B)      I am impressed by the following teaching approaches which I found useful:

To create a friendly environment to let students feel ease and safe.

Let student preview the agenda of the day and what to learn (which 8 letters).

Group the letters into 2 groups: a group with one sound and the other in 2 or more sounds.

Student can understand and remember better during learning process.

Tracing in the air is a good strategy to learn.  The kinetic movement may help student learn better instead of just sitting down and learn.

Find out what student had learned is important so that teacher do not repeat what student know and student doesn’t feel bored.

Break the lesson into 3 sessions instead of learning all 8 letters in one lesson is a good strategy. Student learn the phonograms progressively, they can grasp the phonograms better without confusion.

Review and conclusion at the end of the lesson help student to recap what they had learned.

When I was searching for strategies in the big world of Google, there are many ways of teaching phonograms. The sounds vary and make me question if I may have mispronounced some phonograms. The teacher must first know the correct sounds before he/she can teach another person. I realized that the basics, our foundation, are very important and need to be strong.

I felt at ease during her lesson, and she was very systematic from teaching sounds then move on to word examples.

Her lesson flow was smooth, and she had good techniques in showing how to shape the mouth when sounding out the phonograms. The quiz and quick recap at the end were a good way to end the lesson.

From the perspective of the teacher, when she skywrites the letter, it is actually the mirror image, but students can see the letter formation correctly. Positioning of teeth, lips and pushing out the air are some of the techniques that are new to me.

Her explanations are very clear and easy to understand. The picture of Cat City and Green Giraffe are stuck in my head. Especially good for visual learners.

·Pictures and funny concepts e.g. old octopus, green giraffe

Stephanie
·Good job remembering – praise was specific to the behaviour

·Clearly explains how to position lips to form the sound

·Uses multisensory approach (pronounce, air write)

Edward
·Lists out steps clearly (ID, WD, YD)

·Slides are not cluttered, easy for students to check

Priya
·Taught both uppercase and lowercase letters

·Used a table to organise letter sounds

·Used many examples to reinforce practise of letter sounds

Hang Chi
·Interactive element to the lesson – harness use of technology and games

·Uses art to make the lesson more engaging

·Visual elements to emphasize larger number of consonants

Clare
·Good organisation of information (pictures, details etc)

·Recap at the end of the lesson

Surbi

-relate phonics to other subjects as introduction 

-using mirrors to help learner look the way she sounds 

Dee

-explaining to learner some letters have more than 1 sound 

-pacing of lesson was good  

-recap end of lesson to check if learner has remembered 

Hang Chi 

-repetition in sounding to gain memory 

-engaging visuals 

Jean 

-assess learner’s ability before conducting the session

-breaking into sessions to ensure learner aids retention  

Stephanie 

- using fingers to gesture while sounding 

- recap end of lesson to check if learner has remembered

Haley

- routine of (I say, we say, you say) 

- gestures to help learners relate to sounds 

-incremental rehearsal to help retention 

Clarissa 

-explanation of phonograms 

- phonics rules and when to use the different sounds 

Priya 

-multiple objects with the same sound for learner to relate to 

-explanation of long and short vowel sound 

Edward 

- Clear steps for learner to follow 

- good pace throughout session 

- animated objects to keep learner engaged 

Initially I had some trouble thinking about the strategies to incorporate into my teaching as I had no prior experience teaching phonograms. However YouTube was a great help. I also drew from my personal experience of seeing how incorporating movement into my lessons enabled students to commit information to memory more easily, and used it in deciding which strategy to use amongst the videos I saw.

Surbhi - I liked how you gave Issac a mirror, which is a helpful tip to get students to watch how your lips pronounced the words as he self-corrected. I also loved how your lesson has a flow to it

Dee - Your steps for the I do- You do is very clear, and easy for the student to follow. Your praises given was also specific (e.g. “I like your voice”) which is an alternative to “well done/good job” I can definitely learn from! The strategy of using “magic cards” with the additional full stops is also helpful in helping the student remember how many sounds each letter can make. (Helped me too!).

The recap at the end, with all the different word examples is another useful strategy as it helps the student put the sounds in context.

