag

And the shoes were shinny and new and cool (mining lacing shoes).

And the cherries were mm tasty and sweet (rubbing belly).

 

On Saturday Morning I went to the shops

and I needed to buy lots of things.

I bought some socks for my feet and they cost 7 pence

And I put my socks for my feet in my bag.

And my feet were cosy and comfortable and warm (miming warmth).

And the shoes were shinny and new and cool (mining lacing shoes).

And the cherries were mm tasty and sweet (rubbing belly).

 

On Saturday Morning I went to the shops

and I needed to buy lots of things.

I bought a boat for the bath and it cost 8 pence

And I put my boat for the bath in my bag.

And my boat went bzzzzzzz.

And my feet were cosy and comfortable and warm (miming warmth).

And the shoes were shinny and new and cool (mining lacing shoes).

And the cherries were mm tasty and sweet (rubbing belly).

 

On Saturday Morning I went to the shops.

and I needed to buy lots of things.

I bought a needle and some thread and the cost 9 pence.

And I put my needle and thread in the bag.

And my needle when in and out. (miming sewing).

And my boat went bzzzzzzz.

And my feet were cosy and comfortable and warm (miming warmth).

And the shoes were shinny and new and cool (mining lacing shoes).

And the cherries were mm tasty and sweet (rubbing belly).

Edited May 7, 2012 by Guest

[Guest]

I would imagine that ch was introduced long ago (before Christmas for my class) and so it won't be new to them and neither should the other phase 3 graphemes. We are working at phase 4 and I imagine a large number of reception classes would be too at this stage of the year so that is being able to sound and blend words that are phonic based and are CCVC or CVCC several of the words you have chosen do not fit into this pattern (cherries, shiny, needle) and you could be pulled up for that as they do not fit into the letters and sounds programme yet and the children wouldn't necessary be able to decode them phonically. Be really careful with syllables as children do get them mixed up with counting phonemes in words-I would avoid for this purpose if you don't know the children. If I was doing this with my children I would use a simpler ryhyme or song (I went to market?-market being a word they could sound and blend) and then get them to put their hand in a shopping bag and pull out the next word of what they are shopping for, I would make sure that the words fitted into phase 4 (CCVC or CVCC) they wouldn't have to be food (the sillier the better) and then you could either do some shared writing of sentences/shopping list or get the children to write a simple sentence. Having done these interview lessons before on several occasions I know they fly by really quickly and 15 minutes is not long! Make sure you have a plan to give them and be absolutely clear of your learning intention, I know you want to have a music element but your activity needs to be grounded in letters and sounds as that is what they have asked you for.

Hope that helps

Debbie

[Guest ChunkyMan]

You could use the IWB by pretending it is an xray machine....children have to pretend to swallow imaginary words (obviously related to the phase, digraphs being taught, revisited) You make a power point with words (white on black) previously made - use the IWB control as the xray scanner, then pretend to scan their tummies whilst surreptitiously pressing the space bar and a word will appear - the child sounds it out and reads it - they all sound it out and read it. My phonic group love it and you can use it in any phase.

 

Hope that makes sense?

Cx

[Guest]

Thanks Debbie,

 

I really appreciate your ideas. I don't think the children need to be able to spell all of the words in the song. The blends I've outlined however are definitely too simple. I guess I was playing it safe, though there's little point in a recap of such simple blends. I'm going to alter the words, what do you think of these http://dl.dropbox.com/u/630452/words.pdf as a starting point? I really liked your idea of the children picking the words out themselves (similar to Silly Soup). I'm also going to have an IWB ready at the end, when the song is repeated, to help children to remember the items.

The plenary will allow children to write a shopping list, as you suggested. I think sentences, based on the fact that I don't know the children, might be too hard to deliver(?)

