Phonics
Definition
Phonics is a method of teaching people to read and pronounce words by learning the sounds of letters, letter groups, and syllables.
Merriam Webster Dictionary Online |
Phonics is the study of sound/symbol relationships in our written language. It is the ability to map sounds that are heard (phonemes) to symbols that are written (graphemes). Phonics is also sometimes defined as the method of teaching students to read using sounds and letters. For our purposes here we will go with the first definition. According to Sharon Taberski, phonics is all about the big picture. She states that phonics can aid in comprehension and can be taught through a variety of strategies including sight words, explicit instruction, letter searches, and sound searches. The International Reading Association holds a similar position believing that phonics is important to many different areas of a child's education such as reading. To view more on their position visit http://www.reading.org/general/AboutIRA/PositionStatements/PhonicsPosition.aspx.
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Strategies
Below are activities provided by Whitnee Raines. Check out the document below for detailed activities you can facilitate in your classroom to support Phonics!
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Lesson Plans
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This is a video of Word Study in Action: Making Words Lesson. This video can be accessed via YouTube.com if the side video is not working. http://youtu.be/7nxljktf-Hw
Phonics Instruction •Systematic and explicit phonics instruction is more effective than non-systematic or no phonics instruction. •Systematic and explicit phonics instruction significantly improves kindergarten and first-grade children’s word recognition and spelling. •Systematic and explicit phonics instruction significantly improves children’s reading comprehension. •Systematic and explicit phonics instruction is effective for children from various social and economic levels. •Systematic and explicit phonics instruction is particularly beneficial for children who are having difficulty learning to read and who are at risk for developing future reading problems. •Systematic and explicit phonics instruction is most effective when introduced early (K or 1). |
Games and Activities
Approaches to Phonics Instruction:
•Synthetic (explicit) phonics--Children learn how to convert letters or letter combinations into sounds, and then how to blend the sounds together to form recognizable words. Children have learned the letters m, a, n and the corresponding sounds /m/ /a/ /n/. They blend them to make the word man. •Analytic (implicit) phonics--Children learn to analyze letter-sound relationships in previously learned words. They do not pronounce sounds in isolation. Children see and say the word man. The teacher tells the students that the letter m makes the beginning sound in man. •Analogy-based phonics--Children learn to use parts of word families they know to identify words they don’t know that have similar parts. Children use their knowledge of key words such as must and ate to read the word frustrate. •Phonics through Spelling--Children learn to segment words into phonemes and to select letters for those phonemes. Children learn to compare unknown words to words they already know. Children focus on phonics during writing experiences. |
Activities Should Include:
Letter recognition: Students practice matching, identifying, and ordering letters in the alphabet ~ http://www.fcrr.org/curriculum/pdf/GK-1/Archive/P_Final_Part1.pdf Letter-sound correspondence: Students practice identifying and matching sounds to letters (initial, final, and medial) http://www.fcrr.org/curriculum/pdf/GK-1/Archive/P_Final_Part2.pdf Onset and Rime: Students practice identifying initial consonant and any consonants that follow it; then practice blending, sorting, and segmenting the onset and rime http://www.fcrr.org/curriculum/pdf/GK-1/Archive/P_Final_Part3.pdf Word study: Students practice sorting, blending, segmenting, and manipulating the sounds of letters in words and practice identifying high-frequency wordshttp://www.fcrr.org/curriculum/pdf/GK-1/Archive/P_Final_Part4.pdf Syllable Patterns: Students practice blending and segmenting syllables in words http://www.fcrr.org/curriculum/pdf/GK-1/Archive/P_Final_Part5.pdf Morpheme Structures: Students practice blending compound words, roots, and affixes http://www.fcrr.org/curriculum/pdf/GK-1/Archive/P_Final_Part5.pdf |