From Sydney to Seattle the Science of Reading is taking centre stage. And nonsense words have a starring role! You might be wondering: What are they? Why should I be using them? And, where do I get the words from? Phonics Hero CEO Katherine Wood provides no-nonsense answers to these questions!
Hindsight is beautiful thing! Experienced phonics teacher and trainer Santina DiMauro takes teachers through what she wishes she knew all those years ago, so her hindsight is your foresight.
The English-speaking world is FINALLY coming to a consensus that systematic, synthetic phonics is crucial to learning to read and spell, but when should you stop teaching phonics? When do you move children on from ‘learning to read’ to ‘reading to learn’? Teacher Shirley Houston discusses.
Shirley Houston explains the logic (alongside some fascinating history facts) behind w-controlled vowels and gives teachers easy ways to help in their recall.
Did you miss our free webinar on the new NSW Phonics Scope and Sequence?
Fear not! This month’s blog post gives you the 1.5 hour recording and summarises the key take-aways from this hugely popular session. Everything you need to know about the NSW phonics curriculum changes.
Synthetic phonics has its own terminology; grapheme, phoneme, vowel team, the list goes on! It’s important that teachers understand and easily recall the key terms.
We’ve listed the 13 definitions your teachers need to know and included a fun phonics quiz along with printable handouts for your next professional development session.
As the school year progresses, students start to fly through the basic phonics code – until they come up against the alternative spellings and it hurts even your head! How do you teach and embed the alternative spellings so that students’ spelling becomes more accurate? Teacher Shirley Houston explains.
Online learning is (unfortunately) the new norm for many Aussie families. But how do you balance online and offline learning for a more engaged, well-rounded experience? Teacher Santina DiMauro explores her favourite ‘green time’ lockdown phonics activities.
