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Teaching Phonics for Writing Skills

phonicsorg on July 19, 2024

Phonics is the basis of reading instruction. But it’s also equally as important for kids to develop writing skills! Knowing alphabetical letter-sound correspondences is crucial for both reading and writing proficiently. The science of reading has shown that systematic, explicit phonics instruction is essential for literacy development—reading and writing included. Teaching phonics for writing in addition to reading is a pedagogical standard that should not be overlooked.

In this article, you’ll learn why phonics instruction is important for writing, how it works, and what strategies you can implement when helping children become competent writers.

The Connection Between Phonics and Writing

If you’ve ever watched a kindergartener or first grader try to write a word on paper, you likely noticed they sound out the word phonetically, trying to figure out how it’s spelled. Through phonics instruction, they are learning how sounds correspond to alphabetical letters and put these new skills to work through decoding and encoding.

Decoding (for reading) is the process of combining sounds to sound out a whole word. For example, to read an unfamiliar word such as ‘flat,’ the reader would say each individual letter sound and then blend them to decode the word: ‘ffff-llll-aaa-t… flat.’

Encoding (for spelling) is a similar process but in reverse. Students break down spoken words into their individual sounds and then spell them out. If a child were to try to write the word sun,’ they would segment the word into individual sounds, and then match each speech sound (phoneme) to the letters (grapheme): /s/ /u/ /n/.

In reading and writing, phonemic awareness plays a crucial role. It’s the ability to recognize, identify, and manipulate individual speech sounds, all of which are necessary for blending sounds together or segmenting (breaking down words into parts). Whenever a child tries to read or write an unfamiliar word, they’re using phonemic awareness.

Applying Phonics Skills to Writing

As students’ phonics skills improve, their spelling typically becomes more fluent and accurate. As transcription skills develop, students are able to connect new words into writing sentences, paragraphs, and eventually full stories. They spend less time struggling with basic spelling and can focus more on scribing their ideas. Additionally, an increased proficiency in spelling often leads to greater confidence in writing and a willingness to tackle more complex writing tasks.

Before writing fluently, though, children must go through systematic phonics instruction that teaches them the simplest concepts and moves on to more complex rules. For beginners, phonics skills that apply to writing activities include:

Letter-sound correspondence: Students learn the basics of how letters and letter combinations represent sounds. Again, this is fundamental to both reading and writing. This knowledge allows children to make informed choices when spelling words.
Blending and segmenting: Blending is when students combine individual letter sounds to decode words in print. Segmentation involves breaking words into their “parts,” with a knowledge of phonics rules.
Phoneme manipulation: Confidently repeating, adding, deleting, and substituting word sounds while spelling helps children apply their knowledge to writing.
High-frequency words: Children who can recognize and spell common words automatically improve their fluency and accuracy when writing.

All of these phonics skills work together during writing development. Through systematic teaching and reinforcement, children build a strong foundation for both reading and writing.

Systematic and Explicit Phonics Instruction for Writing

Just like reading, learning to spell and write also requires systematic, direct instruction. This follows the principles known today as the science of reading. It also follows a scope and sequence that young students can follow to learn phonics foundations, patterns, and rules.

When teaching phonics to build students’ writing skills, you’ll first prioritize strong letter-sound correspondences. As children grasp more phonics concepts, move into more complex rules.

Instruction begins with single-letter sounds and then moves on to digraphs, vowel teams, and eventually more advanced spelling patterns. This progression equips students to develop a solid foundation. Include writing activities in phonics lessons to reinforce the connection between phonemic sounds and alphabetical letters. For instance, after introducing a new letter, have students practice writing multiple words that contain that sound.

Keep in mind that explicit instruction means you must clearly explain and model phonics rules in writing. Clearly show your learners how to use phonics knowledge to spell words, and then give them plenty of opportunities for guided practice. Encourage students to verbalize their thought processes as they write, reinforcing the encoding process.

Be consistent with these principles. To reinforce concepts, maintain a regular practice of activities including:

Multisensory techniques: Use sand trays or shaving cream for tactile letter formation practice and lighthearted spelling practice.
Word building: Use magnetic letters or letter tiles to build words on the whiteboard with the class or with your child at home.
Chaining: Change one letter at a time in spelling practice to show the connection between words. For example, the words ‘tip’, ‘top’, ‘tap’ create a word chain.
Dictation exercises: Start with individual words, then progress to phrases and sentences.
Interactive writing games: Play “Phonics Hangman” and other group writing games that focus on sounds and spelling patterns.
The Writing Rope: Similar to Scarborough’s Reading Rope, Joan Sedita’s Writing Rope highlights the “strands that weave together to skillful writing.” The Writing Rope can be helpful in phonics instruction, keeping your focus on the ultimate goals of writing in light of the science of reading.

A systematic teaching strategy makes phonics instruction for writing more engaging and effective, helping children repeatedly practice their phonics knowledge in writing contexts. Remember to adjust the difficulty level based on your student’s needs and progress.

Challenges in Writing Instruction

Beginner readers and writers often struggle with several phonics concepts. For example:

Irregular spellings: You have to teach kids about irregular words that don’t follow regular phonics rules. These tricky words don’t follow regular spelling patterns that can be easily decoded. Examples: ‘are,’ ‘where,’ and ‘two.’
Homophones: One of the trickiest things for kids to learn is homophones—words that sound the same but mean different things and contain different spelling. Explicitly teach these words in context to differentiate between words that sound the same but are spelled differently (e.g., ‘their’ vs. ‘there’).
Silent letters: Words with silent letters can be hard for kids to learn. Introduce silent letters intentionally, emphasizing their importance in spelling despite not being pronounced (for example, ‘climb,’ ‘answer,’ ‘knife’).

