Chapter 6: Phonics

1
Chapter 6 Phonics

• Teaching Reading Sourcebook 2nd Edition

2
Effective Phonics Instruction

• Develops an understanding of the Alphabetic
  Principle
• Incorporates phonemic awareness
• Provides sufficient practice in reading words
• Leads to automatic word recognition
• Is only one part of a comprehensive reading
  program.

3
Systematic and Explicit Phonics Instruction

• Systematic phonics teaching sound/spelling
  relationships in logical instructional sequence
• newly introduced skills built on existing skills
• tasks arranged from simplest to most complex
• Explicit phonics concepts are clearly explained
  and skills are directly modeled
• requires overt explanation of tasks to students
• requires less inference/discovery by students
• See example of Explicit Phonics Sequence chart on
  page 175.

4
Approaches to Phonics Instruction

• Synthetic-explicit
• blending individual sounds into words
• Analogy instruction
• using phonograms (rime) to identify words
• Analytic
• identifying word patterns without blending
  individual sounds
• Embedded
• implicit instruction in context of authentic
  reading and writing experiences

5
Effective Instructional Techniques for Explicit
Phonics

• Model I do it
• explicit clear example
• Lead We do it
• monitoring student response
• corrective feedback immediately stop and model
  correct response for whole group
• pacing to keep students actively engaged
• signaling when students are to respond in unison
• Check You do it

6
Phonics Scope and Sequence for Reading Programs

• Begin with the most common sound/spellings.
• High-utility sound/spellings should be introduced
  early.
• Sequence moves from simple to complex.
• Letter/sounds introduction enables words to be
  formed and read as soon as possible.
• Sounds of letters that are easy to pronounce and
  blend should be introduced first.
• Instruction of letters having similar sounds and
  shapes should be separated.
• See Scope and Sequence of Phonic Instruction on
  page 178.

7
Decoding Regular Words

• Regular words are words in which each letter
  represents its most common sound.
• Approximately 50 of English words are completely
  regular.
• Struggling readers need explicit instruction in
  sounding out words orally and gradually moving to
  automatic recognition.
• Blending routines include sound-by-sound,
  continuous, whole word, and spelling focused.
• See the Blending Routines chart on pages 181-182.

8
Decodable Texts

• Decodable text provides opportunities for
  beginning readers to
• build confidence in reading
• apply what they learn in phonics instruction
• build automaticity and fluency.
• Decodable text is controlled text that provides
• reading practice with phonic elements that have
  been previously taught
• high frequency words and irregular words
• story words that may not be phonetically
  connected.

9
Phonogram Instruction

• Phonogram or analogy phonics instruction builds
  on knowledge from systematic, explicit
  instruction in sound/spelling correspondences.
• Although never the sole focus of early reading
  instruction, phonograms (word families) should be
  part of phonics instruction.
• Knowing phonograms helps students move from
  blending individual phonemes to more advanced
  decoding of chunks of words.

10
Word Work

• Word work helps make the abstract concepts of
  decoding and encoding more concrete.
• Word sorting Students categorize words/pictures
  according to their phonetic characteristics.
• Elkonin boxes with letters Students match
  letters to sounds in letter boxes to make
  words.
• Word building Words are changed by substituting,
  inserting, or deleting letters.
• Dictation Provides practice writing words that
  contain patterns taught in phonics lessons with
  sound-by-sound or whole word methods.

11
Phonics Research

• Systematic phonics instruction is more effective
  in teaching children to read than non-systematic
  phonics or no phonics instruction.
• Phonics instruction exerts its greatest impact on
  Kindergarten and first grade.
• Phonics instruction increases the ability to
  comprehend text for younger readers and older
  readers with disabilities.
• Systematic phonics instruction is effective in
  preventing reading problems in at-risk students,
  and it is effective in helping students overcome
  reading difficulties.

12
When to Assess and Intervene

• Phonics assessment for beginning readers focuses
  on the Alphabetic Principle decoding
  automaticity is measured in a context-free
  assessment of rate of single word reading.
• Beginning readers, non-readers, or very weak
  readers need intervention in basic phonics and
  phonemic awareness.
• Older struggling readers need instruction
  assessment in word attack skills assessment data
  is crucial to identify their skill gaps.
• Assessment and intervention for older readers
  should go beyond simple phonics.
• Phonics assessment includes screening, progress
  monitoring and diagnostics.