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Handy A5 learning-leaflets for pre-schools/kindergartens, primary
schools, secondary schools, colleges, universities and adult training centres

For learners of all ages and abilities,
including those who are gifted and talented and
those who have learning difficulties or disabilities.

And those learning English as an Additional Language (EAL),
including children and teachers in Partner/Twin Schools.

Use our learning-leaflets to help learners:
● Say the right sounds when they read.
● Choose the right letters when they spell.

In England and Wales, 45,000 copies of the GUIDE were distributed to
subscribers to the Times Educational Supplement (TES), on 4 February 2012.
In Southern Africa, the GUIDE and CHECK are available through BidVest Paperplus
and are being researched in South Africa by the CrawfordSchools^TM (part of the ADvTECH
Group). The learning-leaflets are also available through World Links Zimbabwe, in Harare.

The Sounds Check takes 5-10 minutes and the Spellings Check takes 5-10 minutes. Therefore, the total time is 10-20 minutes - for a very thorough check of a learner's knowledge of the 44 sounds and 120 key spellings of English. If a permanent record is required of each learner's ability to write the spellings, rather than just naming the letters aloud, groups or classes can do the 'Spellings Check' at the same time.

We recommend that each child or adult learner has two copies of the Guide - one to use for practice at school or their place of work and one to use for practice at home (ideally, with the help of family and/or friends). Once the teaching sessions and the official check have been completed, these handy guides can then be used as an aid for reading and spelling other English words.

We recommend that each child or adult learner has three copies of the Check - one to use for practice at school or their place of work, one to use for practice at home (ideally, with the help of family and/or friends) and one for the day of the official check, so that their school or place of work has a permanent record of their scores and of any Sound Check errors (the circled bold key spellings) and Spelling Check errors (the circled written spellings). For remediation, use the S-33 Spelling Group Workbook, which has ten words for each of the 120 key spellings.

SHOP

SHOP

If you need to help a learner, or a group or class of learners, a great resource is S-27, our 36-page full colour KEYWORDS FOR ENGLISH PHONICS A4 BOOK (or larger A3 BIG BOOK, S-28), especially the 'I CAN', 'I KNOW THAT' and 'GUIDANCE NOTES' pages. We hope that you will be impressed by the logic and sense of our 'pictures-first' approach, especially our systematic charts, for helping learners fully understand the 44 sounds and 120 key spellings of English.

Our 'pictures-first' approach is for teachers and parents who believe that pre-school children, school children and all other learners of English, should first be encouraged to discuss the pictures, illustrations and text in books and, whenever appropriate during these discussions, helped to guess the pronunciation of new words by using:

1. clues from the pictures and illustrations;
2. the sounds and spellings in the sight words/keywords they can already read (and spell, through naming and forming the letters in these words);
3. their knowledge about the structure of phrases and sentences (grammar), from what they have learned from listening and speaking to others (adults and children); and
4. their knowledge of the world and how it works (context).

"I feel excited about going back to school and teaching phonics now! 
 I now have a better understanding of phonics myself and
the charts are clear and easy to understand." UK, JAN 2012

"Fantastic. Very clear, thorough and helpful. Well done on creating such a
sensible system for reading and spelling in English! SOUTH AFRICA, FEB 2012


BBC documentary, Don't Call Me Stupid, shows British actress
Kara Tointon observing dyslexic pupils using the THRASS resources

Michael Gove (British Secretary of State for Education) has made it a statutory requirement for maintained schools, academies and Free Schools to administer a Phonics Screening Check to all Year 1 children (all six-year-olds) during the week 18-22 June 2012. The test will consist of a list of 40 words and non-words, which each child will read one-to-one with a teacher. To prepare children (and teachers!) for this test, schools that use tablets (e.g. iPad) may like to consider using our English Phonics Test app (£2.49 from the App Store or Android Market) or the 'Level 4-Whole Chart-Time' option in our computer/laptop software programme S-20 SOUND IT OUT (£5 per computer).

The app/software uses keywords (each with a memorable picture) to introduce, revise and test the user’s knowledge of the 44 sounds and 120 key spelling choices of English. The superb interactive Word Bank, which has a Family Word Selector to automatically produce a list of 10 words for each of the key spellings, can be used for practice and remediation (along with, if desired, the workbooks S-31 Spelling List Workbook and S-33 Spelling Group Workbook).

The test can be completed in rows, sections or 'Whole Chart' and is suitable for children (aged 4+) and adults.

English Phonics Test: the low-cost simple solution pdf

English Phonics Test      SOUND IT OUT      Punch-the-Air animation 

The Phoneme Test: Should All Teachers Pass It?
Dyslexia Review, Summer 2000

Why All Teachers Of English Should Be Trained To Use The
THRASS 'Periodic Table Of Phonics’, Invitation Seminar 2003

The basis of the THRASS philosophy and methodology was initially conceived by Alan Davies, using the International Phonetic Alphabet. A copy of the original work was lodged with Stationers Hall Registry, London, England in 1989.  The first THRASS phonographic charts and resources were published in England in 1992 and 1994.  In 1995, Alan was joined in the venture by Denyse Ritchie and together they created and designed the THRASS professional development courses and various THRASS resources. Since April 2005, the courses and resources have been developed and managed in territories. THRASS UK, overseen by Alan Davies, is licensed to serve customers in Europe, Africa (including surrounding islands), the Middle East, South America, Central America (including the West Indies), the United States of America and Central Asia (Pakistan, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan).

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