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1.      I enjoyed 2 group presentations. First group presentation about Elkonin boxes was interesting and new to me. The way the group coordinated and presented was commendable. Secondly the other group’s effort to use multisensory approach was appreciable.Both group presntations was interactive,engaging.

2.      Learnt about the 5 key principles of effective instructions namely systematic, interactive, explicit, diagnostic and automaticity. Learnt about difference between modelling and preaching; Practicing phonograms 27-38 was challenging.Learnt the importance of evidence-based practice "I do, we Do and You do" whereby modelling can be used in the "I do" segment.

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1.      As in the video, I read more than I spoke, and was surrounded by fellow students and adults who pronounced the words a certain way. We pick up specific pronunciations from what we hear. When everybody around you pronounces the word a certain way, like /sword/ instead of /sord/ with the word ‘sword’, a child who was taught the correct pronunciation would say /sword/.

2.      Elkonin boxes are used to segment sounds and not syllables. The purpose of Elkonin boxes are to build phonological awareness and decode the individual sounds of a word. In the group presentation, they can also to used to visualise the blending of the phonemes into a word.

3.      The second group displayed an array of strategies to relate phonics and words. What I enjoyed the most were their efforts to adopt multisensory approaches and to make the activities enjoyable.

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These are my 2 takeaways from this week's lesson!

1. I enjoyed participating in the demonstration of the "I Do, We Do, You Do" method during lecture. I find that it is a structured and effective way to ensure students learn the phonogram sounds successfully. The explicit instruction prevents any confusion as it is really direct. It is also an interactive way of teaching as students take turns with the teacher to practise what they learn, instead of just listening to their teacher. At the same time, teachers can constantly check for their understanding and provide feedback on the spot so that students do not continue to practice mistakes..

2. The ultimate goal when it comes to teaching phonogram sounds is automaticity and this can only be achieved through deliberate and ongoing practice. When recognising letter sounds become automatic for the students, it frees up their working memory to focus on ore complex tasks. As teachers, we must create opportunities for intentional practice. Our teaching sessions should be distributed and cumulative to ensure that students retain the new knowledge learns for the long term.

3. Also gained many new ideas for teaching phonogram sounds from the 2 group presentations! :)

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My biggest take home is from the explicit instruction which involves the 'I do, You do, We do', which gives student immediate feedback on errors, providing precorrections to encourage accuracy in learning without confusion or in doubt. the holistic teaching approach also caters to high level of teacher student interactions that reduces off task behaviors, which most teacher in school struggles a lot with. i realised that i have sub consciously uses this technique when im teaching my mum how to use a certain app on the phone. modelling should be keep simple and short, easy to follow, but what matters more is getting her to practice on her own, which brings me to the next point.

Distributed Practice - where regular short session yields better results with long tern retention ability.

Teaching elderly, same as children, has to be consistent in order to remember what was taught, and putting into practice allows better retention of what was learnt.

Also, the sharing from my peers gave a different insight on how teaching can also be done like a learning centre, can be quite engaging too, like having to check on your to learn list, sense of accomplishment there. :p

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1. I learnt the five key principles for effective language and literacy instructions.

One point that stood out to me is the importance of modelling as the initial step in instruction. When introducing a new concept, it is crucial for educators to guide students clearly. However, I appreciate the reminder that if students already understand the concept, modelling should not be prolonged. I have observed that when teachers spend too much time explaining, students may lose focus or become disengaged. There is a need for modelling to be purposeful yet brief, providing just enough clarity before moving on.

2. The gradual release of responsibility model – “I do, we do, you do” – is an excellent way of structuring explicit instruction, ensuring students are supported at first but gradually encouraged to take ownership of their learning. It can be applied to many areas of teaching eg. teaching a new vocabulary word in a reading passage, introducing a new phonics sound - guiding students through blending and segmenting and even for Mathematics, such as solving a new type of word problem.

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1. Teaching phonograms can be tricky and overwhelming as a new teacher. Having the chance to experience and try out strategies to teach the class and gain new ideas from your peers makes learning more enriching. I've never heard of elkonin boxes before so I had to do my research before sharing with the class. Just like our students, we adults also need to enjoy when we learn. The second group did a really great job in the mini activities they had for each letter sound- it will be useful for me to apply in the future!

2. The new set of phonograms is challenging as I went through it with my partner. It made me think about what are the possible strategies to teach students these sounds? Reading the padlet answers here gave me a few ideas that I can try out in the future <3

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1. Having only had prior experience with elkonin boxes without the use of manipulatives, it was interesting to learn more about its intended use. Considering how Elkonin boxes can be used to only to teach blending reminds me that teaching is all about adapting existing strategies and tools to suit the needs of our students too.

2. During the phonogram session, my partner and I discovered that we could use the word ‘bow’ to remember the 2 sounds of ‘ow’ as the word ‘bow’ can be read in both sounds (bow used in archery and bow as a greeting)!

