| Background The students of this primary school needed support to improve their pronunciation, interest, and confidence in speaking English. To make sure that students could learn systematically and progressively, the teachers decided to use phonics as an entry point to plan the curriculum holistically. A holistic plan and a suggested framework for phonics teaching and learning were devised for P1 to P4. |
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Objectives
- To improve students' interest and confidence in speaking English
- To improve the pronunciation of major letter sounds through the teaching of phonics
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Implementation
Action plan
Stage |
Procedures |
Remark |
1 |
- Devise a holistic plan
 based on students' learning needs.
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- Minimal pairs which may cause confusion will be grouped and taught in the same unit.
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2 |
- Work out steps for the teaching of letter sounds.
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3 |
- Design phonics units following the steps.
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4 |
- Try out the units.
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A sample unit
Unit
Learning more about 'b', 'p', 'd' and 't'
Level
P1
Learning objectives
- To improve students' interest and confidence in speaking English
- To improve the pronunciation of 'b', 'p', 'd' and 't' through the teaching of phonics
Tasks
Sing songs and recite poems in an animal parade
Materials used
Tailor-made materials by teachers
Unit plan
Lesson |
Learning & teaching procedures |
Remark |
1 |
- Read animal poems (P.1) consisting of words with the target sounds 'b'' and 'p'.
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- The poems can also be sung to the tune of 'Mary had a little lamb' to motivate less able students.
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2 |
- Identify the target sounds in the poems. Listen and read after teachers.
- Skywrite the letters.
- Read phonics notes and worksheet 1 (Part A, P.1) to learn more about the differences of the two sounds.
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3 |
- Complete the exercises in the phonics notes.
- Keep the phonics notes in a file to promote self-learning.
- Play phonics games to revisit the target sounds: Fold a piece of paper. Write 'b' on one half and 'p' on the other. Then cut up the paper. Listen to the teacher read aloud a word with 'b' or 'p'. Hold up the right piece of paper.
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4 |
- Read animal poems (P.2) consisting of words with the target sounds 'd' and 't'.
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- The poems can also be sung to the tune of 'Mary had a little lamb' to motivate less able students.
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5 |
- Identify the target sounds in the poems. Listen and read after teachers.
- Skywrite the letters.
- Read phonics notes and worksheet 2 (Part A, P.1) to learn more about the differences of the two sounds.
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6 |
- Complete the exercises in the phonics notes.
- Keep the phonics notes in a file to promote self-learning.
- Play phonics games to revisit the target sounds: Fold a piece of paper. Write'd' on one half and't' on the other. Then cut up the paper. Listen to the teacher read aloud a word with 'd' or 't'. Hold up the right piece of paper.
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7 |
- Display word cards with the target sounds both inside and outside classroom.
- Play songs with the target sounds during recess time.
- Consolidate the four target letter sounds through language games. (Video
 )
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8-9 |
- Sing the animal parade song. Form groups and take on different roles.
- Prepare animal headbands.
- Take part in an animal parade. Each group sings the animal parade song together. Then take turns to recite the animal poems with gestures. Then sing the animal parade song again to end the parade.
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Acknowledgements
All English teachers, including the NET
Hing Tak School
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