Through these common challenges, follow an explicit instructional approach and always encourage a growth mindset with your students. Emphasize your confidence in your students’ development and their ability to master these exceptions as they grow into skilled writers.

Resources for Teaching Phonics to Kids

Effective phonics instruction is essential for developing strong writing skills. By implementing systematic, explicit phonics teaching for reading and writing, you help children become confident, capable writers.

Use evidence-based strategies and phonics resources to make the learning process an engaging and effective part of your literacy instruction. To learn about the best phonics tools for the classroom and the home, check out the resources at Phonics.org!

How to Help Kids Start Reading Multisyllabic Words

phonicsorg on June 20, 2024

Learning how to read multisyllabic words is a big milestone during a child’s phonics instruction. It’s a beginner’s bridge between basic phonics and more challenging skills that lead to reading fluency. As an educator, you must understand how to teach these concepts effectively so that your students benefit from new literacy skills. In this article, we offer some insights on how you can help your students begin reading multisyllabic words with confidence.

Why You Need to Teach Decoding of Multisyllabic Words

As an educator, the instruction method you use to teach multisyllabic word decoding holds weight. Many words have more than one syllable and knowing how to read these words is the key to fluent reading!

Reading Fluency: Texts will become increasingly complex as students move through their academic lives. They need to be able to quickly, accurately, and confidently decode longer words to navigate classes.
Comprehension: Decoding multiple syllables brings a new level of meaning to text as children read. They begin to string longer words and sentences together, strengthening their comprehension.
Vocabulary: Words with two or more syllables introduce children to a larger vocabulary, influencing them to develop better communication skills and consider big ideas.
Confidence: When students learn how to master bigger and harder words, their confidence grows. They develop more curiosity about reading.
Diagnostics: Teaching and assessing children’s word-reading abilities sheds light on a student’s reading difficulties. The most critical time to identify and address reading disorders is before third grade. You play a significant role in noticing any signs of concern during this phase of literacy development.

When to Introduce Multisyllabic Words to Kids

After learning how to decode single-syllable words, children progress in their reading journeys to decode more complex words.

Before teaching children to decode multisyllabic words, they must first have a strong foundation in understanding basic phonics skills. These skills include phonemic awareness skills such as blending, automatic letter-sound correspondences, and basic decoding of single-syllable words.

Multisyllabic phonics instruction often starts near the end of first grade after students have mastered reading single-syllable words.

How to Teach Multisyllabic Word Reading

There are a few approaches that can be used to teach students to accurately decode words with more than one syllable.

1. Syllable Types

One method of teaching multisyllabic word-reading is becoming familiar with different syllable types. Generally, there are six types of syllables:

Closed syllables – words that end with a consonant sound and have a short vowel sound (ex. hat, dish)
Open syllables – words that end with a vowel sound (ex. pay, me)
Vowel team syllables – words where multiple vowels represent the vowel sound (ex. team, boil)
R-controlled syllables – words where an /r/ is after a vowel (ex. star, burger)
Vowel-consonant-e syllables – words that end in silent e with a long vowel (ex. name, pike)
Consonant-le syllables – words that end in ‘-le’ (ex. puzzle, little)

In reading research studies there is some debate on the effectiveness of teaching syllable types. It does seem helpful for learners to have some idea about what different types of syllables are and what the patterns look like. Flexibility in applying these syllable types to overall reading should be encouraged and practiced.

2. Flexible Approach

Not all words follow the rules in the syllable types. Another approach to multisyllabic word reading is described by Michael Hunter and Linda Farrell. This approach does not teach specific syllable types but does show learners how to break up larger words flexibly.

This approach follows a step-by-step process for all words:

Step 1: How many vowel letters are in the word?
Step 2: Are the vowels together or apart?
Step 3: Is there a silent e at the end?
Step 4: How many syllables are there? Draw a line to break up the word into its parts.
Step 5: Say each syllable and then combine them to read the whole word. If you do not recognize the word, flex the vowel sound (if you read the word with a short sound, try a long vowel sound instead).

In this approach, reading the word ‘pumpkin’ would involve identifying the vowels (pumpkin), noting that the vowels are apart from each other and there is no silent e at the end. This would break up the word so that the vowels are separated (pump / kin). Finally, each part of the word would be decoded and then blended to read the whole word, ‘pumpkin’.

Additional Tips for Decoding Multisyllabic Words

Teaching children how to read multisyllabic words requires a systematic and explicit framework. They need to learn how to syllabicate (divide words into syllables), identify prefixes and suffixes, and follow new phonics rules.

1. Introduce Multisyllabic Words Strategically

Start with two-syllable words that follow a closed-syllable pattern. Because closed syllables contain only one vowel followed by a consonant ending, kids who are familiar with CVC or VC words typically grasp these multisyllabic words first. Example words include ‘rabbit,’ ‘kitten,’ ‘napkin,’ and ‘puppet.’ Each syllable contains a closed vowel (‘rab-bit’).

Later, you can introduce the schwa sound as students move on to more advanced words. Schwa sounds often appear in unstressed syllables and need to be identified when reading multisyllabic words. Understanding the schwa sound helps students decode “lazy vowel” words like ‘carrot,’ ‘wagon,’ ‘bagel,’ and ‘away.’

2. Teach Syllabication

Syllabication practice is necessary so that children can grasp word structures. Students learn how to divide words into syllables by identifying their different parts—prefixes, suffixes, spelling patterns, and so on.

