Phonics and Reading

Facilitator: Sarah Coutts

Objective: This lecture aims to demonstrate the importance of developing

phonemic awareness in students. It also aims to guide trainees in providing a

structure in developing reading skills in young learners.

Reading and writing, in addition to grammar, are two of the four core language

skills in which both first and second language speakers must be taught to read

and write. Phonics and developing phonemic awareness is an essential part of

successfully developing successful listening and reading skills.

Obviously, knowing the alphabet and basic vocabulary is an essential first step

towards being able to read and write longer tasks. However, this does not mean

that it’s necessary to spend several weeks on teaching the alphabet only. It is,

however, essential to ensure that students make important distinctions in the

language such as capital letters, punctuation and intonation, which are extremely

important in English. Also, remember that the four core skills in language (reading,

writing, listening and speaking) are interdependent and should be taught as such.

Alphabet

While it’s common to teach students the alphabet using songs and alphabet

charts, it’s also important to test that students know the alphabet letters out of

sequence, too. Activities like the one on the next page are useful for testing this.

More alphabet activities are also provided.

Alphabet Review

Write the letter in the circle that comes next. The first

one has been done for you.

d a y m

h r b v

c u w r

s j t x

q e g p

i f k

ABCs

ABC Catch This activity aims to challenge students to think of vocabulary using each letter of the alphabet. Materials: 1 Balloon / ball / bean bag per group How to Play: Write the alphabet on the board. Throw a bean bag to someone and

say a word begining with the letter A. This person must catch the bean bag, say a word begining with the letter B and then throw it to another person. This third person says a word begining with the leter C and so on.

Obviously the game is meant to be played fast. If played with higher level students, you may not want to write the alphabet on the board. If played with beginners, have them simply call out the letters of the alphabet rather than words beginning with the next letter. The

Alphabet Erase Game This activity aims to test students on their letter recognition. It can also be adjusted for vocabulary and sentences. Materials: Flashcards Blackboard How to Play: Write all the letters of the alphabet on the board in a random order.

Split the students into teams; one student from each team is given an eraser. Call out a letter to be erased. The students must race to erase that letter. If they erase more than one letter, they lose a point. The first student to erase the correct letter wins a point for their team.

For vocabulary, write the target vocabulary on the board and show the students flashcards/call out the word to erase.

I Have Who Has Card Game

The

Phonological and Phonemic Awareness1

While learning the alphabet, play games and do activities to lay a solid foundation

of phonological and phonemic awareness. Just remember that these are different

from phonics because they are about listening, not looking. The following

statements are true of children with phonological and phonemic awareness.

They can count words.

They can count syllables in words.

They can rhyme.

They can put sounds together to make a word. If you say these sounds

to your students, /f/ and /ish/, can they put them together to make fish?

If you stretch a word and say it like this—mooooon–do your students

know the word is moon?

They can identify the first and last sound in a word. This is not the same

thing as knowing the letter. For example, if you ask your students the

first sound in the word phone, they should be able to answer /f/.

How to Promote Phonological and Phonemic Awareness

Give each student a cup with counters. Say a sentence normally and

then recite it very slowly (“The sky is blue.”). The students should give

you one counter for each word of the sentence.

Teach students to count syllables by starting with their own names.

Then move on to other familiar words.

Read rhyming books.

Play rhyming games.

1 http://www.themeasuredmom.com/why-is-rhyming-important/ Date Accessed: 2 August 2015

The most enjoyable and efficient way to teach rhyming is to read nursery

rhymes. They are easy to find and fun to learn.

a) When your students know a particular nursery rhyme (or several

rhymes), have them listen as you recite a familiar rhyme with one mistake.

They can say “Beep Beep!” or play a rhythm instrument when they hear the

wrong word. Ask them to give you the correct answer.

b) Invest in some great nursery rhyme books.

c) Read the rhymes, but don’t stop there. Recite them. Sing them. Clap them.

Act them out!

Read rhyming picture books over and over again. As your students become

familiar with the books, leave out the rhyming word and pause. Ask them what

comes next. You can then identify the rhyming words. “That’s right! Mouse

rhymes with house.”

