Phonics, Word Recognition, and Spelling

Sharon Walpole

University of Delaware

Overview of the Session

• Look at development of the alphabetic principle in a child’s natural writing

• Discuss stages in reading and spelling development• Review principles of, strategies for, and research on

phonics instruction• Look at reflection of the alphabetic principle in a child’s

developmental spelling assessments• Review some basic concepts about the spelling system

that are helpful for teachers to know• Consider strategies for developing teacher knowledge in

this area

Children’s spellings can give us insight into their knowledge of the characteristics of an alphabetic orthography.

From spellings, we can document what children know, what they can do, and what they need to learn.

October, Kindergarten

TRNSX

“tyrannosaurus rex”

What does the child

Know? Need?

What does the child

Know? Need?

Upper case letter formation

At least some letter sounds

Syllable-level segmentation

Lower case letters?

Firm letter sounds?

Onset-rime segmentation?

October, Kindergarten

HTUT SAT NO DWO

WOW

“Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall

(and I made the O into a pumpkin!)”

What does the child

Know? Need?

What does the child

Know? Need?

Upper case letter formation

At least some letter sounds

Syllable-level segmentation

Concepts about print?

Concept of word?

Summer Between Kindergarten and First

Fin you dot limi wrking

you ovwas s locat the

mes you mad

“Fine. You don’t like my working. You always say look at the mess you made.”

What does the child

Know? Need?

Full phonemic segmentation

Some sight words

Preconsonantal nasals

Long vowel markers

What does the child

Know? Need?

September, First Grade

I like gowin g to the moves with my mom

What does the child

Know? Need?

What does the child

Know? Need?

Upper and lower case letters

Sentence formation

High frequency words

Support with spacing

October, First Grade

WONS A BOY NAMDE DAVY FIDID INDEIDS HE HAD A GON AND A NIF HE WOS the KING of the WIYD FROTTER TER

What does the child

Know? Need?

Story language

Combination of conventional spellings and invented spellings;

Easy to interpret

Spacing

Periods

Indentation

Word with upper and lower case

-ed morpheme

Short vowels

What does the child

Know? Need?

November, First Grade

I like horsis

The beste

I like anomols.

What does the child

Know? Need?

Upper case letter formation

At least some letter sounds

Syllable-level segmentation

Lower case letters?

Firm letter sounds?

Onset-rime segmentation?

What does the child

Know? Need?

January, First Grade

I like to ski on the hill.

I like green eggs and ham.

What does the child

Know? Need?

Conventional spellings for many words

Simple sentence structure

Upper and lower case

More varied sentence-level composing

What does the child

Know? Need?

February, First Grade

Onc my brother had a dream. We had a krab. We boet the krab that day. That same knite the krab crold on my brothers head and he dreamd abuot that crab. He wock up and said I dremd abuot a krab.

What does the child

Know? Need?

Story language

Sentence structures

Some long vowel markers

Sentence wrapping

/K/ sound in initial and final position

Low-frequency vowel patterns

-ed morpheme

What does the child

Know? Need?

March, First Grade

Today at library we talkt about Sinthiea Riyhlent. She had a real dog naemd mudge. And she rote abuot Henry and mudge. A subetot came in and read us a henry and mudge book.

What does the child

Know? Need?

Many long vowel markers

Sentence wrapping

Diphthong ou

Morpheme -ed

What does the child

Know? Need?

April, First Grade

My uncel came on Saterday. He was the kcick me chaimpieon. He juggled 585 times in a row. He was the best in the word back then. He realy was!!!!

What does the child

Know? Need?

Punctuation

Story structure

Open/closed syllables

Cle syllables

/k/ sound

Final l-blends

What does the child

Know? Need?

May, First Grade

The watercress seeds are poiting towerd the window because it needs sun. We are going to be able to eat them at the end of school.

What does the child

Know? Need?

Longer, complex sentence structures

Preconsonantal nasal

Capitals v. lower case

General Questions

• Do you have adequate understanding of developmental issues in reading and spelling?

• Do you have adequate understanding of the role of decoding in word recognition and spelling?

• Does your reading program include adequate attention to instruction in phonics and decoding?

