Donald’s - Learn The Phonic Sound au and aw (author, straw) - Teacher Notes

Donald's: Learn The Phonic Sound au and aw is an educational resource designed to support children in learning to read through phonics. These reading packs are particularly effective for children aged 4 and above, including those who may be reluctant readers aged 7 to 9 or older, as well as children with learning difficulties or for whom English is an additional language. The packs provide a structured approach, ideally used in one-to-one sessions or small groups, involving a teacher, parent, or guardian working alongside the child.

The course is built around 44 phonic sounds, which are incorporated into engaging texts that follow the adventures of a character named Sam. As children read through the stories, they are encouraged to look for hidden sounds, gradually building their ability to decode 80% of words in the English language by breaking them into sounds or syllables. The method is designed for quick progression, with the aim that by the end of the course, children will be prepared to read independently, moving on to books such as Roald Dahl's 'George's Marvellous Medicine' and 'Fantastic Mr Fox'. The packs also include cut-out practice pages and fun colour sketches to help cement the sounds in the child's memory. To achieve the best results, it is recommended to start with packs that focus on initial sounds for complete non-readers, and then progress through a specified order of phonic sounds, building up to more complex sounds and eventually prefixes and suffixes.