Unit 5 in the Handbook introduces the idea of initial consonant blends. The aim here is to encourage children to develop an awareness of the initial blends in their speech - well before they are expected to cope with them in spelling.
For children who have difficulty with literacy, this awareness is an extremely important aspect of teaching.
Pages 86-99 of the Handbook are shown below, together with the relevant teaching materials.
You'll notice that help is provided in various ways -
- The underlying theory is explained: why children find initial blends difficult - and the importance of developing phonological awareness as part of one's teaching strategy
- The relevant terminology is introduced: the terms CVC, CCVC, CVCC, consonant blend, initial blend, final blend and cluster are explained
- Step-by-step instructions for teaching the blends and developing phoneme awareness are provided; these take the form of a series of simple activities that gradually build up in easy manageable steps
- The purpose-made teaching materials can be found in the SoundWorks case
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