16 page printable booklet

EARLY YEARS STARTER PACKAGE INFORMATION BOOKLET

The Early Years Starter Package – What is it?Colourful and supportive, explicit instruction step-by-step resources to introduce beginners to the English Alphabetic Code and the three core skills and their sub-skills.

The English Alphabetic Code and description of the three complexities

Who is it for? Resources and guidance to support parents, carers, tutors and teachers – learners with English as the main or additional language.

What resources are included in the Early Years Starter Package?>
A description of resources and screenshots of examples – the wording is the same as on the Early Years Starter Package webpage.

The Teaching and Learning Cycle EYSP
Visual Display Resources
Phonics International order of the letter/s-sound correspondences

95 sheets of A4

CORE TEACHER MODELLING CARDS – essential teacher-led ‘lesson introduction’ material

This resource can be used in reduced size (as single sheets of paper or booklets) for learner-practice of core alphabetic code knowledge and skills. Its key role, however, is to provide the teacher (tutor or parent) with a comprehensive all-in-one resource to introduce new alphabetic code and to model the three core skills of:

blending all-through-the-printed-words for reading (decoding);
orally segmenting all-through-the-spoken-words for spelling (encoding);
handwriting the new letter/s-sound correspondence and, further, applying handwriting to spelling.

Providers in school and pre-school settings can use this as a paper or laminated resource and after using each CORE TEACHER MODELLING CARD to introduce the new alphabetic code and skills, the cards can be immediately transferred to the main display wall to systematically build up a set of posters to support continuous learning.

The CORE TEACHER MODELLING CARDS can be used as a stand-alone lesson introduction resource or along with other Phonics International multi-sensory aids. The PICTURE POSTERS (visual resource) and online ‘HEAR THE SOUNDS’ (audio-visual resource) in Units 1 to 6 provide picture/word examples with the focus letter/s-sound correspondence (especially helpful when English is being taught as a foreign language).

[Note: You can hear about the use of this resource in the 8 minute video clip entitled: ‘Demonstrating the power of synthetic phonics teaching with the Phonics International Early Years Starter Package’.]

Unit 1

Unit 2

Unit 3

Unit 4

Unit 5

Unit 6

95 sheets of A4

CORE TEACHER MODELLING CARDS – FOR LEARNERS’ USE

This resource is almost identical to the CORE TEACHER MODELLING CARDS but the key pictures are black outlines only. These could be useful particularly for younger learners – for example; reduced to half size and made into core skills activity booklets and/or reference booklets for use at home (in effect, as booklets they are the phonics equivalent to ‘alphabet ABC books’ and can be looked at many times).

Unit 1

Unit 2

Unit 3

Unit 4

Unit 5

Unit 6

75 sheets of A4

OPTIONAL ACTION MNEMONICS (AIDS TO MEMORY)

These might be fun for the very youngest learners. The actions are not the main mnemonic system for Phonics International. Key pictures and words prompt the sound and provide memorable references for spelling alternatives in this programme. Remember that the focus learning is simply to see the letter shapes and say the sounds to automaticity. Suggested actions provided for Units 1 to 5.

1 sheet of A4

A4 CHART – ORDER OF SOUNDS AND GRAPHEMES WITH ‘PICTURE POSTERS’ WORDS (from units 1 to 6)

This A4 chart shows the order of introduction of the main sounds and graphemes in Units 1 to 6 of the Early Years Starter Package and the full Phonics International programme. It includes the words (which are non-cumulative as they are not chosen for learners to read independently) illustrated on the PICTURE POSTERS and featured on the ‘HEAR THE SOUNDS’ online audio-visual resource available in Units 1 to 6. These words are especially chosen to provide examples of sounds and graphemes in all positions in words – not just the ‘first sound’. This chart provides teachers and parents with words which they can use to ‘make sense’ of each letter/s-sound correspondence, as it is introduced, in whole written and spoken words. This develops phonemic awareness of sounds in the spoken word alongside tracking the graphemes all-through-the-printed-word.

