Notes for phonics

English Raven Phonics Builder 1 – Teacher’s Guide

 Summary

This Builder kit covers the consonants s, t, b in initial position, and the short vowel "a" in initial and medial positions.  Each lesson progresses through Phonemic Awareness, Writing Practice, Letter/Sound Identification and Application, and finishes with a Picture-Wordfind application activity designed to consolidate the sounds studied in that lesson and review/re-apply the letters studied in previous lessons.  Note that each lesson introduces new vocabulary that contrasts and differs from the words forming the focus of the lesson.  These words then appear in following lessons, creating a flow on effect where "new" vocabulary is likely to at least appear familiar to the students.

Lessons 1 through 3 deal with consonant sounds s, t and b in initial position.  Lesson 4 introduces the short vowel "a" as an initial sound, then combines with previously studied consonant sounds to focus on short "a" as a medial sound in simple monosyllabic words.  Lesson 5 is designed to review and consolidate the entire Builder 1 Kit, and includes an "open word-find" as a checking tool to see how much material the students have retained.

Lesson 1.1

A/ Phonemic Awareness

Ensure the students have an understanding of "first letter" or "first sound" before proceeding with this lesson.  Pronounce the consonant "s" as an isolated sound and have the students practice making the sound.  Then work through each vocabulary item and instruct the students to identify the word and circle it if it begins with "s".  If a word does not begin with "s", it should be crossed out.

WORDLIST:

1) sun    2) bus    3) snake

4) top    5) tub    6) sad

7) sit    8) bat    9) sail

10) toe    11) seed    12) tap

Once finished, ask the students to read all the words aloud chorally until you are satisfied they are pronouncing them all with accuracy.

B/ Writing Practice

Capital and small "Ss".  Students should write the letters 7-10 times, and keep them between the relevant writing lines.

C/ Identify and Apply  First Letter "Ss"

Help the students to identify and pronounce each word.  If the word begins with "s", they should write a capital and a small "s" in the space to the right of the picture.  If the word does not begin with "s" they should put a cross in the space.

WORDLIST:

1) sun    2) tap

3) bat    4) sit

5) snake    6) top

7) tub    8) school

9) train    10) seed

11) socks    12) toe

Once finished, ask the students to read all the words aloud chorally until you are satisfied they are pronouncing them all with accuracy.

D/ Look, Think and Apply  Can you find the words?

This activity is to encourage the students to begin associating illustrations with written English words, and to identify correct spelling.  There is a wordlist at the bottom of the page to assist the students locate the word with correct spelling, but linking the written form with the picture will be up to the students.  Each illustration also features an arrow in the top left hand corner  this arrow indicates the direction the word takes within the word-find grid.

This word-find features all the words to appear in Phonics Builder 1 Lessons 1 through 5.  Once students have located the words illustrated here, they can be encouraged to find additional words and illustrate them themselves.

Lesson 1.2

A/ Phonemic Awareness

Ensure the students have an understanding of "first letter" or "first sound" before proceeding with this lesson.  Pronounce the consonant "t" as an isolated sound and have the students practice making the sound.  Then work through each vocabulary item and instruct the students to identify the word and circle it if it begins with "t".  If a word does not begin with "t", it should be crossed out.

WORDLIST:

1) tub    2) bag    3) train

4) hen    5) top    6) toe

7) tap    8) boot    9) table

10) ham    11) ticket    12) bike

Once finished, ask the students to read all the words aloud chorally until you are satisfied they are pronouncing them all with accuracy.

B/ Writing Practice

Capital and small "Tt".  Students should write the letters 7-10 times, and keep them between the relevant writing lines.

C/ Identify and Apply  First Letter "Tt"

Help the students to identify and pronounce each word.  If the word begins with "t", they should write a capital and a small "t" in the space to the right of the picture.  If the word does not begin with "t" they should put a cross in the space.

WORDLIST:

1) table    2) bike

3) ticket    4) tap

5) hen    6) book

7) socks    8) tree

9) train    10) ham

11) bat    12) tall

Once finished, ask the students to read all the words aloud chorally until you are satisfied they are pronouncing them all with accuracy.

D/ Look, Think and Apply  Can you find the words?

This activity is to encourage the students to begin associating illustrations with written English words, and to identify correct spelling.  There is a wordlist at the bottom of the page to assist the students locate the word with correct spelling, but linking the written form with the picture will be up to the students.  Each illustration also features an arrow in the top left hand corner  this arrow indicates the direction the word takes within the word-find grid.

This word-find features all the words to appear in Phonics Builder 1 Lessons 1 through 5.  Once students have located the words illustrated here, they can be encouraged to find additional words and illustrate them themselves.

Lesson 1.3

A/ Phonemic Awareness

Ensure the students have an understanding of "first letter" or "first sound" before proceeding with this lesson.  Pronounce the consonant "b" as an isolated sound and have the students practice making the sound.  Then work through each vocabulary item and instruct the students to identify the word and circle it if it begins with "b".  If a word does not begin with "b", it should be crossed out.

