Phonics: Do’s and Don’ts
We all know the feeling well: we’re sitting at our small group table giving our best instruction and then the tiny voice inside your head pops up.
But are you really delivering good instruction? What if you’re missing something? Nobody likes to second guess themselves, but we all do.
Wouldn’t it be nice to have a list of Do’s and Don'ts for when we sat at our small group table? Well, I’ve got some for you! I’ve put together some Do’s and Don’ts so that we can become more confident in our instruction.
Because the reality is, we are all trying to do right by our students and we only want the best for them. Let’s explore some methods that we should keep, and others that we should toss.
DO follow a scope and sequence.
When you’re choosing a scope and sequence, you want to make sure that it goes from simple concepts (letter sounds, CVC words, digraphs) to more complex concepts (vowel teams and diphthongs). Unfortunately, the science of reading doesn’t have one “perfect” scope and sequence. But that’s no matter - just make sure you have one that’s easy to follow and that’s adopted by other members of your team or other grade-level teachers.
And, as always, you can download mine for free here!
DO teach phonics explicitly.
Nobody likes a broken record, but I gotta say - this is something that I love to repeat over and over again because it’s so important: we must teach phonics explicitly and have conversations with our students about how words work. Students need lots of opportunities to transfer that knowledge. Learning happens within this sacred space - where they transfer that knowledge to their reading and writing. If you’re wondering how to exactly go about teaching explicitly, you can check out my podcast episode on explicit phonics instruction here.
In the same breath, this leads me to say…
DO NOT teach phonics sporadically.
We cannot just simply teach phonics whenever time allows or whenever we feel like it. As teachers, we know our jobs don’t work that way. We must be intentional about what we teach and how we teach it. For phonics, it’s important to have a scope and sequence, have a plan in place, and then teach it explicitly with purpose and intention. Now, what I’m about to share with you is something I don’t love admitting, but what do I always say? You know better, you do better. When I was first teaching, I taught phonics sporadically. I would simply just grab a leveled text to teach phonics. We’d make our way through the book, and I would notice that if the book was teaching a specific phonics skill, then, well - that’s the one I’d teach! Of course, I now know that it needs to be much more intentional and planned out than just picking a random skill to focus on. But once I knew better, I did better - and I found a scope and sequence that made sense. I stuck to it, taught explicitly and with intention, and we made our way through the reading journey together - finally confident in my instruction.
DO model activities and routines for students.
Kids learn by doing - and learn by how we model a certain task. Our actions are great mediums through which teaching happens. We want to be sure we’re taking the time to model to students what they should be doing. How is the activity done? What are the appropriate steps? How many times do we do it? All of these things are important to model for our kiddos.
However, be sure to NOT model for too long!
The good, old-fashioned “I Do - We Do - You Do” approach always comes in clutch! Simply model for the students what you’d like to see, do it together, and then have them do it independently. It’s in this independent work where real learning (the heavy lifting) takes place. If we continue to model and always assist our students, they won’t ever learn to their full potential. We must be sure we spend the most time in the “You Do” portion of the lesson.
DO teach phonics in whole group.
I know I know - it seems to be all about the small group table lately. And guess what? Small group instruction is so important - maybe even the most important time. This is the place where we can reach kids and give them exactly what they need. But whole group phonics has a place, too, and we can’t forget that this time of day is still beneficial. The reason why whole group instruction time is vital for all students is that they’re exposed to that grade level content that they’ll be assessed on at year’s end. Of course, not all students will “catch” everything that’s taught in whole-group phonics, but exposure is still essential.
DO take time to review.
It’s oh-so-tempting to move on to the next phonics skill once another one has been taught. We want to move right through our scope and sequence and get them reading as soon as possible, right!? Well, yes, but we can’t forget the importance of review. It simply cannot be overlooked. We must build time into our day for reviewing skills that were previously taught. It isn’t enough to teach a skill for a week and then kiss it goodbye. Setting aside some time for a review of previously-taught phonics skills before introducing new ones will benefit your kiddos greatly! And remember - you don’t need much time. When your instruction is consistent and explicit, it also means it’s efficient, so review should be easy to implement!
DO use manipulatives.
Manipulatives are great specifically for blending and segmenting. They’re fun, they’re engaging, and they’re easy to switch up when you’re in the mood for a specific season or holiday (example - mini erasers!)
Just DO NOT overuse them.
When finding the right manipulatives or switching out of materials becomes time-consuming, that’s when their benefits come to a halt. Find your students’ favorite manipulatives and stick to those. If you find yourself switching them out often or taking too much time “prepping” for a phonics lesson because of them, go ahead and tone it down.
DO choose high quality activities.
This one sounds like a toughy, doesn’t it? One scroll through Pinterest and Instagram will tell you there are limitless (no, really) options out there. Let me tell you just one thing you need to focus on: be sure the activities are researched-based. These are activities that apply phonemic awareness, connecting sounds to symbols. These activities will encourage our students to push forward on their reading journey. Activities should include things like blending and segmenting, word chaining, and phoneme-grapheme mapping - all the while applying these skills to reading through decodable text and to writing through dictations. It’s these types of activities that encourage the most growth. Beyond that, just ensure that you choose 4-5 activities that you’re in love with and use them continuously. There’s no need to have ten different activities each week. In fact, kids will love knowing what’s coming around the bend. As we all know, there’s great benefit in consistency (confidence, for one). So choose your five, have your systems in place, and be on your way!
DO educate yourself.
There’s a lot of information out there about the science of reading, and it can feel overwhelming. We don’t need to pore over pages and pages on the science of reading in order to be able to teach it. In fact, Louisa Moats encourages us by saying that even when we stick to the basics, it becomes incredibly beneficial to our students:
“A teacher’s knowledge of phonics has a strong effect on his or her ability to teach phonics. This knowledge of the english language enables the teacher to choose the best examples for instruction, to provide to focused instruction and to better understand students’ reading and writing errors in relationship to their developing language skills…I highly recommend take a basic course in phonics or linguistics to gain further insights into our language that can be used in the classroom in a productive and purposeful manner.”
It’s easy to get overwhelmed with all of the information about phonics - and lots of it feels like white noise. Nevertheless, we must educate ourselves so our instruction can be effective and purposeful. It’s our job to create readers and the right education and knowledge gives us the confidence and power to do just that!
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