Elements of Phonics

Poll

Is reading easy? Try to read this:

בוקר טוב. שמי מדליין. מה שמך?

Or this...

Oe Tawtute lu. Nga niteng Tawtute lu. Po Na'vi lu. Oeng Tawtute lu ulte po Tawtute ke lu.

• Absolutely. I can read the text aloud and understand what it means.

• Sure. I can read it aloud, but I do not understand what it means.

• Erh...not really. I struggle to read it aloud, and I definitely do not understand what it means.

• Definitely NO. In the end, I gave up trying to read it.

Poll

When you attempted to read the text, which of the following did you try to do?

• Sound out each word

• Attach meaning to each word

• String together the meanings of the words in each sentence

• Relate it to what you already know to understand the message

• Try to recognise the words by sight

Multiple Choice

Is Phonics the same as Phonetics?

• Yes, Phonics is the same as Phonetics.
• No, Phonics is not the same as Phonetics.

Word Cloud

What is phonics? When you hear the term "phonics", what comes to your mind?

Answer in 1-2 words.

Elements of Phonics

• Phonemic awareness

• Fluency

• Spelling

• Vocabulary

• Comprehension

​TSLB3573 | Kho Chung Wei

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zT9687qjUik

Success Criteria

By the end of this topic, I will be able to:

• Discuss the importance of phonemic awareness, fluency, spelling, vocabulary and comprehension instructions

• Analyse the elements of phonics in a video

• Summarise the elements of phonics in the form of a graphic organiser

​​TSLB3573 | Kho Chung Wei

Some Key Terms

• Alphabetic principle

  • letters stand for sounds

  • recognition of letters in various contexts and forms (M, m, m)

  • distinguishing visually similar letters (b, p, d, h)

  • left to right orientation

• Phonological awareness = awareness of words at the phoneme level + awareness of larger word units (e.g. syllable, onset, rime)

• Phonemic awareness = the understanding that words are made up of a series of discrete sounds (phonemes) - associated with oral activities

• Phonics = The relationship between sounds and written letters/spellings - associated with print

​​TSLB3573 | Kho Chung Wei

Multiple Choice

Can you teach phonemic awareness to children who have not learn to recognise letters?

• No
• Yes

Multiple Choice

Do learners need phonemic awareness skills to learn phonics?

• No
• Yes

Phonemic Awareness

• Ability to pick out and manipulate sounds in spoken words

• 5 basic types of activities to teach phonemic awareness:

  1. Rhyme and alliteration

  2. Oddity task (phoneme categorisation)

  3. Oral blending^p

  4. Oral segmentation^p (including counting sounds)

  5. Phoneme manipulation

     ^p Power skills = directly link to early reading and writing success

• Helps children understand how words work

​​TSLB3573 | Kho Chung Wei

Fluency

• Ability to read aloud with expression to demonstrate an understanding of the author’s message

• 3 key components (McKenna & Stahl, 2009)

  • Accurate word recognition

  • Automaticity

  • Appropriate rhythm and intonation of speech

• Types of activities to teach reading fluency:

  • Choral reading

  • Taped reading

  • Echo reading

  • Buddy reading

​​TSLB3573 | Kho Chung Wei

Multiple Select

Which is the more efficient way to learn reading fluency and spelling?

• By memorizing the words

• By knowing the basic patterns, principles and rules of spelling

• By learning the letter-sound correspondence

• By looking at lots of texts

Spelling

• Ability to arrange letters in the correct order to make words that are communally understood

• Encoding relies on the same underlying skills as decoding

• https://youtu.be/BjVcR83nAYk

• Spelling instruction should include:

  • Alphabetic principle

  • Pattern information

  • Spelling variation based on word origins (e.g. ch check, niche, chaos)

  • Meaning (morphological) information

​​TSLB3573 | Kho Chung Wei

Vocabulary

• The knowledge of words as well as the meaning of words including the ability to use the words appropriately based upon a given context

• 3 tiers of vocabulary:

  1. The most basic words (sight words, early reading words)

  2. High frequency words across several content areas

  3. Low frequency words occurring in specific domains

• Activities to support vocabulary development:

  • Small words in big words

  • Semantic gradient

  • Compound words

  • Multiple meanings

​​TSLB3573 | Kho Chung Wei

• Word association

• Word wall

• Word taxanomy

Comprehension

• The reconstruction of meaning

• Comprehension instruction should include explicit teaching of comprehension strategies (mental processes that good readers use to understand text).

  • Should be introduced and mastered individually

• Design activities to teach strategies for:

  • pre-reading

  • while reading

  • post reading

​​TSLB3573 | Kho Chung Wei

Tutorial Task (2 hours)

• Watch a video on teaching reading and writing to young learners: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTnV3pTv-wQ

• As you watch the video, take notes of how the elements of phonics were taught.

• In groups of 5,

  • analyse the elements of phonics that were demonstrated in the video

  • discuss and share your findings with the class

​​TSLB3573 | Kho Chung Wei

e-Learning Task (2 hours)

• Individually:

  • perform an Internet search on the elements of phonics listed in this topic

  • read the relevant sources and take your own notes

• In groups of 5,

  • discuss what you have read

  • summarise the notes in the form of a graphic organiser

  • a representative from the group will submit the link to your graphic organiser on GC before the next class

​​TSLB3573 | Kho Chung Wei