Elizabeth Wagner

 

Overview

Your Child and Phonics

Phonics instruction teaches children the relationships between the letters (graphemes) of written language and the individual sounds (phonemes) of spoken language. It teaches children to use these relationships to read and write words. Teachers of reading and publishers of programs of beginning reading instruction sometimes use different labels to describe these relationships, including the following:

• graphophonemic relationships
• letter-sound associations
• letter-sound correspondences
• sound-symbol correspondences
• sound-spellings

(Armbruster, Lehr, & Osborn, 2001)

The goal of phonics is to help children learn and use the alphabetic principle--the understanding that there are systematic and predictable relationships between written letters and sounds. Knowing these relationships will help children recognize familiar words accurately and automatically and "decode" new words. In short, knowledge of the alphabetic principle contributes greatly to children's ability to read words both in isolation and in connected text. When phonics is being learned different questions need to be asked.
Critics of phonics instruction argue that English spellings are too irregular for phonics instruction to really help children learn to read words. The point is, however, that phonics instruction teaches children a system for remembering how to read words. Most of these words contain some regular letter-sound relationships that can help children remember how to read them. The alphabetic system supports our memory for specific words (Ambruster et al., 2001)

Early on, children develop phonological awareness without consciously being aware of it. They play with syllables, onsets and rimes, and phonemes. Children learn the following principles:

• Words can rhyme.
  
• Words can have more than one syllable.
  
• Words are in sentences.
  
• Words can begin and end with the same sounds.
  
• Words are made up of small sounds called phonemes.
  
• (Heilman, 2002)

When is phonics taught?

Children usually learn phonics in kindergarten to second grade. Normally, the consonant sounds are taught first (all the sounds except for a, e, i, o, u). Then children learn all the sounds of the letters, letter combinations, and word parts (PBS Parents, 2002-2006). It is important not to teach phonics excessively because it could damper the child’s enthusiasm for reading (Heilman, 2002, p. iii). The best way for children to learn phonics is by making phonics a part of wide range of literacy experiences.

 

Approaches to Phonics

There are several different approaches to phonics that can help your child learn to read. They are synthetic phonics, analytic phonics, analogy-based phonics, phonics through spelling, embedded phonics, and onset-rime phonic instruction. 

 

Synthetic phonics

Children learn how to convert letters or letter combinations into sounds and then how to blend the sounds together to form recognizable words.

 

Analytic phonics

Children learn to analyze letter-sound relationships in previously learned words. They do not pronounce sounds in isolation.

 

Analogy-based phonics

Children learn to use parts of word families they know to identify words they don't know that have similar parts.

 

Phonics through spelling

Children learn to segment words into phonemes and to make words by writing letters for phonemes.

 

Embedded phonics

Children are taught letter-sound relationships during the reading of connected text. (Because children encounter different letter-sound relationships as they read, this approach is not systematic or explicit.)

 

Onset-rime phonics instruction

Children learn to identify the sound of the letter or letters before the first vowel (the onset) in a one-syllable word and the sound of the remaining part of the word (the rime)
(Armbruster, Lehr, & Osborn, 2001).

 

 

Family Activities

Teachers: Reproduce and cut apart a collection of small pictures. Send home with child a piece of paper with a key picture (e.g., cat) at the top above a large circle. At home, have children select pictures of things with names that begin like the name of the key picture. Then ask the children to glue them in the circle. Show them how to say the name of the key picture along with the name of each picture in the circle.

Families: The newspaper can be used for a reading activity for beginning readers. Have your child circle words she knows and ask her to say the words. Your child can cut them out and glue them onto a piece of paper. Add more words each day to the list.

 

Check out these fun and educational websites to help your child learn phonics!

