Extended Code: Years 1 and 2

When beginning Extended Code children will already be able to blend, segment and manipulate sounds, use adjacent consonants, and know the concept of ‘two letters, one sounds’.

For children who are not secure in these sounds, or in the recognition of Initial Code spellings, interventions will be put in place to ensure gaps are filled as the children keep up their Extended Code learning with the rest of the class.

Knowledge and Progression – When teaching the Extended Code we begin by teaching the children that a target sound can have multiple spellings. Each explicit unit that is taught focuses on one sound. There are 11 non-explicit units which are woven into others (Using Lesson 10 – One Spelling, Different Sounds), this teaches the children the concept that one spelling can represent more than one sounds (for example <ea> can represent the sounds /ee/, /ae/ and /e/). The sounds and spellings are presented in the order which allows pupils to read the greatest number of words as early as possible. Some sounds have an earlier unit which teaches the ‘first spellings’ (those most common), and a later unit which teaches ‘more spellings’ which are less common.

Session content and sequence – Every lesson begins with ‘Word Puzzles’. Within this section children learn to blend and segment, read and write, words with the different spellings of the target sounds. This is always followed by ‘One Sound, Different Spellings’ reading and writing words, and sorting them into the spellings of the sound.

The third section of each session either: reviews a sound that has previously been taught, reading and writing words, and sorting them by the spelling of the sound; reviews the current unit, or a previous unit sound, using ‘Seek the Sound’, looking for the sound and it’s spellings in a text; Or teaches the non-explicit units ‘One Spelling, Different Sounds’.

At the end of each lesson children alternately read or write sentences.

Rehearsal and consolidation – The children’s conceptual understanding grows with repeated exposure and through sensory manipulation of the material we are working with. For this reason the more practical and verbal the activities the more they are able to remember what has been taught.

Timing and Pace – All children begin to learn Extended Code on Day 1 of Year 1. This should not be delayed for any child, even if gaps are evident in their ‘Initial Code’ knowledge. This can be filled with intervention outside of the whole class lesson, words within lessons can be differentiated to meet their needs, and scaffolding put in place to ensure that they keep up.