UptoSix Phonics PLUS
An Advanced Phonics Apps for Kids!
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Synthetic Phonics lessons will be incomplete unless students learn concepts such as Digraphs, Tricky Words, Magic ‘e’, and Alternate Spellings. Teaching children only the letter sounds from a to z is similar to teaching them half-strategies for cracking the alphabetic code. The Uptosix Phonics Plus App will cover all advanced phonics concepts.
Digraphs
A digraph is one sound represented by two letters.
Like,
<ai> as in rain
<ee> as in bee
<ie> as in pie
<oa> as in boat
<ch> as in chain
<sh> as in sheep
< ou> as in cloud
<oi> as in coin and so on.
Now when children see <ai> in a word, they don’t say /a/ and /i/ separately, they learn together <ai> to make a new sound, that is /ai/ . As in rain, pain, and snail.
Blending words with digraphs is the same as blending with single sounds.
Consonant Blends
When two consonants come adjacent to each other at the beginning of a word, it might be challenging for children to blend and read. When children understand that these two consonants must be said together, reading becomes much easier. A consonant blend is when two or more consonants, placed next to each other, are blended, but each sound is heard in the blend. Consonant blends are found at the beginning or end of a word. Children read as /tr-ai-n/ instead of /t-r-ai-n/, or /sn-ai-l/, instead of /s-n-ai-l/ and /str-ee-t/ instead of /s-t-r-ee-t/, it becomes easier for them to hear the words.
Tricky Words
‘Tricky’ words are ones that cannot be sounded out. The sounds of the word ‘the’ /t-h-e/ cannot be blended. It Will does not make any sense. They are words that must be recognized by sight.
In the UptoSix Phonics-II app, Tricky words are taught. Not only children should be able to read them, but they should also learn how to write and spell them correctly.
Alternative spellings of sounds
In the English Language, there are many ways of saying the same sound.
‹ai›: as in rain, hail and snail
‹a_e›: ai as in cake, bake and plate.
‹ay›: ai as in day, hay and play
‹a›: ai as in acorn, baby, table,
‹ei›: ai as in, vein and veil, reindeer
‹ey›: ai as in they, grey and obey,
‹eigh›: ai as in eight, neigh and sleigh
‹et›: ai as in ballet, sorbet and buffet
‹ea›: ai as in great, break
‹aigh›: ai as in straight
So far Children have learned single letter sounds and digraphs. Some sounds have more than one way of being written: these are known as alternative spellings.
Magic e/ hop over e/ split digraphs
The sounds of the vowels a, e, i, o, u are called short vowel sounds.
Digraphs ai, ee, ie, oa, ue make long vowel sounds.
Magic e, makes a short vowel sound long. Magic e generally sits at the end of the word and put magic on the vowel which is one consonant away from magic e. The consonant forgets its sound and says its name.
Magic e becomes silent after performing the magic.
As in
mad made
Kit kite
Cub- cube
In magic e words, There is another letter, a consonant, in between the two vowels.
That is why these words are referred to as words with split digraphs.
The students must learn that these words can be blended in the same way as other words.
Conclusion
Synthetic-phonics instruction teaches children how to decode and encode words.
Starting with the basics, this strong foundation instils confidence in children and allows them to read and write thousands of words.
Children gradually progress from reading words to phrases, then sentences, and finally, reading books.
Spelling is much more complex than reading because there are many ways of writing the same sound. The same sound can be represented in different ways:
/oa/ is represented in all these ways: oa, ow, oe, o-e:
/ie/ can be represented in many ways. ie, igh, i-e, y
Reading involves more than just word decoding. It is also essential to comprehend the meaning.
Comprehension abilities can be developed by speaking, listening, and reading.