Common syllable division patterns are:

VC/CV (vowel-consonant/consonant-vowel)
V/CV or VC/V (vowel/consonant-vowel or vowel-consonant/vowel)
VC/CCV or VCC/CV (vowel-consonant/consonant-consonant-vowel or vowel-consonant-consonant/consonant-vowel)
Consonant-le

These rules help students break down longer words into manageable parts. Syllable division is often taught using visual indicators like dots above vowels, circles around prefixes, slashes between syllables, and boxes around suffixes. Different visual aids such as syllable cards and word ladders also help make these abstract phonics concepts more approachable for kids.

3. Highlight Morphological Awareness

Morphology refers to the meaningful units of language and how they’re combined in words. It’s helpful to teach students basic morphological awareness concepts early as they learn to decode multisyllabic words. Teach common prefixes and suffixes, their meanings, and how they affect word pronunciation.

For example, the prefix ‘re’ means “again.” When children learn that words with ‘re’ imply something is done again, they can approach new words with that understanding, such as: ‘replay,’ ‘react,’ ‘rewind,’ etc.

Root words are also important morphemes for students to be aware of. Help your students identify root words and prompt them to consider how prefixes and suffixes change the meaning. For example, ‘untouchable’ has the root word ‘touch’ but has a different meaning due to its prefix and suffix.

4. Facilitate Practice and Repetition

Practice is key for teaching multisyllabic words! Facilitate opportunities for your students to repeat the concepts they learn. Include targeted words in classroom activities and games. Systematically introduce words into connected text such as decodable books and other reading materials. While students need to practice isolated decoding activities in class, they also need to practice in real-life reading experiences.

5. Monitor Progress and Provide Support

Consistently monitor students’ progress through learning assessments such as a phonics screener. Look at where students need extra support or further practice. Provide multiple different instruction approaches to meet the needs of different learners. You can also work with other teachers, parents, and reading specialists to learn about additional strategies to help struggling students understand multisyllabic words.

More Phonics Teacher Tips and Resources at Phonics.org

Teaching kids how to read multisyllabic words is an important process. Through explicit instruction of syllable types, division patterns, decoding strategies, and lots of practice, you help your students strengthen the skills they need to grow into strong, confident readers.

Don’t forget to make the learning process fun and engaging for kids. For more tips on proven phonics instruction methods, check out the resources at Phonics.org.

Sight Words vs. High-Frequency Words

phonicsorg on May 6, 2024

During phonics instruction, children learn to sound out or “decode” words. With enough practice, decoding turns into sight word recognition. Sight words are defined as any word that can be recognized instantaneously at first sight, without the need to decode it.

High-frequency words are defined as the most commonly occurring words found in texts and books. Some high-frequency words are regular, meaning they follow common phonics patterns.

Irregular words, however, do not follow common phonics patterns. An example of an irregular high-frequency word is ‘of,’ in which the <f> makes a /v/ sound—which is not a regular phonics pattern.

The two terms “sight words” and “high-frequency words” are often used incorrectly or interchangeably, which can lead to confusion. It can also lead to ineffective phonics instruction methods.

What is the real difference between sight words and high-frequency words? Let’s clarify each term so you can master your approach to proper instruction. Keep reading to learn the difference and the relationship between sight words and high-frequency words in children’s literacy development.

How Does a Word Become a Sight Word?

As children develop sight word recognition, their reading fluency and comprehension improve. Students learn to recognize sight words through the process of orthographic mapping.

Children learn letter-sound correspondences.
Readers use their knowledge of letter-sound correspondences to decode new words.
Each time a student decodes the same word, their brain “maps” the written word to the spoken word and its meaning.
Repeated orthographic mapping of the same word reinforces that word in the child’s memory.
After so many repetitions, the brain instantly maps words when reading texts.

Once new words are committed to a child’s memory, they can focus their cognitive efforts on comprehending the words rather than stumbling over frequently encountered ones.

What are High-Frequency Words?

As the name implies, high-frequency words are words that appear frequently in written texts. Students encounter them repeatedly as their reading abilities progress. In fact, 100 high-frequency words make up 50% of the words we read and write in English!

As students encounter frequently-appearing words in their reading materials, their familiarity with the words’ phonetic patterns supports their fluency and accurate reading. Eventually, high-frequency words will become sight words that students can recognize automatically. This is an important goal and milestone in phonics instruction.

How Do Kids Learn to Read Irregular High-Frequency Words

Some irregularly-spelled words appear frequently in texts. These words can be tricky for children to “sound out” using basic phonics rules on their own. Teachers must take a different approach.

While there is some debate in reading research about how children learn to read irregular words, there are generally two approaches used in instruction.

The “Heart Word Magic” approach focuses on decoding letter sounds, while explicitly pointing out the irregular sound parts that should be memorized “by heart.”
The Paired Associate Learning approach emphasizes word memorization. It pairs the visual word with the pronunciation of that word. However, this is not useful for all words as rote memorization can become a challenge or even a disadvantage for learners.

Are Sight Words and High-Frequency Words the Same Thing?

By knowing the difference and the relationship between sight words and high-frequency words, teachers ensure well-rounded phonics instruction. The importance of explicit, systematic phonics instruction cannot be overstated in the context of reading development, no matter which type of words students are learning to decode. Extensive research demonstrates that a strong foundation in systematic phonics is crucial to long-term reading success.

Phonics Activities to Master High-Frequency Words as Sight Words

What are some effective ways teachers and parents can introduce (and practice) high-frequency words when their child is learning to read? Take a few of these pointers.

Irregular High-Frequency Words

Teaching irregular words that occur frequently should not be the primary focus of reading instruction. Knowing these words well does play a role in developing fluency and efficiency. Word-reading instruction blends explicit phonics practice with repeated exposure to build automatic word recognition over time.

