The Use of Systematic Synthetic Phonics to Develop Writing Skills

Throughout this assignment I am going to be critically examining the role which systematic synthetic phonics (SSP) has on writing. When learning to write, children are usually encouraged to break down the words and sound them out, for them to be able to spell’ and then write the word. SSP requires children to learn each individual sound and blends in a certain order. From this, sounds and blends can be put together to form words. Decoding words using this process is used as a writing strategy. This highlights the importance of phonics, especially in the early years. Phonics is crucial in teaching children how to write and spell, this is because the sounds in words don’t sound like the sounds we hear in the common alphabet. Without the role of phonics, it would lead to spelling misconceptions. Research by Togerson, details the process in which SSP is taught and how it is easily recognisable by children. This research has been extremely influential on phonics teaching in the primary classroom today, in particular relation to the national curriculum. In order for phonics to be successful on the development of writing for children, it is important that teachers have solid subject knowledge. Within the Teaching Standards it highlights that teachers have good pedagogy and that they can “demonstrate a clear understanding of SSP”.

The Challenges Faced When Learning Phonics

Throughout this section I am going to be exploring the challenges children face when learning phonics, and the limitations to teaching phonics. Phonics is a controversial strategy. Although it is compulsory, each school may have their own approach to teaching phonics; therefore, children will be taught differently. One method of phonics teaching which is taught in primary classrooms is the “whole language approach”. Noam Chomsky had an idea of “Language acquisition”, this means that “the ability the learn language follows a particular pattern and is instinctive”. The work of Chomsky detailed that everyone has an instinctive ability to learn any language, but we do not learn by imitating others. Therefore, could the SSP method of copying words and sounds be the wrong way to teach children to write and spell? Goodman then created a “whole word system”, it encourages children to use clues and recognise the whole word rather than breaking it down into sounds when using the SSP approach. If the whole language approach was the preferred method of teaching phonics in a school, children may find it harder to learn to write and spell. SSP gives children the skills they need to break down words, therefore it will make it easier for them to spell and write the words they need to. If they have only been exposed to the whole word approach, children may struggle decoding the words they hear to then be able write them down or spell them, this is because they have only been taught the whole word approach, meaning they don’t have the ability to decode what they hear as their reading technique is looking at the full word.

Challenges of SSP

Each and every child has their own preferred learning method, some children may not grasp certain concepts and SSP can be one of the harder methods for children to adapt. SSP contains many different grapheme variations, so when learning SSP; children can become easily confused when writing. This can be overcome if children are taught the common grapheme rules such as ‘ay’ at the end of a word and ‘ai’ in the middle. Being exposed to these rules can make a huge difference to the writing development of children, without it children will most likely become poor writers and have poor spelling. Another way the learning of phonics can be supported is, grouping words together by the grapheme. Eg, same, lame, came. Doing so, gives children the opportunity to learn the words by association and therefore understand the patterns of spelling which can be applied to everyday writing. Although, according to Chomsky’s language acquisition device; we do not learn by imitating. So, is this really the correct way we should be teaching children to read and write? The teaching of phonics is compulsory according the the national curriculum, therefore the methods stated are taught in classrooms all around the United Kingdom; different regions and therefore different accents. Although this may not seem like a big problem, technically it can cause many misconceptions for children. Depending on where you live, most people have different accents to each other; one of the main indicators of a person’s accent is their pronunciation of the long vowel sounds. People in the north pronounce the word ‘bath’ different to people from the south. Therefore, it is important that teachers do not take the ‘whole accent’ away from the child when teaching them the SSP approach. When teaching children with English as an Additional Language, it is crucial that teachers modify their accent to the correct pronunciation of the word. This is because, these children aren’t as familiar with the correct pronunciation, so it is the role of the teacher to model it correctly, so no misconceptions occur. I have faced this problem when teaching a child from Poland, it took him longer to grasp the concept of how to pronounce certain words when compared to his peers from the north east. One of the main challenges of SSP teaching which I have not covered is the “tricky words”, these are words within the English language which cannot be decoded using an SSP approach as they don’t follow the rules. These are words such as “me, be and was”. These particular words can’t be sounded out so must be taught using recognition. These words usually take the longest to learn due to not having a particular process. In school, I have taught these words in various ways such as flash cards to revise at home and in the classroom. Frequently placing them around the classroom and developing games so children can learn and be exposed to them in a stimulating way.

