English Resource Description
In the second day of Week 1's phonics lessons, the spotlight is on the phoneme /j/ and its corresponding grapheme . The objective of the day is to familiarize students with the /j/ sound, introduced through an engaging flashcard featuring a Jellyfish Making a Wish. The lesson begins with a Word Breaker activity, where the teacher says a word aloud, and the children are tasked with breaking it down into its individual sounds before saying it together as a whole word, reinforcing their segmentation skills.
The teaching segment involves a captivating story about a jellyfish celebrating her birthday, which cleverly emphasizes the /j/ sound. Children are encouraged to mimic the action of a jellyfish moving through the water while making the /j/ sound. Practising the grapheme involves finger writing in the air or on a friend's back, followed by a Word Sort activity where words are sorted under the correct pictophone, Jellyfish or Goat, based on their starting phoneme. The practice session is interactive, with children assisting in spelling words that start with /j/ or other phonemes. To apply their learning, the children engage in a Phrase Draw activity, decoding words and illustrating them on their whiteboards. Extension activities such as Chalk and Letter Hunt are suggested to further consolidate the day's learning. The lesson plan explains that the Word Breaker activity is crucial for practising segmenting, a skill necessary for spelling, which contrasts with blending where phonemes are combined to form words.
