Alien words - love them or hate them? Why do they exist?
In 2012, the Phonic Screening Check was introduced to primary schools for pupils in year one (age 5-6), with the aim of checking progress in using phonics as the primary method of learning to read.
Once the testing window closed, a threshold score was released and if children had met this score, they never needed to see another alien word again! If they didn't meet the score the first time, the test was taken again in the June of year two, to enable teachers to provide extra support for pupils to meet the standard by the end of Key Stage One.
Each year, a different set of words is delivered to school and stored securely until the tests take place. A teacher runs each check with one pupil at a time and they read the words by sounding and blending. Within school, children will have practised this many times and will be used to the format so it shouldn't cause any stress for them.
Alien words are a peculiar concept. They exist simply to test the sounding and blending process, knows as decoding. For example, with the word 'brend,' children need to sound b-r-e-n-d then say brend. For 'phaig,' it's ph-ai-g, phaig (faig). There's a temptation to ask children to sort real words from alien words and there's a popular game online that does just that, but sorting is not a skill they need; it's the decoding that matters.
With real words, there's a benefit to being able to read them on sight, or just by looking at the words. That's what we are striving for as we make reading more automatic, but that's not needed here - sounding out is key. There's no value at all in learning to read the alien words by sight as they don't exist! When practising with alien words, sound, blend and move on!
There are some longer words at the end of the check materials and for these, I always recommend that children use their hand to cover part of the word, sounding and blending one part, then the other, then saying the word, e.g. 'thankful' can be read as 'thank' and 'ful' then blended to thankful. 'Amaze' is the same; 'a-maze' or 'am-aze' then amaze.
Some children, particularly more able readers, fall into the trap of trying to make alien words into real words, for example, 'throst' sounds like 'frost.' For the check, they must read what they see and not let their brain do what comes naturally! There's another issue with a word like 'throst' as some children at this age may still be saying 'fff' for 'th' and so may say 'frost' but mean 'throst.' For children with particlar difficulties with the production of speech sounds, their teachers know them well and can use their judgement to know what they have said where a sound may be unclear.
The check is just one way that schools can measure progress in reading but as it is a statutory check, it has some importance in the school calendar and parents are often asked to practise words with their children at home. All the words in the check will be decodable by sounding and blending. We have lots of other words in the English language that don't follow the rules, such as 'said' where the 'ai' is making the 'e' sound. These are for another lesson!
If you'd like to look up some samples of the check, there are some links below but proceed with caution - the alien words don't need to be revised as words; they only need to be used to practise sounding and blending into a word.
2019:
You can access more previous papers by searching for 'phonic screening check materials' and choosing a different year.
There are some examples with audio here:
These word cards might be useful (real words - don't buy alien words!):
*Amazon affiliate link.
Once the check is over, and children have met the threshold score, the focus turns to sight words, comprehension and morphology. Keep reading stories and talking about what is happening.
In May of year two (age 6-7), children will take their SATs (standard attainment tests) if their school chooses to do them - they're now optional for schools in year two. The reading papers contain quite long texts then questions to answer, and schools will practise in lots of ways to help children to develop the skills needed to manage these tasks. The best thing parents and carers can do is enable children to access stories regularly, especiallly those above their word reading level, either read to them or played as audiobooks.
There are two more blog posts that might be helpful here:
Audiobooks:
and SATs:
If you found this information useful, please do like and share! Happy reading!
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