Juliette Schneiderman is a specialist literacy support teacher based in London. She teaches primary children in a mainstream school where she works with children on a one-to-one basis as a literacy support teacher two days a week. She also has a private practice, Star Learning, for children with specific learning differences. We sat down with her to find out about her experience of using Phonic Books with her students.
Juliette has been using Phonic Books for years and says “they are central to my teaching.”
She has used a wide range of beginner reader series including Dandelion Launchers to practice CVC words and Dandelion Readers, especially to practise split digraph spellings. The phonics focus is clearly marked on each book making it “easy to step up and down to match a student’s reading level.” “For example, if we’re working on the sound pattern ‘ai’, I will start with a multi-sensory activity. We might make a paper chain for the ‘ai’ memory hook. The student will write down the ‘ai’ family words at single level and step up to writing them at sentence level. This is then integrated with reading Dandelion Readers Level 4, The Mail. It’s so helpful that it has the single words at the start of the book to practise reading before the story. I will ask the student to find words on each page with the ‘ai’ pattern for reinforcement. If I’m working with a more able learner, I’ll introduce all the “long a” vowel spelling patterns and, using a whiteboard, ask the pupil to sort the different spellings in different colours. We will then read the book for further practice and consolidation.”
Juliette uses the catch-up series for older readers too. “I’m currently using Magic Belt and it’s very good for children with specific learning differences. I have a Year 4 child and I wanted to find a book for him with chapters. Once children hit Year 3 and Year 4, they want to be like their friends. Children with SpLD lack confidence and self-esteem and are very aware of what they can and can’t do. You have some children walking around with chunky Harry Potter books and the children who are really struggling with their reading are desperate to be on chapter books. With Phonic Books, I can say ‘you’re on a chapter book now’ and they are excited and are more engaged with what they are reading.” “I use Talisman all the time. The children love the storyline and the vocabulary list at the beginning is very useful to develop their language.”
Juliette uses the activity books for her students to reinforce the phonics skills taught in each lesson. “I like the games. I don’t want the whole lesson to be pen and paper based. Children love a dice game and I try and use enticing resources to make the lessons more fun. I use highlighters, glitter pens, pens with lights, light up writing boards…anything to make it more interesting. The activity books have writing and comprehension-based activities which are great follow-up activities for home learning. All children need a lot of repetition so it’s very practical. What I like about your programme is that it’s very systematic and very user-friendly. I don’t use any other series because I like this one so much.”