Teaching through book talk is the best way to help children learn new vocabulary and aid their development in learning the spoken word. We use a lot of books in our setting to help children. One thing I did notice though, is that there are not many phonic resources you can buy that will help children. There is a lot of basic things of course but they are all limited. This resource I made is a brilliant way to help children who are starting to learn to read basic words. The child needs to read the word in the middle and then there are eight pictures around it to see which one matches (very very important as reading can be a ‘silent’ activity when a child begins to read so they need to know it is relatable to something.) I used pegs for the children to show which picture was the correct one (again this was to help with fine motor control and strengthen their grips). They pegged one picture before coming to me and telling me what they have read by sounding it out and then saying the word. Cut the resource out. Fold the picture and the backing on itself and laminate these together so its back to back. The pegs are something you will have to provide but once you have them, you are all ready to go.

I have created these resources due to having a very creative class. The idea here is to read the sentence given and then draw a picture that matches. This aids comprehension skills as well as fine motor skills to aid writing after. A win win. The children loved the rewards they would receive once they have completed three or more. Teaching through book talk is the best way to help children learn new vocabulary and aid their development in learning the spoken word. We use a lot of books in our setting to help children. One thing I did notice though, is that there are not many phonic resources you can buy that will help children. There is a lot of basic things of course but they are all limited. Is it me, or is one of the hardest things to do when teaching children to learn, is to find sentences they can access to read on a given topic. And of course, if they can read them, they can start to write them soon after too. So I hope this resource helps you as it did my class.

A great way for young children to learn how to read, to learn phonics is to manipulate letters and sounds. Here is a way to allow children to ‘play’ with sounds in order to make words. Early years teachers (Kindergarden) will be able to use this resource to see if children can spell words and read them. The idea here is to cut out the resource and fold it in half. Then laminate them. The extra part to this that you will need are bottle tops, where you have wrote letter sounds on the top. Once laminated, children can then use these bottle tops to place them on top of the circles to create simple CVC words that relate to my other resources from We’re going on a bear hunt. The eight words are: dog, wet, mud, big, brr, mad, bed, sad

Each one of these sheets are made up of letters in the weeks teaching order. So for example, the first week has s,a,t,p. Each letter sheet has each of these letters on the sheet and the idea in my class is for children to use bingo dabbers to dot each one of the correct letter they are trying to find. Once it is all coloured in, each sheet roughly makes the shape of the letter they are looking for as another way to enforce the recognition of that letter. The sheets include individual A4 pages for each letter - s,a,t,p,i,n,m,d,g,o,c,k,ck,e,u,r,h,f,b,l.

A lot of people are finding the Little Wandle website a nightmare to navigate. So I made my own resources to help the school I teach at. The first was a sound mat. Phase 2 and 3 and phase 5 are on the same sheet and I folded it it half so the children had an A5 sheet on their table to help them with the sounds. Little Wandle’s version are A4 and I think this is too big for children to use. There is a version that is just phase 2&3 that I have made but we have also agreed to start using this sound mat at the start of Year 1. I have also added the A4 version, which I have printed back to back and laminated. I did the same with the A3 version as a classroom display to aid guided writing sessions etc. Hope it helps.

For each sheet there is a large letter with a dot and arrow, which shows the children where to start writing the letter. There are then four pictures which are the same pictures in the planning for initial sounds, which the children can use to colour in. There is then an opportunity for the children to ‘write over’ the yellow letters at the bottom of the page, to help with handwriting. The portrait colouring pages are individual letters per page with the four pictures matching that on the planning for ‘what’s in the box’. They include s,a,t,p,i,n,m,d,o,c,k,ck,e,u,r,h,f,b,l. Each has opportunity to form the letter. The landscape colouring pages are in weeks. Each page has the weeks learning on with one picture thats included in ‘what’s in the box’ activity hidden behind the letter. - s,a,t,p - i,n,m,d - g,o,c,k - ck,e,u,r - h,f,b,l Hope it helps.

A lot of people are finding the Little Wandle website a nightmare to navigate. So I made my own resources to help the school I teach at. The first was a sound mat. Phase 2 and 3 are on the same sheet and I folded it it half so the children had an A5 sheet on their table to help them with the sounds. Little Wandle’s version are A4 and I think this is too big for children to use. This I have done for our Reception classes. We have also agreed to start using them at the start of Year 1. Have a look at the Little Wandle sound mat phase 2,3&5 that we are using for the rest of the school. I have also added the A4 version, which I have printed back to back and laminated. I did the same with the A3 version as a classroom display to aid guided writing sessions etc. Hope it helps.

This is a great resource that children enjoy. They have to problem solve to find the odd one out. I laminated the sheets, cut out the crosses and stuck velcro on the squares and cross. This enables the children to work independently by placing the cross on the ‘odd one out’ before explaining to me what they found. I also placed the number sentences with Numicon representations on the back of these sheets for a reference to the children. Why is this activity important? When children subitise it means they can work out how many in a collection without having to count everything they see. They can describe how many by looking and thinking which helps your child build their mathematical imaginations. Spatial structures are critical mathematical representations that children need to be able to make meaning from. It later enables children to work flexibly with numbers and operations.

