Sounding-out without the gaps

Some research has indicated that children learn to blend more easily when they sound out continously (mmaann),rather than with gaps between the sounds (m, a,n).....even when the gaps are small and the sounds are pure.

The problem with gappy phonics

Most children do learn blendingin spite ofgappy phonics. But some children cant cope with the gaps, so they dontgetblending.The invisible sound which can block phonic blending.The problem is that these gaps are not empty. They are filled with a tiny sound that we dont notice in English, the glottal stop. Arabic even has a symbol to represent the sound: Ill use an asterisk. Its thatEast-Enderssound that replaces the tt inbutter: buh*uh. It was adopted by Tony Blair when wanting to sound less posh. We use it all the time without noticing, especially when words start with a vowel: *Amazing! *Extraordinary! Its even there quietly at the beginning of other sounds:*Mmm!.

When you make separate vowel sounds, "a, a, ayou have to use the glottal stop in order to start and stop the sound. So when a child sounds out separately,m, a, n, he cant help putting the invisible sound into the gaps. So he really is saying *mm, * aa, * nn Its those hidden sounds which can block his blending.

Most children intuitively learn to delete the invisible sound from their auditoryimageryin order to blend just the three visible phonemes. But some children cant cope with this extra task. So lets remove that burden.Another problem with gappy phonicsMuch of the character of a consonant comes from the way it joins to the vowel. You can see this especially with wandy. The "pure sound" of w, without any "uh" has to be "ooo", and the pure sound of ycan only be "eee". (You can see this in the way the french spell "oui"when we would write"wee". The first sound is a quick"ou" )But it's really rare to hear a teacher teach was "oo", and I have never heard a teacher teachy as "ee". That's because the pure sound doesn't really sound much like our idea of the wayworysounds in words. We only hearthe characteristicwsound when it's combined with a vowel as in"we".For many children, my guess is that it's the same for lots of the letters. For them, the "mm"in"mm, a, nn "doesn't sound much like themsound in"man".If we teach smooth phonics, with continuous sounding,forwin,we say "oooiiinnn",and then the characteristic sound of thewappears in the transition to the i. With smooth phonics,the wsound you hear in slow blending, is almost the same as in a real normally spoken word.

Teaching smooth phonics

I've sketched out some logical stages for teaching continuous blending for CVC words.The idea is that the children get to be accurate and fluent on each step before moving on to the next. For some children each step could take days or weeks of brief daily practice, especially to unlearn old habits. Other child could get the point much quicker.Maybe: USE A HANDFUL OF EASY LETTERSI suggest that instead of going though each step with all the letters, it could be better to choose handful of easy letters that the child knows really well. Go through the steps just with those easy letters. This means that she can get on with learning the blending processes, without coping with letters which are difficult for the child. So you could leave out those troublesome letters that the child confuses, or which they have trouble saying properly.When the child can do all the steps with the handful of favourite letters, then she, hopefully, will have got the idea of blending. Then you can go back through the steps, and practice with all the other more tricky letters.

Step 1: Making long continuous sounds(stretchies)

This is eventually for all the vowels plus thesecontinuousconsonant sounds:

In Read Write Inc,they are called the "stretchy" sounds, because you can stretch them. f h l m n r s v y z sh th(omitting softgandc for now)

Plus the weird vowelly ones(w,y),and the double phonemes:w= ooo, y= eee; x=kssss, ch= tshshsh, qu= kooo, j =djhjhjh

We leaving the other, non-continous, stop consonantsuntil later.In Read Write Inc,these other consonants( b, d, k, p, t, hard c & g)are calledbouncy, because you can't stretch them, you have to bounce off them. If you're uncomfortable with some of the weirder soundings, likey=ee, just leave them for now.

I've put in diagrams to show the pointing technique.But you don't need to show any diagrams to the children.... unless you feel it would help. Do the blending just with the letters, as in the video.

Demonstrateon the board:

"mmmm"

Put your finger on the left of the line. Move sharply to pause under the "m"When your finger touches the button start soundingmmmm(pause while you sound)Move your finger sharply to the right and simultaneousllystopsounding.Demonstrate with different lengths ofmmm, short and long.Get the children to practice with all the letters

Step 2:Vowel+stretchy(Vowel+continuous consonant)

Teach phonic words with a vowel and one of the continuous consonants:

examples: am an, Al, em, en, if, ill, in, Om, on, Oz,off, ox,

(Dont use irregular words likeas, of )

Use nonsense words too, for practice. Make them up from the list.

step 2a

Teaching say it slow/ say it fast without gaps(listening practice: no visible letters)

Demonstrate slow to fast(without looking at any letters):I'll say it slow, then I'll say it fast:"aaaaammmm.......... am" (demo with other words)Get the children to copy you.Their turn:You say it slow..... First they copy your slow version, then they say it fast.

Demonstrate fast to slowI'll say it fast, then I'll say it slow: "Oz....... OOOOzzzzz", "ill...... iiiiillllllll"Their turnYou say it fast; First they copy it fast, then they say it slow.

