Raising standards in KS1 and Special Needs: helping every child to succeed.
I have taught systematic phonics to all ages and abilities for over 30 years. My teaching degree was in Environmental Studies and I hate to see science reduced to box-ticking when there is so much to discover about the wonderful world we live in.
So, I produce Phonic resources that meet the real needs of children and teachers, along with science resources to engage children in learning about the natural world.
Raising standards in KS1 and Special Needs: helping every child to succeed.
I have taught systematic phonics to all ages and abilities for over 30 years. My teaching degree was in Environmental Studies and I hate to see science reduced to box-ticking when there is so much to discover about the wonderful world we live in.
So, I produce Phonic resources that meet the real needs of children and teachers, along with science resources to engage children in learning about the natural world.
A bright, cheery A4 size phonic alphabet chart just perfect for young children who are learning the beginning/initial sounds!
2 font styles
How to use:
Laminate the chart
Give one to each pupil to have on the desk for handy reference
Pin the phonic alphabet chart on the wall!
Just right for:
Reception/Y1
Special needs older children
Home-education
Parents
those struggling to recall letter shapes/sounds
5 FREE worksheets to teach CVC word with a short vowel.
This is a sample of our 72 sheet Short A CVC Words pack, which contains plenty of exercises to help children of all abilities to take their first steps in blending and segmenting.
CVC words with a short A are usually the first words a child will learn to blend, and therefore, we start the pack with child friendly exercises, with only a small amount on each page to encourage the child. Those with more confidence can tackle our more advanced sheets: there is plenty for all abilities!
The realistic pictures means that these worksheets can safely be used with older ESL/EFL/ SENd children.
A simple phonemic awareness board game for 2 players to help children hear the sounds 'ar 'and ‘or’ in words.
Some children need more oral work before they can read and spell words with ‘or’ and ‘ar’ successfully, so this game can give vital help.
Note: children will not be expected to read any words. It is an oral game, based on pictures.
Very suitable for Special Needs/EFL/ESL learners.
An phonetic easy reader aout Owls for those beginning to read longer simple texts - with words that can be sounded out using phonic knowledge and only a few most common sight words.
Learn about Owls through a simple story. Learn Science at the same time!
See more at([ KS1 Nature]https://ks1nature.weebly.com/)
First reading books for those just learning the initial sounds with an Initial Sounds workbook to reinforce learning.
Say the letter name and/or sound
Trace the letter
Find the things that begin with that sound
These Initial Sounds reading books can be used in two ways:
You can look at each letter as it is introduced and use the page as part of the lesson for that sound.
You can wait until all of the sounds in each book have been taught and use it for revision.
I prefer this last way, as when the child has learned 5 sounds, s/he will be so glad to recognise the sounds that have been taught in the book and it will give him/her a real confidence boost and a feeling of success. Try it and see for yourself. As you present each book, make it a moment to mark progress.
“Now you have learned some more letters, you can read this book!”
These books can be followed with our popular CVC Words reading books:
https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/resource-12636791
For more help teaching phonics, please see Reading Made Simple,
a 100% free phonic reading and spelling programme, written by two teachers with many years experience teaching children to read, especially those with special needs.
Here is a simple ‘ar’ phonic game which I made to help my struggling readers.
It is easy, fun and if nothing else, your pupil will forget his/her difficulty with reading while playing this game with either an adult or another child.
Full instructions are given.
Two editions are provided: black and white or coloured.
Why not let the pupil make his/her own game by colouring the black and white pictures? This will make it his, or her game - personal - while linking all 18 words in the game in the child’s mind to the ‘ar’ family - so important for spelling.
This is a simple game for either 2 or 3 players.
If playing with other children, the teacher should watch closely to ensure that the children are sounding the words out correctly.
Use as a discrete form of assessment: is the pupil using knowledge of letter sounds - or GUESSING which will lead to failure?Timely intervention now can prevent much trouble later on.
Let your pupils have fun learning ‘ar’!
Why not send it home for homework?
Can be used with any programme including Letters and Sounds Phases 3 + 4
Two fun , fully interactive Power Points to help children to learn to add and subtract one, based on counting rhymes:
One little bird in the sky so blue, along came another and that made two…Adding one more each time to five
Five little fishes swimming near the shore, one swam away and then there were four…Subtracting on each time from 5 to zero.
