Developing
Literacy practices
Getting started
Follows Orton-Gillingham principles:
(like Alpha-Omega, Beat Dyslexia etc.)
• Explicit
• Multisensory
• Repetitive
• Cumulative (in small steps)
English Sounds Fun
The ESF method:
systematic but flexible
systematic? flexible?
© ESF 2015
 students work at
their own pace
 further practice of
material until it is
secure
 recap on what is known
 provide multisensory
practice and connect
to the known material
 introduce a small
amount of new
material
General principles:
speech text
recognise produce
Multisensory teaching aids
 Wikkistix
 Flashcards
 Letters
 ‘Power e’ card
 Miniboards
 Online material
Start from
the sounds of English
/n/ (as in nut)
Learners hear the sound
and then produce it.
© ESF 2015
The learner needs to:
1) produce the sound in isolation
2) produce the sound in a word context
3) match it to a letter that represents it.
© ESF 2015
/n/
/n/
© ESF 2015
Recognise the letter,
find it amongst other
letters.
Learn to form the
shape of the letter.
This is done by
skywriting, walking
the letter and making
the letter out of
wikkistix.
The letters
 A is grey – so are H, J and K
 B is green – as are C, D, E, G, P, T and V
 F is red – so are L, M, N, S, X and Z
 I and Y are white
 O is yellow
 R is dark (i.e. black)
© ESF 2015
Then practice writing the letter
on its own first, using guided examples.
© ESF 2015
/n/
/n/
Then write the letter
on guide lines...
© ESF 2015
...until s/he is confident enough to
write the letter in the word context.
© ESF 2015
/n/
We can use the
flashcards to help
him/her learn
new vocabulary.
© ESF 2015
Recognise words and
understand their meanings.
© ESF 2015
The colour of each
letter sounds similar
to its name and
helps the learner to
remember it.
The learner also needs to be
able to build the words.
The student can use the
letters to build the words.
© ESF 2015
The letters
This means that s/he
does not have to focus
on handwriting – just the
sequence of the letters.
Eventually, the student can start to
play around with the language,
building new words...
© ESF 2015
The learner can use the
letters to help him/her
blend the sounds,
exploring how to spell
regular words.
© ESF 2015
t
n
e
© ESF 2015
t ne
© ESF 2015
t ne
© ESF 2015
t
n
e
© ESF 2015
t
n
e
© ESF 2015
tn e
© ESF 2015
tne
© ESF 2015
As the student learns more letters
and is able to build more words,
it is time to introduce some
common spelling rules.
© ESF 2015
© ESF 2015
One of the most useful rules is the ‘power e’.
This makes a short vowel say its own name.
The ‘power e’ card
© ESF 2015
One of the most useful rules is the ‘power e’.
This makes a short vowel say its own name.
The ‘power e’ card
© ESF 2015
One of the most useful rules is the ‘power e’.
This makes a short vowel say its own name.
The ‘power e’ card
© ESF 2015
It changes the short vowel
but is not heard at all.
The ‘power e’ card
© ESF 2015
The ‘power e’ card is a way of making this
abstract idea clear and concrete.
The ‘power e’ card
© ESF 2015
Watch the ‘power e’ video
The ‘power e’ card
An elephant is on an egg.
© ESF 2015
The student can use the
miniboards to build the
sentences, so that s/he can
focus on word order, rather
than spelling.
Eventually, the student can start
to put words together to build
sentences s/he has seen:
An
An elephant is on an egg.
elephant is
an
© ESF 2015
The miniboards
An
An elephant is on an egg.
elephant is an
© ESF 2015
The miniboards
An elephant is on an egg.
© ESF 2015
The miniboards
They are also a great
way of practising
handwriting without
it being permanent.
© ESF 2015
Eventually s/he can play around with
the language, building new sentences.
An
insectin
a
© ESF 2015
An insect in a
© ESF 2015
An in a
© ESF 2015
An in a
© ESF 2015
© ESF 2015
© ESF 2015
© ESF 2015
© ESF 2015
© ESF 2015
Take a break.
Developing
Literacy practices
Improving and moving on
Some activities
• Jabberwocky
• Paired reading
• Planning – post it / mindmap
• Writing - collaboration
• Proof reading – out loud and proud / read it
backwards
Jabberwocky
Read this text and try to guess what the strange words
mean:
Adam opened the orpt and looked out at the street. A
big lib was parked in front of his house, but he couldn’t
see any people. He put on his lemtan and went
outside. Some little gelfos were singing in the tree and
he stopped to listen. After a few minutes he walked
down the street to the corner toubik and bought the
daily newspaper and some fresh tila for breakfast.
Jabberwocky
Clue Questions:
1. orpt – what things do we open?
2. lib – what could be parked in the street?
3. lemtan – what things do we put on before we go
outside?
4. gelfos – what sings in a tree? How many were
there? How do you know?
5. toubik – where could you buy a newspaper?
6. tila – what do we buy fresh for breakfast?
Paired reading
mind-map it
Planning
Post-it up
Planning
Write it together
Write it together
Proof reading
• Out loud and proud
• Read it backwards
Developing
Literacy practices
Lots of multisensory work.
One thing at a time!