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What About Phonics? Murray State University

What About Phonics?

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Page 1: What About Phonics?

What About Phonics?

Murray State University

Page 2: What About Phonics?

“Why Johnny Can’t Read”

• In 1955 Rudolph Flesch said “Teach the child what each letter stands for and he can read.” Lots of people still say this today. Do you think this is true?

Page 3: What About Phonics?

A Strategies ApproachGood readers use a variety of strategies to

figure out unfamiliar words. They:– Think about what would make sense– Think about what would sound right– Look at what it starts with and think about

what makes sense– Look at parts of the word they know– Read on to the end of the sentence– Reread– Skip it

Page 4: What About Phonics?

Don’t we ever say, “Sound it out?”

• NO! • WHY NOT?• The English language is not a strictly

phonetic language. Many, many words do not follow rules and cannot be “sounded out.”

• There are consistencies, but NOT when you try to “sound it out” letter by letter from left to right.

Page 5: What About Phonics?

An Experiment in word perception.

• QLH WCGMZ PGTXW NBFJMSV• BAX GORPLE CHURK FRENTLY• ANGRY GROW TAXES BOY UGLY• SILLY WINDOWS HIT THE BOX• FUNNY CLOWNS MAKE ME LAUGH

Page 6: What About Phonics?

Does reading proceed from left to right?

hat hatebit bitecut cute

mop moping

Page 7: What About Phonics?

Can you decode these words?• philomight• chailosophous• whibelitious• chiricean

What did you do to decode these words? Did you sound them out, one letter at a time, from left to right?

Page 8: What About Phonics?

“A person who attempts to scan left to right, letter by letter, pronouncing as he goes, could not correctly

read most English words.”

- Venezky, The Structure of English Orthography

Page 9: What About Phonics?

Is English a Phonetic System?• In a strictly phonetic system,

each sound is represented by one consistent symbol, and each symbol always represents that sound.

• A always says /a/; /a/ is only represented by a.

Page 10: What About Phonics?

Is English a Phonetic System?• What sound does “o” make?• pot• so• one• women• now

Page 11: What About Phonics?

Is English a Phonetic System?• What sound does “t” make?• Top• nation• think• nature

Page 12: What About Phonics?

Do phonics rules work?

• move, love, stove• break, bread, freak

Page 13: What About Phonics?

Does this rule work?• “When two vowels go walking the

first one does the talking.”• YES - nail, bead, pie, boat• NO - said, head, chief, build• % usefulness: • 45

Page 14: What About Phonics?

Does this rule work?• “When a word ends in

vowel+consonant+e, the e is silent and other vowel is long.”

• YES - cake, late, bone, June• NO - have, come, move, bare• % usefulness - 63

Page 15: What About Phonics?

Does this rule work?• Two ee’s together make a long

e sound.• YES - fee, see, feeling, wheel• % - 98

Page 16: What About Phonics?

Does this rule work?• The combination oa makes a

long o sound.• YES - boat, coal, toast• % - 97

Page 17: What About Phonics?

How would you pronounce these?

• Phrank• Chright• Pholightly• geroymality• repantenable

Page 18: What About Phonics?

Implications for instruction:• Systematic, intensive phonics

(following a phonics program which emphasizes phonics rules taught in isolation) teaches children that English is a phonetic system. They expect “sounding out” to work.

Page 19: What About Phonics?

Implications for instruction:

• Children need to know that phonics rules don’t always work but may give you an approximation.

Page 20: What About Phonics?

Implications for instruction:• Children need to have other

strategies for figuring out words–What makes sense? Reading on,

re-reading, looking at the picture–Chunking - Do any parts of this

work look like other words I know?

Page 21: What About Phonics?

Implications for instruction:

• Children need to be taught phonics in context, so they can see how to use phonics in tandem with other cues.

Page 22: What About Phonics?

Implications for instruction:

• Children need to be shown the consistencies:–consonants are more consistent

than vowels;–blends and digraphs are quite

consistent;

Page 23: What About Phonics?

Implications for instruction:

• Children need to be shown the consistencies:–Spelling patterns (rimes) are very

consistent: -ake, -all

Page 24: What About Phonics?

Implications for instruction:• Suggested teaching order:

– 1. Phonemic awareness – rhymes, what word starts the same as…

– 2. Single consonants - b, d, f…– 3. Consonant blends and digraphs -

th, sh, ch…– 4. Vowels: spelling patterns (rimes)– 5. Vowels: digraphs (oy, oi, ow, etc.)

Page 25: What About Phonics?

Implications for instruction:

• Teach spelling patterns (rimes)–all, ball, fall, wall, tall, small–sail, snail, hail, tail–way, say, day, play, bay–light, fight, sight, slight,–ride, hide, tide, pride, slide

Page 26: What About Phonics?

Video: Using onsets and rimes

• As you watch, write down ideas that you can use in your classroom.

Page 27: What About Phonics?

To sum up: Recent research has shown that

• most readers figure out unfamiliar words by analogy – they think of words they know with similar “chunks” in them.

• children have trouble hearing individual sounds within words but can readily hear and identify “chunks” of words.

• most phonics “rules” do not work much of the time, but “chunks” of letters are much more consistent!

Page 28: What About Phonics?

So, phonics instruction should focus on helping children identify these “chunks”.• Onsets are the letter(s) before the vowel.Consonants: c, d, f, g, h, j, …Blends and digraphs: th, sh, ch br, tr, str,

…• Rimes are the vowel and letters after the

vowel (in one-syllable words). -ake -ame –ike -ain -ing -ack -an -at, etc.