[Note that these two resources are FREE for Unit 1 letter/s-sound correspondences s a t i p n c k –ck e h r as part of the free Unit 1 of the full Phonics International programme.]

93 sheets of A4

A4 PICTURE POSTERS – as shown on A4 chart above (This range of posters is also provided in the full Phonics International programme in units 1 to 6.)

Please note that the words on these posters are NOT cumulative. Learners are simply making links between the position of the focus sound in each SPOKEN word compared to the position of the focus grapheme (letters or letter groups) in the PRINTED word.

Unit 1

Unit 2

Unit 3

Unit 4

Unit 5

Unit 6

6 webpages, 1 per unit – includes audio and guidance

HEAR THE SOUNDS – introduces the sounds and graphemes of the word examples in the PICTURE POSTERS of Units 1 to 6

(This range of audio-visual webpages is also provided in the full Phonics International programme in Units 1 to 6.)

Click the speaker icon for each unit to hear the sounds.

Unit 1

Unit 2

Unit 3

Unit 4

Unit 5

Unit 6

1 sheet of A4

SUGGESTIONS FOR PARENTS (for Sounds Books)

This is an A4 sheet which has four identical sets of ‘suggestions for parents’. Teachers in educational settings can glue these suggestions into the front of the early years ‘Sounds Books’. These are exercise books that beginners can use to glue in each new GRAPHEME TILE as the new letter/s-sound correspondence is introduced, draw pictures of words with the new focus sound in any position in the word, practise writing the new grapheme – and then take this book home every day to share with parents or guardians. Eventually, teachers can also provide paper lists of decodable words (SIMPLE WORD BLEND CARDS) which beginners can glue into their Sounds Books in addition to each new Grapheme Tile. Teachers and parents can ‘tick off’ each word as it is successfully sounded out and blended by the learner. [Note that some beginners find it much harder to blend words than others at first so patience and plenty of practice may be required.]

1 sheet of A4

A5 CHART – SOUNDS AND SPELLING ALTERNATIVES (for Sounds Books)

This is an A4 sheet with two identical A5 charts which include a list of sounds as introduced in Phonics International (the full programme and the Early Years Starter Package) along with example words demonstrating spelling alternatives (different graphemes) for the sounds. The selection of words is the same as the words and pictures on the full Phonics International ALPHABETIC CODE FRIEZE POSTERS.

Teachers in educational settings may wish to glue one of these mini spelling alternative charts into the beginners’ Sounds Books along with the ‘suggestions for parents’ as described above.

44 sheets of A4

A5 ALPHABETIC CODE FRIEZE POSTERS (can also be used as beginners’ FLASH CARDS)

Simple A5 Alphabetic Code Frieze Posters which are also ideal as ‘first time round’ A5 Flash Cards for learning the letter/s-sound correspondences (in which case you would need two sets – one for the Frieze Posters and one for the Flash Cards). The letters are lower case only and the picture mnemonics are the same as the full Phonics International programme. Be careful not to overwhelm the child, or children, by displaying the Frieze Posters all at once. Either display them in small groups (two or three or ‘unit by unit’) or one at a time as each letter/s-sound correspondence is systematically introduced. The Early Years Starter Package introduces the letter/s-sound correspondences of Phonics International Units 1 to 6. See chart above.

Unit 1

Unit 2a

Unit 2b

Unit 3

Unit 4

Unit 5

Unit 6

59 sheets of A4

EARLY YEARS A5 SUBSTITUTE FLASH CARDS

This resource is particularly suitable for settings where there are groups or whole classes of learners to teach. These A5 SUBSTITUTE FLASH CARDS include: 1) letter/s-sound correspondences in lower case only (no pictures), and; 2) single capital letters along with single lower case letters (no pictures). These Substitute Flash Cards can replace the A5 Flash Cards with pictures (that is, the A5 ALPHABETIC CODE FRIEZE POSTERS) once the learner recognises the focus grapheme and can ‘say its sound’. So, the first step is to introduce each new letter/s-sound correspondence using an A5 Flash Card with the key picture mnemonic.

