Poetry and song
Settings that work with the youngest children in the Foundation Stage need to remember the value of songs and rhymes.
Poetry and song are fundamentally important contexts for reading. This is because they feed children's natural interest in wordplay and help to focus their attention on the sounds of language and the accompanying patterns of letters.
Core rhymes
Putting together a set of 'core rhymes' along with puppets and props and planning for time to teach these to the children, as well as time for children to re-enact them can prove invaluable in exposing children to the tunes and patterns of both spoken and written language. Typing the chosen poems on to individual cards that are then laminated for the children's use, means that children can link what they hear to what they see, a very important part of learning to read.
Alphabet books
Putting together a collection of alphabet books that are used in read-aloud sessions is another way to engage children with letters and sounds. Such books come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, and can be found with subject matter that will appeal to a range of girls and boys.
Adults need to make time to share such books with the children, either in a small group session, or with a large group. Alphabet books can also be used on a daily basis to incorporate phonics teaching into the routines of the setting - for example, turning the pages and as you do so, asking the children to line up, put on their coat, and so on, when they see the letter of their name.
Using such texts as inspiration to make a collection of alphabet books that are personal to your setting will engage the children purposefully with letters and sounds, and make the activity relevant to their lives and their world.
One of the criticisms levelled at the synthetics lobby was that phonics teaching was seen to be done at a pace that was too slow, with children focusing on a letter (or sound) per week. While obviously, this would be too slow, exposing children to and engaging them with the alphabet as a whole, goes a long way to addressing such criticism, if the resources are used effectively and are incorporated in the setting's daily routines.
Name cards
The Curriculum Guidance for the Foundation Stage is underpinned by the belief that children learn best when adults acknowledge what it is they already do know, rather than beginning with the premise that they know nothing. There is no reason why phonics teaching should be any different.
For many children their name will be the first word that they recognise, and the first word they can write independently. This knowledge can be invaluable.
Make multiple sets of name cards for each of the children in your setting.
Type their names up in a variety of fonts and hand-write some too. Use the cards for matching and sorting games, and for small group discussion with the children.
Such cards can also be used in conjunction with the alphabet books.
Children can find 'their' page and those of their friends. Invent games and activities to play with the children: which letters do most names begin with? Are there any letters that have no names associated with them? These kinds of activities fit more with the Government's move towards 'personalised learning' than photocopiable materials produced for the 'average' pre-school child.
Multisensory experiences
Phonics also needs to be multi-sensory. The Rose Report identifies multisensory, kinaesthetic experiences as one of the underpinnings of quality teaching. Providing such kinds of activities in relation to the phonics curriculum need not prove arduous, and will be vital for many boys, who are not prepared to be sedentary in their learning.
Supplying alphabet cutters to children working with playdough can offer purposeful opportunities for building up words, identifying letters and sounds and matching upper- and lower-case letters.
Burying plastic letters in shaving foam, or other similar substances, so that children can have a letter hunt that is messy and fun is another equally valuable experience. The key ingredient in all these activities is an adult who is prepared to involve themselves in the children's play, and has the knowledge to draw the children's attention to letters with which they are familiar, and increase this knowledge by building on what the children already know.
Phonics outdoors
The principles for the Foundation Stage curriculum guidance also place a strong emphasis on learning outdoors, right across the curriculum. This is extremely important where phonics is concerned.
Practitioners must understand that they send messages about the nature of curriculum subject areas through the ways in which they are taught. Hence, children who regularly spend time, say, at a table in purely adult-directed phonics activities may come to learn that phonics (and, by association, literacy) is 'boring' and not for them. This kind of attitude needs to be avoided at all costs if children are to become fluent enthusiastic readers and writers.
It is widely acknowledged that many children learn better outdoors, so phonics teaching must be incorporated into the outdoor classroom. This may include the performing and singing of rhymes and songs outdoors, but it might also include the use of resources that are particularly suitable for use outside. These might include playground chalks for experimenting with letter formation on a grand scale, pots of water and brushes for the same purpose, and the use of equipment such as alphabet bean bags for playing games designed by the children themselves.
Incorporating the activities described above into planning documentation will ensure that practitioners are able to demonstrate that they are planning for phonics teaching and learning in ways that are appropriate for the youngest children in the Foundation Stage.
Observation and assessment
Observation is an invaluable tool for assessment, and again, phonics teaching needs to incorporate time for practitioners to watch and listen to children so that they can get a true picture of what they know.
Decontextualised assessment procedures, such as sitting children with an adult and a list of letters to be named and 'sounded', can lead to confusion, misunderstandings and a great deal of stress.
Experienced practitioners will understand that assessment is totally dependent on context - the more relaxed a child feels the more they are likely to show what they know.
Displays
Wherever possible, practitioners should make displays of the activities in which the children are engaged. For example, photographs, accompanied by observations explaining the quality of the learning opportunities on offer, can explain the phonics curriculum to parents and carers and other visitors.
Alphabet books
Some recommended alphabet books for the Foundation Stage are:
* A is for Artist by Ella Doran, Zoe Miller and David Goodman (Tate Publishing)
* Animalia by Graeme Base (Harry N Abrams)
* C is for Construction - Big Trucks and Diggers from A to Z by Caterpillar (Chronicle Books)
* Eating the Alphabet - Fruit and Vegetables from A to Z by Lois Elhert (Red Wagon Books)
* Most Amazing Hide-And-Seek Alphabet Book, Robert Crowther (Walker Books)