Episode 11: What the Research Says About Phonics
Wondering how to ensure your phonics time is effective? Here’s a quick look at what solid phonics instruction looks like, plus a little lesson in how our brain reads words.
First, what is phonics?:
Phonics is the connection between sounds of spoken words and the individual letters or groups of letters that make up that word.
Solid phonics instruction is so important because it is a key contributor to future reading success.
This process is nuanced and complex as it happens in our brains
What does our brain do while reading?
First, our brains are not hard-wired to read.
But if they were, reading looks something like this:
First, we see the letters on the page and recognize them
Then, our brain does some orthographic mapping and recognizes the letters.
After this, they move to the phonological processor and the brain recognizes the sounds of these letters.
Lastly, our brain connects the two and attaches it to the word’s meaning
Since our brains are not hard-wired to read, it is up to us (the teachers!) to make this connection for them.
When we understand this complex process, we are able to help them in a more effective way.
How do we make this connection for them?
In order to teach our students about phonics, instruction must be these things:
Explicit: We must teach our students exactly what we want them to know - there should be no guessing. We want to be direct with no frills. If you’re learning about the digraph sh, keep it short and sweet: “We’re learning about the sound /sh/ today. It has an /s/ sound and an /h/ sound, but when we put them together, they actually say /sh/.”
Systematic & Sequential: This is your scope and sequence. Choose a scope and sequence that’s organized and moves from simple phonics skills to more complex ones. These skills should also build off of one another in a way that makes sense. There is a clear plan and a clear path.
Consistent: Students thrive on consistency and love knowing what’s coming next. When working in small groups, ensure that there is a routine that is predictable. Best advice: choose 5 activities that are research-based and connect the sound with the symbol (like grapheme mapping and word chaining).
Why do we need to be so explicit, systematic, sequential, and consistent?
A study done by the National Reading Panel discovered that when students learned phonics in this way, they outperformed students who learned it in an opportunistic way (think: spending time in a leveled reader and casually going over any phonics pattern found in the book.)
Although our alphabet has 26 letters, there are actually 44 sounds. That’s a lot to learn, and that’s why instruction needs to be explicit, systematic, sequential, and consistent.
Where can I find resources to help me?
Phonics Reading Roadmap: phonics instruction with the science of reading in mind. Learn how to teach systematic and explicit phonics instruction.
Kindergarten Roadmap: focus on letter sounds and phonemic awareness, and be equipped with tools you’ll use in your small group lessons that will encourage phonics and decoding
Phonics Lessons & Activities MEGA Bundle: includes a scope and sequence, blank templates, phonemic awareness warm-ups, drill cards, sentence pyramids, and so, so much more.
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