Section4one:4Phonic4writing4
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These! observations! took! place! during! an! activity! that! was! known! to! the! children! as!
‘Letters! and! Sounds’,! a! twentySminute,! ability! grouped,! teacherSled! session! in! which!
Systematic!Synthetic!Phonics!(SSP)!was!taught!at!a!fast!pace.!!
!
Doing!‘phonic!writing’!within!striated!language!spaces!
!
Below! is! an! observation! of! Yellow! that! illustrates! the! activity! of! the! children! during! a!
‘Letters!and!Sounds’!session:!
Yellow6sits6crossElegged6and6sways6from6side6to6side.6She6stretches6her6legs6and6holds6onto6 her6 toes.6 She6 rocks6 back6 and6 forth.6 She6 quietly6 blows6 raspberries6 with6 her6 mouth.6 She6 begins6 to6 jump,6 and6 then6 sits6 in6 response6 to6 the6 teacher6 and6 stretches6 out6 her6 legs.6 She6 leans6against6the6chair6on6the6edge6of6the6mat.6The6children6are6asked6to6say6the6phonic6 sounds6a,a,a,a,6as6they6do6the6action6for6angry6ants6walking6up6their6arms.6They6are6asked6 to6speed6up6and6the6actions6become6quicker6and6quicker.6The6teacher6asks6them6‘Can6you6 spot6something6beginning6with6a?’6Yellow6puts6her6hand6up.6They6are6asked6to6‘robot6talk’,6
‘Stand6up6and6robot6talk6with6your6arms.6AEnEt’.6She6copies6the6teacher’s6movements6and6
sounds6out6all6the6sounds.6Yellow6continues6to6put6her6hand6up6again,6and6again6to6name6 the6 ‘a’6 pictures,6 kneeling6 up6 to6 look6 at6 the6 board,6 and6 sits6 back6 down6 in6 response6 to6 teacher.6The6teacher6says6‘Who’s6the6smartest6on6the6carpet?’6Yellow6sits6up6with6her6back6 very6straight,6arms6crossed,6still6looking6at6the6teacher.66
(Narrative!observation!19/11)!6
During! the! phonic! teaching! sessions,! the! children! were! engaged! in! fastSpaced!
physical!strategies!or!mnemonic!techniques!to!activate!memory!(Ehri!and!Roberts,!2006).!
These!activities!included!‘magic!finger’!writing!where!the!children!traced!the!letter!shape!
in!the!air,!and!‘robot!talking’!where!words!were!segmented!into!individual!sounds!as!the!
children! used! their! arms! and! legs! to! move! robotically.! This! often! occurred! within! a!
confined!carpeted!space,!where!the!children!were!physically!regulated;!their!bodies!were!
contained!within!the!fixed!space!and!bound!within!the!framework!of!allocated!time.!The!
children!were!rewarded!with!stickers!and!praise!for!correctly!reproducing!phonic!sounds!
orally,!and!accurately!controlling!their!fine!motor!use!of!pens!on!whiteboards!to!produce!
the! associated! letter! shapes.! This! activity! was! prompted! by! the! teacher’s! regular!
instructions!to!‘sit6beautifully’,!or!to!do!‘good6learning’!or!‘smart6learning’.!In!this!way,!the!
children!were!waiting!to!respond!physically!to!prompts,!moving!and!reacting!to!physical!
expectations!and!looking!to!adults!to!manage!and!modify!their!own!corporeal!existence.!
Within! my! observation,! Yellow’s! natural! movements! are! clearly! exhibited! at! the!
beginning! of! the! session,! and! as! time! progressed,! she! responded! to! the! teacher! as!
instructed.! She! was! able! to! sense! the! physical! restraints! expected,! and! replied! to! the!
teacher’s!input!by!moving/sitting!in!the!correct!fashion.!She!was!reacting!to,!rather!than!
reacting!with,!the!teacher,!and!reflective6of,!rather!than!instrumental6in,!the!movements!
that! she! was! experiencing.! Yellow! was! representing! action! and! understood! the! rules! for!
doing! this.! She! had! integrated! the! physical! dimensions! of! phonics! learning! by! bringing!
together! both! the! representative! sounds! and! symbols! and! the! associated! embodied!
movement.!Yellow!can!be!seen!to!be!a!successful!respondent,!and!therefore!a!successful!
learner.!She!was!able!to!react!appropriately!within!the!physical!boundaries!that!had!been!
formed!by!the!teacher!during!this!encounter.!
