Sounds in Focus
Engage your pupils with stimulating activities to develop language proficiency.
Ideal for multi-grade classrooms
The pupil books for 1st to 6th Class feature the same sound unit on the same page. This makes it easy to teach the Sounds in Focus to the whole class, then direct pupils to work on the Sound Unit with words and concepts appropriate to their level. Start your free 30 days trial HERE.
Foster an active thinking approach to spelling
Pupils’ are encouraged to ‘Explore the Sound’ by brainstorming and making lists of words that contain the sounds. These words can be sorted by the graphemes that are used, enabling pupils to appreciate that a sound can be spelled in many ways.
Phonic awareness approach to learning to spell
Promote a deeper understanding by replacing note learning with strategies for reading, writing and spelling. It includes clever ideas for direct instruction and play-based learning activities.
What do teachers think about Sounds in Focus?
“I really liked this programme and though I am not a big fan of textbooks, I found the textbook was particular useful to assess where the child might be struggling. I really like the way it runs from Junior Infants up to 6th Class as a consistent approach to literacy will only benefit the students. I loved the resources that came with it online and they were used every day for literacy stations. The students worked very well with this approach with sounds, list and special words being remembered and used. The assessment tests will be ideal for my class towards the end of the year and also for ongoing assessment in your literacy lessons. If your school is using Jolly Phonics or a similar programme, then it might be an idea to take Sounds in Focus on as it not only supplements but has the ability to take over from the Jolly Phonics programme which may not have enough for the average class teacher.”
“We have been using Sounds in Focus throughout our school for one year now. We chose it initially, as we sought a scheme that would combine the focus on phonemes and graphemes in the teaching of spellings. We also felt that this programme would bring a focus back to phonics in the senior classes. We used the books in a graded spelling approach from September, based on results scored in the Drumcondra Spelling Test in the previous May. We found the brainstorming session on introduction of each sound to be beneficial for the children, whilst the downloadable games and activities acted as effective reinforcement.”