What Does the Researcher Say?

Jim rose is the author of a very influential review which detailed how SSP supports the progression of children from a young age. Within the review it discussed how a language rich curriculum and high-quality phonics teaching can have a major influence on the reading and writing development of children; which leads to work of a high standard. Due to this it is important that schools and teachers include high quality phonics lessons from the early Years Foundation Stage. Due the implications within the National Curriculum, regarding phonics teaching; which I will explore later: within the Rose Report it explores many inspector reports which show negligence towards phonics teaching in the early years’ classroom. During this period of time the writing progression of children was limited, this could lead to a disadvantage to children with EAL or children with Special Educational Needs; as the provision they needed to excel was most likely not put into place. Within the report, Jim Rose explores the National Literacy Strategy, he discussed how it engaged many schools in developing high quality phonics programmes; detailing the most effective ways of teaching to raise the standards of writing. Rose highlighted the importance of speech and language alongside reading and writing, he claims that they are the “prime skills needed to lead to emotional, social and intellectual progression”. It is crucial that phonics is taught from an early age so children can develop many communication skills, not having exposure to phonics from an early age can have detrimental effects on the writing development of children. Within the rose report, there is a brief section on the “search lights model” (SLM); this details how being exposed to the main principles of phonics can reduce the risks shown within the SLM. The rose report has had a great influence on the National Curriculum that we follow today. 

Can Phonics Be Overdone?

Although there are many advantages to SSP phonics teaching, as highlighted by Belvins, his research also shows that successful phonics instruction cannot be regulated, and it depends on the subject knowledge and methods of teaching. Consequently meaning, if the teacher lacks confidence or subject knowledge, children could be at disadvantage. Within his literature, Belvins also states that it can be possible to overdo phonics in the primary classroom, and from my own personal point of view I think this statement can be correct. When on professional placement, I have found in some schools that the children have a stigma around phonics. When told it was time for phonics, children sighed and didn’t want to participate saying it is “boring” and that they wanted to play instead. With further investigations into the phonics method taught in this particular primary school, I found that they had a 40-minute phonics lesson each afternoon, every day. This may not seem like a long period of time for adults, but for 4- and 5-year olds; after their dinner, their brains would be exhausted. That is the reason the children did not want to participate in the phonics group and why the writing and reading progression of these children were so low. After a couple of weeks of observing; I gained permission from the head teacher to lead my own phonics sessions using methods I had gained from personal experience, university and other placements. For the first week I did 20-minute full group sessions, from this I was able to see which level each child was at within the SSP “letters and sounds programme”. I then grouped children based on their ability and two groups were formed. Each morning, myself and the class teaching assistant lead a 15-minute interactive phonics session with each group. During this we covered a new sound, gave children the opportunity to say it, allowed children to write it and then recite it. If a child struggled, they were able to turn to their partner for help. At the end of each week, each sound was revised to ensure children are gaining the full potential from the provision. After 6 weeks, the children we assessed and there was a vast improvement in their reading and writing with some children moving up 2 colours in their reading books. The children enjoyed learning and that was the main focus, if the children enjoy what they are doing they are more engaged in the task so consequently they will take more from it. Children are also more alert on a morning compared to an afternoon meaning they will gain more from the session. My 15-minute phonics strategy has now replaced the 40 minute “boring” session, in that particular school. This shows a correlation between excessive phonics teaching and the lack of interest for children; proving little and often phonics teaching is more effective.

