Please note: this table scrolls horizontally.
| Level | Phonological skills | Phonics knowledge | Decoding and encoding strategy | Reading and Spelling | Comprehension and writing | High frequency words |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All levels 1 – 7 Progressively develop these skills: | Linking spelling pattern to pronunciation. Ability to manipulate phonemes. Wordchain apps, making ‘big’ words with letter tiles. Word building activities, Phoneme manipulation The phonological awareness assessment on the Agility of Sound website measures these skills. | Slow progression. Assumes most older children have some basic phonics knowledge, that phonological and decoding skills are the primary barriers. Wordchain and letter tiles develop phonics knowledge in context of real words The spelling assessments on the Agility with Sound website measures phonics knowledge. | Teaching the repeating structures of words, and how to blend and spell efficiently. Fluency sheets, sliders. Wordchain apps teach how to analyse words with slow button. Challenge sheets: how to analyse multi-syllable word and identify known parts. The decoding assessment on the Agility with Sound website measures skill in this area. | All books strictly decodable, limited high frequency words, no surprises. Junior collection contains books on themes appropriate for Yrs 4 - 6 Senior collection contains books on themes appropriate for Yrs 7 - 10 Composite collection contains all books, some suitable for all ages, some targeted at younger or older students Dictation at levels 1 – 7 Students learn to hold sentence in memory, to use ‘spelling voice’, with focus on new phonics. High frequency words from books included. Punctuation features progressively added. | Modelled comprehension: all books scripted in manual for comprehension strategies. Books used as springboard for writing from level 3. Most books contain new vocabulary, with explicit cues to infer meaning | Phonological awareness manual gives strategies for teaching ‘irregular’ high frequency words. Stories in manuals, semi-fictional or entirely fictional, explain features such as silent letters, qu, the o in money etc. |
| Level 1 | Substituting one sound in cvc words. Adding s suffix Double final consonant (mess, will, cuff) Wordchain 1 | 5 short vowels, single consonants in most common pronunciation. ve in have, live, give Double final consonant: will, toss, cuff | Onset -rime blending. (b+ut, c+at) Adding s suffix as c+at = cat +s =cats | Read and Draw: read a simple cvc sentence, draw, 4 per page. 16 files Mini books on USB: 10 books of 4 pages, read and draw 19 books 4 books cvc 5 books cvc +s 14 cvc + double final consonant. Basic dictation with cvc words, most common high frequency words. Capital letter, full stop. | Visualising. All books replicated on USB, student to illustrate captioned spaces. | I, a, the, said, he, she, what, so, no, to, go, and, my nice, like, or, for, look, come, some, see, went, was, you, too, are, one, want, good. |
| Level 2 | Adding simple suffix to cvc words. Substituting one element Wordchain 1 | th, sh, ch, wh Suffixes ing, ed, er, y | Onset-rime-suffix blending f+unn =funn+y=funny | 23 books 6 introduce th, sh, ch, wh 4 introduce ing, ed, er 13 add in y making ee (funny) Dictation adds question mark, exclamation mark | Visualising and summarising. Some books presented as standard text and then as a play. | they, came, done, your, our, down, who, there, your, where, here, why, goes, does, food, their, out, about. |
| Level 3 | Adding simple suffix to cvc words and words with vowel-digraph rime. Wordchain 2 | ck, ay, -all words Suffixes le, ly, et, en, led y as in my | Blending initial consonant or known digraph with vck Extend onset-rime-suffix blending skill | 16 books 7 add in ay, ck, le only 8 add in -all, and ly, et en suffixes Dictation: adds quotation marks | Writing introduced. Student writes short piece to complete story, create a list of points and other writing activities. | cook, now, sea |
| Level 4 | Adding initial blends, ability to add/ delete phonemes in blends | Initial blends, ng, ar | Adding initial blends to onset-rime-suffix blending strategy | 20 books 4 introduce initial blends 5 add in ng 11 add in ar Dictation: all basic punctuation. | Extending skills from level 3, with greater emphasis on writing. Paragraphing introduced. | tree, boot |
| Level 5 | Identifying n,m in final blends. Triple initial blends. Blends with digraphs (shrill, munch) Adding, deleting and substituting phonemes in blends. Extending skill in substituting suffixes and vowels. Wordchain 2 | Final blends Triple initial blends | cc + vcc + suffix blending strategy. Double suffixes blending strategy (ingly, ered) | 22 books All include final blends Final 8 add in double suffixes Dictation: all basic punctuation. | Increasing focus on writing structure and genres. Introduction, sequence of 2, 3 or 4 paragraphs, conclusion. Genres include summarising, compare and contrast, problem/ solution. Vocabulary development includes interesting words to use in each writing task. | No new irregular high frequency words |
| Level 6 | Substituting up to three elements in words Wordchain 3 | a_e, e_e, i_e o-e double vs single consonants (tinny vs tiny, hopping vs hoping) ee, ea, or ce, ge | Context determines pronunciation of vowel. | 15 books 2 with a_e 5 add i_e, o_e 1 adds ee, ea 7 add or | Writing: genres now include inferencing outcomes, developing an argument. | No new irregular high frequency words |
| Level 7 | As above Wordchain 4 | (In sequence) ai, oa, oo (as in look and moon) ou (as in loud) ur, ir ear (as in earth), u_e r- controlled vowels (air, are, ore etc), ew, aw, au, oi, ue Basic prefixes: ex, in/im, pre, con, pro | Blending strategy: Prefix + onset + rime + suffix | 17 books, one or two new digraphs added successively | Continuing writing skills developed at levels 5 and 6 | No new irregular high frequency words |
| Level 8 | 1. Complex suffixes (tion, ous etc) Additional prefixes 2. Less common vowel and consonant graphemes e.g. multiple spellings of ‘or’ ‘ee’ etc. ti, ci,etc making ‘sh’ | Identify prefixes, suffixes, blends, rimes, double consonants indicating short vowel, ce/ci etc patterns in multi-syllable words. Two or more prefixes/ suffixes in series. How to blend these units efficiently. | pelling chart summarises all patterns learnt thus far. 3 books |