How to Use this Book Phonics games
This book contains four different kinds of phonics game, one of which is used on the first page of every unit to introduce the sounds being taught. Nonsense words have been included in the games to encourage pupils to practise their decoding skills and to challenge those who have a tendency to learn words by sight.
A monkey or a raccoon character appears at the bottom of the page, offering tips on how to replay the game at home to further consolidate learning.
Detailed instructions for playing the phonics games can be found on page vi.
Phonics linked with comprehension
Vocabulary containing the sounds taught within the unit has been incorporated into the comprehension reading passages wherever possible. This helps to bridge the gap between phonics and real reading practice, rather than teaching both in isolation. An owl character appears before each reading passage, asking pupils to look out for certain sounds in the text.
Vocabulary development
A meerkat character appears before each reading passage, asking pupils to explain the bold words in the text to their partner before reading. This is designed to facilitate the teaching of tricky vocabulary prior to reading the text.
Higher order comprehension questions
At this level, pupils are being introduced to answering written, lower order thinking questions. In order to ensure that higher order thinking skills are not overlooked, a list of questions is provided online for each reading passage, allowing teachers to develop these skills orally.
Genre writing
The Word Wizard series takes a unique approach to genre writing. The reading passage serves as a template for the genre. The teacher can refer to this while outlining the parts (structure) of the genre, by asking pupils to highlight or use yellow stickies to identify various elements. Discrete oral language activities act as building blocks for genre writing, and grammar activities are linked to the genre wherever appropriate.
At this level, genre writing follows a six-week approach, with a fortnight spent on each unit. Generally, three units are dedicated to each genre as follows: the first explores the parts of the genre, the second presents both modelled and shared writing experiences and the third gives pupils an opportunity to write independently. (Please note that recount writing differs somewhat.)
Detailed teaching notes are available online, outlining the steps for progressing through each of the stages. YouTube links have been included to act as a stimulus for writing wherever appropriate.
iv STOP
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122