WORDLIST:

1) bat    2) house    3) bus

4) ham    5) mail    6) bag

7) bike    8) match    9) box

10) book    11) boot    12) hen

Once finished, ask the students to read all the words aloud chorally until you are satisfied they are pronouncing them all with accuracy.

B/ Writing Practice

Capital and small "Bb".  Students should write the letters 7-10 times, and keep them between the relevant writing lines.

C/ Identify and Apply  First Letter "Bb"

Help the students to identify and pronounce each word.  If the word begins with "b", they should write a capital and a small "b" in the space to the right of the picture.  If the word does not begin with "b" they should put a cross in the space.

WORDLIST:

1) bag    2) match

3) bed    4) ham

5) mail    6) moon

7) box    8) bread

9) king    10) bird

11) boy    12) mop

Once finished, ask the students to read all the words aloud chorally until you are satisfied they are pronouncing them all with accuracy.

D/ Look, Think and Apply  Can you find the words?

This activity is to encourage the students to begin associating illustrations with written English words, and to identify correct spelling.  There is a wordlist at the bottom of the page to assist the students locate the word with correct spelling, but linking the written form with the picture will be up to the students.  Each illustration also features an arrow in the top left hand corner  this arrow indicates the direction the word takes within the word-find grid.

This word-find features all the words to appear in Phonics Builder 1 Lessons 1 through 5.  Once students have located the words illustrated here, they can be encouraged to find additional words and illustrate them themselves.

Lesson 1.4

A/ Phonemic Awareness

Ensure the students have an understanding of both "first letter/sound" and "middle letter/sound" before proceeding with this lesson.  Pronounce the short vowel "a" as an isolated sound and have the students practice making the sound.  Then work through each vocabulary item and instruct the students to identify the word and circle it if it begins with "a".  If a word does not begin with "a", it should be crossed out.

WORDLIST:

1) apple    2) igloo    3) axe

4) orange    5) arrow    6) ink

7) umbrella    8) alligator    9) elephant

10) octopus    11) egg    12) ant

Once finished, ask the students to read all the words aloud chorally until you are satisfied they are pronouncing them all with accuracy.

B/ Writing Practice

Capital and small "Aa".  Students should write the letters 7-10 times, and keep them between the relevant writing lines.

C/ Identify and Apply  Middle Letter "a"

Help the students to identify and pronounce each word.  If the word features the short vowel "a" as its middle letter, they should write a small "a" in the space to the right of the picture.  If the word does not feature short "a" as a middle letter, they should put a cross in the space.

WORDLIST:

1) bat    2) box

3) bus    4) tap

5) hat    6) top

7) sad    8) bed

9) hen    10) ham

11) hill    12) bag

Once finished, ask the students to read all the words aloud chorally until you are satisfied they are pronouncing them all with accuracy.

D/ Look, Think and Apply  Can you find the words?

This activity is to encourage the students to begin associating illustrations with written English words, and to identify correct spelling.  There is a wordlist at the bottom of the page to assist the students locate the word with correct spelling, but linking the written form with the picture will be up to the students.  Each illustration also features an arrow in the top left hand corner  this arrow indicates the direction the word takes within the word-find grid.

This word-find features all the words to appear in Phonics Builder 1 Lessons 1 through 5.  Once students have located the words illustrated here, they can be encouraged to find additional words and illustrate them themselves.

Lesson 1.5

A/ Write the Missing FIRST Letter

In this section, students locate and write the missing first letters.  They should also trace over the remaining letters, so that they write the entire word out.  It is up to the teacher whether the students do this on their own or listen to the teacher pronounce each word before attempting to write the initial letter.  They should use lower case letters throughout this section.

WORDLIST:

1) sun    2) tub

3) bat    4) bus

5) top    6) sit

7) box    8) bed

9) sail    10) toe

11) bird    12) tall

Once finished, ask the students to read all the words aloud chorally until you are satisfied they are pronouncing them all with accuracy.

B/ Write all THREE missing letters

Similar to A above, except here the students are required to attempt to write out the entire word for each picture.  As a hint you can inform them that each word only has three letters.  Again, it is up to the teacher whether the students do this on their own or listen to the teacher pronounce each word before attempting to write out the letters.  They should use lower case letters throughout this section.

WORDLIST:

1) sad    2) tap

3) ham    4) bag

5) hat    6) bat

7) man    8) map

9) sit    10) ant

11) bus    12) top

Once finished, ask the students to read all the words aloud chorally until you are satisfied they are pronouncing them all with accuracy.

C/ Find your own words - draw and write them

In this activity, students locate words on their own from the grid, illustrate them and then write them in the spaces at the bottom of the page.  They are only asked to find 11 words on this page, but as an extension activity you can ask them to find as many words as possible and illustrate them on a separate piece of paper.  This word-find features all the words to appear in Phonics Builder 1 Lessons 1 through 5, so it is a good checking tool to see how many of the vocabulary items the students remember both conceptually and in terms of spelling.