Play rhyming games. Here are some to try:

a) Give clues for the same rhyming family. Here’s an example from the –

at family:

This animal says “meow.” (cat)

This animal sleeps upside down. (bat)

This is something by the door you might step on. (mat)

b) Ask for a particular type of word that rhymes with the word you give. It’s

okay to use nonsense words.

What animal rhymes with wig?

Which color rhymes with mean?

What food rhymes with maghetti?

c) Make up rhymes and have students fill in the missing word. Here are some

examples:

My old gray cat caught a great big _____.

The big yellow duck was driving the ________.

d) “Is it a…?” Let your students finish a rhyme that you start.

You: Is it a shirt?

Student: No, it’s dirt!

You: Is it a pear?

Student: No, it’s hair!

e) Tell your students three words. If the words rhyme, they show a thumbs up;

if the words don’t rhyme, they show a thumbs down.

f) Make a rhyming chain. Name a word. Take turns naming a word that

rhymes. When you run out of words or an incorrect word is given, the chain

is broken. Start a new chain.

Why is rhyming important?

1. Rhyming teaches children how language works. It helps them notice and

work with the sounds within words.

2. Rhymes help children experience the rhythm of language. As they recite

nursery rhymes they learn to speak with animated voices. Someday they’ll

read with expression, too.

3. When children are familiar with a nursery rhyme or rhyming book, they

learn to anticipate the rhyming word. This prepares them to make

predictions when they read, another important reading skill.

4. Rhyming is important for writing, too. It can help children understand that

words that share common sounds often share common letters. For

example, the rhyming words cat and bat both end with –at.

5. When listening to rhyming songs and poems children create a mental

picture, expanding the imagination.

6. Because rhyming is fun, it adds joy to the sometimes daunting task of

learning to read.

Phonics

After you’ve chosen a phonics system (e.g. Letterland, Jolly Phonics, Zoo Phonics,

etc.), group the sounds according to their frequency of use. Most phonics systems

will already provide the order in which to teach the sounds.

The following is one example (from Jolly Phonics) of how to group sounds when

teaching them to new students. This does not mean that you will teach all of

these letters in one lesson, but rather that you will sequence your letters in this

order2.

1. s, a, t, i, p, n

2. c, k, e, h, r, m, d

3. g, o, u, l, f, b

4. ai, j, oa, ie, ee, or

5. z, w, ng, v, oo

6. y, x, ch, sh, th

7. qu, ou, oi, ue, er, ar

Benefits of Phonics3

1. Alphabet

2 http://jollylearning.co.uk Date Accessed: 14 December 2013

3 http://busyteacher.org/16913-teach-phonics-esl-classroom.html Date Accessed: 28 August 2015

Phonics is helpful for students who are just starting to learn the English alphabet.

The alphabet can be particularly difficult for students whose native language uses

a different alphabet system to that of English. As students learn a new alphabet,

they learn the sounds associated with it. For these students, phonics can be a

great help. Students learn what sounds each letter or combination of letters

makes, and that helps them in their reading and pronunciation, especially with

new words.

2. Spelling

Because it helps students to break down words into their components, phonics

helps students to become better spellers. They learn to sound through each part

of a word and determine the letters needed to write it.

3. Unknown Words

Students who study phonics are also better at reading unfamiliar words. They can

sound out the letters and letter groups in new vocabulary and often accurately

pronounce them on the first try.

4. Word Roots

Because phonics enables students to see phonemes within words, students who

learn phonics may have an advantage to decoding English words from their word

roots. They may recognize spelling patters more easily and make connects

between spelling and meaning. This may help them when they encounter new

words that follow the spelling patterns they already know.

5. Confidence

Learning phonics can also boost students’ confidence. When students have the

necessary tools, they gain a certain confidence, which increases their confidence

in other areas of language. In learning phonics, they become more confident in

reading, which has a ripple effect to other areas of language use and study.

How to Teach Phonics

SAMPLE LESSON STRUCTURE

Introduction

Warm up with an alphabet song or chant that the

students know well. As students learn more letters and

sounds, have them make random letters with their hands

or bodies. Call out letters in non-alphabetical order to

test their knowledge of the alphabet and sounds.

