1. website: www.funphonicsreaders.com
Channel: www.youtube.com/funphonicsreaders
view sample stories: www.funphonicsreaders.com/samples.html
Fun Phonics Readers
for Finding Out
"Fun Phonics Readers are excellent. They are exactly
what Finding Out has needed for a long time."
David Paul
2. Fun Phonics Readers
Companion Readers for Finding Out
Features
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Matching Phonics / Language / Vocabulary with Finding Out
Color-coding for easy recognition, reading & pronunciation
Big, colorful A4 format with 20 great stories in each book
Easy to follow index minimises preparation time
Constant recycling of phonics & vocabulary
Gradual building of word count
Clear, stimulating illustrations
Easily understandable font
3. Matching Phonics / Language / Vocabulary with Finding Out
Fun Phonics Readers have been written so that every book contains a story matching
the phonics, vocabulary or language structure of each unit of the respective Finding
Out text. This accounts for 15 of the 20 stories in each book. The additional 5 stories
are review stories spread throughout each book.
The purpose of this is that not only do we want our reading program to develop
students’ reading fluency and decoding skills, but also to allow students to reinforce,
review and see the language that they are studying in context, hence helping them to
absorb language at a deeper level.
Easy to Use Index
An easy to understand index has been included in each book primarily for the
teacher’s benefit. At a glance, the index shows what story numbers match what
Finding Out units, phonics, vocabulary or language structure targeted in the given
story and also the language reviewed and recycled. With its ease of use, the index is
designed to minimise preparation time when planning classes.
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4. Color-coding for easy recognition, reading & pronunciation
Fun Phonics Readers also include color-coding for phonically irregular words.
Color-coding is incorporated to make phonetically irregular words easier for students to
recognise, decode and for ease of reading and pronunciation.
There are 3 different types of color-codes in the books; pink, red and green letters:
Pink Letters
These are ‘silent’, or non-pronounced
letters such as house, mouse, kite, hole,
white, have, are etc. Again , for easy
recognition and pronunciation.
Red Letters
Are pronounced as long vowels, such
as in ‘magic e’ words such as cake, kite
and hole. Also for words not containing
the ‘magic e’ but containing long
vowel sounds such as great, he, she etc.
Green ‘y’
This is the ending -y in such words as
happy, funny angry, sleepy etc. It is
color-coded green for easy reading
and pronunciation.
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5. 20 story format: An affordable reading program for any school!
Unlike the majority of children’s readers available on the market, Fun Phonics Readers
have been produced in a big A4, full color format with 20 stories per book. The reasons
behind this decision are:
We wanted to produce a book that contained a lot of fun, colourful and interesting
illustrations to guide and aid students as they read stories and to also stimulate their
interest in the books.
However, the biggest reason for producing the readers in this format was the
affordability to schools and teachers. We found from our own experience that if we
wished to implement a reading program in classes where all students were able to read
the same stories in class at the same time, with all other readers on the market where
individual stories were produced in individual books and then sold as sets, this meant
that our school had to buy between 6 – 12 sets of each book. The cost of this can run
into thousands of dollars and become a huge expense for small schools.
This is why we have produced a set of books that contain 20 stories per book. For the
majority of school’s business models, it is very manageable for them to include one
book to each student per year in the student’s yearly text fee at a very reasonable
price. This is a very affordable and cost effective way to introduce a reading program
into your school.
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6. Constant recycling of phonics, vocabulary & language structures
A fundamental feature of any great reader is recycling of vocabulary. The more often
students ‘meet’ phonics, vocabulary and language structures, the better chance they
have of retaining and being able to use that language. When developing Fun Phonics
Readers we have worked very hard to maximise the number of high frequency words
and to recycle all the critical components of Finding Out. These being the phonics,
vocabulary and language structures. Again, this will help our students to absorb the
language they are studying in class at a deeper level, allow them to review and
reinforce language and strengthen their English skills.
Gradual building of word count
It is also important to choose readers that have a gradual increase in word
count. As teachers, we don’t want students to become overwhelmed with a
word count that is too high in their reading activities. In saying that, we also
want to challenge and encourage our students to develop their reading skills
and ability. It is wise to choose readers with a steady, gradual increase in
word count. Again, all stories in Fun Phonics Readers have been extensively
‘classroom tested’ and we feel we have found a good balance between not
overwhelming students, while still challenging our students to become
better readers.
Easily understandable font
When choosing a reader suitable for our school and students, we obviously want to
choose a reader with a very simple, generic style font that is easy to understand and
matches the writing style the students are learning. The font used in Fun Phonics
Readers matches the font used in Finding Out, avoiding confusion for students, as can
be seen below.
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
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7. Clear, stimulating illustrations to aid the reader
Illustrations account for a huge part of a reader. Well illustrated readers should
stimulate the children and clearly illustrate the language they are intended to
complement.
While overly detailed illustrations may stimulate the reader, we also need
to be careful not to include too much detail in illustrations, to avoid
confusing the reader. The most effective illustrations will complement the
language by clearly and unambiguously illustrating the meaning of the
language it relates to.
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8. Website & Channel
For more information about Fun Phonics Readers, please visit our website:
@ www.funphonicsreaders.com
To view tutorial videos about how to use readers effectively in classes,
drop by our Youtube Channel. New videos constantly uploaded, so please
check back regularly:
www.youtube.com/funphonicsreaders.com
View sample stories at:
www.funphonicsreaders.com/samples.html
For questions and enquiries, please contact Greg on:
greg@funphonicsreaders.com
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