Build up the pack of the key picture Flash Cards and revise each letter/s-sound correspondence daily, or a few times per day, in short sessions. Once the learner is confident to say the correct sound on seeing the letter shape or letter group (graphemes), the second step is to substitute the picture Flash Card with the plain Flash Card in lower case. For single letters, the third step is to add the Flash Cards with both capital and lower case letters so the learner can become familiar with the shape of capital letters. The learner needs to understand that capital letters are code for the same sounds as lower case letters. [Note: The various POSTERS of the Early Years Starter Package also reinforce that both lower case and capital letters are code for the same sounds.]

• Substitute A5 Flash Cards – Unit 1(i) – Lower Case Only
• Substitute A5 Flash Cards – Unit 1(ii) – Single Letters – Capital and Lower Case
• Substitute A5 Flash Cards – Unit 2(i) – Lower Case Only
• Substitute A5 Flash Cards – Unit 2(ii) – Single Letters – Capital and Lower Case
• Substitute A5 Flash Cards – Unit 3
• Substitute A5 Flash Cards – Unit 4
• Substitute A5 Flash Cards – Unit 5
• Substitute A5 Flash Cards – Unit 6

Unit 1(i)

Unit 1(ii)

Unit 2(i)

Unit 2(ii)

Unit 3

Unit 4

Unit 5

Unit 6

92 sheets of A4

EARLY YEARS STARTER ACTIVITY SHEETS

A total of 92 colour A4 multi-sensory activity sheets for teaching and learning each new letter/s-sound correspondence introduced in Units 1 to 6 of Phonics International. There are bite-sized activities on each sheet for developing phonemic awareness, for encouraging correct pencil hold and letter formation for lower case letters, for blending words and spelling words. The activity sheets include ‘cut out’ Grapheme Tiles and Key Picture Tiles for each new letter/s-sound correspondence introduced. For a ‘longer life’ to play additional reading and spelling games, these tiles could be glued onto card. Use alongside the WORD BANK resource (see below).

IMPORTANT: On completion of the face-side of the Activity Sheets (and before the Grapheme and Picture Tiles are cut off), fold the sheet up to just under the Grapheme Tile and Key Picture Tile. Then, the supporting adult can provide simple words to spell (on the folded up part) consisting of letters and sounds previously taught and the new letter/s-sound correspondence shown on the focus Grapheme Tile.

The spelling-with-editing routine for the folded-up part of the Activity Sheet: The support adult says the word to be spelled very slowly – the individual sounds will ‘pop out’. The learner repeats the word, identifies the sounds all-through-the-spoken-word and tallies each sound to thumb and fingers of the left hand, palm facing. Draw sound-dashes for each sound identified (these also provide the ‘writing line’). The learner writes the graphemes on the sound-dashes for each sound identified, then edits, or checks, the spelled word by sounding out and blending all the graphemes. The learner can try to identify any sounds/graphemes missing or wrongly placed (support as necessary). When the spelled word is correct, allow the learner to ‘tick’ his or her word.

Unit 1

Unit 2a

Unit 2b

Unit 3

Unit 4

Unit 5

Unit 6

92 sheets of A4

ALTERNATIVE ‘STYLE 2’ EARLY YEARS STARTER ACTIVITY SHEETS

These are a slightly revised version of the EARLY YEARS STARTER ACTIVITY SHEETS (directly above) – simply to provide choices for users. In this version, the new letter/s-sound correspondences are shown on a ‘writing line’. The section for learners to practise writing the letter shapes and graphemes now includes writing lines. The printed words provided for the ‘teacher’ to read aloud where the learner listens for the focus sound (in the original version) are now provided as pictures. The purpose of this section is still the same – to develop phonemic awareness – but, additionally, the pictures are helpful to build up vocabulary (word meanings).