Effective strategies for explaining irregular high-frequency words include:

Word Builders: Use movable letter tiles or Elkonin boxes to let students sound out new words and explain the irregular portion of the word.
Decodable Books: Having students read decodable texts that contain targeted high-frequency words helps with repetition, encouraging them to apply their phonics knowledge while decoding new words.
Break Down Irregular Words: Introduce an irregular word to students (such as “said”). Have them underline the sounds they know, and circle the sounds they don’t know. In this case, /ai/ is likely unfamiliar as the word ‘said’ sounds like it has an /e/ in the middle. Students underline /s/ and /d/ but circle /ai/, and the teacher explains this irregular word in full.

Regular High-Frequency Words

High-frequency words should be taught primarily through explicit, systematic phonics instruction. As students encounter these common words in their reading materials, they should be encouraged to apply their phonics knowledge to decode and analyze the words’ patterns.

Incorporate high-frequency word study into phonics lessons by having students blend the sounds and practice reading and spelling the words in context. Provide decodable texts that contain the high-frequency words being studied, allowing students to reinforce their phonics skills while gaining repeated exposure to these words.

Help Kids Learn to Read Through Phonics

Providing a strong foundation in phonics is crucial for raising skilled and confident readers. This evidence-based approach aligns with the science of reading and sets children on the path to long-term learning and success.

To learn more about implementing accurate, research-based phonics methods in your classroom or home, explore the wealth of resources available at Phonics.org.

The Different Types of Phonics Instruction

phonicsorg on April 12, 2024

Teaching children how to read is a crucial and sometimes complicated process. Phonics instruction becomes the foundation of reading, so taking an effective and proven approach is required if kids are to grasp these essential skills.

If proper instruction is so important, why are there different types of phonics in English education? Which method works best for teaching kids to read?

Let’s look at the four main types of phonics instruction, the relationship each one has with reading, and how effective they are. Whether you’re a teacher of a classroom or a parent wanting to help your early reader, knowing these methods can help you make informed decisions about which phonics program to use as your child develops literacy skills.

Synthetic Phonics

Synthetic phonics focuses on alphabetical letters (graphemes) and their correspondence to phonemes (individual sounds of spoken language). It is the ‘synthesis’ or combination of individual letter sounds to decode words.

The most effective method of using synthetic phonics is with an explicit and direct approach to teaching.

Here’s how it works:

Students learn individual letter sounds (/a/ for ‘apple,’ /b/ for ‘bin,’ etc.)
They then learn how to blend letter sounds together (/b/ /i/ /n/ = ‘bin’)
Reading instruction is systematic, meaning children learn the simplest concepts first and then progress toward more complex ones. This motivates the mastery of buildable skills.
Readers learn to rely on decoding to read new, unfamiliar words they encounter in text.

Decades of scientific studies point to the reliability of synthetic phonics instruction. Because reading is a skill that doesn’t come naturally to humans, it must be taught with clear, systematic instruction and lots of practice.

Synthetic phonics has also become the most effective and recommended method of teaching phonics to children diagnosed with or at risk of reading difficulties. Extensive brain research has found that this structured, synthetic method helps kids develop strong reading foundations.

Analytic Phonics

The analytic phonics approach uses the “analysis” of text. It teaches children to associate letter sounds with whole words. Typically, it involves a lot of recognition as well as breaking down familiar words into smaller parts.

For example, students learn whole words such as ‘mat.’ They then learn to identify individual sounds within the word and the alphabetical letters they represent. Instruction also involves pointing out similarities and patterns across words.

Analytic phonics can be useful in some cases but it’s typically not as structured as a systematic teaching method. With the lack of foundation, children might struggle with this method—especially if they have a learning or reading disability.

Analogy Phonics

Analogy phonics is a subtype of analytic phonics. It focuses on identifying patterns and “analogies” of words.

Children learn word families that share letter-sound correspondences, such as ‘cat,’ ‘mat,’ ‘rat,’ ‘hat,’ and ‘sat.’ All of these words contain the ending /-at/. Students are expected to use prior knowledge of a similar word (such as ‘cat’) to make sense of patterns and then interpret new, related words.

While analogy phonics can supplement more systematic methods of phonics instruction, it’s no longer recommended for educational settings.

Embedded Phonics

Embedded phonics is the opposite of explicit phonics, in which case students learn to read words through contextual, implicit reading.

Typically, teachers provide whole texts to students and then use the material to teach specific concepts—whether it be letter-sound correspondences, spelling patterns, or word families.

Through embedded phonics (also known as incidental phonics), phonics instruction occurs on an “as-needed” basis. Instead of preparing children with a strong foundation of explicit, systematic concepts so they can practice decoding new texts, students learn concepts “as they arise” in the text they’re provided. Through this, students often have to rely on contextual letter recognition and memorization of sight words since the provided literature dictates which letter-sound relationships are practiced (often randomly).

Today, embedded phonics is widely known as an ineffective instruction method because it involves a lot of guesswork. Although it can be a useful exercise to expose readers to real-world, connected texts, it cannot replace the instruction needed to develop a reading foundation based on the science of reading.

Taking a Systematic Approach to Phonics Instruction

A systematic approach to phonics instruction has been proven to be the most reliable method because:

Emphasis is on decoding as soon as children begin learning to read, equipping them to figure out new words without relying on context or guesswork.
Reading specialists use synthetic instruction to help students with specific learning disabilities (such as dyslexia) learn to read.
The use of structured, progressive skill-building enables students to master the simplest skills first and gradually work their way up to the most complex.
It is the method that most aligns with how the brain learns to read.

