Oxford Reading Tree Floppy’s Phonics ‘Teaching Sequence’

An overview of the programme for leaders and teachers

“Many thanks to Kelly Wood, Jerry Clay

Academy English Hub Lead, for initiating a
‘one-stop’ description of delivering the
Floppy’s Phonics programme.”
Debbie Hepplewhite, Nov 2019

BASICS: Floppy’s Phonics has TWO main sessions for one ‘teaching and learning sequence’: SESSION 1, teacher-led carpet time
with the whole class; SESSION 2, pupil-practice tables for core paper-based activities; children sitting in a vision V for small
group work, tables facing forwards for large group and whole class work. Alphabetic Code Charts, Alphabet posters, Frieze,
Say the Sounds posters visible all the time in all classrooms and breakout areas. Consistent expectations in every space.
http://www.phonicsinternational.com/Debbie_RRF_Two_pronged_handout.pdf
The overarching rationale of Floppy’s Phonics is ‘Two-pronged systematic and incidental phonics provision’.

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 SESSION 1 (Part 1) – REVISIT AND REVIEW with previously introduced Flashcards & Frieze for levels 1 to 4
(Part 2) - TEACH with next (new) Flashcard for levels 1 to 4, display relevant Frieze
Children sitting on the carpet, organised spacing, slowest progress children at the front
(Time - approximately 30 minutes for the whole of SESSION 1.)

Part 1: REVISIT & REVIEW – Routine reference to the Alphabetic Code Chart: Children understand that they are
learning a complex code but they can read and write with the code they know.

• Review previously introduced letter/s-sound correspondences

with the Flashcards and Frieze:

“Let’s see what code you have remembered so far from our phonics lessons.”

[Note: As soon as possible, after you have provided initial good modelling for beginners in the following Flashcard
routine, let the children do all the work ‘interactively’; that is, don’t you say the sounds or words otherwise you
are doing the work for the children. Ensure all the children are engaged. Train them to respond automatically with
your minimum involvement. Say each sound only once, no shouting, no singing the sounds, say /s/ not /suh/.]

Different ways to use the Flashcards: Note: Letter/s shown within slash marks always indicate
the sounds, not the letters or letter groups: /s/ /a/ /t/ /ch/
Show the side with graphemes and pictures

1) Children say the sound in response to the grapheme (letter or letter group) and refer to the picture: “/a/ as in
apple, /t/ as in teddy” for a number of jumbled Flashcards.
2) Children say the sound whilst air-writing the focus grapheme for a number of Flashcards.

Show the side with graphemes and printed words

3) Children say the sound in response to the focus grapheme for a number of Flashcards.
4) You tap under each grapheme from left to right of selected printed words for the children to sound out - they
say the whole word when you run your finger under the printed word from left to right.
5) Point to the left side of some of the printed words for children to say the whole words without sounding out
(for beginners and strugglers, model how to sound out ‘silently’ as you finger-tap under each grapheme from left
to right, then the children say the whole word aloud).
6) The cumulative word bank on the Flashcards gives you a selection of words to ‘say’ for the children to orally
segment the words from beginning to end. This may take more modelling for beginners and strugglers. Stand at
right angles to the children, on their left. Raise your left hand, palm facing YOU, take a deep breath and say the
spoken word very slowly and tally the constituent sounds on thumb and fingers. Ensure the children use their left
hands, palm facing them when orally segmenting the spoken words.

[Note: Avoid embarrassing the slower progress children by asking them to respond as individuals during the
collective Flashcard routine. Ensure, however, that they get small group work in addition to the whole class
activity for more ‘little and often’ practice as above. Account for the additional ‘little and often’ practice for the
slower progress learners – who provides it, when, for whom, where does it take place?]

[Note about the alphabetic code: Always use the language of “/a/ as in apple” rather than “/a/ for apple”. This is
because with the English alphabetic code, the ‘position’ of various graphemes (letters and letter groups) in the
printed words affects pronunciation. The word ‘for’ links to the ‘first’ sound of a word – but consider graphemes
such as -le as in bottle whereby the focus grapheme is not the first sound of the word. For consistency, therefore,
use the ‘as in’ language at all times.]

