Phonemic Awareness

WHAT?

The ability to identify, access and differentiate sounds in words. In LaunchPad, the focus is on first, middle and last sounds.

WHY?

Phonemic awareness is a strong predictor of reading success, and explicit instruction in phonemic awareness fast-tracks the learn-to-read process. This means that children who demonstrate strong phonemic awareness go on to become better readers, sooner.

Phonics

WHAT?

The ability to identify a symbol (i.e. letter) and access the sound it represents.

WHY?

Phonics builds on phonemic awareness. Once your child is aware of the sounds of English, they are ready to learn the letters that represent those sounds.

Automatic access to phonics is fundamental to reading words and acquiring word attack skills in LiftOff, giving your child the tool kit to confidently approach reading all kinds of texts.

Grapheme Blending

WHAT?

Combining the skills of phonemic awareness and phonics, grapheme blending is the ability to instantly recognise letters, automatically access the sounds, and blend the sounds together in any order or sequence. Blending is the main tool by which students should attempt to read unfamiliar words.

WHY?

One step short of reading, grapheme blending provides a fundamental understanding of how sounds are related to written language, and the confidence to apply the skills to real texts, such as stories.

Sight Words

WHAT?

Words which appear frequently and usually do not have a clear letter-sound relationship, for example, words like ‘one’, ‘the’ and ‘was’.

WHY?

Sight words are critical to reading. Your child will be taught to identify words that appear frequently but do not have a clear letter-sound relationship (sight words) to build fluency, and therefore reading comprehension.