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While the importance of phonics teaching is now universally accepted, the way phonics is best taught continues to be debated. What is agreed, however, is that the teaching of literacy should incorporate evidence-informed practices which include a place for explicit and systematic phonics instruction. As with all literacy learning, phonics instruction should take place within a meaningful, communicative, rich pedagogy, and within genuine literacy events (Hornsby & Wilson, 2011, p.19). Show
Regardless of which approach is employed, phonics instruction must contain the following:
As noted by Wyse (2010), literacy teaching involves the use of texts ‘to locate teaching about the smaller units of language including letters and phonemes… [This] contributes to contexts that are meaningful to children and enables them to better understand the reading process, including the application of key reading skills’ (pp. 144-5). Students with learning difficulties and dyslexiaThe Literacy Teaching Toolkit materials (including the phonics resources on this page) are targetted at students within the expected range of abilities. For advice, guidelines and tools to assist students with learning difficulties and dyslexia see: Learning Difficulties and Dyslexia Resources – Online Tools and Applications The difference between phonological awareness and phonicsWhile phonological awareness includes the awareness of speech sounds, syllables, and rhymes, phonics is the mapping of speech sounds (phonemes) to letters (or letter patterns, i.e. graphemes). Phonological awareness and phonics are therefore not the same, but these literacy focuses tend to overlap. As students learn to read and spell, they fine-tune their knowledge of the relationships between phonemes and graphemes in written language. As reading and spelling skills develop, focussing on phonemic awareness improves phonics knowledge, and focussing on phonics also improve phonemic awareness. Theory to practice and evidence baseAn awareness of the links between speech sounds (phonemes) and letter patterns (graphemes) is one of the essential repertoires within the Four Resources model of reading. When reading, children need to "break the code" of written language, as well as comprehend texts, understand how texts are used, and to critically analyse texts. Including phonics is a necessary part of a rich literacy programme, as argued by a number of experts with differing views on the teaching of phonics including Emmitt, Hornsby and Wilson (2013), Goswami (2010), Stahl (2011), Paris (2005), Konza (2016). Links to Victorian Curriculum - EnglishFoundationReading
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Links to Victorian Curriculum - English as an Additional Language (EAL)Pathway A Reading and viewing
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Key conceptsThe English Spelling SystemEnglish can be thought of as an alphabetic language consisting of 44 speech sounds (phonemes) which map onto letter patterns (graphemes). Graphemes can be a single letter (graph), or a combination of two (digraph), three (trigraph), or four letters (quadgraph). For details, see: Some languages are phonetic in their spelling (e.g. Finnish, Italian), where there is a simple one-to-one relationship between sounds and letters. In English, there are only 26 letters, so combinations of letters (graphemes) are needed to represent all 44 sounds (phonemes). This makes the spelling system (orthography) of English more complicated than languages with more phonetic orthographies. Another factor that illustrates why English's alphabetic orthography is complex is that some letters make multiple sounds. For example, the letter combination “ough” can be read in at least seven different ways: as in “through”, “thorough”, “although”, “plough”, “thought”, “cough” and “rough”. Also, In English there are often multiple ways to spell the same sound. For example, the /or/ vowel sound can be spelt “or” as in “horse”, “au” “haunt”, “our” “court”, “augh” “caught” and “ore” “store” to name a few. Despite this complexity, there are numerous sound-letter patterns (graphemes) that are useful to highlight, so that children can crack the code of written language. English is also considered a morphophonemic language, which means that its spelling is also made up of various morphemes (e.g. prefixes, suffixes, base words). The morphology of words increasingly becomes important for the teaching of reading and spelling as students progress in their literacy abilities. The morphology of words also adds to the complexity of the English spelling system. Graphemes map onto phonemesEnglish can be thought of as an alphabetic language consisting of 44
speech sounds (phonemes) which map onto letter patterns (graphemes). We have 20 vowel sounds, and 24 consonant sounds. In English we use graphemes to represent these various sounds. Graphemes can be a single letter (graph), or a combination of two (digraph), three (trigraph), or four letters (quadgraph).
