Classroom programs for learners aged ~5-7
US and Irish materials tend to be less applicable than UK ones in Australia due to accent differences (Australian English has no syllable-final “r” sound)
- Anima Phonics (UK)
- Blend Phonics (US, free program)
- Code-Breakers by the Hamilton Trust (UK)
- Code-Ed (NZ)
- Dandelion books and workbooks (UK)
- Doorway Into Practical Literacy (DIPL) (Aus)
- EBLI (US)
- Floppy’s Phonics (UK)
- Freereading (US, free resources)
- Get Reading Right (Aus)
- Hooked on Phonics (US)
- Horizons 1998 (US, reading program)
- InitiaLit (Aus)
- Jolly Phonics (UK), also available in Australia from SPELD SA or Modern Teaching Aids, and there is a Jolly Phonics YouTube channel, and training is available from Jolly Phonics In Melbourne (Jacqui Tarquinio). Jacqui has also made videos for parents.
- LEM Phonics (Aus)
- Little Learners Love Literacy (Aus), who also run regular, affordable workshops. I’ve made a video about their books for beginners, which you can watch here, or watch their much more professional video here.
- Phonics Bug (UK), but as far as I can work out Pearson Australia only sells the Bug Club books, not other components of Phonics Bug.
- Phonics International (UK).
- PhOrMeS (Aus) is a free primary years curriculum including phonemic awareness and phonics.
- Promoting Literacy Development or PLD (Aus)
- Pocket Rockets (AUS), or a video about them is here. Should be used with strategies from Phase 2 and 3 of the free Letters and Sounds guide, and resources following the Letters and Sounds sequence, available from Smartkids. I also have a Phase 2 (free!) and Phase 3 workbook.
- Read Write Inc (UK), there is a video about this program here.
- Reading Mastery (US)
- Reading Teacher (US)
- Snappy Sounds (Aus – available May 2019)
- Sounds Good Phonics (Ireland), sold internationally by Gill Education
- Sounds Together (UK)
- Sounds~Write (UK), training and resources also available in Australia, here’s a video from the 2015 Melbourne Sounds~Write training.
- Spalding (US), click here for Australian supplier
- Wilson Reading Program (US)
- Zoo Phonics (US)
Also, US Professor Janice Light has designed a literacy curriculum for learners who use Augmentative and Alternative Communication, so if your students have significant disabilities this looks well worth investigating, as does the More Robust Literacy Instruction For People Who Use AAC website.
11 responses to “02. Classroom”
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The Spelfabet shop has affordable, downloadable spelling teaching resources.
I am a Primary Teacher in my 52nd year of teaching, working part-time as a Classroom Teacher Assistant, withdrawing the most needy Year 1 and 2 students, using strategies learnt in the training course of http://www.readingsimplified.com and using your letters!
Wow, Anna, an amazing teaching innings, your students are very lucky to have you! Alison
I have found the online Australian program ‘Sound Waves’ to be very good. Have you seen it?
Yes, I have it (the publisher gave me a copy of the whole thing a few years ago, wow), so I show it to people and link to it from my website, but it’s a spelling program rather than integrating reading and spelling seamlessly as reciprocal processes, which is a better approach than teaching spelling and reading as though they are separate things. I understand they are doing, or have done, a rewrite of the Foundation level so that might address this problem, but as yet I haven’t had a chance this summer to take a closer look. If they can include a proper synthetic phonics teaching sequence that reflects or includes decodable books that will be excellent. All the best, Alison
oh me too, I have found the online Indonesian too. Have you seen it ?
I don’t speak Bahasa (Sadly. My sisters both do, but it wasn’t offered at our school the year I had to choose a language) so I haven’t been looking for Indonesian things, and haven’t seen anything on how to teach phonics in Bahasa, I guess that’s what you mean.
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Hi Alison, Do you have any suggestions for older students who struggle with spelling, rather than reading? I would love to find a placement test to see where they may need to work on and then target that area. I hoped SPELD may have a free one.
Hi Jo, I think most spelling/phonics programs/teaching sequences have informal, nonstandardised placement tests you could use, see for example https://www.phonicbooks.co.uk/advice-and-resources/advice-and-resources-for-teachers/where-to-start/ (but use it as a spelling test not just a reading one), or you could try my free low frequency word spelling test: https://www.spelfabet.com.au/materials/low-frequency-spelling-test. I have videos for each level on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJgLJ7MlsM0&list=PLPRCsGiF_tQs8LOfvXtqzcinf7-hj7G7h&index=10&t=8s. I don’t know of a free test from SPELD but there are also some free tests on the MOTIF website https://www.motif.org.au/. Hope you find something useful out of that! Alison