• Does your reading program include a sensible plan for assessment of phonics knowledge and decoding skills?

• Does your reading program include adequate attention to intervention in decoding?

General Plan

• Who needs phonics instruction? When?– A look at literacy ages and stages

• Instructional strategies for teaching phonics

• Research on phonics instruction

• Building a knowledge base for teaching phonics

Development of Reading

Emergent Stage: Before children have a concept of word

Beginning Stage: As children are building a sight vocabulary

Instructional Stage: Continues through years--advances with instruction Transitional reader: Begin to read silently and

read/write with greater fluency Intermediate and Advanced: Read to learn and

write to convey meaning

Stages in Beginning Reading

Ehri (1997)

• Pre-alphabetic Uses environmental and visual cues

• Partial alphabeticReads words by forming connections between

only some of the letters• Full alphabetic

Reads words by forming complete connections because child can segment to the phoneme

• Consolidated alphabeticReads words by chunking (morphemes,

syllables, etc.)

Ehri, L. (1997). Sight word learning in normal readers and dyslexics. In B. Blachman (Ed.), Foundations of reading acquisition and dyslexia: Implications for early intervention (pp. 163-189). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Stages in Beginning Spelling

Gentry (1982)

• PrecommunicativePictures or Letters, but random

• Semiphonetic Abbreviated spellings, some sounds represented

• Phonetic All sounds represented

• Transitional Long vowels marked, but not always correctly

• Conventional Spelling Mostly correct spellings

Gentry, J.R. (1982). An analysis of spelling development in GYNS AT WRK. The Reading Teacher, 36, 192-200.

Reading and Spelling Development

Incidental Visual Cues

Letter name knowledgePartial phoneme awareness

Grapheme-phoneme connectionsRecognition of chunks

Full phoneme awareness

Decoding easily sound by sound and by analogyPhoneme, morpheme, speech-print connections

Phoneme and morpheme awareness

How does developmental data inform instruction?

• Core instruction mirrors developmental sequence

• Assessments identify developmental status

• Needs-based and intervention programs accelerate development for struggling readers

What does this development really look like?

Take a few minutes to put some developmental milestones for kindergarten and first grade in order based on your knowledge of beginning reading.

Notice the relationships between alphabet knowledge, phonemic awareness, reading, and spelling.

Stahl, Duffy-Hester, & Stahl, 1998

Principles of Good Phonics Instruction

Good phonics instruction should develop the alphabetic principle.

Good phonics instruction should develop phonological awareness.

Good phonics instruction should provide a thorough grounding in the letters.

Good phonics instruction should not teach rules, need not use worksheets, should not dominate instruction, and does not have to be boring.

Stahl, Duffy-Hester, & Stahl, 1998

Good phonics instruction provides sufficient practice in reading words, both in isolation and in stories, and in writing words, both from dictation and using invented spelling.

Good phonics instruction leads to automatic word recognition.

Good phonics instruction is one part of a reading program.

To what extent does the phonics instruction in your setting honor these principles? What strategies might you use to improve it?

Take time to identify the most common instructional approaches to teaching phonics.

To what extent are these approaches reflected in your phonics curriculum, either singly or in combination?

Approaches Sources

Analogy-based approaches

Irene Gaskins, Benchmark Word ID

DISTAR Engleman and Bruner; Reading Mastery

Orton-Gillingham Spaulding, Recipe for Reading, Slingerland

Word Study Words their Way; Word Journeys

Approaches Sources

Making Words Cunningham

Synthetic approaches Workbooks?

Analytic approaches Teachable moments?

Error analysis Reading Recovery

What does SBRR say about phonics instruction?

No matter what

the type or types,

it has to be systematic

and explicit

Goes in a preset, logical order.

The teacher and the childare clear about the

element under study.

NRP, 2000

National Reading Panel Report

General question:

What do we know about phonics instruction with sufficient confidence to recommend for classroom use?

