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Create your own storybook online. Make writing and publishing a book more fun with our picture book making tool!

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Scratch is a free programming language and online community where you can create your own interactive stories, games, and animations.

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Climate change, energy transition, and an endless amount of new digital opportunities: understanding the fundamentals of science and technology is more important than ever for responsibly shaping our world - today and in the future. Success is dependent on finding the right approach: At school, it is far too common that facts are simply memorized rather than fully understood and applied. That's why we are working with our partners to develop methodic approaches for STEM lessons that actively engage children and young people. The concept of inquiry-based learning is our guiding principle in these efforts.

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STEM & inquiry-based learning - Turning kids into classroom explorers

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Climate change, energy transition, and an endless amount of new digital opportunities: understanding the fundamentals of science and technology is more important than ever for responsibly shaping our world - today and in the future. Success is dependent on finding the right approach: At school, it is far too common that facts are simply memorized rather than fully understood and applied.

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Why is it, in educational settings, we rarely talk about how students learn? Why aren't teachers using how students learn as a guide to their teaching practices? These questions seem almost too absurd to ask; but think, when was the last time you spoke to colleagues about how students learn? Do you observe learning in your classroom? What does it look like? These are a few of the questions that we have begun to ask ourselves and our teaching colleagues.

One way to make sense of how students learn is through constructivism. Constructivism is a word used frequently by science educators lately. It is used increasingly as a theoretical rationale for research and teaching. Many current reform efforts also are associated with the notion of constructivism. But what exactly is constructivism and how can it be useful to the practicing teacher?

Constructivism is an epistemology, a theory of knowledge used to explain how we know what we know. We believe that a constructivist epistemology is useful to teachers if used as a referent; that is, as a way to make sense of what they see, think, and do. Our research indicates that teacher's beliefs about how people learn (their personal epistemology), whether verbalized or not, often help them make sense of, and guide, their practice.

The epistemology that is dominant in most educational settings today is similar to objectivism. That is to say, most researchers view knowledge as existing outside the bodies of cognizing beings, as beings separate from knowing and knowers. Knowledge is "out there," residing in books, independent of a thinking being. Science is then conceptualized as a search for truths, a means of discovering theories, laws, and principles associated with reality. Objectivity is a major component of the search for truths which underlie reality; learners are encouraged to view objects, events, and phenomenon with an objective mind, which is assumed to be separate from cognitive processes such as imagination, intuition, feelings, values, and beliefs (Johnson, 1987). As a result, teachers implement a curriculum to ensure that students cover relevant science content and have opportunities to learn truths which usually are documented in bulging textbooks. The constructivist epistemology asserts that the only tools available to a knower are the senses. It is only through seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, and tasting that an individual interacts with the environment. With these messages from the senses the individual builds a picture of the world.

Therefore, constructivism asserts that knowledge resides in individuals; that knowledge cannot be transferred intact from the head of a teacher to the heads of students. The student tries to make sense of what is taught by trying to fit it with his/her experience.

Consequently, words are not containers whose meanings are in the words itself, they are based on the constructions of individuals. We can communicate because individual's meanings of words only have to be compatible with the meanings given by others. If a situation occurred in which your meaning of a word no longer sufficed, you could change the meaning of the word. Using constructivism as a referent, teachers often use problem-solving as a learning strategy; where learning is defined as adaptations made to fit the world they experience. That is, to learn, a person's existing conceptions of the world must be unreliable, inviable. When one's conceptions of the world are inviable one tries to make sense out of the situation based on what is already known (i.e. Prior knowledge is used to make sense of data perceived by the senses). Other persons are part of our experiential world, thus, others are important for meaning making.

"Others" are so important for constructivists that cooperative learning is a primary teaching strategy. A cooperative learning strategy allows individuals to test the fit of their experiential world with a community of others. Others help to constrain our thinking. The interactions with others cause perturbations, and by resolving the perturbations individuals make adaptations to fit their new experiential world.

Experience involves an interaction of an individual with events, objects, or phenomenon in the universe; an interaction of the senses with things, a personal construction which fits some of the external reality but does not provide a match. The senses are not conduits to the external world through which truths are conducted into the body. Objectivity is not possible for thinking beings. Accordingly, knowledge is a construction of how the world works, one that is viable in the sense that it allows an individual to pursue particular goals.