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 SESSION 1 continued (Part 2 – teaching, modelling and collective practice)
Develop ORAL LANGUAGE; Practise PHONICS SKILLS AND SUB-SKILLS at code and word level
Children remain on the carpet (approximately 30 mins in total for full SESSION 1)

Part 2: TEACH – Refer to the focus sound and grapheme on the Alphabetic Code Chart and remind the children
that by learning today’s new bit of code, they will be able to read and write more new words. You can refer, as
well, to the Frieze Strip (provided in levels 1 to 4 of the programme), and show the specific Sounds Book featuring
the focus letter/s-sound correspondence.
Hold up the new Flashcard and say, “Here is our focus letter (or letter group) for today.” [Some children may
already know the sound and call out. That’s fine. Don’t skip this lesson for those children as there will be plenty of
new words for them to decode (read) and encode (spell) and write and, often, new vocabulary for them to learn.]

Example sequence: For introducing the sound /j/ and the letter j, say:

“This letter is always code for the sound /j/.”

[Note: See the guidance for the sound /j/ and its
many spelling alternatives in Teaching Handbook 1.]

• Say the new sound - “/j/” (say as close as possible to the sound in real speech – avoid ‘j-uh’)
• Connect the sound with the picture on the Flashcard – “What do you think this picture is? Yes, that’s
right, it’s a jug. So, this is /j/ as in jug.”
• Orally segment the picture-word together “Is the sound /j/ at the beginning of the word, within the
word, or the end of the word? [Say ‘jug’ very slowly together to isolate the first sound.] Take a deep
breath then we’ll say the word very slowly…j u g, /j/ /u/ /g/. Yes, the /j/ sound is at the beginning.”
• Link the focus sound to the formation of the letter by holding up the Flashcard and finger-tracing the
letter shape as you say the sound. Ideally, sit your known right-handers on the right and your left-handers
on the left. Then model air-writing the letter shape by facing the same way as the children. [DO NOT
FACE THE CHILDREN TO DO REVERSE AIR-WRITING AS THIS CAN LEAD TO CONFUSION AND WRONG
LETTER FORMATION.] Model the letter shape formation with your right hand for the right-handed
children as you say the sound /j/, then model the letter shape formation with your left hand for the left-
handed children whilst saying the sound. Remind them to do a ‘dot’ not a ‘football’ - for the dot!
• Model the oral blending of the printed words on the Flashcard. As soon as possible, get the children to do
the work and you just point under the printed word from left to right, then run your finger under the
whole word, as the children sound out and blend: “/j/ /u/ /g/…jug, /j/ /e/ /t/…jet, /j/ /a/ /m/…jam”
• Progression over time – As children develop their blending skill, they should be able to look at the word,
say the sounds in their heads and then say the whole word - building their automaticity for decoding.
• Reading the whole words After blending the printed words, point to the words on the Flashcard from the
left side for children to read and say the whole word without overt blending as they progress.
• Spelling-with-editing Select one of the printed words to provide you with a spoken word. Tell the children
the word. Everyone raise their left hands, palm facing them, to tally the sounds to thumb and fingers. Say
the focus word very slowly with the children (orally segment) to isolate the constituent sounds all through
the word. “jet /j/ /e/ /t/. How many sounds? Count the sounds whilst I write the sound dashes.” Write
three long ‘sound dashes’ with small spaces between, top left of a clean page or board (to model how
children present work starting top left of their pages). The sound dashes double up as writing lines for
correct letter formation. “Say the sounds for ‘jet’ as I write the letters that are code for the sounds. Well
done – now say the sounds to check the spelling.” [Form the letter shapes in print, preferably NOT
separate letters with pre-cursive lead-in joins.] To check the spelling, point under the letters as the
children say the sounds, run your finger under the whole word as the children say the word. “That’s
correct, now we can tick the word.” Now draw a long line beneath the spelling. Write the whole word on
the line whilst saying the sounds of the word. When children are older and have already been taught fully
joined handwriting (for example, in Year 2), they can write the whole word beneath the spelling in fully
joined handwriting. [See debbiehepplewhitehandwriting.com for guidance on joined writing.]

