Chapter 6: PHONICS Jan Hughes

WHAT Phonics is the instruction of the relationship between letters and the sounds they represent Decoding is the ability to convert a word from print to speech Alphabetic Principle is the understanding that written letters represent spoken sounds and that sounds go together to make words

PHONICS Phonics is a method of instruction that teaches the relationship between letters and letter combinations (graphemes) in written language and the individual sounds (phonemes) in spoken language and how to use these relationships to read and spell words.

SYSTEMATIC AND EXPLICIT PHONICS INSTRUCTION Systematic Phonics Instruction: teaches sound/spelling relationships in a logical instructional sequence Explicit Phonics Instruction: teaches concepts that are clearly explained and modeled

PHONICS INSTRUCTION Improves students’ reading and spelling in kindergarten and grade 1. Improves students’ ability to comprehend Helps prevent reading difficulties among at-risk students Helps students who have difficulty learning to read Systematic and Explicit Phonics Instruction

APPROACHES TO PHONICS INSTRUCTION Synthetic phonics Transforming letters and letter combinations into sounds and then blending the sounds together to form words. Analogy Phonics Using a rime in a familiar word to identify an unfamiliar word having that same rime. Example: use “ick” in a familiar word to teach unfamiliar words such as brick, trick etc. Analytic Phonics Identify familiar words and then introduce a sound/spelling relationship within that word. Example: identify the middle sound of mat and use other words with this such as fan, tan, bag. Embedded Phonics Phonics instruction is embedded in the context of reading and writing experience. These skills include using context, pictures, familiar word parts and the first and last letter of words.

GOOD PHONICS INSTRUCTION Develops understanding of the alphabetic principle (relationship between letters and sounds in words). Incorporates phonemic awareness Provides practice in reading words Leads to automatic word recognition Only one part of a comprehensive reading program

Effective Instructional Techniques Provide immediate corrective feedback and model correct response Monitor students to make sure they are paying attention and responding correctly Lively pacing to keep students attentive Signaling to have students talk in unison

PHONICS SCOPE AND SEQUENCE Guidelines when evaluating a reading program Should introduce sound/spelling that occur in most words High-utility sound/spellings Progress from simple to more complex Single consonant and short vowel should be introduced early Letters with easy to pronounce sounds first Letters having similar sounds and shape should be separated

GENERAL SEQUENCE FOR TEACHING PHONICS When choosing a Reading program Look for a systematic sequence Single consonants/short vowel Consonant diagraph Long vowel with silent e (CVCe) Y as a vowel R-controlled vowels Silent consonants Vowel diagraphs Variant vowel diagraphs/dipthongs

DECODING REGULAR WORDS Regular words are words in which each letter represents its more common sound Struggling readers need to sound out words orally and move to recognizing words automatically Words beginning with a continuous sound are easiest for students to blend (i.e. at and map) Words with beginning stop sounds are harder to blend (i.e. dog and bag) Start with the easiest to blend and then move on to harder blend words

BLENDING ROUTINES Sound by sound blending Continuous blending Whole word blending Spelling-focused blending Pages 181-182 examples

AUTOMATIC WORD RECOGNITION Several sub skills are required to develop word recognition Being able to identify letters and sounds quickly Being fluent in phonics decoding must have the automatic word recognition skills for reading fluently, which is an essential skill for comprehension

TEXT TYPES Decodable Text Predictable/patterned text Authentic text Reading practice material in which the majority of words are linked to phonics instruction using sound/spelling relationships and spelling patterns students have been taught Predictable/patterned text Repetitive or cumulative text patterns Match text to illustrations Authentic text Literature trade books in different genres

DECODABLE TEXT ANALYSIS Wholly decodable words Word that can be identified on the basis of sound/spelling relationships and spelling patterns previously taught Irregular words High frequency and story words that were taught previously Non decodable words Words that are not wholly decodable or previously taught sight words

PHONOGRAMS A phonogram is a letter or series of letters that stand for a sound, syllable, syllable part, or series of sounds Phonograms should not be the sole focus of early reading instruction Phonograms should build on knowledge gained from systematic and explicit phonics instruction Knowing phonograms should be included in instruction Knowing phonograms is a critical step to decoding chunks of words