Overall, the other types of phonics—analogy, analytic, and embedded—should not be the primary method of instruction. They often lead to confusion for many children unless there is a synthetic and explicit foundation provided first.

Which Type of Phonics is Best for Teaching Kids to Read?

The goal of phonics instruction is to equip students with the strongest foundation of skills for lifelong reading. Although different types of phonics have been used (and are still used) in specific scenarios, there is an abundance of modern research proving systematic, synthetic phonics works for most children.

Children must learn how to decode words and gradually progress onto more complex skills, eventually building strong reading proficiency. Other types of phonics such as analytic or analogy methods are most useful as a supplemental approach, with synthetic phonics taking the lead.

To learn more about phonics instruction, reading science, and literacy development, explore the resources at Phonics.org. We review synthetic phonics programs and provide educators and parents with honest ratings to see which one works best for young readers.

Orthographic Mapping and Sight Words: Developing Reading Fluency

phonicsorg on April 5, 2024

Skillful readers can read words effortlessly and automatically with full comprehension. This process often seems impossible to kids as they begin to learn basic phonics skills—how do adults read so easily, without trying? The answer is that there’s a crucial process involved that develops this reading fluency over time. This process is called orthographic mapping.

Essentially, orthographic mapping is the necessary bridge students cross from sounding out single words using lots of effort to automatic word recognition. Reading researcher Linnea Ehri coined this term.

In this article, we discuss what orthographic mapping is, how it works, and ways you can improve this process to encourage students to become fluent, confident readers.

What is Orthographic Mapping?

In simple terms, orthographic mapping is a process where words are decoded until automatically recognized. This skill develops over time. It happens when a reader permanently stores a word they’ve already learned and can retrieve it instantly from memory when they come across it.

When a reader decodes (sounds out) an unfamiliar word, they connect the word’s letters to corresponding sounds, blending them to formulate the word. For example, the word ‘bat’ is decoded by blending the sounds /b/ /a/ /t/. Every time the reader successfully maps the same word again, it’s committed to memory. Eventually, the reader no longer has to sound it out completely from scratch. Instead, they retrieve the word mapped during previous readings.

Even though orthographic mapping involves remembering, it’s not the same thing as rote memorization of whole, unfamiliar words. With whole-word memorization, readers associate the visual representation of a word directly with its meaning. This bypasses any mapping of letters to sounds.

While some high-frequency words may initially be visually memorized this way, orthographic mapping through proven phonics instruction is what allows readers to build their sight word vocabularies long-term.

How Orthographic Mapping Works

To turn an unfamiliar, printed word into a remembered word, children must form permanent connections between a word’s letters, its pronunciation, and its meaning in memory. Here’s how it works.

Letter-Sound Correspondences

The foundation of orthographic mapping is decoding. A beginner reader must first learn how individual letters and letter patterns represent the sounds in spoken words. These skills should be mastered for easy recall.

Decoding and Encoding

The practice of blending letter-sound correspondences to identify unfamiliar words in print is called decoding. Encoding is the ability to spell words by breaking up a word (segmenting) into its sounds. Practice with decoding and encoding is part of the process of orthographic mapping. Each time a reader sounds out or spells a word, they are mapping its written form and its spoken form.

Repetitive Mapping

Successful orthographic mapping requires repeated practice. The first few times readers decode a new word, the mapping can be forgotten quickly. But with repeated mapping of a word’s spelling to its pronunciation, the connection gradually builds a strong representation in the reader’s long-term memory. The number of repetitions that will be necessary depends on the individual profile of the child. Some children will need many more repetitions of decoding and encoding than others.

Connect to Meaning

Once a new reader has successfully decoded a word, it is important to connect this word to its meaning. This helps new readers remember words more quickly. Building vocabulary knowledge also improves reading comprehension.

Building Sight Word Vocabulary

Successful repetition of decoding gradually results in sight word knowledge. Sight words develop when a word has been mapped so many times that it can be instantly recalled. The reader recognizes the word as a familiar unit rather than consciously decoding the individual letters.

Skilled readers have robust mappings for between 30,000-90,000 words in their vocabulary, allowing them to read quickly without having to stop and analyze every letter. Additionally, decoding and mapping are lifelong skills. Even highly literate adults learn new words that they haven’t orthographically mapped yet, pausing upon a new, complex word to sound it out and learn its meaning.

Orthographic Mapping vs. Rote Memorization

While orthographic mapping and sight word mastery rely on memory, the process is different from rote visual memorization. Relying on memorization to build a sight vocabulary is problematic for several reasons:

How the brain works: Words and images are processed differently in human brains. Learning to read by sounding out is more efficient and effective than learning to read by visually memorizing words. A great deal of scientific research has demonstrated that we do not remember words based on visual memory.
Reading new words: Rote memorization teaches words as unanalyzed wholes, ultimately discouraging readers from developing the decoding skills they need for lifelong learning. It is impossible to visually memorize all words needed for foundational reading ability and comprehension. Decoding skills help readers figure out new words they haven’t previously memorized.
Difficulty memorizing longer words: Memorizing words by visual shape is difficult to apply to longer, more complex words. Additionally, human memory can only memorize so many entire word shapes, preventing students from advancing their full vocabulary.

Orthographic mapping avoids these pitfalls by accurately linking spellings to pronunciations through phonics practice. Words are mapped, not traced like pictures. This lays the groundwork for an expansive, efficiently-acquired sight vocabulary.

Orthographic Mapping Strategies for Reading Instruction

Understanding orthographic mapping is crucial for educators and parents who are helping kids learn to read. With a knowledge of what it is and how it works, you can implement supportive strategies to help kids become stronger readers.

