TP-14.4

TEACH READ I NG & WR I T I NG Phonological sensitivity There has been plenty of other research in this area over the years. A 1989 study by PE Bryant took longitudinal data from a group of 64 children from the age of three to six and found a strong relation between early knowledge of nursery rhymes and success in reading and spelling over the next three years, even after differences in social background, IQ and the children's phonological skills at the start of the project were taken into account. As Bryant put it, “Knowledge of Joint exploration There are a number of tools that we can use in the classroom to boost phonological awareness – rhymes, storytelling and shared book reading are all excellent ways to introduce the concept to children. As pupils progress, we can further investigate phonological awareness concepts through joint exploration of syllables, rhymes, and sounds. Familiarising ourselves with the patterns of rhythm and sound used in poetry helps us understand the patterns of stress and intonation in a language. Ultimately, if we want children to read or write we have to make it irresistible, purposeful and relevant. We can’t do this by forcing children into it – instead, we need to do it by encouraging a love of story, poetry and rhyme and by asking children to speak about things that matter to them. TP nursery rhymes enhances children's phonological sensitivity which in turn helps them to learn to read.” Phonological awareness is the ability to hear and manipulate the sounds of spoken language. It’s our understanding of the very structure of language at its most basic level; the sounds that make up the words, that make up the sentence. With good phonological awareness, children can blend sounds together and segment words (breaking them down into syllables and phonemes). TrishaLee is the founder of theatre and education charity MakeBelieveArts. @trishaleewrites makebelievearts.co.uk Try it yourself Introduce pupils to this simple rhyme and invent some actions as a class... Popcorn, popcorn, sizzling in the pan Shake it up, shake it up Bang, bang, bang Popcorn, popcorn, now it’s getting hot Shake it up, shake it up Pop, pop, pop! www.teachwire.net | 53