This reference work has been developed for the benefit of classroom teachers and all those interested in literacy.
It is preceded by a short theoretical paper about English spelling. For more information, and the option to purchase a copy for £2.50 (download) or £8.50 (paperback) please go to the lulu.com website.
To download a pdf of the document follow this link... Letters & Sounds
Given the amount of controversy there has been in Parliament and the media recently concerning dyslexia and failures in contemporary literacy tuition, we feel it is particularly timely to present the data in this report, which builds a very strong case in favour of Sounds~Write - a genuine linguistic phonic programme for teaching literacy. The first Sounds~Write training courses were trialled in March 2003. From the outset we were determined to investigate the outcomes of teaching with the programme. Success for any literacy tuition programme can only be measured in terms of the numbers of pupils taught by it who actually end up literate, by which we include being able to both read and write. We have therefore started the process of tracking pupils taught by the Sounds~Write approach during their first four years of primary schooling, i.e., from the start of Reception until the end of Year Three. We now have data on a total of over 3500 pupils drawn from classes in thirty-six state primary schools geographically located in three different parts of the United Kingdom.
The full story so far is contained in this pdf file... soundswrite_report_on_data_collection_2008.pdf
Here are two sections from the Sounds~Write Data Report for 2007, which are not contained in the 2008 report:
Gender difference and slower starting learners: Sounds~Write data from the 2007 report
Reading Age data in Y1 & Y2 for pupils taught using Sounds~Write (from the 2007 report)
Common Spellings of the Consonants & Vowels
The Reading Reform Foundation:
Particularly their Discussion Forum:
http://rrf.org.uk/messageforum/
Times Educational Supplement:
Select ‘Browse Forums’ and go to ‘Early Years’, where there are usually threads running on how to teach reading and spelling.
Susan Godsland's Website:
For its encyclopaedic knowledge of everything and anything to do with debates about the teaching of reading and spelling.
Dandelion Readers from Phonic Books: