Children entering Phase 6 know most of the common grapheme—phoneme correspondences (GPCs). They may be able to read many words in three ways:

• reading the words automatically if they are very familiar.
• decoding them quickly as there blending routine is now well established.
• decoding them aloud. Those children who are non-verbal may still have the ability to learn Phase 6, blending and segmenting without saying the sounds themselves.

The purpose of this phase is for applying all the skills and knowledge that the children have learnt at speed and they may be able to decode more complex words by sounding them out.

They will also begin to learn about suffixes and prefixes. At this stage children may be reading  longer and less familiar texts independently with increasing fluency.The shift from learning to read to reading to learn takes place and children can begin to read for information and pleasure.

To become successful readers, children must then understand what they read. They need to learn a range of comprehension strategies and should be supported to reflect on their understanding and learning.

It is still important  that children continue to have opportunities  to listen to experienced readers reading aloud and develop a love of reading.

Activities/Ideas for Home

• Continue to practice recognition and recall of Phase 2, 3 and 5 graphemes as they are learned. Use flashcards/ matching activities etc.
• Phonics games on computer/apps.
• Share a wide range of texts, including , fiction and non-fiction.
• Spelling activities — this can be done using  building bricks with letters stuck on them, cut out letters, on a computer/tablet keyboard or handwritten.
• Comprehension activities:

          -In a book that the child can already read fluently, ask simple questions, e.g. Who went to the                         shops?,  What did Dad hear?

          -In a book that the child can already read fluently, ask them to explain what has happened so far in               what they have read.

• Twinkl has a wide range of reading, comprehension activities.