[Guest]

You could use the IWB by pretending it is an xray machine....children have to pretend to swallow imaginary words (obviously related to the phase, digraphs being taught, revisited) You make a power point with words (white on black) previously made - use the IWB control as the xray scanner, then pretend to scan their tummies whilst surreptitiously pressing the space bar and a word will appear - the child sounds it out and reads it - they all sound it out and read it. My phonic group love it and you can use it in any phase.

 

Hope that makes sense?

Cx

 

Love it!!

 

Do you have the powerpoint you created for sharing?

[Guest]

I'm really confused now as I was going to use the song and I just have too many options. I'm going to work on the song, altering the focus word, create a lesson plan etc, upload it and see what you guys think!

 

Cheers

Edited May 7, 2012 by Guest

[Guest]

Went To The Market

 

At Chelmsford market on Saturday

I bought lots of silly things.

I bought a train and it cost 5 pence

And I put the train in my bag.

And the train went choo, choo, choo, choo, choo (pulling horn).

 

At Chelmsford market on Saturday

I bought lots of silly things.

I bought a swing and it cost 6 pence

And I put the swing in my bag.

And the swing went forward and back and forward and back (swing forward and back).

And the train went choo, choo, choo, choo, choo(pulling horn).

 

At Chelmsford market on Saturday

I bought lots of silly things.

I bought a tree and it cost 7 pence.

And I put the tree in my bag.

And the tree went rattle, rattle, rattle, in the wind (Shake from side to side).

And the swing went forward and back and forward and back (swing forward and back).

And the train went choo, choo, choo, choo, choo(pulling horn).

 

At Chelmsford market on Saturday

I bought lots of silly things.

I bought a spoon and it cost 7 pence.

And I put the spoon in my bag.

And my spoon went ting ting ting ting ting. (mime hitting spoon).

And the tree went rattle, rattle, rattle, in the wind. (Shake from side to side).

And the swing went swing, swing, swing, swing (swing forward and back).

And the train went choo, choo, choo, choo, (arms moving by side).

 

At Chelmsford market on Saturday

I bought lots of silly things.

I bought a brush and it cost 8 pence.

And I put the brush in my bag.

And the brush went brush, brush, brush, brush (mime brushing hair).

And the tree went rattle, rattle, rattle, in the wind. (Shake from side to side).

And the swing went swing, swing, swing, swing (swing forward and back).

And the train went choo, choo, choo, choo, (arms moving by side).

 

At Chelmsford market on Saturday

I bought lots of silly things.

I bought a frog and it cost 9 pence.

And I put the frog in my bag.

And my frog ribbit , ribbit , ribbit (kneeling down like a frog).

And the brush went brush, brush, brush, brush (mime brushing hair).

And the tree went rattle, rattle, rattle, in the wind. (Shake from side to side).

And the swing went swing, swing, swing, swing (swing forward and back).

And the train went choo, choo, choo, choo, (arms moving by side).

 

At Chelmsford market on Saturday

I bought lots of silly things.

I bought a clown and it cost 9 pence.

And I put the clown in my bag.

And my clown went ha,ha,ha,ha,ha (mime laughing).

And the tree went rattle, rattle, rattle, in the wind. (Shake from side to side).

And the swing went swing, swing, swing, swing (swing forward and back).

And the train went choo, choo, choo, choo, (arms moving by side).

 

 

This is my smart board so far. http://dl.dropbox.com/u/630452/Observed%20lesson.notebook

 

I'm going to write the lesson plan now.

 

Summary

 

Introduce first two lines from the song - children sitting in a circle.

 

1st volunteer comes to the middle and picks out a word from the song from a carrier bag. Frog, train etc. That child then sounds the word out using the word underneath the card (should i just have the image)?

 

The whole class then sing the song with this word included and the previous verse. This is continued until all of the 7 items have been taken.

 

Featureing phase 4 words.

 

I'm now wondering whether they should attempt a sentence or come up and write a word.

 

EG: At Chelmsford market i bought a __________

 

What do you think?

[Guest ChunkyMan]

xray words.ppt

 

Found it.

 

Good luck.

