Maine Reading First Course

Maine Department of Education, 2006

Maine Reading First Course

Session #10Phonics Instruction


Key Learning Goals Session 10

Phonics Instruction

To enable class participants to transform their theoretical understandings into classroom practices that support student development of phonics knowledge, including instructional strategies for teaching:

letter and letter-sound identification, including letter clusters

the use of letter-sound information (consonants, vowels) to decode and write words

the use of word structures and patterns (onsets and rimes, syllables, affixes, letter clusters, spelling patterns) to decode and write words high-frequency words and irregular word patterns


What is Phonics?

Phonics is knowing the relationship between printed letters (graphemes) and the individual sounds (phonemes) of spoken language.

(Put Reading First, 2001)


Changing Emphasis of Five Essential Elements

Element

K 1 2 3

Phonological Awareness

Phonics Letter Sounds & Combinations

Multisyllables

Fluency

Vocabulary Listening

Reading

Comprehension Listening

Reading


Phonics Instruction is Important Because…..

It helps children learn the relationships between the letters of written language and the sounds of spoken language.

It leads to an understanding of the alphabetic principle—the systematic and predictable relationship between written letters and spoken words.



Effective phonics instruction is….

Systematic—the plan of instruction includes a carefully selected set of letter-sound relationships that are organized into a logical sequence from easier sounds to more difficult sounds. High utility sounds and letters are taught first, letters with similar shapes and sounds are separated.

Explicit—the plan of instruction provides teachers with precise directions for teaching letter-sound relationships, including:

Explaining and modeling Giving guided practice Watching student responses and giving corrective feedback Planning extended practice



Systematic and Explicit Phonics Instruction……

significantly improves children’s word recognition, spelling, and reading comprehension.

is most effective when it begins in kindergarten or first grade.



Effective Phonics Instruction Provides…..

ample opportunities for children to apply what they are learning about letters and sounds to the reading of words, sentences, and stories.



Systematic Phonics Instruction

Provides a sequence or order of letter-sound relationship instruction that proceeds from easier letter-sounds to more difficult letter-sound combinations.


Recommended Guidelines for Systematic Phonics Instruction

(Blevins, 1998)

Sequence Teach short-vowel sounds before long-vowel sounds Teach consonants and short vowels in combination so that words can be

generated as early as possible Be sure the majority of consonants taught early are continuous consonants

(i.e. f, l, m, n, r, s) Use a sequence in which many words can be generated Progress from simple to more complex sound-spellings:

consonants and short vowels digraphs consonant blends final e long vowels silent letters syllables roots and affixes

Scope Decide which sound-spelling relationships are important enough to warrant

instruction, and which can be taught as needed. Use list of 44 more frequent letter-sound spellings.


Progression of Phonics Knowledge & Skills

Across Grades K-3(Chall, 1996; Blevins, 1998; Lyons & Moore, 2003)

Kindergarten Concepts of print Letter and letter sound recognition Initial & final consonants Blending letter sounds in single syllable

words Short vowel word families (cvc

patterns) Recognizing environmental print &

sight words Building Word Knowledge

Grade 1 Rapid letter-sound recognition Blending letter sounds and word

building Initial and final consonants Short vowels (cvc patterns) Consonant blends (br, cl, st, etc.) Consonant digraphs (sh, ch, wh, th) Inflected endings (-ing, -ed,) Final e (cvce patterns) Long vowel digraphs (ai, ay, ea, ee, oa,

ow, etc.) Complex consonant blends (qu, scr, thr) Hard and soft c & g Silent consonants (comb, write, know) Abstract vowel patterns (oo, ou, ow, oi,

oy) Contractions & Compound Words

Grades 2 & 3

Review of grade 1 skills More complex vowel spellings &

spelling rules (i.e. doubling consonants & dropping e)

Homophones(their/there) & homographs (read/read)

Multisyllabic words Syllabication patterns & strategies More structural analysis (i.e. plurals,

possessives, prefixes & suffixes)


Curriculum Maps for Alphabetic Principal

Kindergarten


First Grade


Second Grade


Third Grade


What are the Different Approaches to Phonics

Instruction?

