**4. Linking the development of phonic associations, visual memory and sequential working memory skills**

The aim of Child H's programme was to focus on needs identified in the assessment process, using strategies and methods linked to his strengths in cognitive processing and working memory. As the evidence indicated that he had underlying phonological and phonic difficulties, phonological referencing would be used to teach Child H how to code from the component sounds and letters in written words, by linking specific letters and sequences of letters with the sounds made when the words were spoken out loud with the letters used when the words were written down.

Focus would also be placed on teaching Child H how to recode from the sequence of sounds back to the written sequences of letters in words. This would be done both to teach Child H specific phonic associations between sounds and letters, as well as to attempt to address the difficulties with coding identified during the initial assessment process.

Once Child H had established the use of phonological referencing as a method for analysing the letters used to represent vowel sounds in rhyming words presented in families, colour coding of vowel letters and use of visualisation would be used to enable Child H to remember the sequences of letters used to represent the sequences of sounds in individual words, and the sequences of letters used to represent the sequences of sounds made in sequences of words in sentences. The aim was to link reading, writing and spelling through activities which used Child H's strengths in visualisation to teach the phonic associations he had difficulty in learning and remembering.

This was done using the following method:

• Child H was taught how to use phonological referencing to identify the letters used to represent the vowel. Sound in words with one syllable, the vowel sounds in words with more than one syllable and the vowel sounds in sequences of words.


*Notes for Child H's parents:*

*Note 1: As your child has reading fluency difficulties, it will greatly assist if you can undertake repetitive paired reading working with him. Use the method outlined in your parent implementer's manual for this, working for a 20 minute session four times a week.*

*Note 2: As discussed, the initial assessment also indicates that your child also has a number of difficulties with phonics. These affect his use of consonant blends as the beginning and end of words.*

*These affect the following beginning blends.*

*sk/ cl/ qu/.*

*and the following ending blends.*

*/ft. /st /ff /nk /sh /tch /dge /ngth.*

*He also has some difficulties with identifying the correct letter to represent the /a/ and /e/ and /i/ short vowel sounds. He still reverses the /b/ and /d/ in certain words.*

*These difficulties indicate underlying phonological problems which affect writing and spelling. These need to be worked within his writing book using our Level One phonogram and rime cards to build word families targeting the errors highlighted above. The words in the word families then need to be used in sentences, learned and then tested.*

*Note 3: I have provided you with electronic materials to support the activities in the format by email. These can be used for additional sessions conducted at home to reinforce and support your child's programme.*

**Table 4.**

*Child H – learning cycle four implemented 15th October 2016.*


Writing and spelling fluency was thus conceptualised as linked to Child H's ability to retrieve the sequences of letters used to represent sounds in words accurately and quickly. Accuracy and rate of writing would then be developed through a hierarchy of methods which aimed to link the development of phonic associations, visual memory and working memory for individual words and sequences of words, as outlined in **Figure 5** below.

#### **Figure 5.**

*Methods linking phonic analysis, visual memory for strings of letters and words and sequential working memory for written words, phrases, sentences and paragraphs.*