Made for a SEN pupil, but suitable for all ages.
Great for distance learning lessons/1:1 tutition/private tutors, OR
For whole class use
This is a pack of 12 phonic worksheets to teach ‘U-E’ (silent ‘e’, Magic ‘e’, long vowels, split digraphs) words.
These ‘U-E’ Phonic Worksheets can be used with very young children, although I made them for children who have processing difficulties and need more systematic teaching.
They are:
highly systematic
have a limited amount on each page as these pupils tire easily.
Pupils should be confident blending with consonant blends (Phase 4 Letters and Sounds for example).
I use ‘Sound-it-out boxes’ for new words, where digraphs are grouped together to give the child the visual reminder to make one sound.
The worksheets include activities to:
Develop blending and segmenting
Give needed repetition to to develop word recognition
Develop phonemic awareness - much needed by early learners
Tracking activities - to see and recognise the new sound in words
Comprehension activities
Writing practice
Reading of longer passages
Fluency triangles
Lots of repetition builds confidence and success! Help a struggling reader today.
You will find it hard to find such a comprehensive programme of systematic phonic instruction for a special needs child for such a price.
This is a pack of 12 phonic worksheets to teach ‘O-E’ (silent ‘e’, Magic ‘e’, Long Vowels) words.
These ‘O-E’ Phonic Worksheets can be used with very young children, although I made them for children who have processing difficulties and need more systematic teaching.
They are:
highly systematic
have a limited amount on each page as these pupils tire easily.
Pupils should be confident blending with consonant blends (Phase 4 Letters and Sounds for example).
I use ‘Sound-it-out boxes’ for new words, where digraphs are grouped together to give the child the visual reminder to make one sound.
The worksheets include activities to:
Develop blending and segmenting
Give needed repetition to to develop word recognition
Develop phonemic awareness - much needed by early learners
Tracking activities - to see and recognise the new sound in words
Comprehension activities
Writing practice
Reading of longer passages
Fluency triangles
Lots of repetition builds confidence and success! Help a struggling reader today.
You will find it hard to find such a comprehensive programme of systematic phonic instruction for a special needs child for such a price.
A fun, animated PowerPoint to introduce children to the consonant blends SL featuring the lovable character, SLIMMY SLUG!
As you tell the story, which is written under each slide for use in Presentation Mode or on the accompanying PDF, stretch out the key words containing the focus blend: SLLLimmy SLLLug to help children hear the blend.
At the end of the story, 2 slides help you to teach the children to blend the two sounds together to make the blend SL and then further slides encourage the children to help you to retell the story as you highlight the key words containing each blend.
The PowerPoint ends with an interactive puzzle: can the children tell you which things begin with the blend SL? Watch the pictures spin if correct and disappear if incorrect!
An SL worksheet is included for follow up.
Close your lesson with a plenary session, reviewing the key words containing the FL blend.
Written to help a disallusioned 8-yr-old who had already failed to read despite 2 phonic programmes, I needed a way to get his attention. It worked and he loved these simple PowerPoint presentations and was soon reading and spelling words with consonant blends.
Suitable for distance/on-line learning, in school, at home and for home education.
Find also:
FR PowerPoint: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/resource-12907479
FL PowerPoint: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/resource-12907482
See also our consonant blends, leveled, FREE reading books!
https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/resource-12645240
A fun, animated PowerPoint to introduce children to the consonant blends FL featuring the lovable character, FLAPPY FLY!
As you tell the story, which is written under each slide for use in Presentation Mode or on the accompanying PDF, stretch out the key words containing the focus blend: FLLLappy FLLLy to help children hear the blend.
At the end of the story, 2 slides help you to teach the children to blend the two sounds together to make the blend FL and then further slides encourage the children to help you to retell the story as you highlight the key words containing each blend.
The PowerPoint ends with an interactive puzzle: can the children tell you which things begin with the blend FL? Watch the pictures spin if correct and disappear if incorrect!
An FL worksheet is included for follow up.
Close your lesson with a plenary session, reviewing the key words containing the FL blend.
Written to help a disallusioned 8-yr-old who had already failed to read despite 2 phonic programmes, I needed a way to get his attention. It worked and he loved these simple PowerPoint presentations and was soon reading and spelling words with consonant blends.
Suitable for distance/on-line learning, in school, at home and for home education.