It is important for teachers to be familiar with the most common and productive sound-letter patterns (graphemes). For more information and a list of the most common graphemes, see: Words can be categorised as either are regular or irregular words (in terms of their spelling). Distinguishing between words that are completely (or mostly) regular or irregular can be helpful to know which words might be difficult for students to decode independently. Regular words are words that can be decoded using knowledge of phonics patterns (e.g. get, well, which, before) Irregular words are words that do not conform to phonics patterns (e.g. do, said, could, yacht, doubt) Words can also be categorised as either low frequency or high frequency, referring to how frequently they are found in texts for students of a particular year level. Overtime, it is expected that students will become proficient and efficient at reading words they encounter the most (high frequency words). High frequency words are words that students of a particularly learning level encounter frequently (e.g. get well help because) Low frequency words are more rare (or not usual) for a student in a particular learning level to come across (e.g. cog pharaoh deleterious) It can be useful to use lists of high frequency words (e.g. Oxford Word List, Magic Words). However, when you identify the graphemes within these words it is clear that many high frequency words are also regular words. For more information, see: Morphology is the study of words and their parts. Morphemes (like prefixes, suffixes, and base words) are defined as the smallest meaningful units of meaning. All words can be broken down into their morphemes:
Other examples of words with multiple morphemes are: roll+er driv+ing under+stand+able class+ic+al Morphemes are important for phonics (reading and spelling), as well as vocabulary and comprehension. Teaching morphemes is useful, as they are often spelt the same across different words (even when the sound changes), and often have a consistent purpose and/or meaning. For example, students can learn about the plural -s, and how it can be spelt with an "s" or "es", based on a sound rule. See plural s section for more details. For more information, see: Word Morphology See the 44 Speech sounds video Phonic sequencesIn English, phonics is the teaching of introductory, basic, intermediate, and advanced sound-letter patterns (graphemes). Awareness and recall of these patterns is relevant for the development of both reading and spelling. The phonics lesson sequences aim to provide teachers with explicit information about how to teach phonics to students who might require additional support in Foundation, Level 1 and Level 2. The lesson sequences are examples and are not intended to cover all aspects of phonics. Foundation phonics scope
Level 1 phonics scope
Level 2 phonics scope
In practice examplesFor in practice examples, see: Sample phonics lessons For more information see: Phonics for early childhood
educators ReferencesDerewianka, B. (1998). A Grammar Companion: For Primary Teachers, Newtown, NSW: Primary English Teacher Association Emmitt, M., Hornsby, D. & Wilson, L. (2013). The place of phonics in learning to read and write. Norwood: ALEA. Goswami, U. (2010). Phonology, reading and reading difficulties. In K. Hall, U. Goswami, C. Harrison, S. Ellis & J. Soler (Eds.). Interdisciplinary perspectives on learning to read: Culture, cognition and pedagogy. (pp. 103 - 116). New York: Routledge. Hill, S. (2015). Developing early literacy: Assessment and teaching (2nd ed.) South Yarra, Australia: Eleanor Curtain Publishing. Hornsby, D. & Wilson, L. (2011). Teaching phonics in context. Port Melbourne: Pearson Australia. Konza, D. (2016). Understanding the process of reading: The big six. In J. Scull & B. Raban (Eds), Growing up literate: Australian literacy research for practice (pp. 149-175). South Yarra, Vic. : Eleanor Curtain Publishing Snowball, D. and Bolton, F. (1999). Spelling K-8: Planning and Teaching. York, Maine: Stenhouse. Stahl, K.A.D. (2011). Applying new visions of reading development in today’s classrooms. The reading Teacher, 65(1), 52-56. Wyse, D. (2010). Contextualised phonics teaching. In K. Hall, U. Goswami, C. Harrison, S. Ellis & J. Soler (Eds.). Interdisciplinary perspectives on learning to read: Culture, cognition and pedagogy. (pp. 130-148). New York: Routledge. Which guideline should teachers follow when choosing keywords for sound spelling cards?Which guideline(s) should teachers follow when choosing key words for sound-spelling cards? Select all that apply. Avoid words in which nasalization affects the way a vowel is pronounced, such as angry for /ă/. Avoid words with phonemes that sound like letter names, like empty (m - t).
When teaching letter formation which strategy can be used to group letters together?6) Use a Multisensory Approach
Look for stories, rhymes and songs about letter formation, which will help your child remember where to start and stop each letter. Handwriting Heroes provides everything you need for a multisensory approach!
Which activities are recommended to help students develop visual motor skills before they form letters?Dot pictures and grid pictures are helpful visual motor integration activities. They require the child to look carefully at the picture and replicate it, which is the same skill needed in handwriting! Start with the really simple ones for young kids and progress to the harder ones as their skills develop.
What is the best way to assess a students ability to recognize real words in print?Which is the best way to assess students' ability to recognize real words in print? Have students do timed and untimed readings of regularly spelled nonsense words and real words; check that they can recognize words within two seconds.
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