Phonics is a way of teaching children how to read and write. It helps children hear, identify and use different sounds that distinguish one word from another in the English language.

Written language can be compared to a code, so knowing the sounds of individual letters and how those letters sound when they’re combined will help children decode words as they read.

Understanding phonics will also help children know which letters to use when they are writing words. Teaching children to blend the sounds of letters together helps them decode unfamiliar or unknown words by sounding them out.

Analytical phonics

A popular approach in Scotland, this method is associated with the teaching of reading in which the phonemes associated with particular graphemes are not pronounced in isolation. Children identify (analyze) the common phoneme in a set of words in which each word contains the phoneme under study. For example, teacher and pupils discuss how the following words are alike: pat, park, push and pen.

Analogy phonics

A type of analytic phonics in which children analyze phonic elements according to the phonograms in the word. A phonogram, known in linguistics as a rime, is composed of the vowel and all the sounds that follow it, such as –ake in the word cake. Children use these phonograms to learn about “word families” for example cake, make, bake, fake.

Reflection Questions

Lesson 1:  Reflection Question
Explain how phonological units map onto orthographic units in alphabetic languages.

Lesson 2:  Reflection Question
Design a graphic organizer or concept map to demonstrate your understanding of sound-spelling patterns and phonics from lesson 2.

Lesson 3:  Reflection Question
What is structural analysis?  Further, what are the implications for structural analysis in the process of learning to read?

Lesson 4:  Discussion Board
•         How do both oral language and writing can enhance phonics instruction? Use appropriate terminology and notations; included appropriate outside resources as well as multiple real-world examples.

Lesson 5:  Reflection Question
Describe the role of formal and informal phonics assessments in making instructional decisions to meet individual student needs.