Phonics The Building Blocks of Early Learning By

Phonics: The Building Blocks of Early Learning By: Kelly Ludy

Learner Outcomes l l l Develop a deeper understanding of the concepts of the English spelling system Become familiar with using explicit, systematic instruction Understand the developmental progression in which orthographic knowledge is required

Framework for Reading (Re) organizing Text Comprehension Monitoring Syntax & Text Structure Background Knowledge Vocabulary Automaticity Concepts of Print Phonemic Awareness Phonics Sight Words Academic Language Comprehension Strategies Fluency Word Recognition Strategies COMPREHENSION DECODING

What is Phonics? l It is the pairing of a sound with the letter or letters (graphemes) that represent that sound l This pairing is also called sound/symbol correspondence

Why Teach Phonics? l l l Phonics helps all learners Good readers spell better with phonics instruction Many children, even good readers, read more effectively with explicit, systematic phonics instruction Phonetic knowledge is especially important for beginning readers, poor readers, or “at-risk” students Positively impacts vocabulary and comprehension growth Leads to automaticity and fluency

What Kind of Phonics? l Systematic, not random: – – – Preplanned skill sequence Progresses from easier sounds to more difficult sounds High-utility sounds and letters taught first Letters with similar shapes and sounds are separated Vowels separated in sequence of alphabetic instruction

What Kind of Phonics? l Explicit – – The teacher explains and models Gives guided practice Watches student responses and gives corrective feedback Plans extended practices on skills as needed by individuals

Elements of a Phonics Lesson l Sound (Phonemic Awareness) l Letter-sound association l Blending/Word building l Reading decodable text l Application in other context

Direct Instruction of Sounds and Symbols Teach – How to • • • Link to prior knowledge Purpose and importance of the learning Teacher models the learning Practice – Let’s do • • Highly structured practice Guided practice Apply – (after many repetitions) You do! • Use the new learning to decode words

Gradual Release Model

What’s the Difference? l Explicit Instruction – After a lesson is taught isolating words beginning with the /k/ sound, the teacher links the sound to the letter, telling them it stands for the /k/ sound, and practice making words beginning with the letter c. l Implicit Instruction – After reading aloud a story about farm animals, the teacher asks “What does cow begin with? Do you see any other animals who begin the same as cow? What letter says /k/? Can you write the letter c? ”

How do we blend words? l By sound l Whole word l By syllable

How about syllables? l 2 Types of syllables – Open-ended l – Closed l – Vowel is usually long vowel sound Vowel is usually short vowel sound Exceptions: l l Syllables ending with silent e: bugle Syllables ending with le: little Syllables with r-controlled vowels: cargo Syllables with 2 vowels: beach

Teaching Decoding in the Intermediate Grades l Teach groups of letters commonly occurring in English Syllables – Root Words – Prefixes – Suffixes –

Example of Advanced Decoding: Can you read this word? pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconosis Now try: pneumono/ultra/micro/scopic/silico/volcano/con/osis

How do we figure out word meaning? pneumono: related to the lung ultra: beyond, exceeding micro: very small scopic: related to sight (ultramicroscopic): exceedingly small to the sight silico: related to hard stone volcano: related to volcano dust con: dust (from Greek word Konis) iosis: disease

What about English Language Learners? l Instruction of English must be provided using direct, explicit, systematic instruction in letter/sound relationships l Supplemental instruction in language structure (syntax and semantics) must be taught for ELL to access the core curriculum l Teachers need to be aware of differences between English and child’s primary language to help teach phonics and pronunciation

Key Points: Phonics is important l Research supports that a child’s ability to apply letter-sound correspondences to words is fundamental to word recognition l Good readers rely on letters in a word, more than picture or context clues

Key Points: Phonics is important to reading fluency l Automaticity occurs when a child can decode words and apply sounds to letters with ease l Students learn letters and sounds best when taught explicitly and systematically involving modeling and practice before applied independently

Key Points: Automatic Word Recognition is fostered by: l Ability to break up and read longer words more accurately l Instruction in spelling patterns, rules, Greek/ Latin roots, affixes

Key Points: English Language Learners need: l Teachers to understand differences between the first and second language l Explicit, systematic instruction in phonological awareness l Pre-teaching and re-teaching of language structures to reinforce skills and strategies taught in lessons