IMPORTANT: On completion of the face-side of the Activity Sheets (and before the Grapheme and Picture Tiles are cut off), fold the sheet up to just under the Grapheme Tile and Key Picture Tile. Then, the supporting adult can provide simple words to spell (on the folded up part) consisting of letters and sounds previously taught and the new letter/s-sound correspondence shown on the focus Grapheme Tile.

The spelling-with-editing routine for the folded-up part of the Activity Sheet: The support adult says the word to be spelled very slowly – the individual sounds will ‘pop out’. The learner repeats the word, identifies the sounds all-through-the-spoken-word and tallies each sound to thumb and fingers of the left hand, palm facing. Draw sound-dashes for each sound identified (these also provide the ‘writing line’). The learner writes the graphemes on the sound-dashes for each sound identified, then edits, or checks, the spelled word by sounding out and blending all the graphemes. The learner can try to identify any sounds/graphemes missing or wrongly placed (support as necessary). When the spelled word is correct, allow the learner to ‘tick’ his or her word.

Unit 1

Unit 2

Unit 3

Unit 4

Unit 5

Unit 6

6 sheets of A4

EXTRA SOUNDS BOOK ACTIVITY SHEETS WITH TEXTS – for schools in England where children take part in the Year One Phonics Screening Chec

These Sounds Book Activity Sheets with built-in texts introduce various letter/s-sound correspondences ahead of the original order in Phonics International. This additional resource is an optional extra for schools in England to address the correspondences which may appear in the statutory Year One Phonics Screening Check (which takes place annually at the end of Year One when most children are six years old). Teachers can simply introduce these correspondences, however, through their wider, incidental phonics teaching and with frequent reference to the Alphabetic Code Charts in phonics lessons and whenever reading and writing is involved in the wider curriculum.

[Please note that this resource is also provided via the Unit 6 webpage of the full Phonics International programme.]

Singles: 11 sheets of A4
Multiples: 45 sheets of A4

3 sheets of A4

WORD BANK

Cumulative WORD BANK and basic advice about decoding (reading) and encoding (spelling) for parents and teachers. Use along with Grapheme Tiles which are provided cumulatively at the top of every EARLY YEARS STARTER ACTIVITY SHEET. The teacher/parent can write words, or make up simple words from the Grapheme Tiles, for the learner to sound out and blend (reading) as suggested in the WORD BANK.

The teacher/parent can also say selected words from the cumulative WORD BANK very slowly for the learner to identify the sounds all-through-the-spoken-word and then to select the correct grapheme tiles to ‘spell’ the word.

31 sheets of A4

SIMPLE WORD BLEND CARDS

These include 93 word-list strips (3 strips per A4 sheet) of only very simple words for direct reading practice from print. They can also be used as spelling cards whereby the ‘teacher’ says the word slowly for the learner to identify the sounds which ‘pop out’ all-through-the-spoken-word. (Note: For a combination of simple words and longer words provided on writing lines, use MY WORDS word lists provided in Units 1 to 6 of the full Phonics International programme.)

Unit 1

Unit 2

Unit 3

Unit 4

Unit 5

Unit 6

89 sheets of A4

SIMPLE SENTENCES

This resource will support the learner’s introduction to the structure of sentences for reading and writing. The sentences are simple, include cumulative Alphabetic Code from the start and are therefore decodable from the Unit 1 sentences. Before using the SIMPLE SENTENCES resource, it is important that teachers introduce the grapheme ‘th’ as code for the sounds of unvoiced /th/ and voiced /th/ and also the word ‘the’. Some capital letters and basic punctuation are included in the sentences as appropriate. A few tricky words are introduced in some of the SIMPLE SENTENCE sheets and teachers need to draw attention to these – noting the straightforward graphemes and noting the unusual, or tricky, grapheme. Writing lines are provided directly beneath each sentence so that beginners can find it easier to focus on writing the letter shapes. Use this resource in a ‘layered’ way.

