Phonics by Phone for teachers in Zambia

This will give you the correct pronunciation of each sound and the content for the lesson plan for the new sound to be taught.

Quickly show one at a time and in random order the letter/s that represent the sounds met so far. Use flash cards or point to posters on the walls and get children to say the corresponding sound.

Get the children to listen to the sound in some words. Encourage them to identify where in the word the sound can be heard e.g. sun, nest, taps.  You can check  the sound pronunciation on phonicsbyphone.org

Say the example word for the simple sound on the Alphabetic Code Chart  e.g. /m/ as in man

Can they also hear the sound in first-language words?

NB/ This is about auditory discrimination – hearing the sound in the words, not about seeing the letter in words written down.  So at this point, don’t write the words

Introduce the letter (grapheme) that will represent the sound and show how to write it.  You can check letter formation on phonicsbyphone.org

After the first three sounds have been introduced: /s/, /a/, /t/, there will be words that the pupils will be able to read.  For example the letters “s”, “a” and “t” can be used to make the English words “sat” and “at”.

The words to read are listed in each of the lesson plans. Write the word for reading on the board.

Make all the sounds in the word individually once and blend them together to say the whole word whilst running your finger underneath in a left to right orientation.

If necessary, translate into a familiar language to make sure children understand the meaning.

Say the word for spelling.  Ask the children to listen and identify all the sounds in the word.

Count how many sounds on the fingers of their left hand.

Ask several children but only write correct number of dashes on board.

In the word “sat” there are three sounds /s/ /a/ /t/ and there are also three sounds in rain /r/ /ai/ /n/

Draw a dash on the board for each sound and ask for the letter(s) used to represent that/those sounds.

Get a child to come and write one or more letters to represent the sounds on the dashes.  Make sure the child writes ascenders (eg d, b, h) and descenders (eg f, g, p, q) going to the correct point above and below the dash.

If necessary, translate the word into mother tongue. Each word that is read and spelled out in the lesson could be written in a special book by the children, with a first-language translation if helpful.

Teacher writes the sentences from the lesson plan on the board but does not read them aloud.

Some words in the sentences will include sounds and code that have not yet been taught – these are usually high frequency words and may need to be pre-taught before children try to sound out the text independently.

The children try to sound out the words as the teacher is writing.

Let children attempt to read the sentence aloud before the teacher reads with the class.

This reading practice is very important. The sentences in the lesson plans  are made up of words with sounds that the children will have already met along with some high-frequency words which will need to be taught as they arise. Eg the, that, he, she

Finally the teacher asks the children the meaning of the sentence and helps them to understand what they have read, using mother tongue  and/or code switching as necessary