Phase 2 - s
When children are taught phonics, the letters are not taught in alphabetical order. This is because we can begin to show children how to read and spell words straight away if we teach s, a, t, p rather than a, b, c. We can make CVC words (consonant, vowel, consonant) that children can sound out and blend e.g. sat, pat, sap, tap.
When you say the sounds try not to add an 'uh' to the end of them.
Hear it and say it
You will need:
some objects beginning with the letter s
a couple of objects that begin with a different letter
a pan/bowl
a spoon
Play the Crazy Stir Fry song from the Teach Your Monster to Read website.
Can your child remember any of the ingredients? Would they eat them? Probably not! Talk about what sound all of the ingredients started with. Then show them the letter s. Tell them the name of the letter and then explain that this is the grapheme (letter) that we use to represent the phoneme (sound). Ask them to make the s sound.
Initial Sounds
Put some objects on the floor that start with the s sound e.g. spider, screw, screwdriver, scoop, square. You could also include some objects that start with a different sound e.g. van and dinosaur. Make sure that the objects start with s sound e.g. don't include a shell because it begins with sh which is taught in Phase 3.
Make an s stir fry together by adding the ingredients that start with s. You could play the song as you play, then encourage them to sing it again changing the words to include their own ingredients. Can they spot any ingredients that don't start with s?
Extension:
Can your child hear what sound the other objects begin with?
Ask them to arrange the objects in an s shape starting from the top of the letter.
Resources: