Hello everyone. My name is Kate and I'm excited that today we are going to learn about our
very last group of phonemes. In these lessons we are going to learn about the sounds that
we hear in words and the letters that we use to read and write them. This is called phonics.
Remember, in these lessons we are learning about the sounds that make up words and that
these sounds are called phonemes. It is important for you to learn about this because knowing
about how we make sounds will make it easier for you to learn to read and write. Are your
listening ears ready? Let's get started. We have been learning about rhyming words. Remember,
rhyming words sound the same at the end. Say these words after me: peg, egg. Do these words
rhyme? Yes, peg and egg rhyme. They sound the same at the end. Listen: peg, egg. Let's
look at some other words.
Say these words after me: snake, sun. Do these words rhyme? No, snake and sun don't rhyme.
They don't sound the same at the end. Listen: snake, sun. These words don't rhyme. Let's
have a look at some more:
tin, tap. Do these words rhyme? tin, tap. No, tin and tap don't rhyme. They don't sound
the same at the end. Say these words after me: tower, flower. Do these words rhyme? Yes,
tower and flower rhyme. They sound the same at the end. Listen: tower, flower. Our last
one for today is: weather, feather. Do these words rhyme? Yes, weather and feather rhyme.
They sound the same at the end. Listen: weather, feather. Now let's look at the alphabet together.
Say them after me as we look at the letters. Are you ready? a b c d e f g h i j k l m n
o p q r s t u v
w x y and z. How did you go? Remember, we have been learning about phonemes. A phoneme
is a single sound in a word. Say it with me: a phoneme is a single sound in a word. Remember
we can hear phonemes and we can say phonemes, but we can't see them. Let's review the phonemes
that we have already learnt. Say them after me:
/l/ /ă/ /f/ /d/ /s/ /oo/ /r/ /ch/ /ī/ /j/ /v/ /m/ /th/ /h/ /ar/ /y/
/ŭ/ /ē/ /oo/ /air/ /t/ /p/ /oi/ /ou/ /z/ /or/ /k/ /er/ /b/ /th/ /ĕ/ /n/ /ā/ /ĭ/
/g/ /ŏ/ /w/ /sh/ /ō/ /ng/
and to make it easier to say that /ng/ phoneme let's add the short vowels: ang, eng, ing,
ong, ung.
That's a lot of phonemes that we have learned. Our first phoneme today is /zh/ as in treasure.
Say it with me: /zh/ as in treasure. What's our new phoneme? /zh/ as in treasure. Make
the /zh/ phoneme with me five times: /zh/ /zh/ /zh/ /zh/ /zh/.
What happens to your mouth when we make a /zh/ phoneme? Is your mouth opened or closed?
/zh/
That's right. Its opened a little bit and your lips are pushed together like this: /zh/.
What's your tongue doing? /zh/. Your tongue is pushed up against your teeth and the air
is coming out of your mouth but its being pushed out past your tongue and your lips
like this: /zh/
Finally let's check to see if we're using our voice box for this phoneme. Put your hand
gently on your throat and make the sound again: /zh/ Did you feel anything? /zh/ Yes, that's
because we're using our voice box for this phoneme. /zh/ is a voiced sound. Make it again
and feel your voice box vibrating: /zh/.
Let's say some words that have the /zh/ phoneme at the end of the word. I'll say the word
and then you say the word, and I want you to listen and feel your mouth making the /zh/
phoneme. Are you ready? Beige, collage, camouflage. Words that have the /zh/ phoneme at the end,
usually come from the French language. These words have a /zh/ phoneme in the middle of
the word. Say them after me: vision, measure, collision, explosion.
Our next phoneme today is a vowel. It is /ear/ as in here. Say it with me: /ear/ as in here.
What's our new phoneme? /ear/ as in here. Make the /ear/ phoneme with me five times.
Are you ready? /ear/ /ear/ /ear/ /ear/ /ear/. Let's look at what happens to your mouth when
you make an /ear/ phoneme. Your mouth actually moves from one position to another position
when making this sound. It begins with your mouth open but in a smiley position and then
as you say the sound your mouth closes a bit like this: /ear/ /ear/. What's your tongue
doing? /ear/ My tongue is lying flat on the bottom of my mouth and the air is coming out
of my mouth. Try it again: /ear/. Finally, let's look to see if we are using our voice
box for this phoneme. Put your hand gently on your throat and make the sound again: /ear/.
Did you feel anything? /ear/ Yes, I can feel my voice box vibrating. Remember that we always
use our voice box when saying vowels. Make it again and feel your voice box vibrating:
/ear/ /ear/. Let's say some words that have the /ear/phoneme at the beginning of the word.
I'll say the word and then you say the word, and I want you to listen and feel your mouth
making the /ear/ phoneme. Are you ready? Ear, eerie, earring.
These words have the /ear/ phoneme at the end of the word. Say them after me: year,
dear, spear, cheer. These words have the /ear/ phoneme in the middle of the word. Say them
after me: beard, fierce, weird. Our next phoneme today is another vowel it is /ū/ as in unicorn.
