The children asked if they could use the ELS cards that were on my desk from our prior lesson to participate in imaginative play. The leading child then began repeating language used in ELS lessons. This was a wonderful way to reinforce learning for all involved!

Teaching Phonics in Reception

In Reception, we use Essential Letters and Sounds (ELS) to teach the letter sounds to the children. We use rhymes to help the children to remember the sound and how to form the letters.

Blending is a key skill to support the children's reading development. Robot arms and blending hands help us to speak individuals sounds and then make those sounds into a word. For example, 'm-a-t' and the children say 'mat'. You could play blending games at home, such as "Eat your t-oa-s-t." The children should then begin to eat their toast.

ELS also helps us with our spelling. Using robot arms and blending hands to break down and segment words into single sounds that we can then write. When writing sat, you can hear 3 sounds i.e. s-a-t. Each time you move your arms you say a sound and can then write each letter.

ELS Sound Pronunciation

At Christ Church, we teach phonics using Essential Letters and Sounds. Here is a video of how to pronounce each taught sound from Phases 2, 3 and 5.

Phase 2: https://youtu.be/nBFnAcXHOUQ?si=JEUa4eWWydY2mw98
Phase 3: https://youtu.be/gDInVjBUGC0?si=ZMUIQ_KX33YwSxv-

Phase 5: https://youtu.be/8BwWD2ZlvBY?si=Mnsq2a_GzKr6NSPz

Alphablocks

https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/shows/alphablocks