Presentation

Introduce the sound with a short story and place a slight

emphasis on the sound to be taught. For example:

Sammy the snake likes to explore. His friends that

he is silly to explore by himself because it is

dangerous but Sammy doesn’t listen to them.

Sammy knows what to do when he is scared. He

says, “Sssss.”

Ask the students what sound they heard the most in the

story. Prompt them if necessary.

Have the students imitate the sound. Ask the students

what Sammy says when he’s scared. Let them move like a

snake while practicing the sound.

Practice

Introduce the students to other words beginning with /s/.

Start by saying the words so that they learn to recognize

the sound by listening before reading. For example:

Teacher: Listen to these words. Do they start with

Sammy Snake?

sun star sat step

Teacher: Can you tell me other words that start

with Sammy Snake?

Now that the students can hear the /s/ sound, it’s time

to show it to them and to trace the letter.

Once they have practiced tracing the sound, they need to

practice writing the sound by themselves.

The

Production

After practicing writing the sound, give the students 8 –

10 pictures (of objects for which they have already

learned the vocabulary) and ask them which words start

with /s/ - at least half of the words should start with the

letter being practiced. Also, remember that the words

must start with /s/ - words that end in /s/ or have /s/ in

the middle should be done as a separate exercise.

Give students a worksheet with pictures of items and tell

them to write the letter /s/ under each picture that starts

with that sound. You can then move on to worksheets

where the /s/ is left out of words like “sun.”

Next, students will practice tracing then writing whole

words that start with the target sound. Then progress to

three word choices with a picture in which students have

to identify the correct word for a particular picture. Ex.

Give them a picture of the sun with the words “run,”

“fun” and “sun.” Students must then identify the correct

word for the picture.

Move on to pattern sentences such as “I like….” and

ultimately writing their own sentences.

Conclusion

As a homework task, ask students to find pictures of

things that start with /s/ or have an /s/ in them. You can

also assign short sentences or words. This can then be

extended to them finding words based on a theme and

ultimately writing sentences using their vocabulary as it

increases.

Notes

Once all of the individual sounds, including vowels, have

been taught and students can write short sentences like

“The sun is hot.” And “The dog sits in the sun.”, move on

to blends, diagraphs and diphthongs before moving on to

rhyming words.

The

Dolch Sight Words

The Dolch Word List is a list of commonly used English words that was originally

compiled by Edward William Dolch, PhD and published in his book, "Problems in

Reading" (1948). Edward Dolch compiled this list based on children's books of the

period and selected 220 "service words" that children need to recognize in order

to achieve reading fluency. Dolch excluded nouns from his main list, but did

compile a separate list of 95 nouns.

Many of the 220 words on the Dolch list cannot be "sounded out" and must

therefore be learned by sight. This is why the list is often referred to as the “Dolch

Sight Word List” and the words on the list are referred to as “Dolch Sight Words.

The Dolch Word List is often used in various educational activities to teach

reading. Additionally, although the Dolch Word List was originally devised in the

context of teaching English-speaking children to read, it has subsequently become

popular in non-native English classrooms, too.

DOLCH SIGHT WORDS P

RE-

PR

IMER

a funny look see and go make the

away help me three big here my to

blue I not two can in one up

come is play we down it red where find jump run yellow for little said you

The

PR

IMER

all four out this am get please too are good pretty under at have ran want

ate he ride was be into saw well

black like say went brown must she what

but new so white came no soon who

did now that will do on there with eat our they yes

The

FIR

ST G

RA

DE

after give let some again going live stop an had may take any has of thank as her old them ask him once then by his open think could how over walk every just put were fly know round when from

The

SE

CO

ND

GR

AD

E

always fast pull use around first read very because five right wash

been found sing which before gave sit why

best goes sleep wish both green tell work buy its their would call made these write cold many those your does off upon don’t or us

The

THIR

D G

RA

DE

about fall kind shall better far laugh show bring full light six carry got long small clean grow much start cut hold myself ten

done hot never today draw hurt only together drink if own try eight keep seven warm

Related Activities

To Teach Pronunciation:

Pronunciation cards are very useful because students can practice words and pronunciation in several ways while learning to communicate effortlessly.