Systematic Phonics Instruction

Since orthographic mapping stands on solid phonics skills, beginners’ reading instruction typically involves explicit, systematic phonics lessons. Students must learn to proficiently decode words, which explicit instruction provides.

Guided Practice

Building up skillful readers doesn’t stop at teaching. Students must be given many practice opportunities to apply these skills and develop automatic word-reading abilities. Repeated, successful mappings are required for orthographic representations to become firmly set.

Decodable Texts

To facilitate this essential mapping practice, students benefit from reading decodable texts containing a high number of words following the phonics patterns they have learned. Texts should be readable for the child’s skill level, with only a few unknown words to allow for productive challenge.

Assessment and Progress Monitoring

Students’ reading progress and behavior must be monitored so you can discern whether they are actively mapping spellings to pronunciations, rather than guessing words from context. The key to this is using a phonics survey or inventory that breaks down the phonics skills by type and uses nonwords to determine if a child can read a new word they haven’t seen before.

Resources for Orthographic Mapping and Other Phonics Skills

Orthographic mapping is an important bridge that allows beginning readers to turn their hardworking attempts at decoding into automatic sight word recognition. While rote memorization alone provides an inefficient shortcut, orthographic mapping through systematic phonics practice helps children build a solid foundation for long-term reading development.

Equipping students with this mapping ability is key to helping them become fluent, skilled readers. To learn more about similar strategies and evidence-based phonics instruction, visit Phonics.org.

Common Phonics Mistakes to Avoid When Teaching

phonicsorg on March 15, 2024

Ahhh, phonics instruction. It’s such a special experience in a child’s education! Helping kids learn how to read and write is fascinating, rewarding, and developmentally necessary.

Unless it’s not.

If you’ve been trying to help your child or student(s) learn phonics but aren’t seeing reasonable progress, you may need to rethink some of the methods being used.

Nobody’s perfect. There’s always room for improvement, whether it be for students, teachers, or parents. However, several common phonics mistakes in teaching can result in ineffective (and sometimes, detrimental) learning outcomes.

Here are the mistakes to avoid so you can pivot your approach and equip your students with the literacy skills they deserve.

Neglecting Decoding

It used to be common practice in phonics to take a “top-down” approach, beginning with whole words and breaking them down. Some instruction methods today still focus on similar methods. Those involving memorization of whole words or sight words neglect the process of decoding (sounding out words using letter-sound knowledge). Plus, these top-down methods push students to guess words they don’t know, which comes with a whole other set of problems.

Decoding is the most practical and effective skill to teach early readers because it gives them a way to tackle unfamiliar words on their own while still welcoming guidance from parents and teachers. It builds confidence and provides an avenue to overcome new challenges as the child learns phonics.

Reading decodable books is one way that students can put their budding phonics skills to practice. These are books that follow concepts the child has been taught so far. Students can typically read decodable books with great accuracy and then move on to a more advanced book as they grasp new concepts.

Once decoding skills become quick and automatic, students can move onto reading phrases or short sentences. This movement from words to sentences builds fluency and confidence as kids advance from decoding words to sentences, and then whole passages.

Ignoring Vocabulary

Phonics instruction should always be connected with meaning. While children are learning to decode, always discuss the meaning of the words they are reading. Connecting words to meaning while decoding helps with memory and builds language comprehension skills.

It makes sense why: children can’t comprehend the text if they don’t know how to decode the words. At the same time, expanding their vocabulary has also been shown to improve reading development.

Introduce vocabulary words to your child or student so that when they decode new words in print, they’ll be able to successfully comprehend what they’re reading.

Advanced Phonemic Awareness Training

Some phonemic awareness skills, like segmenting and blending, are crucial in learning to read and spell. Several reading programs advise spending a great deal of time on building phonemic awareness skills. Sometimes this instruction is entirely oral and does not use written letters (graphemes).

A recent (2021) study found that “At present, recommendations to spend instructional time on advanced phonemic awareness training outside of print, or that students should develop “phonemic proficiency” to become proficient readers, are not evidence-based” (p. 31).

Focusing on important phonemic awareness skills such as segmenting and blending to spell and read words is advisable. This instruction is better when paired with letters (graphemes).

Lacking Consistent Review of Previous Instruction

If your instruction follows a scope and sequence, great job. To achieve mastery, students need to constantly go back and practice the skills they’ve already learned. You can’t just teach new skills and then move on.

Create opportunities for kids to practice the concepts they’re learning, being careful not to present a rule and then never bring it up again. Use lessons that contain the smallest concept (such as -at endings, -ack endings, or both) and scaffold them into more challenging words or even sentences if the child is at that level.

Repeated review gives students a chance to strengthen the main skills they’re focused on learning but also recall the simpler skills they learned previously.

Failing to Differentiate Instruction

Differentiation is crucial for many students, especially struggling readers or children with learning disabilities. While proven phonics strategies are effective for a majority of learners, not all kids obtain the required skills through standard lessons.

Parents and instructors can seek differentiated instruction to address a child’s learning needs. There are several ways to intervene and/or accommodate a student (or group of students) who may be struggling with phonics so they can still become successful readers. Options include multisensory learning, adapting how a lesson is taught, extending timed tests, or providing one-on-one support.

Following a Phonics Curriculum That Isn’t Explicit or Systematic

Most kids can’t learn to read on their own. The extensive science of reading has proven this. Students need explicit instruction—especially when developing fundamental literacy skills.

