Phonics - Resources

Main page on phonics

The Department for Children, Schools and Families has published guidance for schools on how to choose an effective phonics programme. Visit www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/phonics/programmes/. There is also a list of publishers who have completed self-assessment, matching their own programmes against core criteria set out by the Rose review on the teaching of reading. Visit www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/phonics/programmes/publishers/.

Phonics teaching resources listed below are not endorsed or recommended by the National Literacy Trust.

Best practice phonics by Ruth Miskin, a combination of synthetic and analytic phonics. 
Children are taught 44 phoneme letter correspondences and are taught how words can be sorted into rhyming groups. Pupils are taught systematically through a framework of phoneme-letter correspondences. A new letter sound is taught every day. Each letter is turned into a familiar object, animal or person. These mnemonics are key to the success of learning the first 29 sound-letter correspondences. With each sound, children are taught how to: Hear it, Read it, Write it. Children are then taught the skills for blending, rhyming and identifying the phonemes in order to read and spell the words. For more information, consult Best Practice Phonics by Ruth Miskin published by Heinemann for £120.00 for a set of five books and other materials for classroom use.

Big Cat Phonics. From Collins Education this pack includes a whiteboard CD-ROM, teacher's handbook and 24 decodable books, to engage early readers aged 4+. For more information visit www.collinseducation.com

Dandelion Readers. Phonic Books was set up to bridge the gap between learning initial phonics and the first level in available reading schemes. Dandelion Books are a series of readers which introduce phonics in a structured sequence. For more information visit www.phonicbooks.co.uk/

Fast Phonics First. Fast Phonics First is a 16-week programme for teaching phonics, based on a method piloted in Clackmannanshire in Scotland by Dr Joyce Watson and Professor Rhona Watson (More). A teaching resource, produced in partnership with the Clackmannanshire team, enables others to implement the programme. The activities include individual workbook activities as well as daily programmes for whole class teaching. Published by Harcourt/Heinemann. ISBN 043500714.
Call 01865 888020, email orders@harcourteducation.co.uk or visit www.myprimary.co.uk.  

FastTrack Phonics. Part of the Success For All programme, FastTrack is a synthetic phonics programme suitable for beginner readers or older learners who have struggled to make progress. It can be implemented by itself or as part of Success For All's whole-school approach to literacy.
Call Success For All on 0115 956 0363 or visit www.successforall.org.uk.

Fishy Phonics. Phonics game to introduce the skill of blending vowel sounds 'a' and 'i' with a selection of consonants. Players 'catch' a fish head, a middle and a tail and blend the letter sounds on each to make a consonant-vowel-consonant word. They can then replace parts of the fish to create new words. Two formats are available: a class pack for up to six players, £29.50 plus VAT (product code: FPC); and a home pack for two players, £18.50 plus VAT (product code: FPH). Contact: Clever Clogs Games Ltd, Taunton, Somerset TA1 1DG UK Tel/Fax: 01823 327836. Email: info@cleverclogsgames.co.uk. Website: www.cleverclogsgames.co.uk.

Focus on Phonics provides synthetic phonics-based resources to help parents and carers support their children as they learn to read. Visit www.focusonphonics.co.uk.

Fonty. Fonty multimedia software uses interactive voice-recognition software teaches reading skills using phonics. www.fontyonline.com

Jelly and Bean. Range of phonics-based books for key stages 1 and 2 which are written, published and distributed by Marlene Greenwood. Most of the books are accompanied by learning worksheets for use with children by teachers or others adults.
Contact: Jelly and Bean Ltd, Unit 4A, Follifoot Ridge Business Park, Pannal Road, Harrogate HG3 1DP. Tel: 01423 879182. Email: enquiries@jellyandbean.co.uk. Website: www.jellyandbean.co.uk.

Jolly Dictionary, Sara Wernham and Sue Lloyd. Dictionary aimed at children aged five to eight, produced by the publisher of Jolly Phonics. Each of the 6,000 words listed had a pronunciation guide, using the letter sounds introduced in Jolly Phonics, plus a few new symbols. Illustrations featuring Jolly Phonics characters help to clarify examples. Cost £5.95.
Contact: Jolly Learning Ltd, Tailours House, High Road, Chigwell, Essex IG7 6DL Tel 020 8501 0405.  Website: www.jollylearning.co.uk.