Step 2bTeaching Say it slow while pointing to lettersWrite up a word, e.g. am.

"aaaaaammmm"

Demonstrate:Put your finger on the left end of the line. Move sharply to the first button: "aaa"Then, without a gap, move sharply to next button:"mmm".Move sharply off the button, as you stop themmmsound.So there's no gap, just"aaaammmm".Practise with very long and shorter soundings. Get the children to sound it as you point.Say it slow....say it fastAfter say it slow, say it fast: aaaammmm, amFor say it fast you move your fingerfastalong the word

Get the children to do the same

Step 3:Stretchy + vowel (Continuous consonant + vowel ) You might skip this step with some children

"zzzaaa" (as in zap)

Same method as in the previous section. But only nonsense words are available:ma_, za_, sa_, le_, ru_.sounding like ma(t), za(p). Not "mar, sar..."

made fromf j l m n r s v w y z sh thplus vowels.

These are really CVC words, with the final consonant lopped off.

Remember to pause under both letters.

Step 4:Stretchy+vowel+stretchyCVCs with continuous consonants.

Start with lots oflistening practicefor say-it-slow, say-it-fast, without visible words.Get the children to copy you in saying CVCs slow then fast.Then you say some slow, they have to say fast.You say some fast, they have to say slow.

Teach say-it-slow, while pointing to lettersSame method for pointing and sounding as for am in Step 2

"ssssaaaaammm"

Plenty of real words now:Sam, fan, jam, man, sun, fun, run, ran, van, fin, fill, mill,Jill, sill, will, nil, chill, chin, shin, Val, Sal, shall, sum, mum, ...

Step 5 Vowel+bouncyVowel+stop consonant

So far we have avoided the consonants that cant be sounded continuously.These are thestop consonants: b d k p t Plus the hard sounds ofgandcInRead Write Inc, they are called thebouncyones

"aaaat"

My suggestion here:Your finger starts on the left end of the line, pauses onabutton "aaaa", moves along to touch the t. Immediatelybounce off thetas if it was red hotYou don't pause under the t.

You say "aaaat" without any gap. Say the "t" just as you bounce.Teach some real and nonsense VCs this way: at, ad, ap, od, eb, eg, Ug, Og.Say-it-slow, say-it-fast.

Step 6 Stretchy+vowel+bouncy

Continuous consonant + vowel + stop consonant

"sssssaaaaat" Demo, making a continuous sound, without gaps:

So you say, without any gaps: "ssssaaaat"

Demonstrate, teach and practise this.Do say-it-slow, say-it-fast.

Word examples:mat, mac, mad, map, mag, sat, sac, sad, sag, Sid, sit, sick, lot, lit, fat, fit, fob, fog, fig, fag, rat, rap, rag, rig, rep, (loads of these)

Step 7 bouncy+ vowel (stop consonant +vowel)

"baa"

E.g. ba.... sounding like the beginning of "bat" (not "bar")

This is where special pointing skill is needed, as this is the hardest step yet.It is a crucial join, which many children can't make when they do gappy phonics.

Demo:

Say: "Get your mouth ready for the start" ... and we're going to land on the aaa"

Your finger starts at the left end of the line.As soon at it touches theb, it bounces off, making a quick dip, and immediately onto thea. (As if thebis red-hot.)

As you make the bounce, you say"ba", and continue the"aa"as you pause on the aThen stop as your finger moves sharply to the end of the line.

Don't pause on theb

You are getting the children to slide from their "b" mouth straight into saying the "aaaa", with no gap. It's a special kind of"aaa", the "baa"kind.

Practice this with the children, for lots of combinations, all the vowels, starting with the stop consonants, which are

b d k p t Plus the hard sounds ofgandc

ba, be, bit, bo, bu, ca, ke, ki, co, cu, ga, ge, gi, go, gu..... you get the idea

Say-it-slow, say-it-fast

Step 8 Bouncy+Vowel+stretchy Stop consonant + vowel + continuous consonant

Examples:

ban, bin, bun, can, cam, pin, pan, pill, pal, till, Tom, tum, Tim, gun, gum, Gus, bus,

"caaannn"You move along the line steadily.As soon has you hit theC, you bounce immediatelyonto thea.Pause on thea, move sharply to pause on then, then move sharply along the line.As you do the quick bounce, say "caaa", and continue the"aa" on the pause dot.

Step 9: Bouncy+vowel+bouncy

Stop consonant + vowel + stop consonant

Examples: bat, bad, bag, back, dad, dab, dap, cab, cap, dig, big, pig, kick, kip, kit, cat, cop, cod.... plenty

"cooood" ...cod

Step 10: Consonant -vowel-consonant (any combination)

So now use a mixture of CVCs which can any of the patterns given above.

You have to quickly bounce off the stop consonants on your way to or from the vowel.You pause on the vowels and continuous consonantsYou do say-it-slow and then say-it-fast on each word.