NRP, 2000

Method

Meta-analysis Statistical method for combining the results from a collection of program evaluations to reach an overall conclusion about program effects

NRP, 2000

Sources

38 studies

Some type of phonics instruction compared with unsystematic or non-phonics instruction

School-based rather than laboratory-based curricula

Measure of reading

Not used in the PA meta-analysis

NRP, 2000

Coding Variables

Characteristics of training

Type of phonics

Type of control group

Training unit (tutoring, small-group, whole-class)

Length of training

Characteristics of participants

Grade

Reading ability

SES

NRP, 2000

Findings

Systematic phonics instruction had a significant effect on children’s reading achievement compared to controls.

Synthetic, larger-unit (onset-rime), and other phonics programs all were more effective than controls, but no one type of instruction or instructional program was significantly more effective.

NRP, 2000

Tutoring, small groups, and whole classes are all effective delivery systems for phonics instruction.

Phonics instruction is more effective when it occurs in kindergarten and first grade than later.

Phonics instruction is effective for at-risk kindergarteners, at-risk first graders, and disabled students. The findings for older weak readers are confusing.

NRP, 2000

Phonics instruction improves students’ ability to read real words, pseudowords, and irregular words (to a lesser extent).

Phonics instruction improves reading comprehension in kindergarteners, first graders, and disabled readers, but not necessarily in older readers.

Phonics instruction improves spelling in kindergarten and first grade, but not for older readers.

NRP, 2000

Phonics instruction is effective for children at different levels of SES.

Phonics instruction was more effective than all forms of control groups (basal, whole language, whole word, regular curriculum).

NRP, 2000

And here’s what they said they didn’t know . . .

1. How long should phonics instruction be? Years? Minutes?

2. How many letter-sound relationships should be taught?

3. How can we maintain consistency in instruction and interest and motivation of teachers?

4. What is the role of teacher knowledge?5. How should teachers be trained to teach

phonics?

Given the new core programs you are using, to what extent are these questions answered for you? Are they answered in a satisfactory way? What are the big issues in the schools right now?

What are some ways we can go wrong?

• Rely solely on teachable moments• Invent phonics curriculum as we go• Pace inappropriately• Ignore developmental data• Forget to provide practice of phonics taught

in real reading and spelling• Teach phonics all day long• Forget to collect data on children’s learning

How do we measure phonics knowledge in K and 1?

1. Nonsense word reading (mep)2. Real word reading in isolation (map)3. Spelling tasks, both controlled and

natural4. Reading tasks -- but not until later

Why are each of these tasks useful? To what extent are they part of the assessment plan in your setting?

Watch a child acquire the alphabetic principle during kindergarten. The snapshots come from assessments rather than from natural writing. Think about what he knows about letters and sounds and his growing phonemic awareness.

Christopher

Entering kindergarten (8/04)

• No preschool• Name 0 letters• 0 letter sounds

But a great teacher!

Christopher: Mid October

9 letter names

0 letter sounds

Rudimentary spellingfan

pet

rug

sit

mop

Christopher: Mid January

23 letter names 17 letter sounds

Much better spelling!

tap for top gad for glad

lid pan for plan

wag sap for step

bit for bet ran for run

nit for hot hip for ship

vat for that mad for mud

hip for chop fad for fed

dig for dog

Christopher’s journal writing

Christopher’s writing-March 10

Christopher: Mid Aprilpaf for pathkap for camplapjrip for droptoppop for ripkot for cut ship for shopshin for chinvanwat for wet nast for nest

gad for gladhotdigrish for richtab for tubhot for hunttis for thisyessot for trotnot for stopfishkib for cribjob

Interpret Christopher’s spellings. What orthographic features does he know and use? What is he struggling with?

To what extent are the kindergarten and first grade teachers maximizing children’s use of phonics knowledge to engage in spelling and writing?

What are the benefits of such an approach for teachers and for children?

Universals of Language Study

DiscourseStructure

Pragmatics

Semantics Syntax

Morphology

Orthography

Phonology

Language

What is the role of knowledge in expert instruction? To what extent does teacher knowledge interact with curriculum? Why develop teacher knowledge if we have well designed curriculum materials?

*Examples which follow draw from Chapter 5 of Moats, Speech to Print

Phonemes

Graphemes

Morphemes

Words

Syllables

Onsets

Rimes

Consonants

Vowels

Single Consonants

Beginning Blends

Ending Blends

Digraphs

Silent letter combinations

Letters with no individual sound

Lax, or

short vowels

Tense, or

long vowels

Diphthongs

R-controlled

L-controlled

Sound? Spellings?