Thus, from a constructivist perspective, science is not the search for truth. It is a process that assists us to make sense of our world. Using a constructivist perspective, teaching science becomes more like the science that scientists do it is an active, social process of making sense of experiences, as opposed to what we now call "school science." Indeed, actively engaging students in science (we have all heard the call for "hands-on, minds-on science") is the goal of most science education reform. It is an admirable goal, and using constructivism as a referent can possibly assist in reaching that goal.

Driver (1989) has used a constructivist epistemology as a referent in her research on children's conceptions of science. Children's prior knowledge of phenomena from a scientific point of view differs from the interpretation children construct; children construct meanings that fit their experience and expectations. This can lead children to oftentimes construct meanings different from what was intended by a teacher. Teachers that make sense of teaching from an objectivist perspective fail to recognize that students solve this cognitive conflict by separating school science from their own life experiences. In other words, students distinguish between scientific explanations and their "real world" explanations (the often cited example-that forces are needed to keep a ball in motion versus Newton's explanation is one such example). Children's conceptions are their constructions of reality, ones that are viable in the sense that they allow a child to make sense of his/her environment. By using a constructivist epistemology as a referent teachers can become more sensitive to children's prior knowledge and the processes by which they make sense of phenomena.

The teaching practices of two teachers at City Middle School may best illustrate how practice can be influenced by making sense of teaching and learning from constructivist-and objectivist-oriented perspective. To Bob, science was a body of knowledge to be learned. His job was to "give out" what he (and the textbook) knew about science to his students. Thus the learning environment Bob tried to maintain in his classroom facilitated this transfer of knowledge; the desks were neatly in rows facing Bob and the blackboard. Lectures and assignments from the text were given to students. Bob tried to keep students quiet and working all during the class period to ensure that all students could "absorb" the science knowledge efficiently. Another consequence of Bob's notion of teaching and learning was his belief that he had so much cover that he had no time for laboratory activities.

Let's look at an example that typifies Bob's teaching style. Bob's sixth grade students were to complete a worksheet that "covered" the concept of friction. After the students completed the worksheet, Bob went over the answers so the students could have the correct answers for the test later in the week. From a constructivist perspective, what opportunities did Bob's students have to relate the concept of friction to their own experiences? Were these opportunities in Bob's lesson plan to negotiate meanings and build a consensus of understanding? Bob spent one class period covering the concept of friction; is that sufficient time for students to learn a concept with understanding?

On the other hand, John made sense of teaching and learning from a constructivist perspective. John's classes were student-centered and activity-based. Typically in his high school classes, John introduced students to different science topics with short lectures, textbook readings, and confirmatory laboratories. After the introduction John would ask students what interested them about the topic and encouraged them to pursue and test these ideas. Students usually divided themselves into groups and then, conducted a library research, formulated questions/problems, and procedures to test the questions/problems. In other words, the students were acting as scientists in the classroom. Like Bob, John taught a sixth grade class previously, and also taught students about friction. Included in John's lessons were activities to "get the students involved." Students rubbed their hands together with and without a lubricant so that they could see the purpose of motor oil in engines. The students conducted experiments with bricks to learn about different types of friction, and even watched The Flintstones in class to point out friction and what would really happen (i.e. Fed would burn his feet stopping the car, etc.) John spent two weeks teaching his unit on friction. Were John's students given opportunities to make sense of the concept of friction? Were they able to use personal experiences? Whose students do you think had a deeper understanding of friction?

Our research also indicates that as teachers made transitions from objectivist to constructivist oriented thoughts and behaviors their classroom practices changed radically (Lorsbach, Tobin, Briscoe, & LaMaster, In Press, Tobin, 1990). It seemed as if many traditional practices no longer made sense to teachers. Specifically, teachers recognized that learning and making sense of what happens rests ultimately with the individual learners. Learners need time to experience, reflect on their experiences in relation to what they already know, and resolve any problems that arise. Accordingly, learners need time to clarify, elaborate, describe, compare, negotiate, and reach consensus on what specific experiences mean to them. This learning process must occur within the bodies of individuals, however, the inner voices of persons can be supplemented by discussion with others.

Therefore, an important part of a constructivist oriented curriculum should be the negotiation of meaning. Students need to be given opportunities to make sense of what is learned by negotiating meaning; comparing what is known to new experiences, and resolving discrepancies between what is known to new experiences, and resolving discrepancies between what is known and what seems to be implied by new experience. The resolution of discrepancies enables an individual to reach an equilibrium in the sense that there should be no remaining curiosity regarding an experience in relation to what is known. Negotiation also can occur between individuals in a classroom. The process involves discussion and attentive listening, making sense of the points of views of theories of peers. When a person understands how a peer is making sense of a point of view, it is then possible to discuss similarities and differences between the theories of peers within a group. Justifying one position over another and selecting those theories that are viable can lead to consensuses that are understood by those within a peer group.

The process of learning should not stop at what has been learned in the negotiation of a class consensus. This process can involve accessing other learning resources such as books, videotapes, and practicing scientists. The consensus negotiated within a class can be adapted by students as they make sense of the theories negotiated in other communities. By engaging in such a process students can realize that what is regarded as a viable theory depends on what is known at the time and the context in which the theory is to be applied. Also they can begin to understand how to select the best theoretical formulation for use in a particular set of circumstances.

For many years the conventional wisdom of teachers has been similar to Bob's teaching style: to control student behavior so that the class is quiet. Indeed research programs have been premised on this assumption. Accordingly, the research literature provides lists of teacher behavior and strategies that have been demonstrated to control students. If this assumption is abandoned there is little research to guide teachers in the selection of practices that are conducive to students constructing knowledge. Instead of managing to keep students quiet and attentive to the teacher, a classroom might be managed to enable students to talk with one another and utilize collaborative learning strategies. Instead of keeping students seated in rows throughout a lesson, a management system might be developed which permits students to move about the classroom and visit the library, or a field work station. Management is still a priority, but it is subsumed below learning and the implementation of a curriculum that meets the needs of students.

Establishing and maintaining a learning environment that is conducive to learning is a priority for science teachers. However, this is not easy to do. To begin with, traditional teaching practices are sometimes difficult to discard. Teachers might commence a lesson with good intentions only to find that they forget to follow their game plan. We have learned from our research that sustained change can take a long time to establish. John, a third year teacher, is committed to get all of his students to accept his style of teaching. Many of his students have an image of teaching of which John's style does not fit. Therefore, students might also have difficulty adapting to an environment in which they are given the responsibility for making sense of science. They too have experienced traditional practices in which they are force fed a diet of factual information to be rote learned. Many students expect to be controlled and filled up with knowledge. They believe teachers to be the experts whose role is to transfer the knowledge to students, much like one fills a bottle with liquid. If teachers do not fulfill their traditional roles students might be confused and have difficulty engaging as intended by the teacher. Just as teachers have to learn how to teach from a constructivist point of view, so too must students learn how to learn. Educating students to be effective learners is an important priority in establishing environments conducive to effective learning of science.

Reflect on your science teaching. Have you provided students with new knowledge to be memorized and repeated on a test without providing an opportunity for them to make sense of it? Or, have you provided students with an opportunity to use their prior knowledge and senses in making connections to the new concepts you introduced? If, like so many traditional science classrooms, the practices in your classroom are based on objectivism, you might like to commence the challenge of implementing change that accord with constructivism. If you would like to change your teaching practices (to whatever degree), then perhaps by reflecting on your practice from a constructivist point of view you can begin to construct a new vision of your classroom.
by Anthony Lorsbach, Department of Teacher Education, Bradley University, Peoria, IL 61625 and
Kenneth Tobin, Science Education Program, The Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306
References

Driver, R. (1989). Changing conceptions. In: P. Adey (Ed.) Adolescent development and school science. London: Falmer Press.

Lorsbach, A.W., Tobin, K., Briscoe, C., & LaMaster, S.U. (In press.) An interpretation of assessment methods in middle school science. International Journal of Science Education .

Tobin, K. (1990). Conceptualizing teaching roles in terms of metaphors and beliefs sets. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the America Educational Research Association, Boston.

Von Glasersfeld, E. (1981). The concepts of adaptation and viability in a radical constructivist theory of knowledge. In I.E. Sigel, D.M. Brodzinsky, & R. M. Golinkoff (Eds.) New directions in Piagetian theory and practice (87-95). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Von Glasersfeld, E. (1989). Cognition, construction of knowledge, and teaching. Synthese, 80(1): 121-140.

Wheatley, G. H. (1991). Constructivist perspectives on science and mathematics learning. Science Education, 75(1):9-21.

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Constructivism as a Referent for Science Teaching | NARST

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Constructivism is a word used increasingly as a theoretical rationale for research and teaching. Many current reform efforts also are associated with the notion of constructivism. But what exactly is constructivism and how can it be useful to the practicing teacher?

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Writing is a process that involves at least four distinct steps: prewriting, drafting, revising, and editing. It is known as a recursive process. While you are revising, you might have to return to the prewriting step to develop and expand your ideas.

Prewriting

1. Prewriting is anything you do before you write a draft of your document. It includes thinking, taking notes, talking to others, brainstorming, outlining, and gathering information (e.g., interviewing people, researching in the library, assessing data).

2. Although prewriting is the first activity you engage in, generating ideas is an activity that occurs throughout the writing process.

Drafting

1. Drafting occurs when you put your ideas into sentences and paragraphs. Here you concentrate upon explaining and supporting your ideas fully. Here you also begin to connect your ideas. Regardless of how much thinking and planning you do, the process of putting your ideas in words changes them; often the very words you select evoke additional ideas or implications.

2. Don't pay attention to such things as spelling at this stage.

3. This draft tends to be writer-centered: it is you telling yourself what you know and think about the topic.

Revising

1. Revision is the key to effective documents. Here you think more deeply about your readers' needs and expectations. The document becomes reader-centered. How much support will each idea need to convince your readers? Which terms should be defined for these particular readers? Is your organization effective? Do readers need to know X before they can understand Y?

2. At this stage you also refine your prose, making each sentence as concise and accurate as possible. Make connections between ideas explicit and clear.

Editing

1. Check for such things as grammar, mechanics, and spelling. The last thing you should do before printing your document is to spell check it.

2. Don't edit your writing until the other steps in the writing process are complete.

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Resources for Writers: The Writing Process

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Writing is a process that involves at least four distinct steps: prewriting, drafting, revising, and editing. It is known as a recursive process. While you are revising, you might have to return to the prewriting step to develop and expand your ideas. Prewriting is anything you do before you write a draft of your document.

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What is emergent writing?

When children begin writing is much earlier than you might think. Children's writing skills can begin with emergent writing skills. Emergent writing is the first step taken by children learning to write. Emergent writing develops as children begin to understand that writing is a form of communication, and that their marks on paper can be used to convey a message.

Young children from as early as 2 years old start to imitate the act of . They begin by creating drawings and symbolic markings that can represent their ideas and thinking. A child's writing will eventually evolve into proper and , but all the visual and written communication they practise before this stage is considered emergent writing.

Writing is an important part of children's literacy development, so children benefit from regular experience writing everyday and from being encouraged to write.

How does emergent writing develop?

Children improve their abilities and their understanding of writing as they continue to be exposed to writing in the world around them. You can look at how this emergent writing changes in different areas.

As children's emergent writing develops, they learn that writing can have purpose and can be meaningful.

Children's development of their emergent writing skills also includes improving their skills with letter and word writing, as well as spelling and building up their alphabetic knowledge.

The ability to write phrases and sentences that can communicate meaning is another important aim of teachers who are working with emergent writers.

In early childhood, this part of emergent writing grows as children learn to express themselves in both experimental writing and . This might mean learning through composing stories, writing notes and making lists, or speaking words and that somebody else can transcribe into written script.

These different aspects of emergent writing can be grouped up into three main areas:

Conceptual knowledge - The purpose of writing.

Procedural knowledge - The technical ability needed for writing.

Generative knowledge - The ability to write meaningful phrases.

How can you teach children writing skills?
Here are some of our favourite twinkl tips to begin encouraging your child to develop early writing skills.

1. Sit right to write:Good posture is importantfor any writing. Encourage children to sit with their feet flat on the floor, their back straight (no heads on the table) and relaxed shoulders.

2. Get ready to write by doodling first:Doodling fosters healthy brain development, the ability to retain information and future creativity, yet it can be overlooked and brushed off as insignificant. Doodling is one of the most impactful ways children learn and for a young child, it's one of their first steps towards handwriting and drawing.

3. Learn how to hold a pencil properly:Before any child can learn to write, they must develop the correct way of holding a pencil. This correct grip is called the pincer grasp. To practice this, give them the crayon/pencil so that it's pointing towards them. When they pick it up, and lift their hand, they should be using the pincer grasp automatically!

What age should children writing skills begin?

By around age 3, most children should be able to scribble and produce letter-like forms that look like writing. At this age, they won't have grasped letter formation just yet. Their writing may still look like scribbles that resemble writing.

At around 3-4 years old, they should be able to identfiy some letters and use them when writing. For example, they may be able to write their name or write simple phrases. They may try different types of writing such as writing a list or writing in a card. They may also draw pictures and label them using letters, or letter-like marks.

By the time a child reaches 5 years old, they should know how to hold a pencil correctly and form letters accurately when writing. They should know the sounds that letters make and how to spell them based on the sound. They'll learn to write the letters of the alphabet as well as sight words and words that they commonly use and see.

Beyond this, children will learn to write simple sentences. They'll learn the basic rules of grammar, such as capital letters for the beginning of sentences and full stops at the end. They'll continue developing their writing skills as they grow.

Now that you know the answer to 'what age should kids start writing?', you can help children on their writing journey.

What does emergent writing look like?

Emergent writing develops over multiple stages, which includes scribbles as well as mock letters that may look like letters, but are actually and imitations. Children's writing develops on a continuum described in the stages of emergent writing below.

It's usual to see lots of letters arranged into nonsensical strings as children develop their letter formation skills, and it's actually beneficial for children to practise this pretend writing in their play times.

What are the stages of emergent writing?

1. Drawing and imitative writing - children draw scribbled lines aimed to imitate adult writing

2. Copying words - they then begin to copy individual words from books and posters

3. Drawing strings of letters - a child writes random letters that are properly formed, but which have no relationship to proper sounds

4. Phonetic writing - children begin to write using incorrectly spelt words that at least make sense when read

5. Conventional spelling - children will eventually learn basic spellings and begin to write using proper words.

How do you support emergent writing?

As emergent writing develops among young learners, teachers and parents play an important role in supporting them. Key to this is for teachers to share in the joy and satisfaction that comes from writing, and to encourage children to communicate their thoughts and to record their ideas.

Children's emergent writing skills will be improved by teaching methods including demonstration and also activities like name-writing. Teachers can promote name-writing activities and other opportunities to develop fine motor skills at multiple points over the course of the day. This helps to encourage finger dexterity. Reminding children to use writing in their different activities around the or at home is another fruitful way of encouraging children's writing.

Using lots of different writing tools is a good way to improve fine motor skills. It's also a great excuse to create art with your children!

Writing in the classroom

Here are some ideas you can use to foster emergent writing in the classroom:

Provide a range of writing materials around the classroom.

Create centres in the classroom concentrated on writing.

You can use clipboards to encourage children to make observations.

A mailbox in the classroom can be a focal point for your letter writing activities.

A writing pad in your classroom's play area can be used as part of play-based activities, for example to take orders at a restaurant.

Writing materials can be used by children to keep a record of caring for class plants or pets.

Name writing for emergent writers

The first word a child writes will probably be their own! Names will have meaning to children who are developing their sense of autonomy and their relationships with other people.

You can encourage your children's confidence with writing by asking them to sign a register in the classroom, or to use sign-in sheets when they use different elements in the classroom such as the class computer. You can also ask your children to write their names on their creative work.

Name writing exercises can encourage children to learn to write the letters in their name, and to have fun with experimenting with the craft in writing.

Model writing

You can help your emergent writers through demonstrations with modelled writing. Showing your children that you write and read every day will help them understand that writing can be meaningful.

For example, you could write out messages on a display board at the beginning of the day, or you could write down a story that your children are coming up with together.

You can model writing to your children explicitly by showing the process of writing while explaining what you are doing.

You can also provide opportunities for your children to work with others on their writing, or encourage them to decorate the classroom with hand-painted signs.

What are the characteristics of an emergent writer?

These are some of the characteristics of an emergent writer, which can help you tailor your teaching intentions.

Emergent writers know that language can be recorded, they want to write, and they can write at one of the early stages of emergent writing. Emergent writers can eventually use playful markings to communicate meaning, which signals that they know how written language can be used.

Emergent writing skills such as their name-writing proficiency can be important predictors of children's future writing and reading skills.

What is an example of emergent literacy?

The term emergent is used by educators to talk about language and literacy skills that are related to emergent writing, but mainly focused on the development of skills.

Before children enter formal education, children engage with lots of literacy-rich activities such as storybook reading and pretending to write or draw.

It's important to recognise that young children already develop reading and writing behaviours from different activities outside the classroom, such as wordplay and turning literacy themes into .

Both writing experiences at home and at school are important to helping children improve their writing skills.

What are the emergent literacy skills?

