literacy-strategy.htm How long to master traditional spelling? British National Literacy Strategy – Achievements by semester Jolly Phonics introduces 1 spelling per phoneme in the first 6 months. In the schedule below, it takes two years to introduce /er/. Positional spelling and relative stress do not seem to be covered. ge, dge, tion not until Y3 or later.

Summary of the specific phonics and spelling work to be covered in Years R to 2

Reception year To recognise all initial consonant and short vowel sounds (a-z, ch, sh, th) in speech and in writing; to identify and write correct initial letters in response to the letter sound, word, object or picture. Letter Names & sequence: recognize and name each letter of the alphabet and to be aware of alphabetical order through rhymes, songs.
Discriminate, write and read final sounds in simple words.

Year 1 Term 1 Practise and reinforce work from YR

Discriminate, write and read middle (short vowel) sounds in simple words:
'a' (fat), 'e' (wet), 'i' (pig), 'o' (pot), 'u' (mug).

Year 1 Term 2 Practise and reinforce work from Y1 term 1 Read and spell words ending in ck, ff, ll, ss, ng

Discriminate, blend and spell initial consonant clusters: bl, br, cl, cr, dr, dw, fl, fr, gI, gr, pl, pr, sc, scr, sk, sI, sm, sn, sp, spl, spr, squ, st, str sw, tr, tw, thr, shr and common end clusters: ld, nd, lk, nk, sk, lp, mp, sp, ct, ft, It, nt, pt, st, xt, If, nch, Ith

Year 1 Term 3 Practise and reinforce work from Y1 term 2

Discriminate, spell and read the common spelling patterns for the long vowel phonemes: 'ee', 'ai, 'ie', 'oa', 'oo':
* ee: 'ee' (feet), 'ea' (seat)
* ai.. 'ai' (train), 'a-e' (name), 'ay' (play)
* ie: 'ie' (lie), 'i-e' (bite), Igh' (high), 'y' (fly)
* oa: 'oa' (boat), 'o-e' (pole), 'ow' (show)
* oo: 'oo, (moon), 'u-e' (tune), 'ew' (flew), 'ue' (blue)

Year 2 Term 1 Practise and reinforce long vowel work from Y1 term 3 above

Discriminate, spell & read the spelling patterns for the vowel phonemes: 'oo' (short) 'ar' 'oy' 'ow':

* oo (short): 'u' (pull), 'oo' (good)
* ar: 'ar' (car)
* oy: 'oi' (boil), 'oy' (toy)
* ow: 'ow' (cow), 'ou' (sound)

Year 2 Term 2 Practise and reinforce work from Y2 term 1

Discriminate, spell and read the common spelling patterns for the vowel phonemes: 'air', 'or', 'er'

* air: 'air' (fair), 'are' (scare), 'ere' (there), 'ear' (bear, wear) * or: 'or' (sport), 'oor' (floor), 'aw' (claw), 'au' (caught), 'ore' (more, store) * er: 'er' (her, were), 'ir' (bird), 'ur' (fur)

Year 2 Term 3 Practise and reinforce work from previous terms

Discriminate, spell and read the common spelling patterns for the vowel phonemes: 'ear', 'ea'
* ear: e.g. fear, hear
* ea: (bread, head)

The Basal Reader approach was even slower. Only 150 high frequency words in the first year.
Comment by Jean Hutchins:

Jean wrote: forUK teechers in the National Literacy Strategy. Reception children ar 5 yeers old, Y1 = 6 yrs, Y2 = 7yrs. U can see wy Chris Jolly and the synthetic fonics brigade say that wun way of spelling eech foneme shoud be taut in the ferst term, not take 2 yeers to introduse /er/.

I don't no wether teechers ar advized to cuver wun spelling choise at a time, nor wether the placement rules, such as they ar, inishal, meedial, final, ar explaned. They don't seem to get to 'dge', 'tion'. Maybe in YR3. –Jean Hutchins

Jean, I found the above to be quite enlightening and useful. Altho it appears to be a leisurely pace, the approach does combine writing along with discrimination and reading.

Jolly Dictionary, A dictionary to improve reading and writing, and help children become independent learners; by Sara Wernham and Sue Lloyd; published by Jolly Learning; 2003; softcover 342pp; retail price: British Pound 5.95 (=SGD $18.60); Location: Singapore

BOOK DESCRIPTION: Teaching children how to use a dictionary will improve reading and writing, and help them become independent learners. The Jolly Dictionary complements the Jolly Grammar books and is designed to teach children how to look up and understand words they don’t know

Over 6,000 age-appropriate words are included. The words used in the definitions have been carefully selected so that children find them easy to read and understand. In addition, the Jolly Dictionary is beautifully illustrated throughout, often using the Jolly Phonics characters to help clarify examples.

Divided into 4 sections to help children learn how to use and find their way through the dictionary. Includes parts of speech as well as irregular verbs and plurals. A Pronunciation Guide for each word using joined digraphs and a few new symbols for clarity.

A dictionary for a child being taught in the first 3 years of school. It includes the words likely to be met and is age-appropriate. An effective resource, it includes parts of speech, pronunciation and examples of use with the Jolly Phonics characters. The Jolly Dictionary is a child's first dictionary, and will have these features: - Original selection of key vocabulary, age-appropriate, and including mentions of Jolly Phonics characters. It will have definitions from a 2,000 word 'defining vocabulary'. Parts of Speech given for each word in Jolly Grammar colours. - A Pronunciation Guide for each word, using joined diagraphs and a few new characters for clarity. - Vocabulary is focussed on Jolly Phonics, including the words used elsewhere in Jolly Phonics/Jolly Grammar, and the words typically used with this age group.

A is for Apatosaurus
or is it? Three transcriptions

Apatosaurus was a long-necked dinosaur that ate plants.

This giant was bigger than a bus.

It used to be called Brontosaurus.

Below: Same story in Unifon - upsized and downsized
How can you say Ay is for the initial sound in cpatcsxrcs

The graphic is necessary for those who have not installed the fonts. If you have the fonts, this will look the same:

c iz fOr cpatcsxrcs
cpatcsxrcs wuz c lxN-nekt dInOsxr Dat At plants. Dis jIcnt wuz bigcr Dan c bus. it Yzd tu bE kxld brontcsxrcs.

Classic Unifon
U iz fOr upatusxrus

Unifon II (proposed)
3 IZ FOR 3'PAT3SôR3S

SSA Olive is a lower case display font for keyboard Unifon.
c iz fOr cpatcsqrcs
cpatcsxrcs wuz c lxN-nekt dInOsxr Dat At plants
Dis jIcnt wuz bigcr Dan c bus.
it Yzd tu bE kxld brontcsxrcs

Franklin Fonetik (1868) Franklin and Webster
µ iz for µpatµsorµs
hi µpatµsorµs wµz µ loñ-nkekt
dµinµsor hat eet plants.
his jµiant wµz bigµr han µ bµs.