Exciting News! Emma Hartnell-Baker Wins National Award for Innovation: Thought-Driven Communication App for Non-Speaking Children Who Cannot Yet Read and Spell
OrthoGraphix®: Speech Sound Mapping
Unlocking Language & Literacy Potential with Phonemies! Phonetic Symbols for Children
Speech Sound Spelling Piano app for tablets
The SSP Spelling Piano for Tablets
A neuro-inclusive method designed for children to learn the mapping of 100 or so commonly used Grapheme to Phoneme Correspondences (GPCs), originally developed by Miss Emma to over-come the phonemic awareness deficits dyslexic learners face. It's fun for all!
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Apple (ipads)
https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/ssp-phonics-spelling-piano/id1571441107
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Google Play
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.hightro.ssp&hl=en_GB&gl=US
Use the Spelling Piano app to learn the phoneme-grapheme correspondences used to 'kick-start' phonemic awareness and phonics learning, and tested in the Year 1 Phonics Screener Check.
It includes the Speech Sound Monster screen.
It is in the app store and google play for tablets!
50% off when 20 or more ordered (App School Manager)
Phoneme characters (Speech Sound Monsters) would not be needed if English had a transparent orthography. English has an opaque orthography: the grapheme /a/ for example maps to at least 9 different phonemes (speech sounds) and /a/ is not the only grapheme for the phoneme /æ/
Synthetic Phonics programmes only explicitly teach children around a third (at most) of these correspondences. Many can take this as a 'kick-start' and take over their own learning, but many in the UK do not. At least 1 in 4 still cannot read by the end of Year 6 when they transition to secondary school. One reason for this is that phonics teachers are skilled readers, and it is often assumed that they do not (themselves) need Phoneme-Grapheme Awareness training: they are only trained how to use the phonics programs with children. Orthographic interference effects (Seidenberg & Tanenhaus 1979) may compromises the efficacy of phonics instruction, impacting the overall quality of literacy education.
Orthographic interference effects are normal and unproblematic for students in advanced literacy acquisition (Schnitzler 2008). However, it is of immense, practical importance that primary school teachers are able to inhibit their orthographic knowledge for the purpose of correct diagnosis and support (cf., Schründer-Lenzen 2013, p. 28).
In basic terms, can you provide the expected phonemes when mapping the words 'village,' 'elephant,' 'story,' and 'giraffe'? Emma Hartnell-Baker offers this training within workshops and the new Ortho-Graphix Level 1 Award.
When training for the Ortho-Graphix Awards please join the support group and discuss the mapping of words with others who are teaching phonics
https://www.facebook.com/groups/orthographix
Ortho-Graphix helps ALL children develop orthographic knowledge, and gives them confidences along the way as they understand that they will be able to 'see' the sound value for each 'speech sound pic' (grapheme) when needed and they can more easily figure out unfamiliar words: as literate adults do with the IPA. This is empowering, and the problem solving nature encourages independence and engagement. They use the Monster Screen in this SSP Spelling Piano.
We are using visual and linguistic phonics to develop phonemic and orthographic awareness in ways that facilitate an easier route towards orthographic knowledge. There is less working memory used, to figure out new words, and it is easier to focus on fluency, vocabulary knowledge and comprehension.As children move out of the Yellow Code Level they use support strategies less and less, and are already reading the 1,2,3 and Away series with regular text. By the Main Readers children are reading regular text, without seeing graphemes or the phoneme monsters, however they can use the 'Clickable Library' if they wish to check. We are giving them their Word Wings: they fly when THEY feel ready.
We are preparing children to be able to use the phoneme characters as they progress towards exploration of 'the whole code'. When learning the basic code (the 4 Code Levels) they explicitly learn about 100 GPCs. There are over 350 within 'the whole code' and many (at least 1 in 5) children do not easily start to 'self-teach' with phonological recording, in order to navigate this wider code.
Ortho-Graphix bridges the orthographic learning gaps.
On the left is a clip of a non-speaking autistic toddler who switched the keyboard in the SSP Spelling Piano app from Sound Pics (graphemes) to Speech Sound Monsters to spell words …because she has that choice.
You may not see it as she’s so fast.
We must ensure that brains that learn differently aren’t constrained - and can learn at their lightening speed pace.
Even if the child isn’t acquiring language as expected, don’t underestimate what’s happening in their brains. This is why tech is a game changer for so many. It can keep up.
And on the right is Millie, who already had outstanding language skills, and has also chosen to use the Monster screen!
Miss Emma x
You will need these 2 resources to work with older children (especially if dyslexic) along with the Monster Sounds (SSP Spelling Piano app for tablets) and the Map and Drag Tool.