These are the basic skills that are linked with emergent literacy:

Print motivation - Interest and enjoyment of books.

Vocabulary - Being able to name things.

Print awareness - Knowing how to handle books and follow words.

Narrative skills - Telling stories and describing things.

Letter knowledge - Discerning different letters, their names and sounds.

Phonological awareness - Recognising the smaller sounds in words.

Why is handwriting practice important?

Handwriting practice is important because it helps children to develop their fine motor skills. These are the small movements in the hand and wrist that control pencil grip. When children begin school, they are at an age where their motor skills are still at a developing stage, so it's important for them to get lots of practice.

Fluency is a key component of good handwriting, and as your children develop their writing skills they will be able to incorporate seamless joins and confident pen strokes into their handwriting.

Encouraging drawing as writing

While handwriting practice becomes an essential part of children's emergent writing, children can benefit from having time and space to engage in drawing experiences.

Giving children the tools to express themselves through drawing can facilitate their emergent writing and written expression. Drawing can act as an anchor for children's ideas as they experiment with letter formation. Teachers can also annotate their children's drawings. This can help to record the child's of their work, and encourage children to incorporate writing in their in the future.

More emergent writing resources

We have loads of brilliant teaching resources that you can use to encourage development of emergent writing among your children. All of our resources are made by teachers, so you can trust them while saving on preparation time.

Our fantastic, teacher-made Line Handwriting Activity Sheets are perfect for giving your children some extra help with their handwriting. These work as a fun warm-up to your handwriting sessions. While you practice fine motor skills with your children, you might want to consider mixing things up. This resource features different exercises, from straight lines to more complex patterns. This makes them ideal for mixed ability classrooms!

These Pencil Control Activity Sheets are another brilliant set of resources for your writing and creating classes. These practical and attractive worksheets are ideal for novice writers to practice with. The colourful illustrations in these worksheets will help to improve your children's pencil control and letter formation skills.

This Spotty Bear Themed Pencil Control Worksheet is handy for emergent writers to practice following a line.

And these Letters, Numbers and Shapes Tracing Pattern Worksheets are perfect for teaching students key alphabet and number formations.

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Emergent Writing | Children Writing | What Age Should Start Writing?

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When children begin writing is much earlier than you might think. Children's writing skills can begin with emergent writing skills. Emergent writing is the first step taken by children learning to write. Emergent writing develops as children begin to understand that writing is a form of communication, and that their marks on paper can be used to convey a message.

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Sort your phonemes from your graphemes, decoding from encoding and digraphs from trigraphs with our parents' guide to phonics teaching. Our step-by-step explanation takes you through the different stages of phonics learning, what your child will be expected to learn and the vocabulary you need to know.

What is phonics?

Phonics is a method of teaching children to read by linking sounds (phonemes) and the symbols that represent them ( graphemes, or letter groups). Phonics is the learning-to-read method used in primary schools in the UK today.

What is a phoneme?

A phoneme is the smallest unit of sound. The phonemes used when speaking English are:

Print out a list of phonemes to practise with your child or listen to the individual sounds being spoken with our phonics worksheets.

Phonics learning step 1: decoding

Children are taught letter sounds in Reception. This involves thinking about what sound a word starts with, saying the sound out loud and then recognising how that sound is represented by a letter.

The aim is for children to be able to see a letter and then say the sound it represents out loud. This is called decoding.

Some phonics programmes start children off by learning the letters s, a, t, n, i, p first. This is because once they know each of those letter sounds, they can then be arranged into a variety of different words (for example: sat, tip, pin, nip, tan, tin, sip, etc.). While children are learning to say the sounds of letters out loud, they will also begin to learn to write these letters (encoding).

They will be taught where they need to start with each letter and how the letters need to be formed in relation to each other. Letters (or groups of letters) that represent phonemes are called graphemes.

Phonics learning step 2: blending

Children then need to go from saying the individual sounds of each letter, to being able to blend the sounds and say the whole word. This can be a big step for many children and takes time.

Phonics learning step 3: decoding CVC words

Children will focus on decoding (reading) three-letter words arranged consonant, vowel, consonant ( CVC words) for some time.

They will learn other letter sounds, such as the consonants g, b, d, h and the remaining vowels e, o, u. Often, they will be given letter cards to put together to make CVC words which they will be asked to say out loud.

