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ERIC Number: ED479489
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2003-Mar-17
Pages: 8
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Why All Teachers of English Should Be Trained To Use the THRASS "Periodic Table of Phonics."
Davies, Alan
At a literacy conference in December 1998, British Prime Minister Tony Blair defined phonics as "the skilled process of teaching children how the 44 sounds in the English language are represented by a letter or group of letters." But 4 years down the track, several recent reports from both national and international bodies continue to draw attention to the fact that many primary school teachers in England are not confident in teaching the 44 phonemes ("sounds") of spoken English and the graphemes ("letter or group of letters") of written English. This paper discusses the "Periodic Table of Phonics" (the THRASS Graphemechart), which was written and designed by the author in consultation with the Australian educator Denyse Ritchie. The paper notes that thousands of written evaluations from hundreds of courses worldwide can be viewed by visiting the TRAINING section in any of the main THRASS websites. It comments on many other papers and discussions about teaching phonics and reading. The paper gives 10 reasons why all teachers of English should be trained to use the THRASS resources, especially the "THRASS Periodic Table of Phonics." It challenges the National Literacy Strategy (NLS) to prove that their materials can be used to teach 25 five-year-olds to read, stating that the author will do the same using the THRASS materials and resources. The paper contends that the NLS has failed to provide primary teachers in England with the knowledge and skills to teach phonics with confidence and efficiency. (Contains 19 references.) (NKA)
For full text: http://www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/pdf/literacy/adavies_phonics.pdf.
Publication Type: Opinion Papers; Speeches/Meeting Papers
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: United Kingdom
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A