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Leadership points:
• Make sure organisation and groupings meet the needs of every child.
• Are children being taught in a quiet, well-resourced space - Alphabetic Code Chart in view?
• SESSION 1 is designed as a ‘whole class’ activity but are smaller group additional sessions provided before
and/or after SESSION 1, for the slower progress children based on assessment and range of abilities?
[Who provides the extra sessions, where do they take place, have these sessions been observed, is
collegial support put in place for adults to watch one another to discuss delivery of the session and
progress of the individual children?]
• Teaching needs to secure that pupils broadly move through the teaching of the code at the same pace.
• Slowest progress children need to be at the front in direct eyeline with the teacher to ensure they connect
with the activities. Does every child fully respond to the activities?
• Are the teachers and teaching assistants using the Flashcards well to model and allow 100% participation
or are they over-modelling? But are individual children singled out which actually embarrasses them?
• Are children securing previously taught sounds? How do teachers know? (Good personalised use of the
Say the Sounds Posters in SESSION 2, for example, adults ticking the graphemes where sounds are said
correctly.)
• Are teachers connecting the code to the picture well with the mantra “/j/ as in jug”?
• If the focus letter/s-sound correspondence is not the beginning sound of the picture-word (e.g. the -ck as
in duck /d/ /u/ /k/, ‘the -le as in bottle /b/ /o/ /t/ /ul/’), is the teacher making this clear when introducing
the new code using the Flashcard – for example, by orally segmenting the picture-word to discover
‘where’ the focus sound is – beginning, within, or at the end of the word?

SESSION 1 – Part 2 continued – Children continue to sit on the carpet

Part 2 TEACH continued:

Using the interactive whiteboard (IWB), show

children the ‘page/illustration’ corresponding
to the focus sound and grapheme (letter
or letter group) on the screen.

[Note: Become familiar with the online ‘page’

- the main illustration and content -
before the session with the children.]

• Reinforce letter formation - Click on the focus grapheme (top left of the screen) to show correct letter
formation of the focus grapheme (particularly to demonstrate capital letter formation provided for single
letters at the beginning of the Floppy’s Phonics programme).
• Develop oral language via the main illustration - Focus on the ‘Language Comprehension’ aspect of the
Simple View of Reading (vertical axis on the SVoR diagram). The children engage with the Oxford Reading
Tree characters and develop speaking, listening and vocabulary enrichment through partner-talk followed
by interactive discussion with the teacher - you can work hard to introduce new vocabulary to the
children: “Take turns with your partner to discuss who is in the picture; where is the scene taking place
– and how do you know; what is happening in the scene; what do you think the characters are thinking
and feeling; and what might happen next?” After giving a few minutes for partner-talk, slip between
questions which enable all the children to call out at the same time so point and ask, “Who is this? And
who is this?” and then ask them to, “Put your hands up to tell me…”.
• Use the illustration for phonemic awareness – Click on the speaker icons to provide whole spoken words:
“Say the word. Now let’s say the sounds in the word. Where can you hear the focus sound in the word –
at the beginning, within the word, or at the end of the word?” [Note: Sometimes the spoken words via
the speaker icons include the focus sound but the printed word has a different spelling alternative – so
point this out to the children by reference to the correct spelling on the Alphabetic Code Chart: “In this
word, our focus sound is spelt this way as we can see on our Code Chart. I’m going to teach you more
about that later.”]