Synthetic Phonics Analytic Phonics Analogy-Based Phonics Phonics through Spelling Embedded Phonics Onset-Rime Phonics

Which approach(es) are systematic?


Elements of Explicit Phonics Lessons

Teach—How to Sound (phonemic awareness) Letter-sound association Draw on prior knowledge

Practice—Let’s do Word building Spelling

Apply—You do Sentence dictation Reading decodable text Application in other contexts (reading and writing)


Explicit vs. Implicit Phonics Instruction—Which is Which? After reading a story about animals, the teacher asks

students “What sound does horse start with? Do you see any other animals whose names begin with that sound? What letter says /h/? Can you write the letter “h”?

After a lesson in which students isolate words that begin with the /h/ sound, the teacher links the sound to the letter by showing students the letter “h”, telling them it stands for the /h/ sound, and using “h” to practice making words that begin with the /h/ sound. Later, the teacher reads a book about animals and shows students how the word horse starts with “h”. The teacher encourages students to look for other animals or words that begin with “h”.


Phonics Lesson Dos(Blevins, 1998)

Use logical sequence and be explicit Build on what children know and adjust

instruction to student needs Provide frequent, daily lessons Keep lessons brief, fast paced, & focused Provide built-in review and explicit transfer

to reading and spelling activities Make learning public (i.e. word walls and

letter charts) and reflective (i.e. Talk-to-Yourself Chart)


Phonics “Talk-to-Yourself Chart”

(Gaskins, et al, 1997)

Completed chart for the word high.1. The word is high.2. Stretch the word. I hear 2 sounds.3. I see 4 letters because -igh stands for

one sound.4. The spelling pattern is igh.5. This is what I know about the vowel: It

is the long-i sound.6. Another word on the Word Wall with

the same vowel sound is light.


Phonics Lessons Don’ts(Blevins, 1998)

Avoid having children continually wait for turns—use small group instruction.

Avoid instruction that is not explicit Avoid using incorrect language or

terminology. For example: Instead of saying, “You can hear the f

sound, “ say, “You can hear the /f/ sound.” Instead of saying, “What sounds do you see

at that the end of mint?” say, “What sounds do you hear at the end of mint?”


Phonics Lesson Components

(Blevins, 1998)

Repeated readings Phonemic awareness exercises Explicit letter-sound relationship

instruction Blending practice Word-building practice Controlled reading practice Dictation


Types of Texts for Beginning Reading Instruction

(Just Read Florida)

Predictable and Patterned Books

Decodable or Phonetically Regular Books

Pictures for Words (Rebus) Books


Your Turn

Sketch out a plan for how you might explicitly teach the:

/m/ sound and letter “m”,

/ch/ sound and digraph “ch”, or

Prefix “un”


Considerations for Phonics Instruction for Students with Learning Disabilities and/or

Limited English Proficiency

Provide direct, explicit, systematic instruction in letter/sound relationships, including preteaching and reteaching and review

Provide instruction in English language structure Be aware of the differences between English and a

child’s primary language. Teacher children how to transfer what they know in

their primary language to English. Teach letter sounds and combinations that do not occur

in the child’s native language. Involve students in daily events with a variety of books

and printed materials Engage students in read aloud and shared reading

opportunities with more proficient readers


Instructional Activities for Phonics

Letter Identification/Letter-Sound Correspondence

Decoding Blending Word Building Word Sorts/Word Hunts/Word Walls Syllabication

Encoding Segmenting Dictation

Sight Vocabulary/Irregular Words


How Does the Phonics Instruction in My Reading Program Align with

Research?

Think-Ink-Pair-Share Systematic

Explicit

Letter-Sound Information

Integration


3—2—1

3—things worth remembering

2—things to learn more about

1—burning question

Maine Reading First Course

Documents

Transcript of Maine Reading First Course