Teaching Letter Sounds And Names

[Guest]

Hi everyone,

It's that knotty old issue again!

We're about to start Jolly Phonics again and we've been told by our county advisor that we should teach the name along with the sound.

I feel very unsure about this as I think it's enough to teach the action and sound. Just wondering if any of you do this and if so how well it works.

Or any other experiences of teaching the sound names would be very welcome.

Thanks,

Jess

[Susan]

Ive always taught the letter sounds first and then repeated with letter names after christmas, usually. At this point I usually introduce capitals too.

[Lorna]

We usually do sounds first, except for the vowels which we teach both sound and name from the beginning. We then co on the the names of letters and caps after christmas- although the children do seem to pick up the names of the letters much slower than the sounds. There is that dreaded profile point about being able to name and know the sound of most of the letters- we have found that although the children know the sounds they don't always know the names so we can't mark it off:- really frustrating.

 

will watch to see what others say as we start jolly phonics on Monday.

 

L

[SmileyPR]

Children who have come to me (Reception) knowing the names of the letters have had a harder time to read (e.g. read CVC words) so I definitively go for teaching the sounds first and leaving the names for after Christmas.

 

I have been using Code-Breakers only for the 1st 3 weeks and then I will start Jolly Phonics on the 3rd of October. The first days some had difficulty following a sequence of sounds; now there is no problem. I am looking foward to start JP in Oct since I only started it this year in January with my previous Reception group. Our Grade 1 teacher is amazed with the difference with the previous groups so I can imagine how happy she will be when she receives this next group.

[apple]

HI SmileyPR can you explain code-breakers please?

[Marion]

I have always taught the sounds first, briefly mentioning the letters have names too. Then introduced the letter names and like Lorna find the children struggle to recall both. This year I have a child in the class who insist on saying all the letter names so am teaching the children both from the onset. Not sure how it will work but did a workshop with Sue Lloyd who insists this is the way Jolly Phonics should be used.

[Guest]

I was advised on a phonics course to teach them both. You can sing the song

ants on the apple aaa ants on the apple aaa ants on the apple aaa. It is called an a.

[basilbrush]

Not sure if this is the same thing as Smiley's system but we use codebreakers in our school. Its available on the hamilton trust website:

 

www.hamilton-trust.org.uk

 

It is daily whole class phonics sessions, the book is divided into terms, and each term has different sessions for each day, based around the puppet characters 'Boris and Sid', you used to be able to download the whole book from their website although it does take ages, we bought the pack, think it cost about 30 quid, includes the book, Boris the Bat and Sid the Racoon, and a set of phonics picture cards - I tend to use it to dip into rather than doing a session every day..

 

 

hope that helps

[SmileyPR]

Hi basilbrush!

 

Yes, that is the Code-Breakers that I use... but I only use it for the 1st 3 weeks and I also adapt it a little. I don't know if the new version has made a change or not. The old one was downloadable, but not anymore. What I did not like of the old one was that it went from the 1st sound to the last one and then back to the middle sound... when that is not the way we read. We read from left to right, blending the letter sounds. You don't say 'c' 't' 'a' for 'cat'. I think these 3 weeks prepare the children (specially when they are just 4 years old) to really pay attention, to listen more carefully and have a better understanding of differentiating sounds. But definitively I move on to Jolly Phonics .

[Guest]

I tend to teach letter sounds first, possibly mentioning the letter name in passing, but definately concentrating on the letter sound. I once heard a speech therapist give this little analogy and it was enough to convince me.

 

Imagine you're going for a job interview. You open the door and are confronted with the interview panel - 26 in all. You're introduced to them, "This is Mr. Ardon, but we also call him Colin, this is Miss Smith, but we also call her Harriet". - and so on. She argued that we would find this very confusing and yet it is more concrete than just letter sounds/names would be for a young child. Now I don't worry about the profile statement until I feel the children are ready. I too find children who are confident with letter sounds and much more able to blend.

 

Harricroft

[Magenta]

You can find 'ants on the apple' song

 

here, it has each letter of the alphabet with moving images too.

[Carol]

Thanks Magenta ... thats a fab site.

 

Carol

[Guest]

dear blackeyed pam - after 14 years in and out of reception and 3 and half as a mum I have no hesitation in saying do BOTH at once ! Letters have a name and a sound. Children need to know both and there is not point in putting one off! The same applies for capital letters If children know from the start that letters can be capital and lower case, have a sound and a name there can be no confusion - they just have more to learn in one go. I also emphasise that in my class we say sounds softly - there is no such thing as 'muh' or 'nuh' ! The children cope fine and it causes less hassle in the long run.