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 • Code and word level core phonics skills and their sub-skills – Become familiar with the range of activities
on the interactive whiteboard (IWB) that demonstrate the phonics decoding (reading) and encoding
(spelling) core skills and sub-skills. Develop your own way of undertaking the full range of activities in an
interactive and pacey way. Avoid spending a lot of time asking children ‘to take turns’ – involve them all
collectively as much as possible.
• Building up knowledge of spelling word banks where words are spelt with the same letter/s-sound
correspondences in the later levels of the programme – for example; “Today we’re focusing on
remembering which words ending with the sound /ul/ are spelt with this grapheme ‘-al’. There are 8
words in the spelling word bank. With your partner, read the words, link them to features in the
illustration, make up a story theme including all the words, then without looking at the picture, talk
through the story (think of the illustration) and recall the 8 words. See if you can remember them
tomorrow morning.” You can also use the Sounds Books for this type of activity to build up knowledge of
specific spelling word banks. [Note: Focus heavily on only one spelling word bank in any one lesson.]

Leadership Points:
• Is there 100% participation? All children need to be engaged in developing their spoken language skills
and practise the focus sound and the core phonics skills and their sub-skills.
• Are talk-partners being used well?
• Are questions pitched appropriately, creating interest and developing vocabulary?
• Is the letter/s-sound correspondence being reinforced and practised well and in a pacey way?
• Have arrangements been made to ensure provision of ‘before and/or after sessions’ with the slower
progress children to build their confidence and embed the learning and improve their oral language?
[Note: The Sounds Books can be utilised well for the before and/or after sessions for the slower progress
children. Identify ‘which’ children need additional practice and ‘who’ supervises this.]

SESSION 2: – Additional REVISIT AND REVIEW with the ‘Say the Sounds Posters’ and previous ‘Activity Sheets’
marked/annotated and collated in the children’s own phonics folders
PUPIL-PRACTICE TIME with the new ‘Activity Sheet’
(Time - as long as it takes to develop a strong & efficient routine – minimum of 35 minutes)
Every child needs a phonics folder and an exercise book with writing lines (not too wide apart), a paper copy of
the new Activity Sheet, with sharp ‘ordinary-sized’ pencils on tables all ‘ready to go’.

Children move to their tables with an agreed system – make sure that children are sitting as readers and writers –
train the children to immediately and independently ‘say the sounds’ from their own copy of the ‘Say the Sounds
Posters’ and to re-read the word banks speedily from the past few Activity Sheets in their own phonics folder.

[Note: Photocopy the Activity Sheets for absent children – name and date them and ensure later completion. Also
photocopy an extra copy, and date, for the teacher’s lesson plan records. Make notes about the session on the
Activity Sheet if appropriate for future reference – for example, note any absent children and slower progress
children who need extra practice beyond the main session – and record who will provide this.]

• Multi-skills ‘Activity Sheets’ Routine:

General guidance: *Train the children really well in the reading, handwriting and spelling exercises of the Activity
Sheets (see the bullet points below) but there is no need to ‘over-train’ as the children should soon pick up what
to do. It should be relatively easy to train the children how to do the first side of the Activity Sheet independently,
but you may need to model and support the ‘spelling-with-editing’ routine on the folded-up part of the Activity
Sheet for longer. Reception teachers may need to train the children in groups at first.

*You need to slip between the children working largely independently whilst you and any other supporting adult
supervise and ‘mark’ the slower progress children as they say the sounds to read the words on the first side. All
supporting adults must use the time efficiently to ‘mark’ every child’s work – not just walk around the room.

*AFTER their independent practice and the adults ticking what the children know and can do, then gain all the
children’s attention and focus on the whole group, or the whole class, sounding out and blending the bank of
words slowly and collectively with you. Get the pace right as all the children point under their own word banks.