However,! not! all! children! were! able! to! move! between! these! different! physical!
states!so!easily!within!these!teaching!sessions:!
Green6 looks6 at6 the6 teacher6 pointing6 to6 the6 prompt6 cards6 that6 say6 ‘s,a,t,p,i’6 but6 is6 not6 making6the6sounds.6He6looks6at6his6whiteboard.6He6looks6out6of6the6window6at6the6group6
going6outside.6He6holds6his6pen6and6says6‘nnn’,6and6makes6an6aeroplane6sign6by6raising6his6 arms.6He6has6two6whiteboards6now.6He6leans6back6on6one,6so6that6it6bends,6then6he6sits6on6 it6and6slides6back6and6forth.6He6leans6forward6and6watching6the6teacher,6rolls6his6pen6back6 and6 forth6 over6 the6 whiteboard6 in6 front6 of6 him.6The6 teacher6 is6 asking6 the6 children6 to6 read6
‘tap,6 pan,6 pin,6 tin’6 after6 writing6 them6 on6 the6 classroom6 whiteboard.6 Green6 rubs6 his6 eyes6 and6squints6down6at6the6board6in6his6hands.6He6pokes6his6friend6gently6in6the6back6with6his6 pen,6rubs6his6eyes6again,6uses6the6board6rubber6so6 that6it6presses6his6pen6down6onto6the6 board.6 He6 then6 makes6 a6 triangle6 with6 his6 hands.6The6 children6 are6 doing6 robot6 arms6 to6 segment6the6letter6sounds.6He6holds6his6board6up6and6presses6his6forehead6against6it.66
(Narrative!observation!26/11!a)!
My!field!notes!continue:!!
After6 the6 phonics6 session,6 he6 lies6 on6 the6 floor6 and6 slowly6 flicks6 through6 his6 learning6 log,6 looking6carefully6at6the6pages.6
Kate:6what6have6you6got6to6do?6
Green:6I’ve6got6to6draw6the6pictures6up6there6(pointing6to6the6board).66
Kate:6what6are6you6drawing?6
(He6points6to6the6board6again)66
Green:6the6water6thing6
Kate:6which6word6is6it?6
Green:6the6top6one6(which6is6tap)6
(He6continues6to6draw6while6lying6down6on6his6tummy)6
(Transcript!of!conversation!written!as!field!notes!26/11!b)!
Green!does!not!respond!correctly!to!the!teacher!and!the!social!and!behavioural!
regulations! she! emits,! but! instead! he! engages! in! a! process! of! intraSactivity! with! the!
material!resources!and!spaces!available!to!him,!similarly!described!in!the!previous!chapter.!
The!embodied!encounter!he!had!is!disconnected!to!the!learning!activities!presented.!So,!
why!was!he!not!joining!in!with!the!teacherSled!task!and!responding!in!the!same!way!that!
Yellow! had! been?! He! appeared! to! be! particularly! responsive! to! the! learning! objects! he!
had!been!given,!and!demonstrated!creative!use!of!these!at!times,!but!he!was!‘off!task’!in!
relation!to!the!learning!intentions,!and!was!not!able!to!identify!the!pictures!that!he!was!
asked! to! draw! when! he! was! left! alone! to! work! independently.! He! was! disengaged! with!
the!teacher’s!voice!and!actions,!and!was!not!able!to!reproduce!or!mirror!these.!!
He! was,! however,! searching! for! some! other! desirable! activity,! one! that! was!
forming! different! kinds! of! attachments,! connections! and! responses! that! appeared! to! be!
more! fulfilling,! despite! the! teacher’s! explicit! instructions! to! go! in! a! different! direction.!
Throughout!this!activity,!Green!was!looking!to!connect!to!his!environment,!through!intraS activity!(Barad,!2007)!with!the!objects!and!spaces!he!could!manipulate.!He!was!active!in!a!
different! way,! not! by! reflecting! or! representing! the! teacher’s! knowledge,! as! Yellow! had!
been,! but! through! the! material! attachments! he! was! creating! and! responding! to,! an!
exploration!of!the!material!nature!of!the!tools.!