Mitt, Slam, Hymn, Comb

Tickle, Mitt, Sipped

Die, Loved, Handle

Nice, Knight, Gnat

Kite, Crib, Duck, Chorus,

Walk, Quiet

Girl, Pittsburgh

Sing, Bank, English

Fluff, Sphere, Tough, Calf

You, Onion, Use, Feud

Sound? Spellings?

Sit, Pass, Science, Psychic

Zoo, Jazz, Cheese, Xerox

Shoe, Sure, Mission, Charade, Conscience

Measure, Azure

Cheap, Etch, Future

Judge, Wage, Residual

Lamb, Call, Single

Long Vowel Graphemes

A

Ate

a, a_e, a, ai, ay, ei, eigh, ey

E

Eat

e, y, e_e, ee, ea, ei, ie, ey

I

Ice

i, y, i_e, ie, igh

O

Oat

o, o_e, oa, ow, oe, ough

U

Use

u, u_e, ue, ui, ough

Other Vowel Graphemes

Oi (Oil) oi, oy

Ou (Ouch) ou, ow

Air air, are

Er (earth) er, ir, ur

Or or, our

Syllable Types

closed cat, camp, ant

handy,

open he, be, open,

humid

C-le little, beagle

Syllable Types

Vowel Team

trainer, spoilage,

weigh, maintain

R-Controlled

spurn, chart, report,

VCe compete, inflate, despite, ice

Let’s look at the first hundred words that children use in their writing, and sort them into categories. Given what we’ve reviewed here about phonemes, graphemes, and syllables, which are regular and which are irregular?

Carefully consider the outline on pages 106 and 107. To what extent does the decoding and spelling instruction in the core programs with which you have been working mirror this developmental sequence? What are some issues that you would like to discuss?

Now look at the spellings of four different children in the same kindergarten classroom. What is the role of teacher knowledge in promoting literacy success for these children? How can we develop that knowledge?

Some strategies for building knowledge

1. Analyze the scope and sequence for teaching decoding and spelling in your core program and in your intervention program.

2. Locate and use the phonics and spelling assessments included in your core.

3. Use a developmental spelling assessment to learn more about your children.

Some teacher-friendly resourcesBear, D.R., Invernizzi, M., Templeton, S., & Johnston, F. (2004). Words their way:

Word study for phonics, vocabulary, and spelling instruction. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.

Fox, Barbara J. (2004). Word identification strategies: Phonics from a new perspective. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.

Ganske, K. (2000). Word journeys: Assessment-guided phonics, spelling, and vocabulary instruction. New York: Guilford.

Lyon, A., & Moore, P. (2003). Sound systems: Explicit, systematic phonics in early literacy contexts. Portland, ME: Stenhouse.

Savage, J.F. (2004). Sound it out: Phonics in a comprehensive reading program. Boston, MA: McGraw Hill.

Strickland, D.S. (1998). Teaching phonics today: A primer for educators. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

CIERA series Every child a readerhttp://www.ciera.org/library/products/ecr/index.htmlPALS websitehttp://pals.virginia.edu/Instructional-Resources/

References from this talkEhri, L. (1997). Sight word learning in normal readers and

dyslexics. In B. Blachman (Ed.), Foundations of reading acquisition and dyslexia: Implications for early intervention (pp. 163-189). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Gentry, J.R. (1982). An analysis of spelling development in GYNS AT WRK. The Reading Teacher, 36, 192-200.

Moats, L. C. (2000). Speech to print: Language essentials for teachers. Baltimore, MD: Brookes.

National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. (2000). Report of the National Reading Panel. Teaching children to read: an evidence-based assessment of the scientific research literature on reading and its implications for reading instruction: Reports of the subgroups (NIH Publication No. 00-4754). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

Stahl, S.A., Duffy-Hester, A.M., & Stahl, K.A.D. (1998). Everything you wanted to know about phonics (but were afraid to ask). Reading Research Quarterly, 33, 338-355.