Jolly Phonics. Phonics-based literacy programme published by Jolly Learning Ltd. Materials focus on the letter sounds of the English language and each sound is linked to a visual and action to help children to remember and make learning more enjoyable. This method was used in the Clackmannanshire study (see above). 
Contact: Jolly Learning Ltd, Tailours House, High Road, Chigwell, Essex IG7 6DL Tel 020 8501 0405. Website: www.jollylearning.co.uk.

Ladybird phonics resources - www.ladybird.co.uk

Letterland. This is a program that uses pictograms to characterise letters of the alphabet, such as "c" represented by Clever Cat. Characters are shaped in the form of the letter, providing a strong element of visual learning. Systematically working through a fast-track characterisation of each letter, it leads to steps for the production of graphemes, such as when Hairy Hat shushes Sammy Snake, with the two letters meeting to go "sh". For more information visit www.letterland.com .Letterland Marketing, Letterland International Limited, Cambridge, CB3 7AY or call 0870 766 2629.

Letters and Sounds. Government guidance on the teaching of phonics, which was published in 2007 to replace 2004's Playing with Sounds. It includes six phases. The first concentrates on speaking and listening and the rest provide a programmes of phonic work that should be progressed through systematically, following time limits set for each phase. Download materials from www.teachernet.gov.uk.

Living Phonics is designed to teach children in Reception and Key Stage 1 the basics of reading and writing, including teaching the phonemes, graphemes and cursive handwriting. Living Phonics Pack One includes a Handbook, a Teacher's Guide on CD-Rom, a digital lessons CD-Rom which can be used for whole-class teaching on the interactive white board, the Letter Detective CD-Rom and a workbook. Contact Ransom Publishing, Rose Cottage, Howe Hill, Watlington, Oxon OX49 5HB. Tel: 01491 613711, email jenny@ransom.co.uk , www.ransom.co.uk.

Minimal Phonic Cues is an easily-learnt and simple method of learning to read for young students and adults. www.mpconline.co.uk. The website has been designed to be a complete resource for the learning and application of MPC for the teacher and the individual. The site contains the complete Teacher's Book, which provides a total course in the development and application of MPC. In addition, the resources section contains the previously published MPC Reading and Spelling Workbooks, the MPC Word List, and plenty of back-up material including reading books, flashcards, and interactive activities to assist in the teaching and learning of MPC. All resources are readily downloadable for free.

Online phonics activities. The website of Northwood Primary School in Erith has online phonics activities for children, including games and crosswords. Visit www.northwood.org.uk.

Perspectives on the teaching and learning of phonics, edited by Margaret Cook. This collection of papers presented at a UKRA research conference includes contributions from Greg Brooks, Henrietta Dombey, Usha Goswami, Jane Medwell and Nicholas Bielby. Published by the United Kingdom Reading Association, October 2002. Cost £8.
Contact UKRA on 01763 241188 or visit www.ukra.org.

Review
Phonemic Awareness in Young Children, by Marilyn Jager Adams et al., is a clear and developed scheme of work for teaching children to distinguish and use phonemes, with a wealth of lesson ideas and simple assessment activities. The programme starts with the identification of phonemes aurally, goes on to support work on rhyme, sentences, syllables, initial and final sounds, and more complex phonemes, such as consonant blends.  Although written work is not introduced until late into the programme, it could easily be added to many of the earlier oral games.  The book is easy to read, with clear explanations and instructions and could be used to support Reception teachers in delivering the NLS, by providing a framework of activities for the delivery of the objectives, or as a resource for Reading Recovery and Special Needs teachers.
Published by Paul H Brookes, price £19.50. Email cservs@plymbridge.com or phone 0207 833 2307 - Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 116 Pentonville Road, London N1 9JB. ISBN-0 55766-321-1.
Reviewed by Sarah Driscoll, Reading Is Fundamental, UK, former primary teacher

Phonics Handbook (Jolly Phonics) by Sue Lloyd. Jolly Learning Co Ltd. Tel: 020 8501 0405. Website: www.jollylearning.co.uk.