1, 2 & 3 SYLLABLE WORDS

Level: Beginners/Intermediate Objectives: to learn pronunciation Group Size: 2-10 Students per group Teaching Time: 10 – 20 Minutes Materials Needed: Word Flashcards with Words of 1, 2 & 3 Syllables Activity Description:

Make sets of word cards to help demonstrate which words have one, two or three syllables and where the stress is.

The

1 OR 2 CONSONANTS

Level: Beginners/Intermediate Objectives: to learn pronunciation Group Size: 2-10 Students per group Teaching Time: 20 – 30 Minutes Materials Needed: Word Flashcards with One and Two Consonant Word Cards

Activity Description:

Make sets of cards with words which look similar but have one or two consonants different (e.g. pool/book). To start the exercise, the teacher says each of the words for the students to hear the difference in pronunciation. Next the students pronounce the words on the cards.

The

SIMILAR WORDS

Level: Beginners/Intermediate Objectives: to learn pronunciation and vocabulary Group Size: 2-10 Students per group Teaching Time: 10 – 15 Minutes Materials Needed: Word Flashcards

Activity Description:

Write words similar in pronunciation (e.g. peace/piece) on the cards and drill the students in the differences in the written and the pronounced words. Ask the students to pronounce the words and then explain them. Example: Island, isle, aisle.

The

SAME SOUND FLASH

Level: Beginners/Intermediate/Advanced Objectives: to learn pronunciation and vocabulary Group Size: 2-10 Students per group Teaching Time: 20 – 30 Minutes Materials Needed: Picture or Word Flashcards Focused on a Particular Sound

Activity Description:

Make sets of pictures or words appropriate to the level of the students and the vocabulary already covered in your class. The students should ask each other for cards starting with a certain letter or sound. Example: “May I have a card that starts with the sound tch?” Answer: “chair”, “church”

Flashcards for Dictation and Reading The purpose of the dictation cards is to make it easier for students to learn spelling by reading the cards first. Ready-made cards with texts can be a great way to prepare for lessons. Make about 10 sets of cards for each unit.

RHYME PLEASE

Level: Beginners Objectives: to learn vocabulary and how to ask for something politely Group Size: 2-10 Students per group Teaching Time: 10 – 15 Minutes Materials Needed: Picture Flashcards with Rhyming Words

Activity Description:

Make a set of cards with pairs of words or pictures that rhyme and deal them out to the students. Let the students ask each other in polite ways for the cards that rhyme with theirs. “May I have a word rhyming with “house”?” The student with the “mouse” word/picture card gives the card to them. “Here you go.” “Thank you.” “You’re welcome.” To make the game more interesting, make sets with also other word / picture cards in addition to the pairs of rhyming words, so that the students will gain and lose cards several times by paying attention to who has which cards

The

PICTURE RHYMES

Level: Beginners/Intermediate Objectives: to learn vocabulary, spelling and rhyming words Group Size: 2-10 Students per group Teaching Time: 10 – 20 Minutes Materials Needed: Picture Flashcards with Rhyming Words

Activity Description:

Make a list of pairs of words that rhyme and make separate picture/word flashcards for each word. Ask the students to match the pictures/words that sound similar and then practice pronouncing the sounds of the words. Then ask the students to come up with more rhyming words, and to write them on a separate worksheet.

The

DICTATION TEAMS

Level: Beginners/Intermediate/Advanced Objectives: to learn vocabulary and spelling Group Size: 2-10 Students per group Teaching Time: 30 – 45 Minutes Materials Needed: Text Flashcards

Activity Description:

Make 4 different stories for dictation flashcards. Each card has a story of about 50-100 words on it. Split the class into teams of 3-4 and let the students pick out 1-4 dictation cards for their team. Ask the students to read the story out loud one at a time whilst the others work together as a team writing down the story as it is being read out, focusing on correct spelling, especially of difficult words. Let the students work independently throughout the lesson and practice together. At the end of the lesson, dictate the stories, collect the students’ assignments and correct them.

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