Updated: Nov 23, 2021
Phase One: Aspect Seven - Oral Blending and Segmenting
Objective: To segment words into phonemes
Segmenting - breaking words down into individual sounds (phonemes) e.g. cat -> c-a-t and sheep --> sh-ee-p.
Literacy - (40-60+ months):
Can segment the sounds in simple words and blend them together.
What you need:
Three objects to be the lily pads. I cut lily pad shapes out of foam. You could use milk bottle tops or cut shapes out of carboard.
Some animals with three sounds e.g. sheep (sh-ee-p) dog (d-o-g) and pig (p-i-g)
An object to jump along the lily pads e.g. a toy frog or a counter.
Use the props to act out a story. Start by placing the three lily pads in a row. Tell them that the frog likes to sound out names as he hops along the lily pad. One day the sheep said "Can you sound out my name as you hop along your lily pads?" and the frog said "yes I can sheep". Make the frog hop along the lily pads and sound out the name as you move it e.g. sh-ee-p. Repeat with the names of the other animals.
When the children are used to hearing the frog say the words in sound-talk, you may be able to ask them to see whether they can speak in sound-talk. Ask them to choose an object, and then try to say the separate sounds in the name of the object, just like the frog does (e.g. d-u-ck).
Aspect 7 tends to be covered towards the end of the year in nursery when children are becoming more confident with Phase One phonics so your child might find this activity tricky. To make it easier, you could start by modeling how to identify the initial sound e.g. pig, p, p, pig starts with p. Ask them to find the object that starts with that sound. Place the frog on the first lily pad and say the initial sound.
In this activity, you child begins to orally segment the sounds in words focusing on what they can hear. They need to be able to identify the individual sounds in the words. This gets them ready for Phase 2 which is taught in Reception, where they are introduced to letters and begin to spell words.
If they find this tricky, have a go at 'Adjust the Volume' where children have to tune into different sounds. This will help them develop the skills needed to hear the individual letter sounds in the word.
You can also practise segmenting words orally throughout the day e.g. Shall we put on our coat on? The sound it out as you put it on (coat, c-oa-t). Start by saying the whole word the sound talking it immediately afterwards.
cat (c-a-t)
goat (g-oa-t)
bird (b-ir-d)
chick (ch-i-ck)
fish (f-i-sh)