Avoid a type of phonics instruction that:

Requires rote memorization of whole words
Encourages guessing strategies via context cues (i.e. look at the picture to guess the word)
Fails to prioritize decoding skills
Disregards phonemic awareness practice
Relies heavily on sight words
Lacks consistent, effective instruction
Resists differentiated instruction options for struggling students

There are multiple approaches to teaching phonics, several of which can supplement students’ learning when used appropriately. But to instruct phonics in a way that most children can master, teaching must be systematic (following a sequential, logical order) and explicit (providing direct rules, explanations, and guided applications).

Phonics is complex. So, if this list of mistakes to avoid during instruction seems overwhelming, it’s because it can be!

That’s why we’re here.

To find more credible insights related to phonics and literacy development, explore the resources from phonics.org.

Making Phonics Stick: Help Kids Learn Essential Literacy Skills

phonicsorg on March 11, 2024

Sometimes, it seems like no matter how much you practice with your child or student, they aren’t grasping phonics concepts. Maybe you repeatedly teach your child a letter or rule but they haven’t been able to remember it. This might feel frustrating or concerning. Don’t panic.

There are a few things to consider if your child is struggling to learn phonics. Here are a few tips as you put more effort into making phonics stick.

Why is My Child Struggling to Learn Phonics?

It takes time to acquire important literacy skills, especially when learning to read and write. Children need consistent practice, correction, and guidance. Although possible, children rarely grasp concepts that “stick” right away. But if your child is struggling or falling behind, it’s a good idea to investigate why.

Developmental Factors

Maybe your child is still developing and will grasp phonics over time. Perhaps he or she has a neurodevelopmental condition or a learning disorder that needs to be addressed. Or maybe it has to do with emotions, cultural barriers, motivation, or the home or school environment—many factors contribute to a child’s learning progress.

Lack of Explicit, Systematic Instruction

Regardless of developmental factors at play, most children learn phonics best through explicit, systematic instruction.

Explicit means they don’t have to guess or figure it out on their own. Someone with the right knowledge teaches them through direct, thorough instruction.
Systematic means a child learns the simplest skills first and then gradually practices more advanced skills from there, based on the teacher’s scope and sequence.

Common reasons why kids don’t progress in phonics are that they either need more instruction on a foundational skill or they aren’t receiving proper instruction in the first place.

How to Help: Start With Foundational Phonics Skills

Building foundational skills is similar to building a house. First, builders need a precise blueprint; then, they set up the foundation; then, they construct the house’s frames and structure, and so on.

How can you start your child off with these foundational phonics skills, encouraging them to stick?

Prioritize the Sound-Symbol Correspondence

To read with confidence and accuracy, children first need to follow the most basic phonics rules. To know these rules, children must learn sound-symbol correspondences. This means:

The child knows the letters of the alphabet
The child understands the alphabetic principle—words are made up of letters, and those letters represent sounds
The child is taught which symbols (letters in print) correspond to which sounds (phonemes in the English language)

Evidence reveals that sound-symbol correspondence learning can predict future reading performance and fluency. It’s important for kids to accurately learn the correlation between letters and sounds because it contributes to their decoding abilities, which is a vital phonics skill for reading.

If your child knows the alphabet, appears to “read” some words, but struggles to read new or unfamiliar words accurately, they might need to go back and learn to master letter sounds. After they understand individual letter sounds, they can practice blending the sounds to read words.

More Decoding, Less Memorization

If you or your child’s teachers are focusing their reading instruction on memorizing whole words, it’s likely one reason why the child isn’t grasping the content. Visual memorization of whole words is an inefficient method of teaching a child to read.

It is easier for children to recognize words quickly when instruction is connected to auditory information. This is part of a process called orthographic mapping. The practice of sounding out words leads to sight word recognition – the instant and immediate recognition of words.

Focusing on building a child’s decoding skills, empowers them to “sound out” new words they come across in print. Decoding is essential at every new level of phonics instruction. If a student can’t decode words from beginning to end, they risk confusion as concepts become more advanced.

Understand the Science of Reading

According to the science of reading, acquiring the skills to read involves a lot of cognitive effort. Children cannot naturally develop the skills that are essential for reading, beginning with basic phonics. They must not only be taught but also routinely engaged with instruction as their brains develop new, complex connections between symbols and sounds.

For this reason, phonics must be taught and practiced in ways that are backed by evidence. To understand how and why effective phonics instruction works, familiarize yourself with the science of reading. It will help you help your child as they grow in this area.

Avoid Ineffective Phonics Instruction

Phonics education standards and methods have changed throughout history; even recently. Today, certain methods that are still used in teaching involve the opposite of explicit, systematic instruction.

Here are examples of bound-to-fail phonics instruction habits to avoid:

Not giving students enough repetition and review of concepts. Systematic instruction purposefully reviews and repeats concepts to encourage mastery.
Isolating skill work from real-world applications. Students benefit from both phonics skill work and opportunities to practice new skills they learn during reading and writing exercises.
Over-modeling and under-challenging. Allow students to think and be challenged. Be supportive and correct mistakes but don’t do all the heavy lifting.
Providing books that are too easy or too difficult. Give students decodable texts they can practice with accuracy so they build confidence and control.
Lacking a scope and sequence. If you don’t know exactly what or when to teach phonics concepts to students, systematic instruction cannot be properly facilitated.

That said, if you’ve tried all you can but your child still struggles to grasp phonics at their expected level, reach out to their teachers or a literacy specialist.

Help Your Child Learn Phonics

When helping your child learn to read or make phonics stick, it’s important to have evidence-based resources to guide the instruction they receive.

At phonics.org, we provide teachers and parents with the phonics essentials kids need so they can become lifelong learners. If you’re passionate about phonics and literacy for kids, join the community at phonics.org.

