Teaching Phonics and Phonemic Awareness

1. Teaching Phonics and Phonemic Awareness • Steven A. Stahl • University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign • Center for the Improvement of Early Reading Achievement

2. Phonemic Awareness Phonemic awareness is the ability to hear, identify, and manipulate individual sounds in spoken words (Torgesen, 1998).

3. Phonological Awareness Instruction Phonological Awareness Phonemic Awareness Phoneme Blending & Segmenting Onset-Rime Blending & Segmenting Syllable Blending & Segmenting Sentence Segmenting Rhyming & Alliteration

4. Phonics An understanding of the alphabetic principle—the relationship between phonemes (sounds) and graphemes (letters).

5. What do we want readers to be able to do? • Enjoy and Appreciate Reading Literature and Non-fiction • Comprehend and Learn from Text • Recognize Words Automatically

6. These 3 goals are related... • If children do not recognize words automatically, they cannot comprehend text effectively. • If children do not comprehend text effectively, they will not want to read.

7. National Reading Panel:Phonics Findings • Overall, phonics instruction had a significant effect on reading achievement. • Most (2/3) of the effect sizes involved measures of decoding or word recognition • Effects were significant, but smaller, on measures of comprehension and oral reading

8. National Reading Panel:Phonics Findings • The effects of different types of phonics programs (synthetic phonics, programs which emphasized phonograms, miscellaneous) did not differ from each other. • This suggests that there is no one right method of teaching phonics, but that many methods of teaching children to decode are effective.

9. National Reading Panel:Phonics Findings • Phonics instruction is more effective in kindergarten and first grade than in grades 2-6. • Phonics instruction meets a developmental need. See Continuum Tompkins pg. 114 (see 112 as well)

10. National Reading Panel:Phonics Findings • Phonics instruction did not significantly effect the reading of older children with reading problems, who may not have needed this instruction. • Phonics instruction can be effective for children with reading problems, but it is most effective in the early grades.

11. National Reading Panel:Phonics Findings • Phonological awareness instruction is effective in kindergarten and first grade. • Phonological awareness instruction is especially effective when combined with letter training and as part of a total literacy program

12. What the report does not say • It does not support any particular phonics program. • It does not talk about “decodable text.” • It does not support intensive phonics instruction. • It does not talk about the content of a phonics program.

13. Why do we teach phonics? • Phonics instruction leads to better achievement, at least when integrated into a total reading program. • Children need a strategy to figure out unknown words • Children need to recognize words quickly and automatically.

14. Development of Word Recognition • Visual Cueing • Partial Alphabetic Cueing • Child uses a visual cue, such as the two “eyes” in look or the “tail” in monkey. • Child uses salient letter, usually beginning, sometimes last.

15. Development of Word Recognition • Full Alphabetic Coding • Automaticity • Child uses all letters, including vowels, to “sound out” words • Child recognizes words automatically, using chunks or analogies

16. Emergent Spelling • What Students Do Correctly • Write on page • Hold the writing implement • Horizontal movement across the page • What Students Use but Confuse • Drawing, scribbling, letter-like forms • Directionality

17. Early Letter-Name - Alphabetic Spelling • Represent most salient sounds, especially beginning consonants • Most letters of the alphabet • Directionality • Partial spelling of consonant blends and digraphs • S, SHP for ship • B, BD for bed • Y for when • L, LP for lump • U for you • FL for float

18. Middle Letter-Name - Alphabetic Spelling • What Students Correctly Do • Most beginning and ending consonants • Clear letter-sound correspondences • Frequently occurring short vowel sounds • BAD for bed • SEP or SHP for ship • FOT for float • LOP for lump

19. Middle Letter-Name - Alphabetic Spelling • What Students do Correctly • Regular short vowel patterns • Most consonant blends and digraphs • Preconsonantal nasals • Some common long vowel words, name, time • Lump spelled correctly • FLOT for float • BAKR for baker • PLAS for place • BRIT for bright

20. Early Within Word Spelling • FLOTE for float • PLAIS for place • BRIET for bright • TABL for table • What Students do Correctly • Good accuracy on r-influenced single syllable short vowel words, fur, bird • Some infrequently used short vowels and frequently used long vowel words

21. Middle Within Word Spelling • SPOLE for spoil • DRIEV for drive • Slightly more than half of long vowel words in single syllable words • Consistently uses long vowel markers, SNAIK for snake. • Substitutions in frequent, unstressed syllable patterns, TECHAUR for teacher • ed and other common inflections, MARCHT, BATID

23. Developing the Phonological Insight • This is the insight that spoken words can be thought of as collections of sounds. • It is usually acquired first with consonants.

