Guest Posted March 13, 2006 Share Posted March 13, 2006 We are currently talking a lot about phonics at my school (actually it's me talking a lot and people rolling their eyes heavenwards but I digress... ). With the heavy emphasis on Playing with Sounds and Jolly Phonics seeming to be offered forward as the holy grail for getting children to recognise letters/link sounds to letters I have ordered a whole load of Jolly Phonics stuff - the big books, the finger tracing book thingies and the letter strips. I have also found, and read (probably more of a scan actually) the phonics handbooks that accompanies it. However, and it's probably just me being thick, I cannot for the life of me work out how you use them! The big books have a 'story' on a double page spread for each phoneme and words dotted around that feature that sound/grapheme. There is also a 'track' that shows how to write the letter and then, tucked up quite small on the left, is the actual letter itself. How do children learn to associate the sound with the letter? Are you just meant to keep on showing them the big book, doing the sound and its action and hoping that they will recognise the letter? Are you meant to wean them off the big book? Should you just show letter cards, do the action and say the sound? Also, I've always resisted Jolly Phonics because it repeats sounds e.g. the 't t t' of the tennis match and I have had reservations about this because if children wanted to read 'top' then I thought they might find it hard because they would have spent ages going 't t t' for the first letter! Is this actually a problem? Also, how do people manage to get the children to say the sounds in CVC words fast? Some of mine leaves spaces the size of the Grand Canyon in between each sound so they haven't a hope in hell of being able to hear the word! My best efforts of trying to get them to 'say it a bit quicker' make not one jot of difference although they can 'hear' the word when I do it. Aargh! Sorry it's long and rambling - you should be used to that from me by now! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marion Posted March 13, 2006 Share Posted March 13, 2006 Early Learning Centre sells the Jolly Phonics flash cards for all the sounds including different ways to make long vowel sounds (I used to make my own many moons ago but the ELC ones are more colourful) I use these in spare 5 minutes to reinforce the sound/letter recognition. I dont use the big books at all thought they werent worth the expense but maybe thats me being mean I take it by the finger tracing books you mean the board type books for each set of sounds? I use these instead of the big books to introduce new sounds and there are sets of these for the children to look at freely.(the big books werent around when I began using Jolly Phonics ) A few years ago I did a workshop with Sue Lloyd and the way she demonstrated saying the sounds quickly seemed to me like blending C at D og etc. Also I try to stop my children repeating the sound over and over once they have started to recognise it and have never really had a problem. I no longer follow the book to the letter (have dropped the word boxes in favour of my own word families and this year I have taught the sounds in a different order in the hope of improving children's handwriting) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 13, 2006 Share Posted March 13, 2006 Hi we use jolly phonics and use letter flash cards which we practise with children as a whole class on a daily basis. This helps them to associate the letter with the sound. The children seem to enjoy this and it is done in short bursts (as we have learnt so many sounds now we couldn't do them all at once). We have found that when it comes to listening for sounds in words the children do not repeat the phoneme as in t, t, t and the actions can help them as a prompt if they are having difficulty. We have also found that as the children become used to learning the sounds and begin blending them together to form words they do not repeat them or use the action. We have also made our own letter prompt sheet which has all the sounds/letters on a page of A4 with the jolly phonics picture next to it, so next to the a is and ant, next to the b a bat and so on. We find that this helps the children be more independent with their writing as when they can hear the sound but can't remember what it looks like they find the picture of the action and then the sound! if i remember tomorrow i will bring it home to scan and post onto site. We have found jolly phonics to be an excellent resourse and hope you have fun using them! Good luck xx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 13, 2006 Share Posted March 13, 2006 Thanks for replying so quickly. Could you explain a bit more for me?! If you use the flashcards, do you tell the story and say, 'This is how we show the 't' sound'? This doesn't seem at all clear to me from looking at the books. Are the big books a waste of time? The graphemes seem to be lost, to me, in a page of busy pictures with lots of other words around - is that what you think, Marion? Kat, it would be great if you would be kind enough to post a copy of you alphabet sheet and I'd really appreciate it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marion Posted March 13, 2006 Share Posted March 13, 2006 I would use the small board type book to introduce the sound to the whole class. For example s I would show them the picture and explain that Sam goes out for a walk with his dog Scamp and Scamp is chasing a Stick and out of the graSS Slithers a Snake and it looks at them and says Ssssssssss. demonstrating the action and asking the children to join in with both the sound and the action. Then we would look at the pictures and I would point out the things beginning with a s sound emphasising the sound and asking if they can hear it. The next day I would remind them quickly of the story and show the flash card asking if they can show me the