Impacts of SSP Phonics Teaching on Writing

Although I have explored many challenges that pupils and teacher may face, phonics has many positive aspects in relation to the development of children’s writing. Good phonics teaching allows children to become more ambitious, this is because their vocabulary is built up of words they have just discovered. They are the able to attempt writing and reading these words using their SSP knowledge. In contrast, the “whole word approach” can be seen as outdated, as mentioned above; it requires children to read the full word as a “whole”, this requires children to memorise the full word. This limits the vocabulary of children, especially in relation to their writing. When independently writing and spelling, children might have a word they want to use; although they may not know how to spell it. Using the SSP approach children can decode the word, then build it up again to spell it. If taught using the whole word approach, children are limited to using the words they have been exposed to, and not knowing how to spell new words because of the approach they have been taught. This will deter children from being determined with their writing as they are unable to attempt unfamiliar words using the “whole word approach”. Writing develops at a slower rate than reading. As part of a SSP reading programme which I have taught, “read, write. inc”; children start to practice their letter formation when they initially learn their sounds and when they start blending and segmenting words. Doing so gives children the opportunity to develop their writing skills at a quicker pace when compared to other phonics programmes, where writing usually comes later in the process. This helps overcome the National Curriculum’s concern of reading developing much faster than writing. The skill of writing can also be developed through talk by using and sharing language with peers. This is why a language rich environment is crucial in the primary classroom. This can influence children on learning how language works as a whole and giving them opportunities to express what they would like to say. Children who are exposed to a language rich environment have an advantage when it comes to applying written language to paper. Having the chance to discuss individual experiences allows children to gain ideas for emergent writing, this encourages children to say what they are thinking outload which will then allow them to apply a SSP approach to break it down whilst they attempt to write it on paper. During the writing process children should sound out their sentences one word at a time, and then break the words down and then work out how to write it. When first exposed to writing, children will start to mark make, which is an element of the Early Years Foundation Stage Framework. Mark making will help children reach their early learning goals, over time and after exposure to language these marks will start to form letters that we recognise, and then formed into words. Writing can be seen as a long process, so in the “read, write, inc” programme children are encouraged to form words with the set of sounds that they have been taught. This enhances their learning as it is perfecting one set of words before moving onto the next, therefore not overloading their brains. Once the children become confident with each set of words and sounds they are encouraged to start making sentences with a few words from each set.

The National Curriculum and Phonics

According to the national curriculum, all good phonics practice must start with the individual needs of each child and that provision should be put into place to meet the criteria of the NC. Within the first nine years of the national curriculum, their was barely any influence or guidance on raising the reading and writing standards of children. The department for education states that the national curriculum encourages the SSP approach when teaching children how to write, this is because the NC states that “phonics should be emphasised in order for speedy printing, recognition of words and the correct pronunciation”. SPP gives children more opportunities to excel at this when compared to the whole language approach. Within the NC it states that in year 1, children should build on their knowledge from the EYFS. It also states that teachers should ensure that pupils can “sound out and blend unfamiliar words quickly using their knowledge of phonics”, doing so will make it easier for children to be able to use language to write sentences. Within the national curriculum it also describes how writing develops slower than reading, this is because they will need to develop the fine motor skills needed to physically write, encode the sounds the hear within words and organise their own ideas. One way in which I have helped children develop their fine motor skills is a 5 minute “finger gym”, this helps children exercise their fine motor skills in order for them to grasp the “tripod grip” needed for effective handwriting. 

Conclusion

Overall, I feel like SSP teaching has a crucial role in teaching children how to write and read from a young age. In particular, the “read write inc” programme is it allows children to develop their writing skills at the same time as their reading skills which other SSP methods do not offer. There are many educational benefits of Systematic Synthetic Phonics, mainly highlighted by the Rose Report and other educational researcher’s. Many reports and investigations prove the direct correlation between high quality phonics lessons and the progressive writing development of children. SSP allows children to strip down spoken language so they are able to write it in a way which they are unable to do using other approaches to learning to write. Although the title of this assignment is broad, I took a particular interest in the teaching of SSP and the influence it has on the writing development of children. This is because I have observed children struggling with writing due to the methods their school follows. With intervention from myself using the SSP approach, I have helped children significantly improve their writing skills. Having taught both methods of phonics teaching I feel like SSP is has an advantage to teaching writing and it sets them up with language skills which can be used in any walk of life and to enhance their educational progression. The work of Jim Rose has been particularly influential to the improvement of writing within the national curriculum. Without this I feel as though the national literacy progression levels of children would be at an overall low. Another aspect of writing which I would like to research is how technology can effect the writing attainment of children, as I feel that has a negative effect on emergent writing skills in schools.