A Guide to Teaching Letter Sounds Effectively

phonicsorg on February 14, 2024

Knowing the connection between letters (graphemes) and sounds (phonemes) is one of the first concepts your child will have to grasp as they begin their reading journey. Knowing which letters represent which sounds of speech (and vice versa) is crucial to overall literacy success.

What’s the best way to teach letter sounds and how can you help your child start learning the alphabet effectively? Discover some practical tips from phonics.org below.

How Children Learn the Sounds of the Alphabet

Before children can develop the phonics skills they need to read and learn on their own, they first need to implement the alphabetic principle. This principle is the knowledge of how individual letters and combinations of letters are used to represent sounds of spoken language.

This principle is most effectively taught when:

Instruction happens in a fun, positive environment
A structured, systematic approach is used
Children have developed some phonemic awareness skills
Letters are provided in context (in the classroom, at home, during play)
Each letter sound is taught in complete isolation (for example, <P> makes the /p/ sound, not /puh/.)
Letter-sound correspondences are practiced consistently with modeling, guidance, and feedback from educators

Some kids may pick up letter-sound correspondence quickly whereas others might benefit from a multisensory approach that suits their needs.

A common example of these learning differences is that some children might have an easier time learning sounds (i.e., ‘truck’ begins with the /t/ sound), while others may find it more natural to identify letters first and then learn their sounds (i.e., this is the letter <A> which makes the beginning sound of ‘apple’).

If your child leans toward one process over the other, start there! But remember to be consistent, review previously learned letters, and cover all letter sounds.

Beginner Phonics: Letter Sound Activities for Kids

Learning English alphabet sounds involves more than just flashcards and verbal repetition (although that can be part of it). Children learn best when they use multiple senses, activating different parts of the brain during literacy development.

Multisensory learning works well with letter-sound instruction. This involves sight, sound, and touch. Some activities may focus on one but often include multiple. All are important for the developmental process. Let’s cover some examples.

Tactile Activities to Teach Letter Sounds

Hands-on letter sound activities help your child engage in educational play using movement and touch, building a stronger awareness of the letters they’re learning. Here are some ideas.

Playdough letters: On a sheet of paper, outline a large, individual letter using paint or a thick marker. Tell your child what letter it is and ask them if they know what sound it makes. If not, show them and have them repeat. Give your child playdough to roll or squish with their hands and fill in the letter. While they fill in the letter, come up with words together that start with that letter sound.
Match items to their sounds: Arrange several toy letters on the floor. Grab a few of your child’s favorite items that begin with those letters and lay them out. Play a game with your child to see which items they can match to the corresponding letter sounds.
Finger tracing: Have your child trace a letter using their finger. This can be done using sand, finger paint, or on a touchscreen device.
Finger Cues: Use a simple, consistent finger cue in association with a single speech sound. Practice using the cue every time your child says the sound or sees the letter.

Playing tactile letter-sound activities that are fun and personal can help your child stay engaged.

Auditory Letter Sound Activities

Teaching alphabet sounds requires verbal and auditory games! Kids need to hear, repeat, and experiment with the language sounds of each letter.

“I Spy”: In addition to learning the names and sounds of letters in print, your child should practice matching letter sounds to items in real life. “I Spy” is a fun game that activates kids’ curiosity, imagination, and existing knowledge of the alphabet. Take turns using the “I Spy” prompt with your child. For example, say, “I Spy something that starts with the sound /f/.” Your child may identify things like fridge, flower, fork, etc.
Letter sound songs: Singing songs that help kids practice letter sounds is a classic and effective learning activity. The song Apples and Bananas is a popular example.
Words that share sounds: Share a letter and its sound with your child. See if they can come up with other words that begin with the same letter. For example, your word is ‘mat’. They can match the beginning /m/ sound with words like ‘mom,’ ‘milk,’ ‘mine,’ etc.
Articulation: Children learn to pronounce different sounds at different developmental ages. Showing your child how to make a specific sound accurately will help them associate that sound with a letter. Consult a speech language pathologist if you are concerned your child isn’t meeting developmental milestones with the pronunciation of speech sounds.

Verbal letter games can be played anywhere, any time. Make it fun and practice while at home, at the park, at the grocery store, and other everyday settings.

Visual Activities to Teach Letter-Sound Correspondence

Children learn to visually identify letters at their own pace. By kindergarten, some kids might know the entire alphabet while others are just beginning to learn the letters in their names. Either way, give these visual letter exercises a try.

Alphabet books: There are many children’s alphabet books that help you practice letter identification and letter sounds at home. Look into age-appropriate books that support your child’s skill level including Eating the Alphabet and Llama Llama ABC.
Name the letter: Use posters or flashcards to help your child review letters and their sounds. You can start with cards with uppercase/lowercase letters and related illustrations (like a honey bee on the card for the letter <B>). As your child learns more letter sounds, remove the illustration component and review the letters themselves.
Embedded Picture Mnemonics: Some evidence supports the integration of letters with a picture that begins with that word. For example, see the embedded picture mnemonics created by artist Cat MacInnes.

Practice visual letter identification and letter sounds together. This is called Paired-Associate Learning. Repetition helps your child remember what they’re learning and build confidence in what they already know! Remember to switch things up and practice multiple activities that involve their other senses.

More Activities to Teach Kids Phonics

There are many ways to help your child learn letter sounds as they lay a solid foundation for reading success. With evidence-based instruction methods, plenty of encouragement, and diverse learning opportunities, your child will grow into an empowered learner!

To discover more tips and interactive activities that support early readers, explore the resources at phonics.org.