Systematic Synthetic Phonics Instruction: Lesson 8

This lesson is designed to build students’ competencies in the following skills:

• adaptability
• critical thinking
• communication
• curiosity
• reflection

Australian Curriculum (v9.0) content descriptions - English

Students learn to:

• orally blend and segment single-syllable spoken words; isolate, blend and manipulate phonemes in single-syllable words (phonological awareness) (AC9EFLY10).
• recognise and name lower-case letters (graphemes) and know the most common sound that each letter represents (AC9EFLY11).
• write consonant–vowel–consonant (CVC) words by representing sounds with the appropriate letters, and blend sounds associated with letters when reading CVC words (AC9EFLY12).

General capabilities: Critical and Creative Thinking, Literacy

Relevant parts of Foundation achievement standards: 

English - Foundation Year: They read, view and comprehend texts, making connections between characters, settings, and events, and to personal experiences. They identify the language features of texts, including connections between print and images. They name the letters of the English alphabet and know and use the most common sounds (phonemes) represented by these letters (graphemes). They read words, including consonant–vowel–consonant words and some high-frequency words. 

UN SDG: 4 Quality Education

• Target 4.6: By 2030, ensure that all youth and a substantial proportion of adults, both men and women, achieve literacy and numeracy

• Sticky notes (individually labelled with <s> <a> <t> <p> <i> <n> <m> <o> <c> <b> <g> <h> <d> <v> <f> <e> <k> <l> <r> <u> <j> <w> <z> <x> <y> new: <ff> <ll> <ss> <zz> or magnetic letters/cards
• Whiteboard to demonstrate
• Whiteboard for each student
• Whiteboard eraser for each student
• Whiteboard marker for each student

Level of teacher scaffolding: High- explicit instruction required.

Teaching Systematic Synthetic Phonics With Nicole Case

Quick summary: In this professional learning session, we will explore the effectiveness of systematic synthetic phonics instruction, an evidence-based approach grounded in research and recognised for its success in teaching reading. We'll delve into the best practice teaching strategies within this method, emphasising their role in enhancing decoding skills, reading fluency, and overall literacy.

The session will also cover the selection of appropriate texts that support phonetic learning while building vocabulary and background knowledge. Participants will learn how to navigate and access additional resources and information to enrich teaching practice further.