Hang Chi - I absolutely loved how the corresponding pictures are drawn as letters! Really creative and fun. The quiz is also an interactive feature of the lesson, and helps the students to immediately recall what they’ve learnt. 

Priya - The use of many examples for the sounds was particularly helpful, because it helps the students to see how the sounds are like in different words.

Jean - It was visually really clear to use the yellow paper border, so that the student can immediately know whether the letter has only one sound, or more than 1. 

Also learnt a a useful tip, to have the letters written out instead of printed during the review, to see if the student is able to generalise the skill learnt (sometimes the print can look different from handwritten letters, but both are equally as important). 

Clare - Your lesson was very well-structured, the transition from the explanation of what phonograms are to the schedule for the day was really seamless. Your lesson was well-paced and your tone was both welcoming and calming! 

I based my student profile on an actual primary 3 student who has severe dyslexia but has strong visual memory. The inspiration for using words and picture association came from one of the videos posted on NTUlearn. I wanted the words and pictures to have strong visual association, the weirder the visual the better for recalling. It definitely took a while to come up with words that fit the phonograms, sound logical and to find images that were relevant. But I was glad when I managed to do so in the end. 

Looking back on the first presentation which I did with Jean and this phonogram video, I felt that I did not really grow much, my creativity and strategies were really limited. Honestly, I felt that there was not much difference between the two presentations. There is definitely a lot of room for improvement. It just so happened that we were able to choose the student profile for this video and hence I was able to select something that I was comfortable with doing. 

Nevertheless, this mini presentation allowed me to use a medium (online teaching) that I am not as familiar with. I also had to explain when the phonograms had two sound and under what circumstances will they make the sounds. It was a good opportunity for me to revisit the phonograms in a different way and to understand first before explaining it. 

Watching the other 8 videos was an eye-opening experience for me! Each of them had certain aspects that I could learn from and they taught me different ways in which the teaching of phonograms can be done for different profile of students. Kudos to everyone!

I found Hang Chi’s presentation the most addictive. Not only did she personified the phonograms with her own drawings (e.g. like the letter f was drawn in the shape of a fish), she also repeated how the phonogram sounded in a repetitive manner with a specific rhythm (a a apple). It really drills the sound into my head. She also told the student where to place the tongue which will help. Using the ICT tool makes the session more interactive and it is very apt for blended learning. 

I was really engaged by Haley’s presentation. It was an ingenious way of combing actions with the sounds. I found myself doing the actions with her! This will be so suitable for the lower primary who might learn better kinesthetically as compared to just visuals. In the later part of her video, she introduced how the phonograms looked like and used the actions she taught to prompt the student. There were also very clear hand directions given when she said ‘I say, we say and you say’. I also learnt the new strategy of incremental rehearsal. This can help my student who has trouble retaining certain sounds yet at the same time, being paired with sounds that he/she already knows does not make the task seem too difficult.

Steph’s presentation was extremely clear, systematic and easy to understand.  Explaining the airflow in the mouth/tongue placement/mouth shape allows me to get a better understanding on how my mouth should feel. E.g. pushing the air out for the /b/ sound, making a wide smile for the short /e/ sound. Skywriting it also allows the student to have a muscle memory of the letter and the sound. I feel that her video would also be good for caregivers who are supporting their children at home. 

My learning points from Jean’s video: 1) She did an assessment prior to her session, 2) she broke up teaching the 8 phonograms into separate sessions, 3) she reassessed using a different material and 4) she ticked off the phonograms after the student has mastered them. Other than her clear presentation, what I really liked and took away was that Jean understood her student well. It reminded me not to be too ambitious to try and squeeze all the 8 phonograms into one session, even if I could, my student might show signs of fatigue towards the end and it will not help in learning. Having an assessment done prior will also allow Jean to know what to focus on and when she ticked off after her student has mastered them, it really gives the students a sense of accomplishment. Lastly, reassessment using a different set of cards will help Jean check the student’s understanding. The dots were removed on the assessment set of cards and this required the student to know the number of sounds each phonogram makes and what the sounds are.

