Developing Phonics Knowledge

Best Practices for Developing Phonics Knowledge

Andrea Lang Nale

Nova Southeastern University

According to Cockrum and Shanker (2013), phonics knowledge involves forming connections between letters or combinations of letters and the sounds they represent (p.95).

What is phonics knowledge?

Phonics is the most helpful for students reading at or below the 2nd-grade reading level because phonics is a valuable tool for decoding phonetically regular words (Cockrum & Shanker, 2013).

When is phonics knowledge most beneficial?

1. Phonics should be tested the same way students read.

2. “The student taking the test needs to try to read the words and produce the sounds the letter in words represent” (Cockrum & Shanker, 2013, p.96).

3. Three Levels of Phonics Knowledge Assessment

   1. Observation - teacher observes the student struggle while reading orally and decides to assess further

   2. Quick Assessment of Phonics Knowledge - the teacher can provide the student with an unfamiliar word following the phonics rule.

   3. ○ In-Depth Assessment of Phonics Knowledge - the teacher provides a phonics assessment to determine the student's deficiencies.

How is phonics knowledge assessed?

Multiple Choice

Why were students only provided the letters s, a, t, p, i, and n?

• As students start to decode on their own, using this set of letters can create several real words for them to read.

• These letter are the letters that are reversed the most in reading.

• These letters do not affect students with dyslexia.

How is phonics best taught?

​Begin with letter sounds.

"Students who struggle to read materials written at or below the second-grade level should be taught to recognize and apply the letter-sounds associations for single consonants, consonant blends, and consonant digraphs. In addition, instruction on vowels should also be provided" (Cockrum & Shanker, 2013, p. 97).

Multiple Choice

The following is an example of what type of phonics knowledge assessment: A child is reading orally and has difficulty applying the correct sound to the letters in the words being read, he probably needs further testing of his phonics skills.

• Quick Assessment

• Observation

• In-Depth Assessment

Drag and Drop

Phonics instruction tends to be the most helpful for students reading at or below ​ ​

Placeholder

reading level.

Drag these tiles and drop them in the correct blank above

second-grade

first-grade

third-grade

fourth-grade

fifth-grade

​Teaching Phonics Knowledge

1. Start with the beginning letter sounds. Focus should then be placed on single consonants, consonant blends, consonant digraphs, and vowels through direct instruction.

2. Word Attack - "Identify and separate the letters and, then, pronounce and blend the individual letter sounds, or phonemes, to decode the word" (Cockrum & Shanker, 2013, p.98).

If a student struggles with the symbol-sound association, teaching phonograms, "a common word family beginning with a vowel or vowel pair followed by a consonant or consonants, and sometimes ending in e", is beneficial (Cockrum & Shanker, 2013, p.100).

Explicit Direct Instruction Consonant Recommendations

Six Steps to Teach Consonant Letter Sounds:

1. Develop sound awareness

2. Develop awareness of seeing the letter that stands for the sound, grapheme.

3. Practice words with the consonant sound.

4. Practice blending the sound with other phonograms.

5. Make a word list with words that start with that sound.

6. Provide reading practice of the consonant.

Multiple Choice

Incorporating songs, like this consonant song, allows students to hear the sounds of the letter, see the grapheme, practice saying the letter and sound, and practice the sound with phonograms.

• True

• False

Activities to Practice Consonant Sounds

1. Flashcards - place the letter on one side of the card with the letter in bold and a picture of the word on the other side of the flashcard.

2. Place 10 flashcards face up, each with a different letter on them. Give students 7, 6, 6, 5, 5, 4, 4, and 3 seconds (each round time slowly decreases because there are fewer letters) to locate the card that has been orally provided.

3. Auditory matching

4. Practice making lists of words with the beginning letter sound.

5. Multimodal techniques that incorporate gamification.

Consonant Phonic Rummy

Multiple Choice

Would this resource be helpful for a student that is struggling with consonants?

• No. Flashcards are not considered a best practice.

• Yes. The struggling reader can see the upper and lower-case versions of the letter, a picture, and the word with the beginning letter in bold which helps build automaticity.

​Recommendations (Vowels)

1. Teach short vowels using CVC and CVCC combinations, then show students words with CVC + e to expose to long vowels.

2. Auditory practice.

3. Have students sort words between those with the breve (short sound) and the macron (long sound).

4. Interactive technology that incorporates gamification.

​Recommendations (Blends, Digraphs, and Diphthongs)

1. Use a list to see which blends, digraphs, and diphthongs are not yet mastered.

2. Use additional auditory exposure to the blends, digraphs, and diphthongs.

3. Interactive technology incorporating gamification.

​References

Cockrum, W. A., & Shanker, J. L. (2013). Locating and correcting reading difficulties (10th ed.). Pearson.