Phonics games and the sound of “au” and “aw”
Phonics games, memory aids, actions and humour are all great ways to engage children with key skills in learning to read.
au – “au” haul – Make “au” with your hands, then pull really hard to haul them up a hill. The fauna of an area is the set of animals from that area. Kangaroos, Tasmanian devils, Cape Barren geese, echidnas and wombats are part of the fauna of Tasmania. (Video 1)
aw – “aw” awful – Make “aw” with your hands. Bend the middle finger of the “w” down to make the tongue stick out. Then make an awful face. Can you yawn as wide as this hippopotamus? (Video 2)
Phonic Comic 2/25 – Paul, crawl, draw, scrawl – What has baby Paul done? (Video 3)
Stop the video whenever necessary for your child to work out a word before the answer is given. Talk about what might happen next.
Er/ar/or game – Games are a good way to practise key skills. Group “er”, “ir” and “ur” which say /er/, also “or”, “au” and “aw” which say /or/. How could you adapt this game if you don’t have it on a computer? (Video 4)
Letter Cards Bingo – How do you get reluctant readers to practise? Phonics games are a key!!! Adapt, adapt, adapt … Draw a 3×3 grid on a piece of A4 card. Make cards with the memory aids and the letter combinations to practise. Small versions of the memory aid cards are available at Memory Aids Bookmark. Make a small set of sound cards (/er/, /ar/, /or/, /oo…oo/ as in look…food, /oy/ and /ow/. Then follow the directions on the video, but pull the sound cards out of a hat instead of clicking the ear. (Video 5)
Click on the bottom right hand corner of each video to see it full screen. If you have trouble seeing the videos try au , aw, Phonic Comics 2/25, er/ar/or game, Letter Cards Bingo
All illustrations for Phonic Comic books © A. H. M. Wherrett, 2004.
Thanks to Bonorong Wildlife Park, Brighton, Tasmania for permission to film fauna. Thanks to Mark Sands for the video of yawn, and thanks to Hanover Adventure Zoo, Germany for permission to film it.
To see the other videos go to Videos for Children
Print the book easy 2-25 back-to-back on A4 paper, cut across the centre on the line, assemble, fold and staple.
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