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*Then, collectively at a steady pace, read the bank of words from the beginning as ‘whole words’.
*At this point, focus on vocabulary enrichment by talking about the unknown, or lesser known, words and
homophones in the word bank. Say the words in sentences; act them out when appropriate; draw little pictures
above the printed words to show the meaning when beneficial. Model simple drawings on your board as needed.
*Finally, you lead the spelling routine on the folded-up part of the sheet. The spelling routine is NOT ‘invented’ or
‘phonically plausible’ spelling. The following description is a repeat of the ‘Activity Sheets’ routine but in detail…

Detailed guidance of the reading, writing and spelling routines for the example of /j/ as in jug:

• Teacher models how to READ the sound/code again at the top

of the sheet [I do, you do….] “/j/ as in jug”
• Children finger-trace the grapheme and connect it with the
jug picture as they say “/j/ as in jug”
• Teacher models with just a couple of printed words how to do
a ‘grapheme search’ – look for the focus grapheme in each
printed word and underline it whilst saying the focus sound.
This helps to embed the letter/s-sound correspondence in
children’s memory. The children do this independently for all
the words in the word bank once they know the routines.
• Teacher models how to read the words on the sheet [I do, you
do…] (Look at the printed word first to see if there are any
letter groups to note such as ‘ck’ or ‘le’.) Point under each
grapheme from left to right whilst saying the sounds, orally
blend and read the word whilst running the finger under the
whole word). The children are trained to tick AFTER the
printed word in pencil if they think they blended it correctly
[Note: It doesn’t matter if they are not ticking accurately as
the adult ticks in pen any word that the adult hears the child
sound out and blend correctly.]
• Practise together first for just a couple of words in the word bank and then children do the pointing, and
sounding out and blending on their own - ticking after the words as they go along.
• The teacher checks that the children are ticking the words they think they’ve read correctly and circling
the words they’ve blended but don’t know what they MEAN. [Note: Training children to mark their own
work is very engaging for them and gives them a tangible sense of their own learning. They also learn
that it is OK not to know something – and it is the teacher’s job to teach them again, and/or give them
more practice. This helps to make children fearless in their work and minimises the likelihood of damage
to their self-esteem!]
• Children practise the words several times if instructed to do so - building their confidence and fluency.
• The teacher ‘works the room’ assessing and listening by ticking in pen above the words any individual
graphemes known to automaticity when children are not yet able to sound out and blend the whole
words; or after the words when the words successfully decoded; or at the end of the rows for more able
and older children who can successfully and easily blend the words. There is a progression in the need for
intensity of supervision and marking from grapheme level, at first, then to word level. [Note: For
beginners and strugglers – sit opposite the children and tick ‘above’ each grapheme said correctly and
‘after’ each word blended correctly. Never mark anything with a cross – just leave unmarked anything not
known!]
• Children can work in partners to read the words together after they have read the words independently.
• Teacher STOPS the whole group or class after enough practice time. This is the point that, collectively,
there is repetition of: 1) sounding out and blending every word in the word bank at a steady pace (with
finger-pointing); 2) reading the words as whole spoken words starting at the beginning of the word bank
again (with finger-pointing); 3) Focus on the meanings of the words in the word bank that children do not
know, or where there are multiple meanings of the same word (homophones). Teach the unknown words,
do actions together if appropriate, draw little pictures above new words as appropriate (help the children
by modelling simple drawings on the teacher’s board for them to copy). [Note: Don’t spend precious time
explaining the meaning of unknown words for individual children when the children are practising the
technical sounding out and blending of the bank of words. Wait to do new vocabulary together.]

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Spelling-with-editing routine on folded-up part of the Activity Sheet:

• Teacher then models the spelling-with-editing routine on the teacher’s board or flip chart: 1) Stand at
right angles to the children at the left side of the group. Tell the children the word to be spelt. 2) Together,
everyone raises their left hands, palm facing (make sure the children can see that you are looking at your
own palm like they have to). 3) Take a deep breath and say the word as slowly as you can – this helps the
phonemes to separate – and tally the sounds to thumb and fingers of your left hand. 4) Repeat the sounds
of the word separately and tally again to the thumb and fingers of your left hand. 5) Confirm how many
sounds identified and ask the children to ‘count’ aloud whilst you draw the requisite number of ‘sound
dashes’ from left to right, at top left, of your clean, clear board (like a page). Draw long sound dashes with
small spaces between. These dashes double up as writing lines. 6) Ask the children to repeat the sounds as
you model the correct letter formation of the correct graphemes on the sound dashes. 7) To check the
spelling, you point under each grapheme from left to right as the children repeat the sounds. Run your
finger under the whole word whilst the children say the whole word. 8) Now the spelling is checked, tick
after the word. 9) Draw a long line beneath and write the whole word whilst saying the sounds again.

Now children undertake their own spelling-with-editing activity on the folded-up part of their Activity Sheets, top
left, like they have been shown – but support as much as necessary (you may need to draw the sound dashes on
at least some children’s paper to show them good size and positioning) – some children will be able to do this
independently sooner than others. Children who work quickly and accurately can be given extra words to spell in
the following activity:

• Say the word you want the children to spell (for example, a word from their printed word bank).
• At first, give them the chance to work out how many sounds by independently orally segmenting the word
and tallying to thumb and fingers of their left hand, palm facing.
• Regardless of whether children have tallied correctly, say, “Now let’s work out the sounds together” and
do the tallying with them – you, of course, model the correct amount of sounds.
• Give them the chance to draw the correct number of sound dashes top left of the folded-up part. Help
where needed. They proceed to spell the word – forming the letters correctly on their sound dashes.
• They cannot tick their own spelling until you, or another supporting adult, have seen the spelling.
Confirm “Yes” to each child very quickly. The child ticks his or her spelling, then draws the second, long
continuous line beneath the spelling and rewrites the word whilst saying the sounds.
• If a child spells the word correctly but has wrong letter formation, circle the letter. Can the child self-
correct by looking at the Alphabet Poster? If not, model how to write the letter correctly on the sheet
near the spelling. Draw a couple of short lines and ask the children to practise writing that letter. If the
child continues to form that letter, or any other, incorrectly, write the troublesome letter or letters in the
child’s phonics exercise book for extra practice (remember that they should say the sound, not the letter
name, when writing).
• Give several words to spell consisting of previously taught letter/s-sound correspondences and the focus
code, including short words and longer words. Give speedy children extra words. Give any tricky words to
spell that have featured in structured phonics lessons to date or wider writing. Provide three words or so
for beginners, build up to at least six words plus tricky words as children progress.
• If the children run out of space on the folded-up part and you want to extend the spelling practice,
continue the routine using the remaining ‘back’ of their Activity Sheet or their phonics exercise book.

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Leadership points:

Are children sitting at the tables properly and angling their paper comfortably?
Are children using a tripod pencil grip? Is the supporting adult reminding them and showing them if necessary?
Are children able to sound out and blend to read the words?
Are children managing to tick and circle their words? As the children progress, this should become realistic
marking.
Are children managing the spelling-with-editing routine?
Are the children generally forming letter shapes correctly including positioning on the writing line?
Are the adults supervising children efficiently and appropriately? (Quick, able children do not need much or any
supervision once they can sound out and blend well, but they do need acknowledgement for their effort.)
Are children trained in the routines, starting from independent ‘revisit and review’ for SESSION 2, to maximise the
content of the paper-based work?
Are the teachers annotating the Activity Sheets appropriately including praise and rewards for the children (stars,
smiley faces)?
Are the teachers working efficiently and supporting one another including the teaching assistants?
Are the teachers routinely sending home the ‘phonics folders in the bookbag routine’ - aspiring to engage parents
and carers (folders going to and from home every week)?
Do parents and carers know that it is helpful to take an interest in their children’s phonics work and hear the
children read the words again – reinforcing meaning of any new words to enrich vocabulary?
Have the teachers accounted for which children in school need more ‘little and often’ practice, where this takes
place, who supervises it? Is there a record of this intervention taking place?
Have the teachers provided sufficient guidance so that no children have ‘down time’ (because they think they
have ‘finished’ and don’t know what to do next)?

