Phonics
Phonics instruction is the step-by-step process of teaching the alphabetic principle. It focuses on teaching the consistent, predictable sounds connected to letters in our written language. Essential to phonics instruction is a subset of the alphabetic principle - letter-sound correspondence.
3 approaches to Phonics
- Analytic phonic- Whole words and patterns within words Analyzes whole words to identify patterns and common phonograms, onsets, and rimes.
- Analogy-based phonic- Word patterns and analogies Uses known patterns to decode unfamiliar words based on similarities between words.
- Embedded phonics- Within the context of reading Phonics instruction is integrated into reading materials learned as part of the reading process.
Definitions: phoneme, grapheme, morpheme
phoneme- A single unit of sound
grapheme- The alphabetic letters that represent sounds
morpheme- A single unit of meaning.
Decoding and Encoding
decoding which is the cognitive process of translating written or printed symbols (such as letters) into the corresponding sounds of a spoken language.
Encoding, also referred to as spelling, refers to the process of using letter-sound knowledge to spell words. Phonics through spelling is an instructional approach that teaches spelling and phonics concepts in tandem
Relationship b/w decoding and encoding
Integrated decoding and encoding instruction that guides students to pay closer attention to the detail of words and their orthographic representations.
Spelling instruction strengthens reading success by creating an awareness of the sounds that make up words and the corresponding letters that spell those sounds.
Letter knowledge (3 things)
- Letter Naming
- Letter Formation
- Letter Recognition- ability to identify and match letters. need at least 10-20 exposures through explicit instruction and practice opportunities
Least to Most complex: Letter Skills
- CVC words
- Blends and diagraphs
- Complex vowels
- Complex consanants
- Multisyllabic words
Research supported instructional strategies
Systematic phonics instruction that occurs in a particularly designed sequence is most effective. Typical approaches to explicit, systematic phonics instruction involve:
teaching individual letter sounds
teaching consonant blends
teaching consonant digraphs
teaching irregular/challenging vowel sounds like r-controlled vowels
Research suggests that phonics instruction is most effective when it also includes connected texts.
Decoding and Encoding are ________ to each other. Meaning …..
reciprocal
Meaning to do one part well, you need the other part.
Decoding- 4 things
The child identifies the letter.
The child takes the letter symbol and links it to the corresponding sound
The child understands how the sounds and letters work together.
The child then takes the letter sounds and blends them, creating words.
Decoding strategies
Vowel sound combinations
Morphological elements (prefixes, suffixes, root words)
Syllable types
Syllable division strategies
Syntax and semantics to support word identification and confirm meaning
Encoding- 4 things
Encoding is the process of spelling words. Encoding is also a process that consists of:
The child hears the word
The child breaks the word down into its smallest sounds of phonemes. This can be done by breaking down the word into syllables and breaking each syllable into individual sounds
The child connects the individual sounds to the letter symbols or graphemes
The child writes down the letters and creates word
As students move into the decoding phase, the alphabetic principle should expand to include ________ ___ ________ and _____ _____ _______.
groups of letters
vowel sound combinations
Structural analysis
Structural analysis is the ability to recognize and understand word parts to determine an unknown word. Students can use their understanding of syllable types to decode unknown words to increase fluency.
Syllable spelling conventions
Dictionary- These syllable types are useful to teach because they help students read, pronounce, and spell words more accurately and fluently. Mastering the knowledge and how to use syllable types gives a child a master plan for decoding during reading and encoding during spelling.
Each syllable in a word has only one vowel sound
Morphology
meaning of words
Morphology processing
Morphology is a process of combining. The combining process includes:
Prefixing - adding a prefix to the beginning of a word (ex. unhappy, restart, unplug)
Suffixing - adding a suffix to the end of a word (ex. biker, running, hacker)
Compounding - combining free morphemes (can stand alone as a word) to create a new word or compound word (ex. doghouse, carport, bullfrog)
Shifting - when a word is used in one way and then switches to a new way. (email and text started out as nouns, then underwent a “shift” and are now verbs.
Strategies for teaching morphology
- Parts-to-Whole- Chunk words into meaningful parts. Have students highlight or underline the largest unit of the word that they know within the word.
- Analogy- Have students create a word web with a common base word, prefix, or suffix.
- Whole-to-Part- Use content words with the whole-to-part strategy to define words in context.
- English Language Learners- Have students use their first language to draw connections. Create a cognate dictionary.
Language origins
Anglosaxon- everyday words, usually stand alone
Greek- word parts together to make words, used in science
Latin- root word and affix
