Teaching Phonics

by Rob Cable

Like all aspects of education. there are many tried and tested methods of teaching your child how to absorb and process new information efficiently. Phonics is arguably the most popular, interesting and effective approach to learning the fundamental skills to successfully read and write the English language.

What is phonics?

Simply put, phonics is the connection between graphemes (letter symbols) and sounds. As adults, we have been readers for a good portion of our lives, so this relationship seems apparent and common sense. However, in reality there is no natural connection between words and their meanings. For example, there is nothing innately "cup-like" about the word "cup".

Even more, the written letters making up the word "cup" do not reflect anything about an actual cup. The word and its written form are agreed upon by English speakers and thus must be learned in order to communicate.

At the very core of phonics lies the alphabet. In order to master phonic, a person must master the alphabet. Letters then need to be connected to their corresponding sounds. As English speakers, we know this is easier said than done. Many letters can represent a number of different sounds. Thus learning phonics is an ongoing process for a developing reader.

K12 Reader – Reading Instruction Resources for Teachers and Parents

Once the basic letters and sounds of the alphabet have been grasped, the programme introduces common two- and three-letter graphemes–such as 'ck' in duck and 'sh' in shop–as well as long vowel sounds–'oa' in boat and 'igh' in night. Each time a new grapheme is taught, the children are given a list of phonemically 'decodable' words and sentences to segment and blend to reinforce their understanding. The words continue to increase in difficulty and in size as the programme progresses.

As with any language, there are always exceptions to the rules. Therefore, words such as 'to,' 'was,' and 'they' (among a host of others) are taught as tricky words because they cannot be phonemically decoded.

'Jolly Phonics' and 'Letters and Sounds' are two of the more popular phonics schemes used in schools today because they provide teachers with a step by step (or phase by phase) guide with all the necessary resources assembled inside carefully-graded workbooks and activity books or, alternatively, on neatly presented and easy-to-print flashcards. These programmes also help to teach letter formation and provide a selection of fun songs to sing and enjoyable interactive games to play.

For children to really benefit from their phonics training and to speed up the learning process, it is advisable to introduce them to a guided reading scheme. These are phonically written and are ideal for practicing and perfecting their phonics knowledge and skills, whilst also helping to expand their vocabulary and develop their imagination. 'Ginn New Reading 360' and 'The Oxford Reading Tree' are two guided reading schemes that I have worked with closely and highly recommend. They cover a range of interesting fiction and non-fiction texts, and both offer comprehension exercises to check children's understanding.

Suggested websites to visit: http://www.letters-and-sounds.com/

http://jollylearning.co.uk/

http://www.mrthorne.com/

Rob Cable is a Year 3 homeroom teacher at the Mooltripakdee International School.