SESSION 2: APPLY at text level

This may be part of SESSION 2 or it may need to become a SESSION 3 of the teaching and learning
sequence dependent on time constraints of SESSION 2, and stage of learning

• Use the Cumulative Texts that are matched to the Activity Sheets. These are provided from introducing
the -ck grapheme. There are two sentences corresponding to each Activity Sheet.
• These Cumulative Texts could be stuck in phonics books ‘ready to go’.
• Children undertake activities independently (as instructed by the teacher) BEFORE modelling or repeated
collectively. They do a ‘grapheme search’ first – underlining the focus letter/s-sound correspondence and
saying the sound.
• Children attempt to read the text by themselves at first, circle any words that they don’t know.
• Children can then read the text with their partners together - using their fingers under the words to read –
until the teacher draws everyone together.
• Get children to read aloud and practise their storytelling voices.
• Collectively discuss and answer questions orally about the text.

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 SESSION 2: APPLY and EXTEND - WRITING TIME

• The teacher may give different guidance to different children for initial independent work as there are
various levels of challenge: 1) Read and re-read the Cumulative Text to build up fluency; 2) Copy write
one sentence (or two sentences) on the lines in the phonics exercise book in best handwriting – whilst
saying the sounds (not just copying, but copying-with-thinking); 3) Draw a picture to match one of the
sentences; 4) For more challenge (some children can do this much earlier than others), do a ‘self-dictation’
that is, read a sentence, hold it in memory, write it in the phonics exercise book (and the children can
check back to the Cumulative Text to see how they’ve done); 5) When able, write what happens next
(another sentence).
• Teacher works the room to support and assess, and annotate children’s work appropriately; or stays
present for any children who need the teacher to be there (but don’t do the work for them).
• Periodically, the teacher can read the sentences aloud for a full ‘dictation’ activity for formal record-
keeping – but try to do this with matched ability groups if possible unless all children can keep up
similarly.

CONSOLIDATE: - CONTINUOUS PROVISION AND ADDITIONAL ACTIVITIES

Various activities can be part of ‘continuous provision’: for example, children set up on the IWB to do the activities
independently, and/or additional activities using the ‘end pages’ of the Sounds Books after each ‘chunk’ of the
alphabetic code has been covered – whatever can be done ‘orally’ with the ‘end page’ activities, can also be
undertaken in the phonics exercise book with writing and drawing – and sometimes practising ‘choral’ whole
class or group reading of the texts and nonsense poems after the children have tried to read them independently.

The Sounds Books are ideal for slower progress children as they are easy to use in small groups pre- and post- use
of the main IWB lessons (and also if for any reason the IWB is not accessible or working).

Grapheme Tiles are very useful for beginners and strugglers, for example, for early spelling activities before
children can form letter shapes well enough. They are also good to send sets home for activities at home –
instructions for several activities are provided in a letter for parents or carers.

PACE: Even if only two letter/s-sound correspondences are introduced per week (but with phonics provision
daily), this would still amount to 60 correspondences per academic year. The Floppy’s Phonics ‘teaching and
learning sequence’ should be delivered with quality teaching and quality practice for the children. If and when
time runs out before a session, or part of a session, is completed, continue the next lesson from where the
children got up to the previous lesson to thoroughly embed and extend the learning of all the letter/s-sound
correspondences introduced in the programme.

PRACTISE READING: - CHILDREN READ MATCHED TEXTS AS INDEPENDENTLY AND FLUENTLY AS POSSIBLE

Independent Reading (with cumulative and decodable books):

- Teach children how books differ (fiction, non-fiction, different genre)

- Model how to use phonics skills and language comprehension skills - and to read aloud ‘to others’.
- Show children how they can read their books at home to parents and carers – and to themselves.
- Use matched texts to practise reading (books that lag slightly behind SSP programme for home reading).
- Stick labels on to non-matched story books and more challenging content for home reading such as ‘Share
with me’ and ‘Read to me’ so there is no ambiguity for reading at home. [Note: Guide parents to tell
children words they cannot read rather than to tell their children to guess words from pictures, context or
initial letters.]

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For further information about the ORT Floppy’s Phonics programme, training, and many free printable CPD
resources including the diagrams above: floppysphonics.com

Contact Debbie Hepplewhite at [email protected] for any questions arising.

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