Search found 369 matches
- Fri Dec 06, 2013 2:41 pm
- Forum: General Forum
- Topic: The Future of Phonics in Education and Learning
- Replies: 9
- Views: 5345
The Future of Phonics in Education and Learning
Yesterday I went to the Inside Government conference on phonics in which Gordon Askew laid out the principles of systematic, synthetic phonics for an audience of assorted teachers and academics (though mostly teachers). I thought Askew was very good indeed and that he said nothing that most ;-) of t...
- Tue Oct 08, 2013 11:14 am
- Forum: General Forum
- Topic: Adults in UK behind other countries in numeracy and literacy
- Replies: 12
- Views: 6741
- Tue Oct 08, 2013 11:03 am
- Forum: General Forum
- Topic: Adults in UK behind other countries in numeracy and literacy
- Replies: 12
- Views: 6741
Adults in UK behind other countries in numeracy and literacy
Here's news (from the TES) of yet another OECD survey showing that adults in UK lag behind other countries in literacy and numeracy skills. http://news.tes.co.uk/news_blog/b/weblog/archive/2013/10/07/quot-a-wake-up-call-for-the-government-quot-uk-literacy-and-numeracy-levels-lag-behind-other-nations...
- Mon Sep 30, 2013 9:10 pm
- Forum: General Forum
- Topic: Establish an alphabetic code to avoid errors and confusion
- Replies: 21
- Views: 9001
Re: Establish an alphabetic code to avoid errors and confusion
Yes, Susan. 'Up' definitely doesn't belong with 'good', etc. However, 'tune' could go with 'flew', 'moon' and other /oo/ words, I think, especially if you come from London, a pron which, in the case of 'tune', has carried over to the States
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- Mon Sep 30, 2013 8:26 pm
- Forum: General Forum
- Topic: Establish an alphabetic code to avoid errors and confusion
- Replies: 21
- Views: 9001
Re: Establish an alphabetic code to avoid errors and confusion
The 'error' is the coding of 'caught' as <c> <au> <ght>, isn't it? Of course, the spelling of /or/ could be <au> if she teaches the spelling of /t/ as <ght> but it does seem rather unlikely :???: . Then there's <oor>, <aw>, <au>, and <ore> for /or/ followed by, three columns on, another spelling of ...
- Fri Sep 06, 2013 12:42 pm
- Forum: General Forum
- Topic: Interactive timeline of the English Language
- Replies: 3
- Views: 3486
Re: Interactive timeline of the English Language
You're right, Susan! It's terrific! I only wish I'd had this as a resource when I was teaching 'The English Language: past present and future' course for the OU. Students would have loved it. The project is a veritable cornucopia of different items. And so much to download and look at in more detail...
- Wed May 22, 2013 10:41 am
- Forum: General Forum
- Topic: 'Reading German, Talking Nonsense'
- Replies: 0
- Views: 3641
'Reading German, Talking Nonsense'
Susan Godsland has just alerted me to Mike Lloyd-Jones's latest posting on The Phonics Blog: 'Reading German, Talking Nonsense'. http://www.phonicsblog.co.uk/#/blog/4565770755/Reading-German-Talking-Nonsense/5737449 I loved his suggestion that '...many phonics-phobics must have had the syllogism-byp...
- Thu May 09, 2013 10:23 am
- Forum: General Forum
- Topic: Debate: Is it time to ditch the Y1 phonics screening test?
- Replies: 51
- Views: 29619
Re: Debate: Is it time to ditch the Y1 phonics screening test?
Hi Debbie, I should have made clearer what I meant by setting in groups. I wasn't referring to whole classes, but to catch-up groups. Specifically, if one were to put together children who are still having some difficulty with CVC words, putting them with children who are able to blend and segment w...
- Thu May 09, 2013 9:11 am
- Forum: General Forum
- Topic: Debate: Is it time to ditch the Y1 phonics screening test?
- Replies: 51
- Views: 29619
Re: Debate: Is it time to ditch the Y1 phonics screening test?
In the absence of a reply from Susan, I want to take up an issue to which she might be alluding [I could be wrong!]. She writes: ...the phonics check needs to be well understood by advocates of good SP instruction; that means that some of the legitimate concerns raised by teachers who have seen prof...
- Fri May 03, 2013 7:59 pm
- Forum: General Forum
- Topic: Debate: Is it time to ditch the Y1 phonics screening test?
- Replies: 51
- Views: 29619
Re: Debate: Is it time to ditch the Y1 phonics screening test?
Well, I'm appalled that you weren't told that your views on the screening check would be presented as part of a 'debate', Debbie, but, nevertheless, I thought you acquitted yourself very well by anticipating some of the usual nonsense a spokesperson from UKLA would come up with. I do agree with you ...
- Thu May 02, 2013 9:03 am
- Forum: General Forum
- Topic: digraph, trigraph, tetragraphs
- Replies: 16
- Views: 9932
Re: digraph, trigraph, tetragraphs
Well that makes sense!
And it gave them a neat, jazzy brand name for the product.

- Wed May 01, 2013 3:47 pm
- Forum: General Forum
- Topic: digraph, trigraph, tetragraphs
- Replies: 16
- Views: 9932
Re: digraph, trigraph, tetragraphs
Hi again Volunteer, Don't get me wrong! I'm not averse to teaching pupils the metalanguage. I've always been comfortable with teaching even fairly young children terminology such as 'digraph' and so on. The problem comes when you're talking to parents and, as the jargon, rolls off our tongues, so th...
- Tue Apr 30, 2013 10:42 pm
- Forum: General Forum
- Topic: digraph, trigraph, tetragraphs
- Replies: 16
- Views: 9932
Re: digraph, trigraph, tetragraphs
'Tetragraph' isn't any worse than 'digraph' or 'trigraph'; nor is it any better, in my opinion. Surely though, the terms two-letter spelling and three-letter spelling are more accessible, aren't they?
- Tue Apr 30, 2013 4:50 pm
- Forum: General Forum
- Topic: Debate: Is it time to ditch the Y1 phonics screening test?
- Replies: 51
- Views: 29619
Re: Debate: Is it time to ditch the Y1 phonics screening test?
Congratulations to Debbie on a fine exposition of the case for a screening check! Debbie is absolutely correct when she says that Foundational literacy skills are so fundamentally important that they affect not only academic potential and future livelihood but also the very core of well being and he...
- Tue Apr 30, 2013 12:52 pm
- Forum: General Forum
- Topic: digraph, trigraph, tetragraphs
- Replies: 16
- Views: 9932
Re: digraph, trigraph, tetragraphs
In the EYFS, Tickell had this to say: ‘The language should be revised to replace jargon and unnecessary complexity, as far as possible using terms which everyone will recognise. This is critical if the revised framework is to be fully effective as a vehicle for bringing parents and carers into close...