Phonics is the ability to

1) learn the alphabetic system known as letter-sound or grapheme- phoneme correspondence

2) apply this code knowledge during reading by blending the sounds into words (decoding) and

3) apply this code knowledge during writing by spelling words (encoding).

“My Child is below benchmark in Letter Naming Fluency (LNF) or NWF (Nonsense Word Fluency). What does this mean, and what do I do?”

1. What to look for: Recognition of individual consonants - Modeling the look, feel, and sound of consonants helps draw the child's attention to the unique characteristics of consonants.

Parent Tip: Play games that match consonant letters to the sounds that they make. Games like Concentration where a letter card is matched with a picture card that starts with the same sound.

2. What to look for: Doubled Consonants -Doubled consonants are two of the same consonants together making only one sound.

Parent Tip:

Word Hunt: Look for words in text that fit the spelling pattern,
analysis if the rule stays true, and then use the word in a different sentence.

Word Sort: After completing a word hunt, sort the words found into categories.

3. What to look for: Consonant Blends and Diagraphs

Consonant Blends - Two consonants quickly blended together, each saying their typical sound. Can be placed at the beginning, in the middle or at the end of a word. Examples: st-, fl-, tr-, sm-, and -mp.

Diagraphs - Two consonants together that make a completely different sound. Examples: th, ch, sh, wh and ph.

Parent Tip:

Play games like Concentration, Go Fish and Dominoes which require student to match picture and letter cards.

Word Hunt: Look for words in text that fit the spelling pattern, analyze if the rule stays true, and then use the word in a different sentence.

Word Sort: After completing a word hunt, sort the words found into categories.

4. What to look for: Silent Consonants – Consonants in words that are silent. Examples: the g in gnat, k in knee, and b in comb. There are many other examples of silent consonants in words with atypical spellings.

Parent Tip: When reading with your child, help them decode words with silent letters by telling them which letter is silent.

5. What to look for: Different vowel patterns: 1. Closed Vowels, 2. Silent E, 3. R-controlled, 4. Open Vowels, 5. Vowel Combinations, 6. Double EE, 7. Vowel Pairs, 8. Double OO

Parent Tips: Vowels are where beginning readers have the most difficulty. Here are some top vowel rules. As you read with your child find examples and help your child decode remembering these rules. You can pick a rule a day/week and keep rotating through the different rules.

1. Closed Vowels - (initial and medial) /a/ /e/ /i/ /o/ /u/ make the short sound - When only one vowel is present and followed by a consonant in a word or syllable, the vowel makes the sound other than its name. Example: hat, or con-text

2. Silent E Also called “magic E,” or “sneaky E;” – Long Vowel, changes the vowel before it into its long sound (mad + e = made; rip + e = ripe)

3. "R" Controlled or “bossy R” - The vowel makes a different sound because of the of the r (ir, ur, er, ar and or) examples: her, shirt, hurt, start, short

4. Open Vowels - The vowel in the open syllable is long -When a word has more than one syllable and one of the syllables ends in a vowel, or a one syllable word ends in a vowel that vowel says its name. Examples: o-pen, a-corn, so, and be

5. Vowel Combinations also called Diphthongs / Sliders - The mouth changes shape while making the sound (oi – toil, oy – toy; ou- mouth, ow – cow)

6. Double EE - when E is doubled, the sound is long (sheep, teeth)

7. Vowel Pairs - the first vowel is long and the second is silent (rain, beat, goat) When two vowels are paired the first vowel says its name and the other is silent as in the words. “The first vowel does the talking and the 2nd goes walking”

8. Double OO – When paired they can make a new sound as in the Book, boot.

NOTE: About 20% of the time, vowels don’t follow these rules. When this happens we say, “The word doesn’t play fair”. Students like finding examples of words that don’t play fair once they know the rules.

6. What to look for: Compound Words One word made up of two words that could stand alone example: snowman, mailbox, doghouse, etc.

Parent Tip: Search for compound words in text. Discuss that two words are put together to make one word. Your child can illustrate the word to further demonstrate understanding. Example for the word doghouse the drawing would be of a dog and a house.

7. What to look for: word families or rhyming words.

Parent Tip: Play rhyming games. Take turns making rhymes with real and nonsense words. Practice spelling the rhymes noticing the repeated spelling pattern. (Note: not all words that rhyme are spelled using the same spelling pattern. They must be spelled the same to be in the same word family). Example: –on, -ought

8. What to look for:

prefix recognition and application - Prefixes are a group of letters that appear in the front of a word and affect the meaning of the base word.

suffix recognition and application - A suffix is a letter or group of letters that is added to the end of a base word. A suffix changes the meaning of the root or base word. Students need to understand the meaning of the suffix and how it affects the word it is attached to.

Parent Tip: When reading with your child help them decode words with prefixes or suffixes by identifying the base word that it is attached to. Also talk about the meaning of the affix. Help them understand the word in context and using the affix and the suffix.

9. What to look for: Syllable understanding - Six Syllable Types - Students need to understand and recognize the 6 patterns of syllabication. These key concepts should be taught in the following sequence: closed, open, vowel-consonant-silent e, vowel team, r controlled, consonant l-e.

Background information: Visual Cues with a Mirror - Every syllable in a word has only one vowel sound, even if there are several vowel letters. Students can feel, see, and hear syllables by using a mirror to watch their mouth as they say words. Place your hand under your chin and say a word. Every time your hand goes down it is a new syllable. Breaking the word into syllables helps longer words be more manageable to the reader. When syllables are written by themselves they look like nonsense words.

EXAMPLES

closed syllable: rab-bit, nap-kin

open syllable: va-cant, pi-lot

vowel-consonant-silent e: base-ment, line-man

vowel team): ai, ay, ae, ee, oa, ow, oo, oi, oy, ou, ie, ei: re-ceive

r controlled: car-pet, for-tune

consonant -le: ta-ble, lit-tle

Activity 1) Write several words syllable by syllable, leaving enough space between word parts for students to see the syllable divisions. Have the student identify the type of syllable and pronounce it. Then blend the syllables together to form words.

Activity 2) Write individual syllables on note cards. Have students arrange syllables to form words.

Activity 3) Give the student a list of common syllables of several types. Have they read as many as possible in one minute.

Activity 4) Select a word with recognizable word parts according to the 6 syllable spelling patterns. Underline or loop your finger under or reveal the first syllable pattern. Help the student pronounce the syllable. Continue syllable by syllable for the rest of the word. Have the student blend the syllables together to pronounce the word. If this activity occurs within the context of reading, ask "Is that a real word? Does it make sense in the sentence?"

Activity 5) Write a series of related syllables (all of the same type).

Activity 6) Give your child a list of multi-syllabic words. Student should be able to segment the words into syllables and pronounce each syllable

Ask your child’s teacher or Jennifer Martinez (Literacy Resource teacher) for some books that have many lists of multi-syllable words