This document outlines a phonemic awareness and spelling workshop for Sacred Heart school. It discusses the need for the workshop based on NAPLAN results, teacher observations, and concerns from upper primary teachers. It provides background on the importance of oral language, phonics, and phonemic awareness for spelling. It then describes the Sound Waves program that will be used, focusing on individual sounds and letter options each week, and how students will be supported in small groups.

1. Sacred Heart
Spelling Workshop
Phonemic Awareness
Program
22nd March 2012

2. Why?
 NAPLAN results – Whole school
approach needed
 Feedback and observations from
Emma and Cassie – referrals
 Observations and concerns from upper
primary teachers

3. Background information about
spelling
 Importance of Oral Language
development in pre school years
 “Reading and writing float on a sea of
talk” James Britton
 Spelling is a strategy for writing
 When we spell we draw on our
knowledge of phonics and phonemic
awareness

4. Phonics:
 Refers to the relationships between letters
and sounds, or between letter patterns and
sound patterns (Emmitt & Hornsby, 1996).
Phonemic Awareness:
 Relates specifically to the working
knowledge of the individual phonemes that
form the words of Australian English.
 Incorporates the ability to segment words
into their component sounds.

5. Strategies used to spell
 Sound out the phonemes
 Memorisation
 Looks right
 Sounds right – as it articulates
 Syllables
 Analogy
 Mnemonics
 Rule or pattern
 Context
 Etymology- origin of words
 Dictionary/ thesaurus/ resource /ask a friend

6. Spelling Knowledge
Strategies
Phonemic- segmenting sounds / Visual – how words look
articulating
Morphemic – meaning Etymological – origin of
based words

7. Sound Waves
 Uses a sound to letter strategy –
acknowledges sounds can be represented in
different ways
Example – f, ff, ph
 Firstly focus on the basic units of sound and
then the letters that represent them
 Segmenting for writing – s/o/ck/s
 Blending for reading

8. Sound Waves
 The idea is that children will be better
equipped to ‘have a go’ at spelling because
they will be aware of the many different
options for each sound as presented on the
Sound Waves charts.
 Kindergarten - Jolly Phonics Program which
teaches the most common sounds and options
before beginning Sound Waves in Year 1

9. How we use Sound Waves
 Whole school scope and sequence –
focus sound of the week
 Lessons over the week
• Introduce sound and brainstorm
• Singing/chant
• Large posters with sounds and options – reading
and writing
• Segmenting list words – word strips
Year 1 Blog - http://year1od.blogspot.com.au/
Year 5 online - ....Yr 5Year 5Yr 5
2012LiteracyLiteracySpellingUnit 8 'f ff ph'list words
segmenting.pdf

10. How we use Sound Waves
• Sound Waves Online
http://tlc.fireflyeducation.com.au/program/soundwaves5/units
• Flipchart activities
..Spelling Flipcharts 2012Year 1Spelling Unit 8 f ff.flipchart
..Spelling Flipcharts 2012Year 5Year 5 Unit 8 'f' fish.flp
• Other spelling strategies and grammar activities
• prefixes, suffixes, root words, word beginnings
and endings, rhyme, word families, tense
• Student workbook - homework
• Extension words and challenge activities
• Review and discuss
 Have a go at spelling your name!

11. Learning Support
 Children are supported in small groups with similar
needs (6 max)
 Focus on the most commonly used sounds for
longer to ensure these are secure
 Multi sensory activities
 Links with real reading and writing activities
 Good communication with home so skills can be
practised
 Referral to specialist therapist if problems persist eg
Speech Pathologist, Occupational Therapist