Stage One
Five times in week one to teach the alphabet and you are ready to test.
The fast-track learners move on.
"The tests are amazingly reliable in predicting learning outcomes".
With a little more teaching the middle learners move on.
After a little more teaching so do the slower learners, but you will know if they have an auditory deficit of a visual deficit or both.
So, teaching can be targeted for this group now.
With The Word Factory you always know what to do. Class Teacher.
The digraphs are used in context.
Only those digraphs which are more difficult to sound are taught.
Then the learning is tested.
Each brick in the wall is tested before the children move on.
A listening skill.
Children need to be taught how to listen to a word.
Listening for the beginning sound is easier than listening to the ending sound.
Children can get stuck on hearing just the beginning sound.
a e i o u The short vowels are taught first (excepting y).
The hooks tap, hen, pin, dog, run are used as hooks to teach; a book of words for each vowel sound.
The words chosen are high count writing words.
hat is a tap word,
when is a hen word,
give is a pin word,
long is a dog word,
duck is a run word.
The method for reading all words is introduced.
Identify the vowel sound,
then the beginning sound,
then the ending sound.
See and hear and put together. The skill for reading.
The vowel sound unlocks the word.
The beginning and ending sounds have been taught and are easy now.
The 'belonging to' apostrophe is introduced
so that all the learners get it right first time.
Rules and patterns emerge.
The c sound after the short a or e or i or o or u vowel is written ck.
In Stage 1, back, sack, duck but now the children are looking for words with a short vowel and ck.
They love to find other words to fit their rule.
You can hear a pin drop at writing time. Primary One teacher.
Writing in sentences.
Many children don’t know what that means.
The five Sentence Pack books get is right for them; a confidence booster.
"The tests are amazingly reliable in predicting learning outcomes".
Looking for how to spell words. A dictionary doesn't always do it.
the, all ball called, walk, wall, want, was, water, what, come, once, other, are all easily found in My First Spellcheck.
Getting it right first time is so much easier than trying to correct a mis-spelling later.
Children love to get their spellings right. That was a surprise to me.
So frustration builds when they can't. Infant teacher.
Learned in the first weeks of school.
The alphabet sounds and how to use them, digraphs and useful letter groups and how to use them,
how to put together what they see and hear,
how to listen effectively,
how to use hooks to learn for themselves,
the use of the ‘belonging to’ apostrophe,
how to read and write 115 words with transferable skill,
to read and write words at home,
some spelling rules and patterns.