What to expect?

We teach using a structured and explicit program with engaging multi-sensory activities. It is carefully sequenced in seven stages to teach children the 44 sounds of the English language and the principles of the alphabetic code (that each speech sound can be represented by different groups of letters, such as the sound /i/ as in I, sky, pie, ice, cycle and that a letter (or group of letters) can represent different sounds, such as the letter ‘y’ in yes, gym, funny, sky.

We start with teaching the simple code in Stages 1-4. We will focus on phonemic awareness and phonics to build the strongest foundations for reading and spelling success. We will also focus on building vocabulary and oral language skills to develop equally strong foundations for comprehension and writing.

Meet Milo and friends

After initial testing, the children will be learning the letters and sounds at each of their stages. For some children, we will be meeting new characters and enjoying the Milo’s Birthday Surprise storybook. We will also be blending sounds to say words and segmenting them for spelling as well as learning handwriting.

Decodable books

We use a range of decodable books, Pip and Tim, Whizz Kids, and Little Learners Big World.

These ‘no-tricks’ books practice the sounds and letters that we have taught, so children are able to read the books themselves by sounding out and blending (and no guessing!), while still having a discussion about the storyline of the book to build comprehension skills.

For our older learners, we use Moondog, Totem and the Talisman Series. These texts have contemporary illustrations and story lines based on adventures or action-packed quests. They take our learners from reading consonant vowel consonant word level texts through to adjacent consonants, consonant digraphs and suffixes.

How you can help at home:

Read many books to your child and talk about what you just read. This is crucial for vocabulary and comprehension. Choosing a quiet time, such as bedtime, can help build an easy and fun reading routine.

Saying the ‘pure’ sounds without an ‘uh’ on the end, for eg, ‘llll’ rather than ‘luh’. You can listen to the ‘Speech Sounds of New Zealand English’ on the following You Tube clip created by Emma Nahna, a New Zealand Speech Therapist and Literacy Consultant. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SePU-T4S-js

Want to know more:

There are many webinars, websites, podcasts and readings available for us to learn more about the Science of Reading and Structured Literacy. Please find below a link to Liz Kane Literacy which has a good selection of reports to download for further reading. Many of these we have used as a staff at Burnham School to guide and inform us in our teaching practice. We highly recommend as a starting point the first report below. Any further questions then please ask your teacher.

• The Science of Teaching:Evidence for a New Era of Instruction, by Laura Stewart.

https://www.lizkaneliteracy.co.nz/_files/ugd/01994d_be059a656bc7441284d64afae6f43090.pdf

• Liz Kane Literacy

https://www.lizkaneliteracy.co.nz/further-reading