Phono Graphix. US phonics programme devised by Carmen and Geoffrey McGuinness. See Why Children Can't Read by Diana McGuinness published by Penguin (1998) or www.readamerica.net.

Playing with Sounds. See Progression in Phonics below.

Practical Ways to Teach Phonics, Angela Redfern. Another in the National Centre for Language and Literacy's 'Practical Ways' series, this book covers reading strategies, changing perceptions on the teaching of phonics, national curriculum requirements, effective classroom management, individual needs and whole school policies. Cost £4.50.
Contact: National Centre for Language and Literacy, The University Of Reading, Bulmershe Court, Earley, Reading RG6 1HY. Tel: 0118 931 8820. Website: www.ncll.org.uk.

Progression in Phonics, a pack including a book, video, and interactive CDRom, was produced by the then Department for Education and Employment in 2000 to provide activities, training, games and video clips to support the teaching of phonics. The medium is the message, an article from Literacy Today, explains how the pack could be used. Progression in Phonics was supplemented by 2004's Playing with Sounds. It was replaced in 2007 by Letters and Sounds (see above).

Read Write Inc. Synthetic phonics programme developed by Ruth Miskin for children in foundation stage to Year 4 who are reading at National Curriculum level 2b or below. It is also suitable for children in older year groups who have significant learning difficulties, including specific literacy problems. A second programme, Read Write Inc. 2, follows a similar format but is aimed at children in Years 5, 6 and 7 who are reading below the National Curriculum level 2a. It uses age-appropriate text and is also suitable for older students where necessary. Email: admin@ruthmiskinliteracy.com. Website: www.ruthmiskinliteracy.com.

Reading Rods Reading Mentor integrates hands-on reading methods with an electronic device that speaks. After sliding Reading Rods into the Reading Mentor, students immediately hear the letters, words or sentences they've built. They'll also read them on the screen. Arrow keys let students easily toggle to the word or letter they need to practise. There is a Hands-on Literacy Classroom kit available. For more information visit www.learningresources.co.uk/Category.pasp?txtCatalog=Toys&txtCategory=Reading+Rods .

Salley (Structured Activities for Language and Literacy in the Early Years). The Salley programme can be used as a prevention measure in the early years or as an intervention programme with older children who are having difficulties developing phonological awareness skills. It consists of 100 days of activities which are multisensory and designed to appeal to foundation stage children, and aims to provide the skills that children need to have firmly in place, before they embark on a phonics programme. The programme can be delivered to groups or to individuals.
www.salley.co.uk/

Second Chance, published by JJ Educational, is a phonics-based scheme which integrates readers, worksheets and games with characters that focus on the fun side of learning. It is designed for use with reluctant readers at both upper primary and lower secondary level. Secondary level materials are written with SEN pupils in mind and provide resources for the KS3 Catch Up programme. At both levels, the scheme includes phonics resources and high-interest, low-reading-age books.
Contact: JJ Educational, 103 Latimer Drive, Bramcote Moor, Nottingham NG9 3HT. Tel/Fax: 0115 916 2872. Email: info@jjeducational.co.uk. Website: www.jjeducational.co.uk.

Sound City by Sarah Hayes. Published by Walker Books.

Springboard Structured Reading Programmme, series editor Wendy Body. Reading scheme offering high content/low reading level fiction and non-fiction reading materials for key stage 2 pupils with key stage 1 reading ability. The books and support materials tie in with the National Literacy Strategy and its emphasis on phonic work and audio cassettes and photocopiable resources are also available. Each title is intended to improve the pupil's self-esteem as well as his reading and they are designed to resemble texts being read by his peers as far as possible. Cost £174.15 (plus VAT) for stages 1-3 and £145.20 (plus VAT) for stages 4-6.
Published by Rigby/Heinemann. Tel: 01865 888020/888044.