This is a great resource that children enjoy. They have to problem solve to find the odd one out. I laminated the sheets, cut out the crosses and stuck velcro on the squares and cross. This enables the children to work independently by placing the cross on the ‘odd one out’ before explaining to me what they found. I also placed the number sentences with Numicon representations on the back of these sheets for a reference to the children. Why is this activity important? When children subitise it means they can work out how many in a collection without having to count everything they see. They can describe how many by looking and thinking which helps your child build their mathematical imaginations. Spatial structures are critical mathematical representations that children need to be able to make meaning from. It later enables children to work flexibly with numbers and operations.

This is a great resource that children enjoy. They have to problem solve to find the odd one out. I laminated the sheets, cut out the crosses and stuck velcro on the squares and cross. This enables the children to work independently by placing the cross on the ‘odd one out’ before explaining to me what they found. I also placed the number sentences with Numicon representations on the back of these sheets for a reference to the children. Why is this activity important? When children subitise it means they can work out how many in a collection without having to count everything they see. They can describe how many by looking and thinking which helps your child build their mathematical imaginations. Spatial structures are critical mathematical representations that children need to be able to make meaning from. It later enables children to work flexibly with numbers and operations.

This is a great resource that children enjoy. They have to problem solve to find the odd one out. I laminated the sheets, cut out the crosses and stuck velcro on the squares and cross. This enables the children to work independently by placing the cross on the ‘odd one out’ before explaining to me what they found. I also placed the number sentences with Numicon representations on the back of these sheets for a reference to the children. Why is this activity important? When children subitise it means they can work out how many in a collection without having to count everything they see. They can describe how many by looking and thinking which helps your child build their mathematical imaginations. Spatial structures are critical mathematical representations that children need to be able to make meaning from. It later enables children to work flexibly with numbers and operations.

This is a great resource that children enjoy. They have to problem solve to find the odd one out. I laminated the sheets, cut out the crosses and stuck velcro on the squares and cross. This enables the children to work independently by placing the cross on the ‘odd one out’ before explaining to me what they found. I also placed the number sentences with Numicon representations on the back of these sheets for a reference to the children. Why is this activity important? When children subitise it means they can work out how many in a collection without having to count everything they see. They can describe how many by looking and thinking which helps your child build their mathematical imaginations. Spatial structures are critical mathematical representations that children need to be able to make meaning from. It later enables children to work flexibly with numbers and operations.

This is a great resource that children enjoy. They have to problem solve to find the odd one out. I laminated the sheets, cut out the crosses and stuck velcro on the squares and cross. This enables the children to work independently by placing the cross on the ‘odd one out’ before explaining to me what they found. I also placed the number sentences with Numicon representations on the back of these sheets for a reference to the children. Why is this activity important? When children subitise it means they can work out how many in a collection without having to count everything they see. They can describe how many by looking and thinking which helps your child build their mathematical imaginations. Spatial structures are critical mathematical representations that children need to be able to make meaning from. It later enables children to work flexibly with numbers and operations.

This is a great resource that children enjoy. They have to problem solve to find the odd one out. I laminated the sheets, cut out the crosses and stuck velcro on the squares and cross. This enables the children to work independently by placing the cross on the ‘odd one out’ before explaining to me what they found. I also placed the number sentences with Numicon representations on the back of these sheets for a reference to the children. Why is this activity important? When children subitise it means they can work out how many in a collection without having to count everything they see. They can describe how many by looking and thinking which helps your child build their mathematical imaginations. Spatial structures are critical mathematical representations that children need to be able to make meaning from. It later enables children to work flexibly with numbers and operations.

This is a great resource that children enjoy. They have to problem solve to find the odd one out. I laminated the sheets, cut out the crosses and stuck velcro on the squares and cross. This enables the children to work independently by placing the cross on the ‘odd one out’ before explaining to me what they found. I also placed the number sentences with Numicon representations on the back of these sheets for a reference to the children. Why is this activity important? When children subitise it means they can work out how many in a collection without having to count everything they see. They can describe how many by looking and thinking which helps your child build their mathematical imaginations. Spatial structures are critical mathematical representations that children need to be able to make meaning from. It later enables children to work flexibly with numbers and operations.

When learning to read and write, children need the opportunity to explore with letters and sounds. This resource has been made to allow children to move letters, manipulating them and hopefully reading them as they go a long in order to make simple CVC words. You will need something to write the letter sounds on, in my case I used milk bottle tops and this allows the children to move them around but with the picture they can relate the written word to what they can see. A must at the early stages of reading.

These peg boards have been made for children to access independently - they use a peg to indicate which word, out of three rhyming words available, matches the picture shown. The pegs have an added bonus of aiding their fine motor skills and its a great way to see if they are reading accurately. I have been made aware recently that Microsoft office does not support publisher any more. With this in mind, I have added a PDF version of the resource that you can use.

Children have everything they need within this resource - the picture to look at to make a word and then the individual letters attached to the card via a split pin. Children are then able to move the letters around to experiment with ways of making the word.

Children have everything they need within this resource - the picture to look at to make a word and then the individual letters (or diagraphs) attached to the card via a split pin. Children are then able to move the letters around to experiment with ways of making the word.

These are designed to be used independently in my class. The children use pegs to match the correct picture to the word they read. The pegs aid fine motor skills as an added bonus, but it does show if they do understand what they are reading.