This means that teachers may not choose to use the SIMPLE SENTENCES when the first set of letter/s-sound correspondences are introduced – but later when the learners are confident in sounding out and blending at simple word level using the I CAN READ word strips. The sentences in the SIMPLE SENTENCES resource can also be used for dictation exercises only when the learner is confident at writing letter shapes independently and when the learner is able to segment all-through-the-spoken-word at word level.

Unit 1

Unit 2

Unit 3

Unit 4

Unit 5

Unit 6

102 sheets of A4

EARLY YEARS STARTER BOOKLETS

These are instructional BOOKLETS which consist of mainly cumulative, decodable text. They provide bite-sized pieces of text which reflect the Phonics International key words and pictures. They can be used very flexibly for both reading and writing activities. The BOOKLETS can be used to complement the full Phonics International programme. Full guidance is given in every unit of Units 1 to 6.

Unit 1

Unit 2

Unit 3

Unit 4

Unit 5

Unit 6

2 sheets of A4

POSTERS

PHONEMIC AWARENESS and CAPITAL LETTERS RECOGNITION

Match the first sound of key picture words with capital letters. This can be used as a poster game and/or cut up to make a cards ‘matching game’. The completed poster is A3 (A4x2). For larger-sized cards, enlarge each A4 sheet to A3 prior to laminating and cutting out.

2 sheets of A4

PHONEMIC AWARENESS and LOWER CASE LETTERS RECOGNITION

Match the first sounds of additional picture words with lower case letters. This can be used as a poster game and/or cut up to make a cards ‘matching game’. The completed poster is A3 (A4x2). For larger-sized cards, enlarge each A4 sheet to A3 prior to laminating and cutting out.

2 sheets of A4

THE ALPHABET

ONLY sing the alphabet song or chant the alphabet to learn letter NAMES and alphabetical order – but DO NOT use letter NAMES when reading and spelling words. (Note: Letter NAMES are ‘ay, bee, see, dee, ee, eff…’ and letter SOUNDS are /a/ as in ‘apple’, /b/ as in ‘bat’, /k/ as in ‘cat’. Learning letter names too early or with too much emphasis can detract from learning the letter SOUNDS and cause confusion. It is the letter SOUNDS which are needed for reading and spelling. You can delay teaching letter NAMES until learners know many letter/s-SOUND correspondences very confidently.

2 sheets of A4

CAPITAL LETTERS AS ALPHABETIC CODE

Learn that capital letters as well as lower case letters are code for the sounds that we can identify in spoken words. Includes tiles of capital letters, lower case letters and key pictures with words. This resource can be used as a poster game and/or cut up to make a cards ‘matching game’. The completed poster is A3 (A4x2). For larger-sized cards, enlarge each A4 sheet to A3 prior to laminating and cutting out.

Each of the 6 charts
below consists of 10
sheets of A4. These
charts can be printed in
smaller sizes if required,
or enlarge each sheet to
A3 for whole class use.

EARLY YEARS ALPHABETIC CODE CHARTS:

These include Phonics International ‘Simple Code dipping into Complex Code’ spelling alternatives. Note: For a range of full Alphabetic Code Overview Charts, see free charts at:

www.alphabeticcodecharts.com

ALPHABETIC CODE CHARTS FOR UNITS 1 TO 5

Suitable for use with the Early Years Starter Package and the Simple Code level of the full Phonics International programme. Select your preferred chart for display and reference as appropriate. Small scale charts indicating the Simple Code (Units 1 to 5) are available at www.alphabeticcodecharts.com

3 sheets of A4

ALPHABETIC CODE CHARTS FOR UNITS 1 TO 6

Suitable for use with the Early Years Starter Package and the Simple Code level of the full Phonics International programme.