Clifford’s Sound Match: 
http://teacher.scholastic.http://teacher.scholastic.com/clifford1/flash/phonics/index.htmcom/clifford1/flash/phonics/index.htm

Pounce:
http://pbskids.org/lions/games/pounce.html

Long and Short Vowel Mix and Match:
http://www.surfnetkids.com/games/phonics-mm.htm

Starfall.com learning games:
http://www.starfall.com/n/level-a/learn-to-read/load.htm?f

 

 

Resources

Print Sources

Armbruster, B. Lehr, & F. Osborn, J. (2001). Put reading first: The research building blocks for teaching children to read. US: Partnership for Reading.
This booklet is a great source that introduces parents to phonics instruction and offers ways to help children learn to read. It also discusses the different approaches to phonics.

Connelly, V., Johnston, R., & Thompson, G. (2001). The effect of phonics instruction on the reading comprehension of beginning readers. Reading and Writing, 14, 423-457.
Phonics and non-phonics approaches to reading are compared in this journal article. The writers demonstrate that children who learned to read with the phonics approach had higher reading comprehension than the children taught with the non-phonics approach.

Heilman, A.W. Phonics in proper perspective. (2002). New Jersey: Merill Prentice Hall.
Heilman’s book includes the history and importance of phonics. Topics range from the purpose and limitations of phonics to vowel letter-sound relationships. There are activity suggestions for children to learn phonics, too.

Jalango, M. (1998). On behalf of children: The phuss over phonics. Early Childhood Education Journal. 26(1), 1-6.
The author suggests that phonics is only one way a child learns to read. Jalango encourages parents and teachers to use phonics along with other learning tools, such as sight reading, but discourages using phonics as a primary focus.

Pinnell, S., & Fountas, I. (2003). Phonics lessons: Letters, words and how they work. New Hampshire: Heinemann.
This is a great source for both teachers and parents. There are many fun learning activities in the book that parents can participate in with their children. Teachers can plan take-home activities, too.

Roberts, H., &  Scully, P. (2002). Phonics, expository writing, and reading aloud: Playful literacy in the primary grades. Early Childhood Education Journal, 30(2), 93-99.
The journal article takes a look at how teachers and parents can make phonics a fun learning experience. The authors focus on the importance of play during literacy lessons. Some of the activities suggested are reading Dr. Seuss books and having a word hunt.

 

Online Sources

PBS Parents 
http://www.pbs.org/parents/readinglanguage/articles/phonics/pbasics.html  date of retrieval: October 31, 2006.
This website has some very helpful information on phonics for parents. Research on phonics is provided as well as tips on reading with children.

Read, Write, Think.org
www.readwritethink.org date of retrieval: October 31, 2006.
There are a few articles on this site about phonics and planning lessons about phonics. It gives an overview on phonics, theories, and objectives for students. Parents will get an understanding of what the child learns.

Starfall.com
www.starfall.com date of retrieval: October 31, 2006.
Starfall has several learning activities for children. The free site includes an introduction to learning sounds, writing journals for parents to download, and games for children.

A Phonics Instruction Sequence for CLAD Reading
http://coe.sdsu.edu/people/jmora/PhonicsSequence.htm date of retrieval: October 31,2006.
This site is especially useful for English language learners. It includes a slide show on approaches to phonic instruction.

 

References

Armbruster, B. Lehr, F., & Osborn, J. (2001). Put reading first: The research building blocks for teaching children to read. US:
Partnership for Reading.

Connelly, V., Johnston, R., & Thompson, G. (2001). The effect of phonics instruction on the reading comprehension of beginning
readers. Reading and Writing, 14, 423-457.

Heilman, A.W. Phonics in proper perspective. (2002). New Jersey: Merill Prentice Hall.

Jalango, M. (1998). On behalf of children: The phuss over phonics. Early Childhood Education Journal. 26(1), 1-6. 

Pinnell, S., & Fountas, I. (2003). Phonics lessons: Letters, words and how they work. New Hampshire: Heinemann.

Read, Write, Think.org. www.readwritethink.org date of retrieval: October 31, 2006.

Roberts, H. Scully, P. (2002). Phonics, expository writing, and reading aloud: Playful literacy in the primary grades. Early Childhood Education Journal, 30(2), 93-99.