Find also:
FR PowerPoint: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/resource-12907479
SL PowerPoint: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/-12907484
See our consonant blends, leveled, FREE reading books!
https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/resource-12645240
A fun, animated PowerPoint to introduce children to the consonant blends FR featuring the lovable character, Freddy Frog!
As you tell the story, which is written under each slide for use in Presentation Mode or on the accompanying PDF, stretch out the key words containing the focus blend: FRRReddy FRRRog to help children hear the blend.
At the end of the story, 2 slides help you to teach the children to blend the two sounds together to make the blend and then further slides encourage the children to help you to retell the story as you highlight the key words containing each blend.
The PowerPoint ends with an interactive puzzle: can the children tell you which things begin with the blend FR? Watch the pictures spin if correct and disappear if incorrect!
An FR worksheet is included for follow up.
Close your lesson with a plenary session, reviewing the key words containing the FR blend.
Suitabel for all pupils, but written to help a disallusioned 8-yr-old who had already failed to read despite 2 phonic programmes, I needed a way to get his attention. It worked and he loved these simple PowerPoint presentations and was soon reading and spelling words with consonant blends.
Suitable for distance/on-line learning, in school, at home and for home education.
Find also:
SL PowerPoint: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/-12907484
FL PowerPoint: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/resource-12907482
See our consonant blends, leveled, FREE reading books!
https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/resource-12645240
This game practices the spelling and reading of words with ai or the split digraph a-e. Suitable for use with Read, Write inc. Set 3 words.
Be the first to get to the moon as you find words to fit your rocket - either ai or the a-e words.
This game helps children to learn which combination of letters are used to spell common words in the ‘ai’ and ‘a-e’ sound families.
It also gives practice reading ‘ai’ and ‘a-e’ words.
Excellent for reluctant learners, special needs, and just about all children.
Full instructions and teaching notes included.
For use with any phonic programme, including Read, Write Inc. and Jolly Phonics.
Tes paid licence
This is a pack of 12 ‘ee’ digraph, phonic worksheets.
They were written for children who need a slower pace and more instruction but will equally suit the young child learning phonics.
They can be used with any systematic phonic programme - including RWI, Jolly Phonics and Letters and Sounds, or Reading Made Simple.
They are designed to be used as a workbook, but can be used individually as needed.
They take the child from aurally hearing the new sound in word, to gradually reading and writing words with the ‘ee’ sound.
They particularly suit those with dyslexia, or suspected dyslexia, who have failed with other approaches to learning phonics.
They are highly systematic, and have a limited amount on each page as young/special needs pupils tire easily.
These ‘ee’ phonic worksheets work on my ‘sound-it-out’ principal for special needs: See it! Sound-it-out! Write it! Thye utilise ‘sound-it-out’ boxes (Orton Gillingham style) to group sounds in each word to visually guide the pupil to sound out the new words.
Lots of repetition builds confidence and success and culminates in the reading of two passages, with reading comprehension activities alongside.
For more help, see Reading Made Simple, a 100% FREE systematic Reading and Writing programme for all ages and abilities.
This book is one of a series. See also:
ar Phonic Worksheets
or Phonic Worksheets
This is a pack of 20 AR phonic spelling puzzles to help children to spell words with the phonic digraph AR.
Aims/objectives for these AR Spelling Puzzles
To help children to understand that 'ar together make one new sound.
Who can use these AR spelling puzzles?
Any child needing help to hear the letters AR as one sound in words. They can be used in the Early Years (Pre-K and K) or for Early intervention, or for Special Needs.
They can be used with all Government approved Phonic Prgorammes, including Letters and sounds/Revised (Phase 3), RWI and Jolly Phonics.
Full instructions are included in the download.
How can these puzzles be used?
Use for independent work in - great for private tutors and home education.
Use with small groups.
Use in Literacy centres.
Use how they can best serve your purposes!
Tell us how you have used them!
Find AR worksheets here: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/resource-12807870
Find an AR Reading Game here
This is a pack of 12 ‘or’ digraph, phonic worksheets.
These ‘OR’ Phonic Worksheets can be used with very young children, although I made them for children who have processing difficulties and need more systematic teaching.
They are:
highly systematic
have a limited amount on each page as these pupils tire easily.
Pupils should be confident blending with consonant blends (Phase 4 Letters and Sounds for example) and know the digraph AR.