Sue Palmer's Synthetic Phonix. Set 1 Develops phonics skills for reading with the first of two cumulative sets. Children build up words with 40 colour-coded cubes featuring the phonemes shown on their 'Bag of Sounds'. Set 2 follows from Set 1, starting when pupils are ready to learn about spelling patterns as part of phonics for writing. Pupils can make and deconstruct words built from a combination of cubes from Set 2 and Set 1
Set 1 and Set 2 include 40 cubes, 12 page teacher's notes, a 'Bag of Sounds' with transfer outlining cube contents, costs £6.99 per set.
For more information, contact Ellen Simpson on 01264 384813 or ellen.simpson@philipandtacey.co.uk

Synthetic Phonics Ltd produces materials to support the teaching of synthetic phonics in schools and at home. We also arrange conferences and provide synthetic phonics training. As well as products based on the Sound Discovery literacy programme and the Snappy Lesson teaching method Synthetic Phonics Ltd offers materials for numeracy teaching and training.
Contact: Synthetic Phonics Ltd., PO Box 324, Bristol BS9 4WW. Tel: 0117 962 2670. Email: info@syntheticphonics.net. Website: www.syntheticphonics.net.

Term-by-term phonics by Sue Palmer Scholastic Ltd 01926 813910.

THRASS (Teaching Handwriting, Reading And Spelling Skills). A teaching programme designed by Alan Davies to help children establish the relationships between letters of the alphabet and the phonemes constructed from them. THRASS teaches children the 44 sounds (phonemes) of English as well as the 26 letters of the alphabet.
Contact: THRASS (UK) Ltd, Units 1- 3, Tarvin Sands, Barrow Lane, Tarvin, Chester CH3 8JF. Tel: 01829 741413. Fax: 07070 618948. Website: www.thrass.co.uk.

THRASS Phoneme Machine is a computer programme that uses the International Phonetic Alphabet and moving human lips to demonstrate the pronunciation of sounds (phonemes) in hundreds of frequently used English words. It aims to help teachers, teaching assistants and parents learn, and teach, the fundamental building blocks of English in an entertaining and fun way. For more information, including free downloadable PC and Mac versions, visit www.phonememachine.com.

THRASS Sing-a-Long family reading resources focus on 44 songs that teachers and parents can sing with children to explain the 44 sounds of English, and their main spelling choices. The website includes a downloadable demonstration booklet of the larger Sing-A-Long interactive book. Website: www.thrass.co.uk/sing-a-long.htm.

Trugs are multi-sensory phonic card games to enable children of all ages, including secondary, to progress with their reading. Tel: 01752 663775. Website: www.readsuccessfully.com

TTS - The Latest Ideas for Phonics. Catalogue of resources produced by educational supplier TTS for use when teaching phonics. Includes the PIPs object bag, Vowel Teaching Tubs, Word Game Quiet Dice Set, Phonics Fans Sets and much more. For a copy of the catalogue call 0800 318686 or email sales@tts-group.co.uk.

US phonics special interest group. In April 2002, the US-based International Reading Association gave its official recognition to a phonics special interest group, set up to provide a forum for professionals to share lesson plans and discuss issues. See www.phonicsbulletin.info for more information.

Which Phonics? Which Phonics Ltd is an independent company that offer teachers, parents and children advice and training in synthetic phonics. Run by teachers with many years experience, its Recommended Resources pulls together the most useful elements from a variety of schemes. They offer INSET and training conferences to demonstrate a guide to using, identifying, blending and segmenting with the Basic and Advanced Codes, including a breakdown of the synthetic phonics schemes and resources available. They also have a progression list of decodable books and materials for using synthetic phonics within adult literacy. Website www.whichphonics.co.uk. Tel: 01908 269990

Wordbuilding Chest. The chest contains 118 magnetic, sturdy and durable MDF letters (40mm in height) in Sassoon's Primary font. They come in two different colours for vowel and consonant differentiation. The chest is priced at £29.99 (+VAT) and is available by calling LDA on 0845 120 4776 or visiting www.ldalearning.com

Words and Pictures - Phonics Y2 TV programmes/video and teacher's poster pack. BBC Educational Publishing 01937 541001

Whole to Part Phonics: How children learn to read and spell, Henrietta Dombey, Margaret Moustafa and CLPE staff. The contributers to this book, produced by the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education, argue that children's encounters with texts are the groundwork for their effective learning of phonics. The book stresses the ways in which the teaching of writing and spelling support the learning of phonics. It includes a section on classroom contexts, resources and activities. Cost £8. 
Contact: CLPE, Webber Street, London SW1 8QW. Tel: 020 7401 3382. Email: info@clpe.co.uk.