Jolly phonics Zimbabwe

A Jolly Friday to You All!

Today we are excited to round up our Jolly Phonics letter sounds as we dive into the last and final sound from Group 7 .../ar/! 🎉

Our story followed Dorothy’s visit to the doctor, where the doctor asked her to open her mouth wide and say “ar… ar… ar…” so he could check her throat.
Learners joined in, opening their mouths wide and singing the ar… ar… ar… sound, making it a fun, interactive game while building confidence in reading.

Letter Formation Activities

• Air Writing: Children trace ar in the air with big arm movements while saying “ar… ar… ar…”
• Sand/Flour Tray: Use a tray of sand or flour for learners to write ar with their fingers
• Chalkboard Crawl: Write ar on the board and have children crawl their fingers along the letters, saying the sound

Blending Activities

• Sound Hop: Place letter cards (st, ar, c, f, m) on the floor. Children hop to each letter and blend to make st-ar = star, c-ar = car, f-ar-m = farm
• Letter Box Blend: Place letters in small boxes or containers; children pick letters and say the word out loud
• Word Chain: Start a word, children add letters to blend each new word aloud: st → st-ar → star → st-ar-s

Segmenting Activities

• Clap & Stretch: Clap each sound as children say: f-ar-m → farm
• Jump & Sound: Children jump for each sound segment: st-ar → star
• Sound Detective: Give children a word, e.g., car, and ask them to point to each letter as they say each sound

Featured Resources:

Jolly Phonics Pupil Books
Finger Phonics Big Book 7
Jolly Phonics Flash Cards
Jolly Songs & CD
The Letter Sounds Book
Readers



Congratulations! Your children should now be reading confidently. Keep revising ....practice makes perfect, and repetition is the mother of all learning.

A Jolly Monday to You All!

Today our classroom buzzed with fun as we explored the lively /er/ sound! 🍓🥤

Our story followed a little girl in the kitchen who mimicked the sound of a mixer:
"Errr… errr… errr!"

She noticed that /er/ pops up in everyday words like her, fern, river, and everyone joined in imitating the sound ... it was like a mini orchestra of blending sounds!

Blending Practice:
• h + er = her
• f + er + n = fern
• r + i + v + er = river

Segmenting Games:
• Clap each sound: h-er → her
• Stretch the sounds slowly: r-i-v-er → river
• Hop for each part: f-er-n → fern

Featured Resources:
Jolly Phonics Pupil Books
Finger Phonics Big Book 7
Jolly Phonics Flash Cards
Jolly Songs & CD
The Letter Sounds Book

A buzzing start to the /er/ sound ...blend, segment, and let your words whirl!

A Magical Jolly Friday To You All!!!

Today our classroom sparkled with magic as we explored the gentle /ue/ sound!
Our story followed a magician preparing for his magical show. He shouted:
"I want you… and you… and you!"

The children learned that a cue is a signal that is a hint to do something, and they imagined the crowd lining up in a queue for the show.

Everywhere they looked, they could hear /ue/ in words like blue, clue, true.

Letter Formation:
• Write u with a gentle curve
• Add e right beside it to form the digraph ue
• Practice neat, connected letters

Blending Practice:
• bl + ue = blue
• cl + ue = clue
• tr + ue = true

Segmenting Games:
• Clap each sound: bl-ue → blue
• Stretch the sounds: tr-ue → true
• Hop for each part: cl-ue → clue

Featured Resources:
Jolly Phonics Pupil Books
Finger Phonics Big Book 7
Jolly Phonics Flash Cards
Jolly Songs & CD
The Letter Sounds Book

A magical start to the /ue/ sound... blend, segment, and follow the cue for fun learning!

A Jolly Adventure Wednesday To You All!!!
Today our classroom sailed into adventure with the oi oi sound like pirates shouting “ahoi ship ahoi!”

Our story took us aboard a little ship with the children pretending to be pirates, singing “oi oi, ahoi!” as they explored the waves.
Learners listened carefully and discovered the /oi/ sound in words like coin, boil, join.

Letter Formation:
• Write o and i carefully next to each other to form the digraph oi
• Remind children: two letters, one sound

Blending Practice:
• c + oi + n = coin
• b + oi + l = boil
• j + oi + n = join

Segmenting Games:
• Clap each sound: c-oi-n → coin
• Hop for each part: b-oi-l → boil

Featured Resources:
Jolly Phonics Pupil Books
Finger Phonics Big Book 6
Jolly Phonics Flash Cards
Jolly Songs & CD
The Letter Sounds Book

A cheerful, nautical start to the /oi/ sound ... blend, segment, and set sail for reading fun!

