Phonics Instruction How to Supplement Fundations

1. Phonics InstructionHow to Supplement Fundations Julie Burns REED 745

2. What is Phonics? • Phonics is instruction in the letter-sound relationships that are used in reading and writing (Borgia, 2011). • The goal of phonics instruction is to help students develop the alphabetic principle. • Students who understand the alphabetic principle know that the sounds of spoken words match a symbol (letter) that can be written to make words.

3. What is Explicit, Systematic Phonics? • This would be our current program, Fundations. • The word explicit may refer to precise, fully developed, clearly expressed instruction. • Sometimes the phrase is used to describe the precise, fully developed, and clearly expressed instructions provided to teachers in scripted phonics programs. • These programs make it perfectly clear what teachers are to say and do.

4. What is Explicit, Systematic Phonics? Cont. • Systematic means orderly, planned, and coordinated. In the context of phonics instruction, systematic is used sometimes to refer to instructional progression, sometimes to a set of activities and materials, and sometimes to the schedule of instruction (Villaume, 2003 ). • A substantial amount of research has attempted to determine whether non scripted phonics instruction or scripted phonics programs with explicit instruction for teachers lead to greater student achievement.

5. The Results • A long-standing and growing body of research confirms that teacher expertise is a more significant factor in student reading achievement than teaching method (Villaume, 2003 ). • This research describes how the most effective teachers recognize and address student confusion by quickly providing additional clarifying examples and how they notice and respond to a lack of student engagement by changing the pace of the lesson or modifying the activity.

6. How Do They Do It? • They use supplementary lessons! • Supplementary lessons should include reading, writing and play with words. • This will reinforce the skills being taught during Fundations. • Incorporate skills being taught with Reader’s Theater, spelling words, basal readers, leveled readers, writing topics, poetry…ect.

7. What to Supplement? Use Word Families Encourage Invented Spelling • There are 37 "dependable" rimes in our language that make up nearly 500 primary grade words. • Any of these rime patterns can be the focus of a lesson. Be sure to select patterns and words from shared reading and writing materials that you are using. • Students that have had more time for writing in journals and using their invented spelling were significantly better in their decoding and comprehension skills than those students only in a traditional spelling program (Stahl, 1992)

8. Try It! This activity will focus on the long vowel sound patterns in words. • After choosing a spelling pattern for the vowel sound of long o, look for a text that has words with patterns like —one and -oa. Silverstein's (1974) poem, "Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout Would Not Take the Garbage Out," has several words with these patterns: bones, cones,oatmeal, toast, and roasts.

9. Try It! Cont. • Put a pattern like —owat the top of a sheet of chart paper and ask students to share words they can think of that fit this pattern and have the long o sound. • Do the same for several other long o patterns. Have students write the words on these charts under the appropriate pattern. • Challenge them to look for other words in their reading and environment that fit one of these patterns. • Do this for several days so that students begin to internalize the pattern for a particular vowel sound. • Display the charts next to your other Word Wall words as constant reminders of their work and of the relationship between letter combinations and sounds.

10. Long –O Word Wall

11. How Can We Do It? Minute Reflection: How can we incorporate more activities like we just discussed as a supplement to Fundations?

12. References Borgia, L., & Owles, C. (2011). Terrific Teaching Tips. Illinois Reading Council Journal, 39(3), 50-54. Beverly, B. L., Giles, R. M., & Buck, K. L. (2009). FIRST-GRADE READING GAINS FOLLOWING ENRICHMENT: PHONICS PLUS DECODABLE TEXTS COMPARED TO AUTHENTIC LITERATURE READ ALOUD. Reading Improvement, 46(4), 191-205. Heide, S. (2005). Meaningful Phonics Instruction: Engaging Students Through Poetry and Word Study Folders. Illinois Reading Council Journal, 33(4), 32-36. McIntyre E, Petrosko J, Newsome F, et al. Supplemental Instruction in Early Reading: Does It Matter for Struggling Readers?. Journal of Educational Research [serial online]. November 2005;99(2):99-107. Mesmer, H. E., & Griffith, P. L. (2005). Everybody's selling it--But just what is explicit, systematic phonics instruction?. Reading Teacher, 59(4), 366-376. Shefelbine, J. (1998). Strategic Phonics. Instructor-Intermediate, 108(2), 102. Strickland discusses proper role of phonics. (2011). Reading Today, 28(4), 6. Villaume, S., & Brabham, E. (2003). Phonics instruction:Beyond the debate. Reading Teacher, 56(5), 478. Wilson, G., Martens, P., Arya, P., & Altwerger, B. (2004). Readers, Instruction, and the NRP. Phi Delta Kappan, 86(3), 242-246