action and make the sound for that letter before introducing the next sound from the book. I use the flash cards at least once a day for no more than 5 minutes at a time (the children like to use a set and sit in my chair acting as teacher in free play) We also have all the sounds displayed on the wall (you can buy the frieze letters from Jolly Phonics or ELC and most educational catalogues) I cut ours up into individual letters which I add to the wall as they are taught. We also send home a 'sound book' we stick small copies of all the sound photocopiables in this as they are taught so the children can practice at home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marion Posted March 13, 2006 Share Posted March 13, 2006 Should add we use both the jiglets and the stencilets I think they worth buying Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 13, 2006 Share Posted March 13, 2006 Sorry, sorry, sorry...so would you not introduce the actual letter until the next day? I am being really dense aren't I? I promise it's not deliberate - perhaps it's genetic or my age or something! How do you make it clear that the 'sss' sound is shown by 's'? Sorry - again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marion Posted March 13, 2006 Share Posted March 13, 2006 Sorry Im not explaining too well. I would show them the book and go through the story emphasising the sound asking if they can hear it point out the things beginning with s the point to the letter and explain that the letter S represents the sound in the story s. At the end of the whole class session I would also ask them to help me put the letter on the wall. We might also look for s in stories that day or see how many we can find in the unit even put some in the outdoor area. Also we air write the letter as big as we can stretching up and right down to the floor crossing the mid point as this helps them remember the formation I wouldnt introduce the flash card until next day but thats up to individual choice I just find this works better with my present class. Should add Ive been using Jolly Phonics for about 12 years and I keep changing the way I work. Its a matter of finding what works best for you and your class. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 13, 2006 Share Posted March 13, 2006 Thanks Marion - I've got it now! You're always so helpful and I really appreciate it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 14, 2006 Share Posted March 14, 2006 We show the letters from the Pips book (A4 size) which are nice and clear while singing the song. So they are seeing a large size letter while saying/singing the sound. I've found the children only say the letter once. I don't bother with the story and I haven't got the big books. Keep revising the letters each day while learning a new song. Of course add in any extra ideas depending on resources as others have suggested. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 14, 2006 Share Posted March 14, 2006 Thanks red label. Could you give me an example of a song, please? How do you link the letter to the phoneme? You'll see from my conversation with Marion that you need to be really specific! Also, I'd really appreciate any advice from anyone about the speed thing i.e. how do you get children to say the sounds quickly? When I model doing it I do (I think) say the sounds quickly and drag out the vowel sounds so that you don't get that staccato effect but a lot of my children find this hard to do and so can't 'hear' the word. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marion Posted March 14, 2006 Share Posted March 14, 2006 There is a song book and CD to accompany the Jolly Phonics cant comments as I have never used it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest flutter Posted March 14, 2006 Share Posted March 14, 2006 Hi all, This is my first post so thank you to all for the interesting discussions and advice. I have used JP songbook, however by the time I have created my own story elaborating the one given, introduced the letter shape flash card (we do cursive with lead ups as well as flicks, so have had to alter all the pre-printed handwriting sheets!), drawn a giant shape in the air/on each others backs or on whiteboard and put sounds together in words, no time for singing!!. So we haven't learnt many songs. Each song is different so lots to learn. Flutter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 14, 2006 Share Posted March 14, 2006 Hi Flutter! Just wanted to say 'hello' - you'll love this site! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest flutter Posted March 14, 2006 Share Posted March 14, 2006 Hi Moose, Thanks I do already. See you're from east sussex too!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 15, 2006 Share Posted March 15, 2006 i am new to Jolly phonics this year but think it is fantastic!!!! the children have amazed me with the speed in which they have learnt the letter sounds. i used mainly the songs and the big song book to begin with. They loved it and we sing some of the songs every day. ELC do a song book too which is different so we use both of them. we do 15-20 mins first thing every morning and we never!! miss it. i thing this is important and now the children tell me when we should be going to do it. I have adapted the half term plan in the teachers book. sent home word boxes and tricky words. i did have a big parents meeting first to explain it all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest flutter Posted March 15, 2006 Share Posted March 15, 2006 Totally agree Keekorok. I do 4 sounds a week and get all 42 in prior to Christmas preparation! Then repeat sounds again for those who need it during Spring/Summer terms. The most able are using these in their writing and easily write - boat, song, moon etc. It is fantastic to see how quickly some use this knowledge in their writing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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