The River Trip: Reinforces The Phonic Sounds 'au' and 'aw' - Teacher Notes

'The River Trip' is a teacher's resource that serves to enhance children's understanding of various phonic sounds, including 'au', 'aw', 'gh', 'ght', 'wa', 'qua', and 'war'. This educational tool is part of the Learn To Read With Phonics Reading Packs, which aim to teach children to read within a six-month period. The resource is versatile, catering to a wide audience from the age of four and upwards, and is particularly beneficial for reluctant readers aged 7 to 9+, children with learning difficulties, and those learning English as a foreign language. The packs are designed for use in either one-to-one sessions or in small group settings, involving a teacher or a parent/guardian working alongside the child.

The reading packs offer a structured approach, incorporating 44 phonic sounds into engaging texts. As children follow the adventures of a character named Sam, they are encouraged to look for hidden sounds within the story, gradually building up their knowledge of the sounds that make up 80% of the English language. This method of breaking down words into sounds or syllables enables rapid progression in reading skills. Additional stories within the series, such as 'The Bouncing Castle' and 'The Famous Cousin From The Country', reinforce more complex sounds. Upon completion, children are prepared to advance to independent reading of books like Roald Dahl's 'Georges Marvellous Medicine' and 'Fantastic Mr Fox'. The packs also include cut-out practice pages to aid memory retention, and their simple text and colourful sketches are designed to captivate young readers. For optimal results, it is recommended to start with packs that teach initial sounds and progress through a suggested sequence of phonic sounds, eventually moving on to more complex linguistic elements like prefixes and suffixes.