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1. I enjoyed the tutorial sharing by my peers a lot! It was interesting to learn more about Elkonin boxes and see a possible lesson of using the Elkonin boxes to teach phonemic awareness, blending and segmenting through the I do-We do-You do way of teaching. I liked the use of magnets as manipulatives and the clear explanation and demonstration given by the group.

2. While practicing the phonograms 27 - 38, I realised how difficult it was to remember all the different sounds of some of the phonograms with 3 or more sounds. It made me notice how overwhelming it could get for students to learn. I think sometimes reading has become so natural to us that we don't realise how complex it actually is.

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1. I have learnt more about the process of "I do, We do, You do" as well as the importance of it. It truly scaffolds learning step by step and help students build the confidence and independence. This can be better understood through the group presentations in class whereby the groups used the process of "I do, We do and you do" very well. I can feel firsthand how much simpler it is to grasp concept with this method of teaching.

2. I have also learnt about the 5 key principles of effective instructions - systematic, interactive, explicit, diagnostic and automaticity. Although it all sounds very simple, it is actually very effective in helping our students with learning difficulties - as witnessed from some of the teachers who uses it in classroom teaching.

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During the group presentations, I gained valuable insights into phonemic awareness instruction. The Elkonin boxes should be used to represent individual sounds (phonemes), not letters, supporting students in segmenting and blending words through tactile, multi-sensory experiences. Another group highlighted the effectiveness of hands-on, rotational learning centers in promoting engagement and interaction.

I find the teaching of phonemes can be quite challenging and interesting as there is no quick rule to determine the various sound a letter can produce.

Lastly I find that strong phonics instruction is crucial for closing the achievement gap. Children from literacy-rich homes often pick up reading with less explicit instruction. However, for children who haven't had that exposure, including those with dyslexia or from disadvantaged backgrounds, systematic phonics is a 'must do'.

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I'm so glad that this module allows all of us to share different and creative ways/methods/strategies/techniques to teach phonograms to students through the presentation/sharing session! I can learn and adapt them to teach my students with learning needs when I go back to school!

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1. I learnt that in order to give effective instruction, we should plan for frequent responses so that our students are engaged throughout the lesson. It is also a way for us to check their understanding continuously throughout the lesson

2. The group presentations were very informative and enjoyable. Both groups have provided very useful techniques and strategies we can use to teach phonics. As both groups used the I do, We do, You do model, I felt that I could clearly understand what was being taught and now feel confident about applying it with future students

3. When learning phonics with multiple sounds, what helped was linking each sound to a specific word (as what was done at the back of the card). What could help further would be linking the words to form a story/sentence that is easy to remember - e.g. for the 4 sounds in ou: The tough (/ŭ/) mouse (/ow/) drank soup (/ōō/) from the bowl (/ō/).

- students can be encouraged to form their own story/sentence according to their interests/vocab knowledge

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1. Learn the different ways of making learning literacy fun & exciting especially for the little ones. Dr Liz has also kindly shared ways to get the older students engaged in learning literacy!

2. when practicing phonogram cards, it came to my realisation that even us adults struggle with it as most of us are taught the memorization method for reading. Only until we tune in to listening instead of reading then we noticed, a-ha! it does sound different e.g. oo can make short and long sounds. Also as a pair, we learn about the ruling of this word to identify whether to use short or long sound

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The short "oo" sound often appears before the letters 'k' and 'd' (with exceptions)

Examples with 'k': book, cook, hook, look, shook, took.

Examples with 'd': good, hood, stood, wood.

The long "oo" sound is often used when the "oo" is followed by the letters 'l,' 'm,' or 'n'.

Examples with 'l': cool, fool, pool, school, tool.

Examples with 'm': bloom, broom, doom, groom, room, zoom.

Examples with 'n': moon, noon, spoon, soon.

The long "oo" sound also occurs when "oo" appears at the end of a word (with exceptions)

Examples: boo, moo, too, zoo

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1. Science of Reading was reinforced this week - we need to choose strategies that are backed by evidence-based research, not the ones we like because they are easier to teach.

2. One of the evidence-based practices is the use of explicit instructions* through I do-You do-We do approach. There is need to keep it brief for modelling under "I do" - not more than 5 mins for young students as there is the need to plan for eliciting responses through questions; Input->Question->Response. Repeat pattern till student is ready for guided practice.

3. There is a difference between modelling vs preaching. We model, not preach. Modelling requires teacher to say the thinking process aloud.

4. At tutorials, I learnt from the first group that for the use of Elkonin boxes, it is 1 box for 1 sound, not by letters in a word. And how we can use the boxes and tactile materials to segmentise and blend words. From the second group, the delivery through hands-on activities was engaging and interactive. With movement from one learning centre to another, students were actively engaged. Great delivery by both groups! Yay!!

