Ask us anything! Do kids need to have a solid knowledge of sound and symbol before they can begin to read?

Yes, they do. Sounding out words is very taxing on a beginner reader’s working memory. If we think about it – children need to recognise the shape of the letter, attach a sound to it, hold that sound in their heads, do the same for the next letters in the word, blend the sounds into […]

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How decodable books can support language comprehension

Scarborough’s Reading Rope is a wonderful theoretical framework for describing the complexity of reading and what we need to teach children in order to become fluent readers who can comprehend a text successfully. Decoding is on one branch of the rope, and language comprehension is on the other branch. These become increasingly intertwined as children […]

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Totem and Talisman Testimonial

Totem and talisman blog

In this testimonial Sharon Dheraj shares how she uses the Totem and Talisman series in her classroom. Sharon is a SENCO in a one form entry primary school as well as a specialist teacher and assessor of dyslexia. *** My day-to-day responsibilities include overseeing the operation of the SEND Policy, coordinating provisions for pupils with […]

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What are decodable books?

Beginner reader using a decodable book

Although systematic, synthetic phonics teaching programmes are now a mandatory part of the UK National Curriculum for schools, one of the questions we are most frequently asked is still, ‘What are decodable books?’. Phonic Books co-founder, Tami Reis-Frankfort, provides a brief clarification of the meaning of the term, and explains why decodable books are so […]

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Structured Linguistic Literacy

Dystinct magazine clair wilson

Supporting structured linguistic literacy at home with games and decodable reading books – by Clair Wilson This article was originally published in the January 2023 issue of Dystinct Magazine. Click here for free access to this issue until December 2024. Reading is one of the most important skills we want our children to learn. We […]

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Phonics is just part of the story…

I love the way Christopher Such writes about teaching reading, and if you haven’t read his book The Art and Science of Teaching Primary Reading – do.  I have found it is very accessible and really useful for busy teachers to keep up with recent research into reading instruction. What I like most about his […]

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Moon Dogs Extras – Independent Review

Md extras covers fans uk 790x900

Ann Sullivan of Phonics for Pupils with Special Educational Needs, is an experienced SEND teacher, who has created her own phonics programme specifically for SEND children.  This is what she has to say about our latest set of Books: Moon Dogs Extras for Catch-Up Readers. If there is one question I am asked more than […]

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Split digraph, Vowel+e, Bossy e, Silent e, magic e – why and how to teach it

The split digraphs a-e, e-e, i-e, o-e, u-e are very common spellings.  They have different names: Silent e, Magic e, Vowel Consonant e, Bossy e, Split digraphs.  Many children struggle to read words with these spelling patterns, so we need to teach them explicitly. Why do we have these spelling patterns in English? The ‘e’ […]

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This summer – an opportunity for catch up reading

Here we are in the last term of school and soon the summer will be upon us. It is really important that during this summer, the ‘summer slump’ of learning loss will not add to the learning loss that has already impacted so many children during the last two years.  A good way to prevent […]

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How to organise your decodable books

Many teachers are now using decodable books to help their beginner readers practice the phonics taught in the classroom lessons.  This is because it is now accepted that decodable texts, which are controlled texts, help children develop decoding, and decoding ability is an essential skill for learning to read. It is important that the books […]

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