Step-by-Step Guide to Teaching Phonics Effectively
Phonics education is not a traditional classroom idea that should be confined to textual knowledge.
It requires building phonemic awareness, understanding letter-sound relationships, and knowing how they can be manipulated to form different words and read or spell them correctly.
In this blog, we guide you through four simple steps to assist your child with phonics learning.
Four Friendly Steps to Help Kids Connect Sounds and Letters
Introduce Letter Sound Relationships
Begin with the easiest sounds, such as vowel sounds: /a/, /e/, /i/, /o/ and /u/, and consonants like /s/, /t/, /p/, /n/ and /m/.
Focus on one letter at a time — a for apple, a for airplane, a for April, etc.
You can use flashcards or objects to assist children in linking letters to corresponding sounds.
For instance, showing them the fruit or picture of an airplane is an effective way to teach them the letter a.
Build Phonemic Awareness
Phonemic awareness refers to the ability to hear, identify and play with unique sounds in English.
Children can easily break down words into separate sounds and connect them with letters using the following two activities:
- Segmenting: This activity involves breaking spoken words into individual sounds. For example, ‘pet’ is segmented as /p/-/e/-/t/ and ‘ship’ as /sh/-/i/-/p/. This technique helps children spell words correctly.
- Blending: This activity is the antithesis of segmenting. It involves combining individual sounds to form a single word. For instance, blending /ch/-/i/-/l/-/d/ creates ‘child,’ strengthening children’s ability to decode words when reading.
Break-Blend-Stretch-Repeat
Once children become familiar with segmenting and blending techniques, ask them to do both at the same time.
For example, separating the sounds of a word say, /b/-/a/-/t/, and then blending them slowly as ‘bat’ and repeating the process twice or thrice.
Next, give them new words and ask them to follow the same process.
Introduce Common Digraphs and Blends
- Digraphs: Digraphs are combinations of two letters that create a single sound. For example, /ch/ in chair is spoken together and not separately as /c/ and /h/.
- Blends: In words like ‘clap,’ two consonants /cl/ maintain their two individual sounds; you can hear both sounds distinctly.
Encourage kids to practice new words and sentences with digraphs and blends. This improves their word recognition and reading fluency.
Conclusion
In short, a successful way of teaching phonics to kids is a step by step approach beginning with uncomplicated letter-sounds to more complex blends and digraphs.
Developing phonemic awareness through segmenting and blending helps kids achieve amazing decoding skills necessary for reading fluently and effective communication.
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