Phonics
The goal of phonics instruction is...
to help children to learn and be able to use the Alphabetic Principal
"The Jerry L. Johns Literacy Clinic serves as a central hub for community learning and tutoring. They have programs for students in K-12, and resources for parents, education professionals, and the community." The clinic developed a parent resource series called, Raising Readers, which has short, yet informative and helpful tools for parents.
The Alphabetic Principal
"...the letters we use in print represent the sounds we use in speech."
-The Between the Lions Book For Parents
Pronouncing the Sounds
DID YOU KNOW THERE ARE
44 SOUNDS
IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE?
20 VOWEL SOUNDS &
24 CONSONANT/DIGRAPH SOUNDS
In order for students to be able to blend sounds together to read words, they must first learn how to pronounce each letter sound correctly. This isn't always as easy as it seems. Below, you can read an article that details the struggles many beginning readers have when they learn the incorrect pronunciations of letters.
Decoding Strategies
These 7 decoding strategies can be used to help students figure out words they don't know.
Instead
of this conversation:
Child: What's this word?
You: The word is _______.
Try this
conversation:
Child: What's this word?
You: Let's try using the chunky monkey strategy. Look for a smaller chunk in that word that you already know.
What are high frequency words?
High frequency words are the most commonly used words in printed text. Most high frequency words follow regular spelling patterns, but there may be parts within the word that don't. Those "tricky" parts are addressed through instruction. The Science of Reading has emerged as a guiding force in literacy education, and it provides insights into how our brains process sight words. Instead of relying on rote memorization, this approach emphasizes the brain's capacity to recognize and process words efficiently. Rather than teaching students to memorize these words, the Science of Reading encourages learners to build their phonetic and phonemic awareness skills and use them to tackle these tricky words.
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How many words should I teach per day?There is no set answer to the number of words to teach a child each day. Factors such as the child’s age, motivation, memory skills, and whether the child is learning a specific list for a school assignment affect this decision. But remember: it is much better for a child to have solid knowledge of 50 words than to kind of know 300 words. It is not enough for children to kind of know their sight words. They need to be able to recognize them instantly and accurately in order to build reading fluency and comprehension of written material they will read in books. Source: https://sightwords.com/sight-words/faqs/
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Should I correct mistakes immediately, or wait until the end of the lesson or game?"All errors should be corrected immediately, but in a constructive way. Source: https://sightwords.com/sight-words/faqs/
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Should I be teaching my child sight words instead of phonics?No! Sight word practice should occur in addition to phonics instruction. Phonics instruction teaches your child the rules for decoding and reading most words. Sight words instruction focuses extra attention on the words that occur most frequently in books. Often, these words can not be decoded because they do not follow phonics rules. They must be practiced until they can be recognized instantly, upon sight. Source: https://sightwords.com/sight-words/faqs/
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What are Dolch Sight Words?Edward William Dolch, PhD, compiled a list of 220 words that were commenly found in children's books. The words on this sight word list make up 50-70% of the words in any general text. Source: http://www.mrsperkins.com/what_are_dolch_words.html
Strategies
If you are looking for ways to teach or practice sight words, click here.
Flashcards
Click here to download and print Dolch word or Fry word flashcards.
Games
Click here to find 18 fun and free, easy-to-make, sight word games that can be played at home.