Surbhi created a safe learning space for the student. I appreciate that she checked-in with her student and acknowledged how he felt, before commencing the session and she does not diminish anything that he said. The recap of the previous session on notes was seamlessly linked to letters creating sounds. She also made sure the student knew what he was going to learn.  Surbhi was also very explicit in her teaching, giving instructions to look at her mouth when she is doing the ‘I do’ phase and she also gave the student a mirror for him to observe his own mouth. This is an excellent support tool, so that the student is aware of how his mouth looks like instead of just how it feels like, when sounding out the phonogram. I really felt myself inching closer to the screen whenever Surbhi says ‘watch my mouth’, and doing it with her when she says ‘let’s do it together. 

Both Dee and Edward gave very clear expectations at the beginning of their sessions. Dee showed her students the cards, this allows the students to know how much she is going to learn. Separating them into two rows and using the word ‘magical’ will pique the interest of the student. I also like how there was a choice element at the end where the student can choose two phonograms instead of doing all. Edward laid out what the student/himself was going to do at each I do, we do and you do stage. There was one thing that caught my attention, which was the ‘you do’ part that Edward mentioned, you do, you do on your own, but I listen. It showed that not only does the student need to listen to the teacher, but at the end, the teacher will also respect and listen to the student. This is something mutual and important for the student’s learning. Having a teacher listening in is not just for correction, but also affirmation. Edward also provided a sentence to show the word (that contained the phonogram) being used in context, and not just in isolation. 

There were a lot of examples used in Priya’s teaching, the graphics and word choices were also pitched at the student’s level. There was also emphasis on the phonogram in each of the words that she showed, no matter if the phonogram was found at the beginning, or middle of the word. I really admire that she was willing to expand the student’s knowledge by bringing in the different permutations of the long a and e sound. She also placed everything in a neat table to represent it more easily. The simple game at the end also helped to revised the sounds that were being taught during the session. 

On a side-note:

There will never be a ‘one size fits all’ strategy to teach phonograms, every child is different and every educator is different too. But I am really thankful to be able to receive so much from this diversity. This will definitely help build all our strategy banks and maybe even combine some stuff here and there to suit our students’ learning needs in the future. It was not an easy task this time round, but overall, we made it! 

Lots of Love, Clare

Haley 

 She also has gestural prompts for “I say” vs “we say” vs “you say”. She pairs the sounds with actions that are associated with the phonograms. 

I’m glad to share my teachable moments by video recording myself, which is a different experience and self-practice. As I have no experience teaching phonics, It taught me how to pronounce the word with different sounds for certain letters after some research. I need to create an interactive lesson for my SEN students based on their learning needs. 

I enjoyed Surbi phonics class and big hi5 for you. Subhi has shown clearly the mouth and tongue placement while pronouncing the different sounds. 

I enjoyed Dee phonics lesson with initiating the class by introducing the letter with different sounds. Later she gives an example of a word by integration of ‘I do’, ‘We do’ and ‘You do’.

Well Done Hang Chi and Hang Chi clearly stated and explained the movement of the mouth for the phonic sounds. She has warm gestures throughout the lesson while guiding the student.

Good lesson Jean!! Her lesson was exciting and concise which easier to understand. She also explains the movement of lips integrating with letter sounds. 

Well Done Stephanie and I enjoyed her lesson as her lesson sounds explicitly with teaching thru finger in front of the screen. This strategy will allow students to remember the letters and sounds thru finger movement gestures.

I found Haley’s lesson was interesting, and she taught by associating the sounds of the letter with hand gestures. Children will capture quickly by using this strategy.

I’m fascinated by Clare teaching with a warm tone and more precise. I learned here that the dots after the letter (eg.’c..’) represent two sounds letter ‘c’. Thanks for highlighting this and being more transparent throughout the lesson.

Well Done Priya !!. Her lesson was interactive, and children will like it when it comes with colourful pictures. Her teaching on sounds was very clear and easily understood by kids. 

Good Job Edward. He reinforces on ‘I do’, ‘We do’ and ‘You do’ strategy and showed the sounds of the letter in the context. Kids can pick up the sound when reading the short sentence. 

