Miss Emma's ideas for teaching orthographic knowledge quickly through Speech Sound Mapping

WHAT: Phonics instruction aims to teach children the relationship between sounds (phonemes) and letters or groups of letters (graphemes) in English, essential for reading and writing.

The specific goals include:
 

1. Phonemic Awareness: the ability to isolate, segment, blend and manipulate phonemes.

2. Sound-Letter Correspondence: Children learn how sounds (speech sounds) correspond to letters or groups of letters (which she calls Sound Pics). However, due to time constraints, only around 100 grapheme-phoneme correspondences (GPCs) are explicitly taught in most phonics programs. Within Miss Emma's Speech Sound Pics (SSP) Approach she splits these into 4 'Code Levels'. 

3. Decoding Skills: Phonics instruction helps children blend letters to form words, a critical skill for reading.

4. Implicit Learning and Exploration: Following David Share's self-teaching hypothesis, the idea is that by teaching a foundational set of GPCs, children gain enough understanding to continue exploring the over 300 existing correspondences through implicit learning. 

5. Word Mapping and Fluency: Instead of teaching children to recognise common words by sight, phonics instruction emphasises mapping all words, regardless of their frequency or commonality. This approach involves using phonics skills to decode and understand each word, reinforcing the principle that every word can be sounded out and understood through its grapheme-phoneme correspondences. This method supports the development of reading fluency, as children learn to apply their phonics knowledge to a wide range of words.

6. Spelling Skills: Understanding the sound-letter relationship helps in accurate spelling.

7. Pronunciation and Comprehension: Phonics using the IPA aids in correct pronunciation and lays the groundwork for reading comprehension.

8. Confidence and Motivation: Gaining proficiency in phonics boosts children's confidence and motivation in reading and writing.

9. Orthographic Mapping: As per Linnea Ehri's theory, the ultimate goal of phonics instruction is to achieve orthographic mapping, where reading becomes an automatic and effortless process. This is where children transition from consciously decoding text to reading with ease, understanding, and enjoyment.
    

In summary, phonics instruction is about providing children with the foundational skills necessary for proficient reading and writing, with a focus on explicit teaching of a core set of GPCs, encouraging further exploration through implicit learning, and aiming for the development of automaticity in reading through orthographic mapping.

HOW: The phonics instruction approach advocated by Miss Emma emphasises personalised learning and the use of technology to cater to the individual needs and pace of each child. This approach involves several key stages:
 

1. Differentiated Learning with Technology: Instead of teaching phonics to the entire class uniformly, technology is used to differentiate the learning of around 100 grapheme-phoneme correspondences (GPCs). This allows children to progress at their own pace, both in class and at home.
    

2. Green Code Level Start: All children start with the Green Code level, learning the GPCs s (s), a (æ), t (t), p (p), i (ɪ), n (n). They read and write words containing these GPCs and also learn a few high-frequency words and phrases like 'and' (æ/n/d), 'the' (ð/i:), 'is' (ɪ/z), 'said' (s/ɛ/d) within Code Level (Braintree Forest) readers.
    

3. Progression to Purple Code Level and Beyond: Once confident, children move to the Purple Code Level, where new GPCs are introduced. This progression continues at their own pace until they can read and spell words with these 100 GPCs. Again, they learn these using tech - with Miss Emma's IPA aligned phonemes. 
    

4. Learning High-Frequency Words with Technology: Over 400 high-frequency words are taught cumulatively using Miss Emma's technology. Children see the words, hear the corresponding phonemes, and write the words while listening, enabling orthographic mapping.
    

5. Spaced Repetition and Time Management: The programme uses spaced repetition, requiring a maximum of 30 minutes per day for activities. This leaves more time for exploring other texts and additional GPCs through independent writing.
    

6. Clickable Library and Introduction to Characters: After mastering the Green and Purple Code Level GPCs, children start with the Clickable Library at the 36 pre-readers. This introduces them to characters like Roger Red-hat, Billy Blue-hat, Johnny and Jennifer Yellow-hat, and enhances vocabulary, comprehension, and emotional investment in reading.
    

7. 1,2,3 and Away Series and Code Level Readers: Alongside continuing with Code Level readers that focus on target GPCs and mapped high-frequency words, children begin the 1,2,3 and Away series. This series provides repetitive and predictable texts to build confidence.
    

8. Achieving Independent Reading: By the end of book 120 in the Yellow Platform readers, most children reach independent reading capability. Over 95% enter the self-teaching phase before Year 2, a significant improvement over traditional phonics instruction, where only about 75% achieve this level of proficiency, with 25% struggling to learn to read in primary school.

This comprehensive approach integrates technology, personalised learning, and engaging content to effectively teach phonics and foster independent reading skills in children.
 

There are also group or whole class activities designed to specifically develop orthographic knowledge. The activities include:

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1. The Speedy Six: Focusing on spelling.

2. Snap and Crack: Concentrating on mapping words orthographically, with comprehension. There is a focus on figuring out WHERE in the text they found the answer, and in structuring a 'writer's response.   

3. Rapid Writing: Aimed at mapping words while writing, and with a focus on sentence construction, grammar and punctuation. Children using prompts to evoke creative discussions before they write!  
    

These activities are intended to supplement and enhance orthographic knowledge, providing additional opportunities for students to develop their reading and writing skills in a more comprehensive and integrated manner.

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