I use ‘Sound-it-out boxes’ for new words, where digraphs are grouped together to give the child the visual reminder to make one sound.
The worksheets include activities to:
Develop blending and segmenting
Give needed repetition to to develop word recognition
Develop phonemic awareness - much needed by early learners
Tracking activities - to see and recognise the new sound in words
Comprehension activities
Writing practice
Reading of longer passages
Fluency triangles
Lots of repetition builds confidence and success! Help a struggling reader today.
You will find it hard to find such a comprehensive programme of systematic phonic instruction for a special needs child for such a price.
This is one of a series. See also:
ar Phonic Worksheets
ar Phonic Game
A fun interactive bird-counting rhyme in interactive Power Point form, to learn numbers and 1:1 correspondence:
One little bird in the sky so blue, along came another and that made two etc…
Click to reveal numbers, and add one more and count again.
I enjoyed making this Power Point for a speech delayed 8yr old child who is having trouble grasping 1:1 correspondence and I am working with him to help him to understand the worth of ‘1’ and the effect of adding ‘1 more’. There is no sound (other than chimes on the practice slides), allowing the teacher/parent to give the child as much time as needed to respond. Full narration is given.
It can of course be used by others of younger and older ages - but it has a more grown up feel than that provided by early counting rhymes.
I hope it will be helpful to others.
These phonic ‘Learn to Write’ letter tracing sheets for Special needs children have been developed to accompany the learning of the initial sounds, to help the child who does not yet have the ability to write unaided begin to become familiar with letter shapes and correct letter formation.
The physical act of writing letters while learning initial sounds is important because the movement of the hand to write, alongside seeing the letters and saying their sounds helps to make the learning process multi-sensory, which in turn ensures that more children, including those with special needs, become successful readers and writers.
The sheets are placed in alphabetical order, but can be used in any order, according to the phonic scheme you are using.
Do ensure that the child has plenty of free drawing practice alongside the use of these sheets so that the child develops sufficient pencil control to move on to independent writing.
A pack of two super fun games to help children learn to hear the final sound of words, so vital for spelling with phonics. The games cover the final sounds: t,d, k, g, p, b, n, m and s.
They can also be used for speech therapy giving practice in like sounds: d/t/, k/g/ and p/b with which some children struggle.
Children from EYFS to teens with sepecial needs will enjoy playing these games!
Some children need a little extra practice to hear the final sounds of words, and a game takes the tedium out of learning!
Children will want to play these games again and again and you can change the sound each time. Nine sounds with 63 picture cards and two boards to choose from means the child will not get bored
Build a Castle, Win the Race: you choose! You can even change the fun level by adding in extra/missed turns - but play it simply first.
The games can be for up to 4 players, though it is recommended that each player plays first with an adult until s/he has begun to hear the final sound.
Full instructions are given.
Both games come in either colour or ink-saving black and white.
I made these games to help a ten-yr-old reluctant pupil to hear the final sounds of words. It won him round and now he is an expert!
I hope they help you too!
Here are 12, FREE to download, Consonant Blends decodable, phonic reading books to support the blending of consonant blends words with a short vowel sound, for the very earliest stages of learning to read with phonics, WITH MATCHING WORKBOOKS to consolidate learning.
Suitable for use with all phonic programmes.
These books follow our FREE CVC words reading books, and are followed by our Graded Decodable readers, introducing common digraphs.
Together they form a FREE phonic reading scheme. Give your child a head start in reading, or help your struggling reader to succeed!
Suitable for home-education, parents, teachers, private tutors and all else who need them!
The focus is purely on sounding out with only the key words
** I, and no, go, to**
being gradually introduced.
Pictures are minimal to encourage the child to gain meaning from the text and not to guess.
Phonic words are introduced and then met again in subsequent readers, to help develop confidence and fluency.
The highly structured nature of these books helps every child to succeed.
The stories are based around farmer Tom with his animals, his wife, his son Sam and daughter, Pam, dog Jiff and the cat.
Highly suitable for special needs children who have failed with other programmes.
Many parents have told me they wished they had found these books sooner, or had found them at all, as they would have been ideal for their struggling reader.
They have been thoroughly tested by my current pupils all of whom are boys. Even my nine-year old boy pupil loves them.
Teachers can find my consonant blends worksheets here:
https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/resource-12653569