WORD WORK: ENCODING AND DECODING Word sorting Grouping words according to categories to show similarities or differences Kinds of word sorts Closed—teacher defines words and models sorting Open—student defines words and pictures Blind—teacher defines key word and calls out a word (students do not see). Students point to key word with same sound Writing—teacher calls out word and student writes word below the key word that has the same sound/spelling pattern Speed—closed, open, blind, writing are completed in a particular time frame

WORD WORK: ENCODING AND DECODING Elkonin boxes with letters Helps develop phonemic awareness Students segment words using chips to represent sounds Helps bridge the connection between phonemes and graphemes Word building The effects on a word when changing one letter Words are transformed by substituting, inserting, or deleting letters Each word is different than the previous word by one letter

WORD WORK: ENCODING AND DECODING Dictation Sound by sound dictation Teacher dictates word to student one sound at a time Whole word dictation Students are prompted to think about the sounds they hear in the words and write the entire word

WHY Systematic phonics instruction helps students learn to read more effectively than nonsystematic phonics or no phonics instruction National Reading Panel 2000

WHY Based on numerous studies, it has been confirmed that phonics instruction is the best and most efficient way to teach alphabetic principles Less mental energy is used to decode the words and more energy can be devoted to comprehension

WHEN TO TEACH Phonics instruction has the greatest impact on beginning reader in kindergarten and first grade Students who don’t master or become fluent in phonics skills by the end of first grade continue to struggle in the future in other areas of reading Torgesen et. al. (2001) Researchers suggest about two years of phonics instruction Pacing is contingent on student mastery

WHEN TO ASSESS AND INTERVENE Intervention should begin in kindergarten and first grade as soon as a reading problem is identified through assessment Assessment should include phonemic awareness, sound/spelling correspondence, decoding, and use of nonsense words

OLDER STRUGGLING READERS Intensive intervention is critical Some weak readers will need basic phonics instruction and phonemic awareness Some will need word attack skills For older readers, assessment and instruction should include more advanced morphological and orthographic knowledge

HOW? Integrated Picture Mnemonics Letter-sound strategy Letter names and sounds can be taught together Teach/Model Connect an integrated picture to the letter sound make a copy of the picture. Trace the letter and make it into a picture Write the letter and connect it to the picture name Practice and commit to memory .

LESSON MODELS Sound/Spelling Correspondence Explicit Phonics Phonograms Decodable Text

SOUND/SPELLING CORRESPONDENCE LESSON MODEL 1 Teaches consonant diagraphs and short vowels See pages 200-207 for lesson examples Steps: Phonemic awareness Teach/model Word work Sound/spelling practice Corrective feedback

EXPLICIT PHONICS LESSON MODEL 2 Reading and writing CVC, CCVC, CVCe words, vowel combinations, and phonograms See pages 208-231for example lessons Steps: Phonemic awareness Model Lead Check Apply Word work

PHONOGRAMS LESSON MODEL 3 Reading and writing words with phonograms See pages 232-233 for lesson sample Steps Phonemic awareness Introduce phonogram Onset-rime blending Application Word work: word building

DECODABLE TEXT MODEL LESSON 4 Methods for reading decodable texts See 236-239 for sample lesson Steps: Review irregular words Introduce the book Whole group read First with whisper read, then with choral read Individual turns Respond to questions Partner-read entire book

CONCLUSION WHAT: The aim of phonics instruction is to help children acquire alphabetic knowledge and use it to read and spell words. --Ehri, 2006

CONCLUSION WHY: The English language is an alphabetic language in which there are consistent though not entirely predictable relationships between letters and sounds Anderson et al., 1985 Phonics instruction increases the ability to comprehend text for beginning readers and older students with disabilities National reading panel 2000

CONCLUSION WHEN? The right maxims for phonics are: Do it early. Keep it simple. Anderson et al., 1985

CONCLUSION HOW Use lessons that are research based Use the correct model for what you would like to teach Keep it interesting! Phonics instruction need not be boring, especially if the instruction is kept brisk, to the point, and does not take an excessive amount of time each day. Stahl, Duffy-Hester & Stahl, 1998