Great news! Barbara Murray is featured in the September issue of Education Matters Primary magazine. The topic is: "A phonemic approach is the key to learning to read and write". In the full page article, Barbara explains why teachers need to develop in their students an awareness of the 43 sounds (phonemes) used in Australian spoken English. Read More
A phonemic approach to literacy
Blog/News
Education Matters Primary magazine, September 2019
Wendy McWilliams - Thursday, September 12, 2019
Advertisement says it all!
Wendy McWilliams - Thursday, September 12, 2019
If you'd like a snapshot of what Barbara Murray's Sound Stories has to offer, just check out this advertisement. It only takes a few seconds to read. Read More
Sound Waves Foundation wins two prestigious awards
Barbara Murray - Wednesday, September 11, 2019
The Educational Publishing Awards Australia recognises the best of the best in educational resources with 2019 producing outstanding resources for student learning across the country. Twenty vital learning tools produced by local publishers and used in primary, secondary and tertiary classrooms were awarded. Read More
Barbara's Blog: Sound Waves to Sound Stories
Barbara Murray - Friday, September 06, 2019
When writing the third edition of the Sound Waves Program in 2010 and expanding the Foundation section, it occurred to me that teachers needed stories to introduce each of the 43 sounds, the basis for the whole Sound Waves Program, to beginning readers and writers. Read More
Response to the article in Teacher Magazine titled: Using picture story books (PSBs) in the classroom
Barbara Murray - Monday, August 26, 2019
Melissa Wray’s research findings with regards to picture story books are totally in accordance with my experience in the classroom as explained below. She carried out a research project that informed her thesis, as part of her Master of Education studies with Deakin University, that investigated teachers’ use of PSBs from Foundation to Year 6. Read More
Barbara’s Blog: The birth of the Sound Waves program
Barbara Murray - Monday, August 19, 2019
Around 1999, someone came to the school to talk to the staff about a phonemic approach to decoding (reading) and encoding (writing/spelling). None of us had heard the term, phonemic, but as the session unfolded a couple of my friends and I began to realise that I was basically teaching that way. Read More
Teacher LOVES PDFs of Sound Stories
Barbara Murray - Monday, August 12, 2019
Teresa, a teacher at a Perth Primary School, recently ordered the boxed set of Sound Stories for her students. She was ecstatic to hear that PDFs for each of the 43 stories in the books will be available very soon to teachers who buy the complete set for use in the classroom. Read More
Barbara's Blog: Along the way
Barbara Murray - Thursday, August 08, 2019
I taught quite a lot in lower primary classes, but once I moved into Years 4 to 7 I found children had no strategies for decoding when reading and encoding when writing (spelling). When I tried phonics with older students, they had no idea what I meant. I got the school spelling lists and rearranged them year level by year level according to sound. I grouped the words according to initial sounds for consonant sounds and mostly internal sounds for vowel sounds. Read More
Question to Australian Universities
Barbara Murray - Friday, July 19, 2019
Response to an article by Rebecca Urban, National Education Respondent for The Australian after an interview with Dr Jennifer Buckingham, as published in The Weekend Australian, 13-14 July 2019, page 9. Read More
Barbara's Blog: In the beginning...
Barbara Murray - Wednesday, July 10, 2019
I wanted to be a primary school teacher for as long as I can remember. At family gatherings I was the one who organised all the kids into games. Consequently, at the end of high school, I accepted a government scholarship to train as a primary teacher for two years. Read More