24. Good phonics instruction should develop phonological awareness • Phonological awareness instruction should stress children’s awareness of sounds in spoken words. • Phonological awareness instruction usually includes both blending and segmentation. • Phonological awareness instruction works best when combined with decoding and spelling.

25. Phonological awareness refers to awareness of all of these aspects of spoken words. • Phoneme awareness only refers to phonemes.

26. Some concepts….. • Phoneme: smallest unit of speech,not always able to be pronounced in isolation • Syllable: cluster around a vowel • Onset: part of syllable before the vowel • Rime: rest of the syllable

27. Onsets and rimes • Stand • Rope • straw • and

28. How do we teach syllables and Onsets and Rimes? • Reading and memorizing rhymes • Clapping out rhymes • How many beats? • Pointing out the rhymes • Can you guess the word? (d-uck, c-at) • Alliteration

29. Begin with children’s names • They are most personal. • Label cubbyholes. • Use name cards. • Children should learn their own names and the names of everyone else in the class.

31. Phonological Awareness Activities • Sound to word matching • Word to Word matching • The Troll • Which word begins with the same sound as _______? • Which one does not belong? • Sound sorting

32. To Market, To Market • To market, to market to but a fat pig; • Home again, home again, jiggety jig. • To market, to market to but a fat hog; • Home again, home again, jiggety jog.

33. Phonological Awareness • Play with sounds in words underlies children’s learning about letters and sounds • Part of preschool education as long as there have been nursery rhymes • Important to include letters in activities, including alphabet books and invented spelling

34. National Reading Panel:Phonological Awareness Findings • Phonological awareness instruction is effective in kindergarten and first grade. • Phonological awareness instruction is especially effective when combined with letter training and as part of a total literacy program

35. Phonological Awareness Activities • Rhyming • Word-to-word matching • Initial sounds • Segmentation • Blending • Deletion • Reciting or making rhymes • Which word does not belong? • Man, move, pit, monkey • What is the first sound in fish? • Breaking a word into sounds, • May use boxes • What word is /f/ /i/ /sh/? • Say “make” without /m/?

36. Alphabet books • L is for Lion

38. How do we teach phonics? Good Phonics Instruction Should Develop The Alphabetic Principle. Teach Blend Manipulate Practice

39. Blend • lay • clay • play • say • pay • train • rail • sail • paid • Do you know the way to the park? I will wait for you there.

40. gr st pl m n d a y a i Practice

41. Word Building m f l ay p d n r w ai d pl br

42. Phonics Instruction • Good phonics instruction should not teach rules, need not use worksheets, should not dominate instruction, and does not have to be boring.

43. Phonics Rules • When two vowels go walking… 45% • Silent “e” rule…. 63% • When a vowel is in the middle of a one-syllable word, it is short…. 60% bead does bone love cat scold

44. Developing the orthographic insight • This is the insight that words are spelled one particular way. • For example, there is no reason that “boat” is not spelled “bote”. • Children have to learn particular spellings. • This usually comes when learning long vowels which are more variable.

45. Manipulate • Segmenting • “Making and Breaking” (Reading Recovery) • “Making Words” (Pat Cunningham) • Word Sorts • Letter Strips • Word Building • Spelling

46. Making words • Choose a group of letters • Have children make increasingly complex words. • Final word should be long word. • Put each word in a pocket chart • Do a word sort with chart words.

47. a a a c g h n o o t t

48. a a a c g h n o o t t • to • an • ant • too • cat/act • nag • chat • tang • than • hang • hoot • can’t • toga • chant • achoo • thong

49. a c e f g i i m n t • it • in • cat / act • man • ace • tin • fit • mint • cent • mice • fact • gift • main • agent • infant • inmate • imagine • figment

50. Compare/contrast • Direct teaching of the process of comparing new words to known words. • First, teach set of “wall words”. The next slide has a list of 37 phonograms that can be used to generate about 500 primary grade words. • Then teach children the process of comparing new words to known words.