5. I found most challenging to recall phonograms with more than 3 sounds. Often, I was trying to figure out if there are any strategies to know by looking at a word which sound of the phonogram will it be, e.g. is it if the phonogram appears in the beginning, it will be the first sound while if it appears in the middle or end, then it will be the second sound? [Reply: There is no single rule for determining a phonogram's sound in a word; instead, you must use context and learn the patterns of English phonics. To tell which sound to use, teach all the sounds for a phonogram, then practice blending them into words using multisensory strategies and explicit instruction.]

*Attached a video sharing by Dr Anita Archer on Explicit Instructions

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Today's lecture was a very good introduction to Explicit Instructions. Now I understand the "Whys" (my Mentor did this) behind the "Hows" in greater depth. The 5 key principles flow and connect to methodically teach a lesson efficiently. I can even look to apply these to other lessons (eg. teaching life skills).

The group presentation where the lesson of teaching letter sounds presented in a gamified manner was very interesting and thoroughly enjoyable. It showed me refreshing ways of teaching letter sounds.  I note the comments from Dr Liz that it was good to keep the facilitators in each "centre of learning" consistent.  This means that the delivery of instructions (as it is from the same facilitator) can be consistent & there's lesser opportunity of information being left out.

The phonograms practice was challenging when there are more than 1 sound attached to the Phonograms.  It helped when word examples were given to remind me.  I definitely have to practice more to automate the associated sounds.

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1. I found the five key principles for effective language and literacy instruction very useful. It’s interesting how the five teacher behaviours directly influence the five student behaviours. One important takeaway for me is to keep my modeling brief. I tend to over explain, thinking it helps, but I need to remember that students have shorter attention spans (around 5 minutes), and too much input can cause them to be restless.

2. I find it challenging to remember the phonogram sounds for ou (4 sounds), ch (3 sounds), and oo (2 sounds). Creating simple sentences helps, such as:

“Ow! My soul! You in the country!” for ou,

“Choo-choo goes to school to see the chef” for ch, and

“The moon and the book” for oo.

3. I thoroughly enjoyed the two group presentations on segmenting CVC/CCVC words and teaching t, s, and a. A key learning point for me is to start by saying we are learning sounds, not letters. The use of boxes and magnets made Elkonin boxes easy to understand. I also liked the engaging games, such as tapping when hearing the /t/ sound, using “spin the bottle” to identify /a/ in pictures, and finding /s/ with a flashlight. These activities make learning fun and spark curiosity, something I look forward to using with my students during phonics lessons.

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1. I learnt that practice makes progress and progress makes permanent. I feel that explicit instruction is something that comes with experience and practice and I felt that after today's lecture, I was able to make connection between what I know and what I have learnt.

2. I learnt that for elkonin boxes, one can use manipulative such as magnets, to make it more hands on. Getting the students to drag the magnets into the boxes, allows them to remember better as they are able to link the sound to the action. In addition, repeated practice and encouragement is useful in getting the student to feel more confident.

3. for the phonograms 27-38, we found that there were certain phonograms with more than 1 sound. To help us better, we tried to make them into familiar sounding words. For example ŌŌ can sound like "ooh" and Ŭ can sound like "ah", both of which are familiar words to us.

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1. *not every lesson got I do – can go straight to we do you do. However, just planned in your teaching I do we do you do but may not need to carry out all in that lesson. (can reserved for the next lesson). If student is not ready for this lesson when during we do, can carry over to next lesson.

2. Different ways to learn the sounds (presentation from 2 groups):

Elkonin boxes is a multi-sensory tool that can be used to teach blending and segmenting.

Learning centre experience – 3 tables with different activities (s / a / t)

Tapping when hear t sound

Torch light see hidden pictures

Spinning wheels – pick up the picture

Draw or write something starting with the sound

3. Question: What is the rules for the sound ou as there are 4 sounds? [Reply: There is no rule here. The reason for this variation is the complex and evolving nature of the English language, which has accumulated words from many different origins (such as Germanic and French) and has seen significant shifts in pronunciation over time. Because English spelling doesn't always follow consistent rules, "ou" is an example of a phonogram (a single letter or group of letters representing one or more sounds) that has acquired multiple pronunciations, requiring context and memorisation for correct reading.]

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1. the activities from the presentation on teaching letter sounds were very engaging and they gave me fresh ideas to teach phonemes to my future students! as an adult, it was already very fun so i'm sure it would be a hit with the younger students as well. good job group 2!!

2. practicing phonograms 27-38 was slightly challenging as most of the letters had multiple sounds. it got me thinking about how i remember certain letter sounds - through lexical knowledge to connect to the phonogram sounds. how can we then teach a child who might not have vast vocabulary/limited exposure to vocabulary to know and remember them? Comment: We can use other ways to help them remember e.g. the 4 sounds of "ou" - it is like someone crying out in pain - making the 4 sounds...