Phonics learning step 4: decoding consonant clusters in CCVC and CVCC words

Children will also learn about consonant clusters: two consonants located together in a word, such tr, cr, st, lk, pl. Children will learn to read a range of CCVC words (consonant, consonant, vowel, consonant) such as trap, stop, plan.

They will also read a range of CVCC words (consonant, vowel, consonant, consonant) such as milk, fast, cart.

Phonics learning step 5: vowel digraphs

Children are then introduced to vowel digraphs. A digraph is two vowels that together make one sound such as: /oa/, /oo/, /ee/, /ai/. They will move onto sounding out words such as deer, hair, boat, etc. and will be taught about split digraphs (or 'magic e').

They will also start to read words combining vowel digraphs with consonant clusters, such as: train, groan and stool.

Phonics learning step 6: consonant digraphs

Children will also learn the consonant digraphs (two consonants that together make one sound) ch and sh and start blending these with other sounds to make words, such as: chat, shop, chain and shout.

Encoding, or learning to spell as well as read

Alongside this process of learning to decode (read) words, children will need to continue to practise forming letters which then needs to move onto encoding. Encoding is the process of writing down a spoken word, otherwise known as spelling.

They should start to be able to produce their own short pieces of writing, spelling the simple words correctly.

It goes without saying that reading a range of age-appropriate texts as often as possible will really support children in their grasp of all the reading and spelling of all the phonemes.

Phonics learning in KS1

By the end of Reception, children should be able to write one grapheme for each of the 44 phonemes.

In Year 1, they will start to explore vowel digraphs and trigraphs (a group of three letters that makes a single sound, like 'igh' as in 'sigh') further.

They will begin to understand, for example, that the letters ea can make different sounds in different words (dream and bread). They will also learn that one sound might be represented by different groups of letters: for example, light and pie (igh and ie make the same sound).

Children in Year 2 will be learning spelling rules, such as adding suffixes to words (such as -ed, -ing, -er, -est, -ful, -ly, -y, -s, -es, -ment and -ness). They will be taught rules on how to change root words when adding these suffixes (for example, removing the 'e' from 'have' before adding 'ing') and then move onto harder concepts, such as silent letters (knock, write, etc) and particular endings (le in bottle and il in fossil).

Free phonics worksheets and information for parents

For more information about the phonics system look through our phonics articles, including ways to boost phonics confidence, details of the Year 1 Phonics Screening Check, parents' phonics questions answered and more.

We also have a large selection of free phonics worksheets to download for your child.

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Sort your phonemes from your graphemes, decoding from encoding and digraphs from trigraphs with our parents' guide to phonics teaching. Our step-by-step explanation takes you through the different stages of phonics learning, what your child will be expected to learn and the vocabulary you need to know.

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Key Stage 2 is a phase of primary education for pupils aged 7 to 11 in England and Wales.

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Key Stage 1 is a phase of primary education for pupils aged 5 to 7 in England.

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Welcome to The Literacy Shed - the home of visual literacy. Here at Literacy Shed we aim to provide teachers with high quality films and animations that can be used in the primary classroom to enhance the teaching of reading and writing. All of the films on the site we think are suitable for primary aged children although some films may not be suitable for younger children. We urge that teachers watch any films before showing them to children.

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A website for teachers filled with ideas for literacy teaching using visual resources such as film, animation, photographs and picture books.

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Encourage flexibility in learning maths

In working out a word problem, inchworm thinkers might work things out step by step.

A grasshopper thinker might provide the right answer without any working out. Frustratingly for a teacher, and when asked how they solved the problem, the learner might respond, "I just knew".

"I just knew" can be an issue for questions that require pupils to show their working out. Grasshopper thinkers can struggle at higher levels because this evidence is often needed. The flexibility in learning is essential. Try to encourage your grasshoppers to try inchworm methods and vice-versa.

Grasshopper may excel at mental arithmetic, whereas algebra is more inchworm friendly.

Many children use both cognitive styles. But keep in mind, it might be harder to reach extreme inchworms and extreme grasshoppers. Teaching to their style may be more beneficial than trying to force flexibility.

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Do you know your students' maths learning style?

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In working out a word problem, inchworm thinkers might work things out step by step. A grasshopper thinker might provide the right answer without any working out. Frustratingly for a teacher, and when asked how they solved the problem, the learner might respond, "I just knew".

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A range of picturebooks for KS1 children, supporting me to encourage the children to experience a range of authors and broaden their literary horizons.