The video recording was my first experience teaching phonics. As I was in a secondary school setting, I do not have any prior knowledge to test it out. It was hard for me because I believe to successfully teach, I really needed to master it first. I sourced out YouTube videos to accelerate my learning. I found those videos which link the sound words to the objects were confusing for me. I found the sound words videos which involved tactile movements to be interesting. After looking at the good videos, I will do it differently the next time. Below are some of the observations: 

Surbhi 

She sets the lesson objective at the start of the lesson. She also went through the class rules with the student. She recapped the previous lesson and linked it to a music lesson. She explained in detail what a phoneme is. She even has a mirror for the student when the student tries to sound the words after observing her sound the words. She will point to her lips so that her student can follow. Student engagement is high with her method. She is also very encouraging and gives wait time for the student to try. 

Hang Chi 

She uses Pear deck app when teaching her students. Even though it is still a work in progress for me to link objects to sound words, I felt that I could follow her lesson well. Her lesson is crafted in such a way that it can be used for both classroom teaching and Home-Based Learning lessons. 

Dee 

Dee method is slightly different from the rest. She scaffolds the card into 2. Those with 2 sounds and another with 1 sound by asking the 2 dots and no dots cards. I can see her joy when she taught her student and even allowed her student to work independently. 

Creating video to teach showing my face in it is my first! I’m glad you gave us this opportunity to try though I have no idea how to do it at first. But I get to explore video recording in power point app in a short time frame. This is especially useful if we need to do remote teaching(i.e. Last min HBL). YouTube tutorials have been very useful. I like the part that I can pause in between slides and re-record only for that particular slide that i need to make amendments while keeping the other slides recording intact. That’s my Positive Aha Moment. =) Truly appreciate the opportunity given. Thought stressful but practical.

 

Surbhi
Very clear instruction given to the child before commencement of the lessons of what is expected. Make the child feel comfortable even before the lesson. Build good rapport with pupil. Good tone of voice. She presented two words sight by sight that uses the same letter but has the two different sounds eg old octopus, big kite. This helps the pupil to understand in context a letter can have two sounds. Use a mirror to self-check. She repeated the sounds a few times.
 

Dee
Nicely done. Very clear oral pronunciations. Simple, clear and concise learning instructions for the child to follow. Use cards and segregate the words having one or two sounds. Good tone of voice. Praises the child. Use of I do, we do and you do.

 

Han Chi
Very clear pronunciation. Good tone of voice. Demo the sound a few times for each letter sounds. Good PPT slides. Use of Quiz which is a good way to check learning. Good pictures. Lesson also engaging.  

Jean
Check for pupil’s prior knowledge. If the child knows the letter sound, then will not be necessary to teach the letter again. Split the lesson into a few lessons. Distributed learning will ensure the child retained more. Rather than having a one lesson with all 8 letters. 

Stephanie
Use sky writing is a good technique; part of active learning. It helps the people to associate the letter B with the sound. Also, teacher can check if the child is Dyslexic. Explicit demonstration on how to use the mouth to sound out each word. 

Haley
Very clear articulation of each letter sounds. Uses hand action to activate more senses. The letter R for example, Haley imitates a tiger ready to attack with the rrr sound. Pupils will have greater retention if it involves more senses and something they can link to. Explicit instructions given to child. (I say, We say, You say). Assess the child’s learning and follow up. Engaging lesson with hand movements.

Clare
Very good demonstration with the slides of what is meant by “at the end of syllable” or “beginning of the syllable”. She clearly demonstrate when the sound changes with respect to its position in the word with PPT animation. It helps a lot to reinforce the point eg the letter Y. Clare put in a lot of thought and effort in this lesson delivery. I would like to use this slides to teach my pupils. 

Priya
Use of uppercase and lower case. Use of several words with the letter in the beginning and in the middle. To develop phonological awareness. Clear articulation of wounds. Use of games for active learning.

Recording a video is harder than I expected at home. Words and sentences can go haywire at times and now I know acting is tough with hilarious NGs.

I didn’t watch and practice much before recording so I was expecting to make mistakes in teaching which I did by separating the I, You and We do. 

After watching the great lesson videos, I have learnt more ideas on how to focus on pronunciation when teaching and prepare a lesson with interactive apps and try to create a better lesson the next time. But before that, I need a lot more practice to teach phonics.

Thanks everyone and Dr Liz for these great activities!

 
POSITIVE ASPECTS