Its a Jolly Monday To You All!!!
It’s a bright Jolly Monday and our classroom echoed with “ou! ou!” today!
Our story followed a little boy who said “ou!” every time he fell, bumped, or touched something prickly.

With our SAS approach:
• Story: The little boy who cried “ou! ou!” everytime he fell,bumped,or touched something hot or prickly.
• Action: Pretending to touch something prickly and shouting ou!
• Sound: /ou/ as in out, loud, shout

Blending & segmenting fun:
sh-ou-t, ou-t, ab-ou-t

Featured Resources:
Jolly Phonics Pupil Books | Finger Phonics 7 | Jolly Flashcards | Jolly Songs & CD | The Letter Sounds Book

Hello Jolly Learners!!!

Today we stepped into Group 7, the final chapter of our sound journey ...and we opened it with the lively /qu/ sound.

The children met a queen on a quick quest, following her quacking duck through the garden.
Everywhere she went, she heard the qu qu qu sound.

Letter Formation:
• Round “q” like a small “a”
• Tail goes down
• Add the “u” right after
(Teaching the children that q and u stick together like best friends)

Blending Moments:
• qu + i + t → quit
• qu + e + n → queen
• qu + a + ck → quack

Segmenting Games:
• “Break the Word” ... quick → qu-i-ck
• “Sound Hopscotch” ... hop for each sound in quack
• “Find the Start Sound” ... identify /qu/ in pictures

Featured Resources:
Jolly Phonics Pupil Books
Finger Phonics Big Book 7
Jolly Phonics Flash Cards
Jolly Songs & CD
The Letter Sounds Book

A quick and cheerful entry into Group 7!

A Jolly Wednesday to You All!

Today we explored the /th/ sound ...both the voiceless th (thin, think, thick)
and the voiced th (this, them, that).

Our revision included all sounds we have learnt so far and what a digraph is i.e. two letters that make one sound.
Learners enjoyed the story of a child saying thhh while checking their loose tooth.

Blending Practice:
Voiceless: (no vibration)
• th + i + n = thin
• th + i + ck = thick
• th + i + nk = think

Voiced: (vibration)
• th + e + m = them
• th + i + s = this
• th + a + t = that

Featured Resources:
Jolly Phonics Pupil Books
Finger Phonics Big Book 6
Jolly Phonics Flash Cards
Jolly Songs & CD
The Letter Sounds Book

A Jolly Monday to You All!

A fruiful new month to you!!!

From last week's noisy chugga-chugga train, today we sailed into a quiet sea with the soft /sh/ sound.

Our story followed a tired mum who gently whispered to her little baby,
"Please keep it a little lower… I want the baby to sleep."
Learners joined in by putting a finger to their lips and saying shhh… shhh…, a simple action they’ll never forget!

Blending Practice:
• sh + i + p = ship
• sh + e + ll = shell
• sh + o + p = shop

Featured Resources:
Jolly Phonics Pupil Books
Finger Phonics Big Book 6
Jolly Phonics Flash Cards
Jolly Songs & CD
The Letter Sounds Book

A calm and cheerful start to the /sh/ sound.... whisper, blend, and have fun!

Today the classroom was full of chugga chugga chuu chuu! as we met the cheerful /ch/ sound.

Our story took us on a train ride through Chocolate Town!
The children imagined tasting chocolate chips, hearing the chef chop candy, and chatting with cheerful friends ...everywhere we went, ch ch ch popped up in words like chips, chop, chat.

Blending Practice:
• ch + i + p = chip
• ch + a + t = chat
• ch + o + p = chop

Featured Resources:
Jolly Phonics Pupil Books
Finger Phonics Big Book 6
Jolly Phonics Flash Cards
Jolly Songs & CD
The Letter Sounds Book

A deliciously cheerful start to the /ch/ sound!

Hello Jolly Phonics Lovers!!!!
Today we learned the /x/ sound
A beautiful sound that makes the crisp ks ks ks sound at the end of words!

We started off with a short revision of the sounds we’ve already learned in the other groups.
We shared a simple story about a little boy who went for an x-ray.
When the x-ray machine clicked, it made a ks ks ks sound... just like the /x/ we hear in box, mix, and six.

In today's class we:
• Practiced writing x through the down, cross, lift pattern.
• Blended easy words like mix, six, and fox
• Broke words apart like b-o-x and f-i-x
• Played a listening game to hear ks at the end of words
• Sang the /x/ song to remember the sound

Our Story–Action–Sound approach made it easy for learners to recall the /x/ sound.

Featured Resources:
Jolly Phonics Pupil Books
Finger Phonics Big Book 6
Jolly Phonics Flash Cards
Jolly Songs & CD
The Letter Sounds Book