[apple]

Are you expecting the children to learn the song- it's awful long (but awful good ) it maybe too much in such a short session????

[Guest]

xray words.ppt

 

Found it.

 

Good luck.

 

Thanks so much!

[Guest]

Went To The Market

 

At Chelmsford market on Saturday

I bought lots of silly things.

I bought a train and it cost 5 pence

And I put the train in my bag.

And the train went choo, choo, choo, choo, choo (pulling horn).

 

At Chelmsford market on Saturday

I bought lots of silly things.

I bought a swing and it cost 6 pence

And I put the swing in my bag.

And the swing went forward and back and forward and back (swing forward and back).

And the train went choo, choo, choo, choo, choo(pulling horn).

 

At Chelmsford market on Saturday

I bought lots of silly things.

I bought a tree and it cost 7 pence.

And I put the tree in my bag.

And the tree went rattle, rattle, rattle, in the wind (Shake from side to side).

And the swing went forward and back and forward and back (swing forward and back).

And the train went choo, choo, choo, choo, choo(pulling horn).

 

At Chelmsford market on Saturday

I bought lots of silly things.

I bought a spoon and it cost 7 pence.

And I put the spoon in my bag.

And my spoon went ting ting ting ting ting. (mime hitting spoon).

And the tree went rattle, rattle, rattle, in the wind. (Shake from side to side).

And the swing went swing, swing, swing, swing (swing forward and back).

And the train went choo, choo, choo, choo, (arms moving by side).

 

At Chelmsford market on Saturday

I bought lots of silly things.

I bought a brush and it cost 8 pence.

And I put the brush in my bag.

And the brush went brush, brush, brush, brush (mime brushing hair).

And the tree went rattle, rattle, rattle, in the wind. (Shake from side to side).

And the swing went swing, swing, swing, swing (swing forward and back).

And the train went choo, choo, choo, choo, (arms moving by side).

 

At Chelmsford market on Saturday

I bought lots of silly things.

I bought a frog and it cost 9 pence.

And I put the frog in my bag.

And my frog ribbit , ribbit , ribbit (kneeling down like a frog).

And the brush went brush, brush, brush, brush (mime brushing hair).

And the tree went rattle, rattle, rattle, in the wind. (Shake from side to side).

And the swing went swing, swing, swing, swing (swing forward and back).

And the train went choo, choo, choo, choo, (arms moving by side).

 

At Chelmsford market on Saturday

I bought lots of silly things.

I bought a clown and it cost 9 pence.

And I put the clown in my bag.

And my clown went ha,ha,ha,ha,ha (mime laughing).

And the tree went rattle, rattle, rattle, in the wind. (Shake from side to side).

And the swing went swing, swing, swing, swing (swing forward and back).

And the train went choo, choo, choo, choo, (arms moving by side).

 

 

This is my smart board so far. http://dl.dropbox.co...lesson.notebook

 

I'm going to write the lesson plan now.

 

Summary

 

Introduce first two lines from the song - children sitting in a circle.

 

1st volunteer comes to the middle and picks out a word from the song from a carrier bag. Frog, train etc. That child then sounds the word out using the word underneath the card (should i just have the image)?

 

The whole class then sing the song with this word included and the previous verse. This is continued until all of the 7 items have been taken.

 

Featuring phase 4 words.

 

I'm now wondering whether they should attempt a sentence or come up and write a word.

 

EG: At Chelmsford market i bought a __________

 

What do you think?

 

Any thoughts please...?

[Guest]

Any thoughts please...?

 

Still need thoughts on this interview phonics lesson please....

 

Many thanks in advance

[millhill]

Have you contacted the school to find out what phase the children are at?

 

You also need to think about the recommended structure of a phonics lesson: review/teach/practise and apply.

 

At the moment you have the 'practise' element with the song which is good but I personally think it's too long and the learning you are intending to occur might get lost in the song.

 

The sentence writing would be the application, but bear in mind the whole sentence should be phonetically correct if you want the children read/ spell it.