Say it with me: /ū/ as in unicorn. What's our new phoneme? /ū/ as in unicorn. Make
the /ū/ phoneme with me five times: /ū/ /ū/ /ū/ /ū/ /ū/. Let's look at what happens
to your mouth when you make a /ū/ phoneme. What is your mouth doing? /ū/ Your mouth
actually moves from one position to another position when making this sound. It begins
with your mouth open a bit, and then as you say the sound your lips come together like
this: /ū/ /ū/. What is your tongue doing? /ū/ Your tongue is high at the back of your
mouth and I can actually feel it touching the teeth at the back. Say it again: /ū/
/ū/. The air is coming out of your mouth /ū/ and /ū/ is a really long vowel phoneme
meaning that you can make it for a long time until you run out of air. Finally, let's check
to see if we're using our voice box for this phoneme. Put your hand gently on your throat
and make the sound again: /ū/. Did you feel anything? /ū/ Yes, I can feel my voice box.
Remember that we always use our voice box when saying vowels. Make it again and feel
your voice box vibrating: /ū/ /ū/.
Let's listen to some words that have the /ū/ phoneme at the beginning of the word. I'll
say the word and then you say the word, and I want you to listen and feel your mouth making
the /ū/ phoneme. Are you ready? unit, unicycle, uniform, ukulele. These words have the /ū/
phoneme at the end of the word. Say them after me: argue, barbecue, rescue, nephew. These
words have the /ū/ phoneme in the middle of the word. Say them after me: cube, huge,
music, cute. Our last phoneme is a very special vowel. It is special because in Australia
it is the vowel sound that we use the most when speaking words. It is so special that
it has its own name. It's called a schwa. Can you say that word with me: schwa. Let's
say it again: schwa. Schwa is the short /uh/ sound that we hear at the end of the word
pizza. Say it with me: /uh/ as in pizza. What's our new phoneme? /uh/ as in pizza. Make the
/uh/ phoneme with me five times: /uh/ /uh/ /uh/ /uh/ /uh/.
The schwa phoneme is actually the laziest phoneme because our mouth really doesn't do
much at all. It just opens and the sound comes out like you've been poked in the belly. Let's
look at what happens to your mouth when you make a schwa phoneme. /uh/ Is your mouth open
a bit like mine? /uh/ What's your tongue doing? /uh/ My tongue isn't doing much at all. It's
just low and on the bottom of my mouth and the air is coming out of my mouth: /uh/.
Finally, let's check to see if you're using your voice box for this phoneme. Put your
hand gently on your throat and make that sound again: /uh/. Did you feel anything? /uh/ Yes,
I can feel my voice box vibrating. Remember that we always use our voice box when saying
vowels. Make it again and feel your voice box vibrating: /uh/ /uh/.
Let's listen to some words that have the /uh/ phoneme at the beginning of the word. I'll
say the word and then you say the word, and I want you to listen for the /uh/ phoneme.
Are you ready? Alone, about, alive, asleep. These words have the /uh/ phoneme at the end
of the word. Say them after me: panda, teacher, dollar, lava.
Let's review the four phonemes that we learned today. Say them after me: /zh/ /ear/ /ū/
/uh/.
Let's say them again: /zh/ /ear/ /ū/ /uh/.
Now we're going to use some of those phonemes and join them together to make some words.
Let's start with three phonemes. Are you ready? Say them after me: /c/ /l/ /ear/ - /c/ /l/
/ear/ clear
That's right, the phonemes /c/ /l/ /ear/ join-together to make the word clear. This one also has
three phonemes. Are you ready? Say them after me:
/ā/ /zh/ uh/ - /ā/ /zh/ /uh/ Asia.
That's right, the phonemes /ā/ /zh/ /uh/ join-together to make the word Asia. Let's
try one with four phonemes this time. Are you ready say them after me?
/m/ /ĕ/ /n/ /ū/ - /m/ /ĕ/ /n/ /ū/ menu
That's right, the phonemes /m/ /ĕ/ /n/ /ū/ join-together to make the word menu. Our last
one for today is /s/ /ō/ /f/ /uh/ - /s/ /ō/ /f/ /uh/ sofa
That's right, the phonemes /s/ /ō/ /f/ /uh/
join-together to make the word sofa. Let's review the four phonemes that we learnt one
more time. Say them after me: /ear/ /ū/ /zh/ /uh/.
Let's finish today's lesson with a nursery rhyme. Today's rhyme is The Grand Old Duke
of York. If you know it, join in with me. The grand old Duke of York, he had ten-thousand
men. He marched them up to the top of the hill and he marched them down again. And when
they were up, they were up. And when they were down, they were down. And when they were
only half way up; They were neither up nor down. Let's do it one more time, but this
time let's sing it. Join in with me. The grand old Duke of York, he had ten-thousand men.
He marched them up to the top of the hill and he marched them down again. And when they
were up, they were up. And when they were down, they were down. And when they were only
halfway up; they were neither up nor down. Well done everyone. Did you know that lots
of people's names have a schwa phoneme in them? Listen to these names: Bella. Jaden,
Olivia, Angus, Ethan, Ryan, Ava. Did you hear that /uh/ in those names? I wonder if your
name has a schwa in it? Does someone in your family have a schwa in their name? Your challenge
today is to think of as many names as you can that have a schwa in them. You've worked
really hard today learning our very last group of phonemes. You have now learnt all 44 phonemes
that we use when we read and write words. Join us next time for our first phonics lesson
where we will learn the letter that we use to read and write the phoneme /s/. Bye.