General Guidelines for Explicit Phonics Lessons
The
Explicit Phonics Lessons were written to be a resource used to supplement the
reading instruction during core reading time and to enhance phonics instruction
in small group and intervention settings.
These
explicit phonics lessons have been designed to provide words that fit a
specific spelling pattern being taught as well as to provide activities to
practice words that contain that spelling pattern. These lessons can be used in
a whole group setting with a buddy strategy to engage the most students or can
be adapted for use in small groups or intervention. The targeted length of a
lesson should be about 30 minutes. Any of the activities can be lengthened or
shortened to fit the needs of a particular group of students. Hopefully more
material than necessary has been provided for many of the lessons so that
teachers have the resources they need to adjust the lessons to fit the student
needs.
Lessons address
one particular phonics skill for 5 days. The activities include Decoding,
Dictation, Word Building or Chaining, and reading decodable
phrases and sentences for practicing the skill in embedded text. In the second
grade lessons there is also Word Chunking to use the targeted skill in multi-syllable
words. Some of the activities are repeated with different words over the course
of the 5 days.
An effort
was made to use only decodable words plus a few high frequency words in the
phrases and sentences at the beginning of the first grade lessons. Once the short vowels and most common
digraphs have been taught, the lessons do not necessarily have to be used in
the presented order. The order is somewhat compatible with the order of
presentation in the Harcourt Story Town series.
Decoding Procedure
·
When the students are familiar with the
procedure, a lively pace should be maintained.
·
Sounding
and blending should be done chorally.
·
The words are to be written one phoneme spelling
at a time. The words need to be in columns and rows so that clues in the second
part of the activity can be adjusted for scaffolding when necessary.
·
Write a phoneme spelling, then say, “What
sound?” while pointing to the spelling.
·
The targeted spelling for the lesson should be
written in red or orange while the rest of the word is in black or blue to
highlight that spelling pattern.
·
Once the entire word (or syllable if it is a
multi-syllable word) is written, say, “Sound.” as you point to the phonemes
again. For a single letter spelling use one finger. For a two letter spelling
use two fingers. Then say, “Blend” as you draw an imaginary line under the word
with your finger.
·
At the end of each line or row, go back and
sound and blend the words together again.
·
For any word that may not already be in the
students’ vocabulary, state a “kid friendly” definition and/or use it in quick
sentence.
·
Once all the words are on the board, begin
giving the clues and have the students locate the word. The clues target
vocabulary as well as having the students decode the words to find the right
answer. When difficulty is experienced, scaffold the task by telling them what
row or column to look in.
·
DO NOT
HAVE THE STUDENTS TAKE TURNS ONE AT A TIME GOING TO THE BOARD TO CIRCLE THE
CORRECT ANSWER. This wastes time and does not give as many turns. Instead use
the buddy system: two students pair up to tell the answer to each other first
and then raise their hands. Call on the buddies to say and spell the correct
answer. The teacher then circles the answer.
·
The last word is not read to the students. They
are to use it in a “7 Up” sentence that they first tell their buddy. The teacher then calls on one or two pairs of
buddies to give their sentences. There is no need to have the entire class give
sentences.
Dictation Procedure
- No erasers are to be used. Tell them they are going to learn from their mistakes. Erasing doesn’t help them learn.
- Put the blanks on display for students to view so you can point and they know where they are to be working.
- Give the sound or word orally and point to the line that they should write the spelling on.
- When there is more than one way to spell the sound, the students may raise their hands and ask, “What spelling?” Then tell them what to write for the phoneme they are asking about. If sound/spelling cards are posted, the teacher might say something like, “Use the second spelling on the long a card.” This helps the students to begin to get a visual image of the long a spellings on the card. (The name of the sound/spelling picture may have to be adjusted in the lessons for the Harcourt Story Town series.)
- Have the students check and correct at the completion of each line.
- Circle errors and rewrite the word completely when making corrections. Tell them that research has found that students who rewrite the whole word are more likely to be able to spell it correctly next time.
- When finished, make a big deal about the number of circles. The more circles they have, the more they learned. (“Look at those circles! You learned a lot today! Good job!”)
- Never grade. If corrections are made appropriately, they should be commended for doing a good job even when there are many corrections on the page. Do check the papers to see that the students are following procedures and making corrections. Hold them accountable for their work.
- At times you may want to draw attention to a word on a previous line in order to help spell the current word. “Look back at the word game. If you can spell game, I bet you can spell the word name.”
- It is suggested that the teacher not be concerned if weaker students copy a neighbor. This is a learning activity. If copying helps them learn, it’s OK. Hopefully they will begin to try to do the work on their own after a while.
Dictation Form:
1.
___ ___ ___
___ ___
2.
_______ _______ _______
3.
_______ _______ _______
4.
_________ _________
5.
__________________________
*Enough space
should be left to circle errors and rewrite the word above.
Word Building Procedure
- Large magnetic letters on a magnetic board, letter cards in a pocket chart, and/or individual small letters on boards or in pocket charts can be used to build the words.
- The letters available to the students should only be the letters needed to spell the words in that lesson.
- Say the first word. Have the students segment the sounds in the word. Spell the word together, the teacher with her letters for the students to see, and the students with their own materials.
- The teacher then gives the next word orally asking, “If this spells game, what would I need to change to make it spell name?” Typically only one phoneme should be added, deleted, or substituted from one word to the next.
- It may be necessary to segment and point to the letters in the original word and then segment and point to the same word but saying the sounds in the new word to scaffold the students’ understanding of what position needs to be changed.
- Continue working down the chain of words with both the teacher and students building all the words.
- An alternate approach might be for the teacher to make the change in the first word and ask the students what the word says now. “If I change the g in game to n, what is my new word?”
- If a new chain needs to be started, clear the boards or charts and begin again.
Word Chunking
- In second grade students need to begin recognizing syllable patterns in words. Word chunking helps students recognize the letter patterns they need to look for.
- Write the entire word on the board.
- Circle a syllable and say, “What part?” This should not be done in order of pronunciation.
- Once all the syllables have been read, go back and reread the syllables in order to put the word together. If the vowel sound isn’t in line with how the word is normally pronounced, have the students “flex” that vowel sound to get the word. Then move on to the next word.
