II. Phonics and Decoding

Phoneme-Grapheme Correspondence

The relationship between sounds (phonemes) and letters or letter combinations (graphemes) that represent those sounds

Short vowels (CVC, CCVC, CVCC)

1. CVC: cat, dog, bed (short vowels: /a/, /o/, /e/)

2. CCVC: stop, clap (short vowels: /o/, /a/)

Phoneme-Grapheme Correspondence

The relationship between sounds (phonemes) and letters or letter combinations (graphemes) that represent those sounds

Short vowels (CVC, CCVC, CVCC)

1. CVC: cat, dog, bed (short vowels: /a/, /o/, /e/)

2. CCVC: stop, clap (short vowels: /o/, /a/)

Long vowels (CVVC)

CVVC: cake, rain, boat (long vowels: /a/, /i/, /o/)

Consonant blends (CCVC, CCVCC)

1. CCVC: frog, plan, trip (blends: /fl/, /st/, /gr/)

2. CCVCC: blink, crank (blends: /pl/, /br/)

Digraphs (CCVC, CVCC, CVVC)

1. CCVC: chip, chat (digraphs: /ch/, /sh/)

2. CVCC: bench, patch (digraphs: /ch/, /th/)

R-controlled vowels (CVCC)

CVCC: farm, bird, fork (r-controlled: /ar/, /ir/, /or/)

vowel combinations (VV):

• Diphthongs:

  • ai: rain

  • oi: coin

  • ou: cloud

• Vowel teams:

  • ee: seen

  • ea: beach

  • oa: boat

Silent Letters (CV)

• Silent "kn": know, knee

• Silent "w": write, wreck

• Silent "b": comb, thumb

• Silent "gn": sign, foreign

• Silent "gh": though, light

Explicit Phonics Instruction

Directly teaching letter-sound relationships with clear, step-by-step guidance.

Systematic Phonics Instruction

Teaching phonics in a planned, sequential order, progressing from simple to complex patterns.

Recursive Phonics Instruction

Revisiting phonics patterns repeatedly at different stages, reinforcing and expanding knowledge.

Reading Skills 1-4 (D. E. F. C. )

1. Decoding: Translating written words into spoken sounds

2. Encoding: Spelling words by mapping sounds to letters

3. Fluency: Reading smoothly and accurately

4. Comprehension: Understanding and interpreting the meaning of text

Instructional Methods for teaching common phonics patterns and rules

• Explicit instruction: Teach rules and patterns directly

• Word sorts: Group words by patterns (e.g., -at, -ing)

• Songs and rhymes: Use to reinforce sounds and patterns

• Reading practice: Apply patterns in context with decodable texts

• Interactive activities: Engage students with games and hands-on activities

Graphemes Types

1. Single Letter consonant

2. Single Letter Vowel

3. Doublets

4. Diagraphs

5. Trigraphs

6. Dipthong

7. Consonant Blends

8. Silent Letter Combinations

9. Combination (/qu/)

10. Vowel teams

11. Schwa Sound

Single Letter Consonant

A single letter representing a consonant sound (e.g., b, c, d)

Single-letter vowel graphemes:

A single letter representing a vowel sound (e.g., a, e, i)

Doublets:

Two identical letters representing one sound (e.g., /ll/ in ball, /ss/ in pass)

Digraphs:

Two letters that represent one sound (e.g., /sh/ in the ship, /ch in the chair)

Trigraphs:

Three letters that represent one sound (e.g., /tch/ in match, /igh/ in high)

Quadrigraphs:

Four letters that represent one sound (e.g., /eigh/ in eight)

Diphthongs:

A combination of two vowel sounds in one syllable (e.g., /oi/ in coin, /ou/ in cloud)

Consonant Blends:

Two consonants that are blended together, each retaining its sound (e.g., /bl/ in blue, /st/ in stop)

Silent letter combinations:

A combination of letters where one or more letters are silent (e.g., /kn/ in knight, /wr/ in wrist)

Combination (/qu/):

The /qu/ combination representing a /kw/ sound (e.g., /qu/ in quick, quiet)

Vowel Teams:

Two vowels together representing one sound (e.g., /ee/ in tree, /oa/ in boat)

Schwa Sound:

A vowel sound that is unstressed and pronounced like a short "uh" (e.g., /a/ in about, /e/ in problem)

Morphological Analysis

examines how prefixes, suffixes, and root words combine to create meaning through compound words

Example:

• Unhappiness: un (prefix) + happy (root) + ness (suffix)

Etymology

the study of the origin and history of words, including how their meanings and forms have evolved over time.

Example:

• "Telephone": From Greek "tele" (far) + "phone" (sound).

Ways to break down words

• Inflected Forms: Changes to a word (e.g., cats, walked)

• Contractions: Combined words (e.g., don’t, it’s)

• Possessives: Indicating ownership (e.g., dog’s, boys’)

• Compounds: Two words combined (e.g., toothbrush, sunflower)

• Syllables: Word parts (e.g., sunflower = sun + flow + er)

• Base Words: Core word (e.g., run in running)

• Roots: Word origin (e.g., bene in benefit)

• Suffixes: End additions (e.g., -ness in happiness)

• Prefixes: Beginning additions (e.g., un- in unhappy)

• End Consonants: Last consonants (e.g., cat, dog)

• Medial Consonants: Middle consonants (e.g., lucky)

• Blends/Digraphs: Combined consonants (e.g., bl in blue, ch in chat)

• Short/Long Vowels: Different vowel sounds (e.g., cat vs cake)

• Vowel Pairs: Two vowels together (e.g., ea in bead)

Morpheme

the smallest units of meaning in a language.

Free Morphemes

morphemes that can stand alone as words and carry meaning by themselves.

Example:

• Book, run, happy.

Bound morpheme

a morpheme that cannot stand alone and must attach to a free morpheme to convey meaning.

Example:

• -ed (as in played)

• un- (as in undo)

Instructional methods for teaching syllable types in decoding multisyllabic words

• Explicit Instruction: Teach syllable types with examples.

• Syllable Division: Break words into syllables (e.g., cab-in-et).

• Word Sorts: Sort by syllable type.

• Chunking: Practice decoding with syllable chunks.

• Visual Aids: Use color coding or charts.

Teaching Syllable patterns

• Introduce syllable types (closed, open, vowel-consonant-e).

• Model and practice breaking words into syllables.

• Syllable sorting by pattern.

• Use visual aids to highlight patterns.

• Repetition for practice.

• Closed: Vowel is closed by a consonant (e.g., cat).

• Open: Vowel is at the end, making a long sound (e.g., go).

• Vowel-Consonant-e: Vowel followed by consonant and silent e (e.g., cake).

• Vowel Teams (Dipthong): Two vowels together making one sound (e.g., team).

• R-controlled: Vowel followed by "r" changes its sound (e.g., car).

• Consonant-le: Ends with a consonant + /le/ (e.g., table). -/al/ -/el/: Common endings with specific syllable patterns (e.g., animal, angel)

Common activities to teach syllables

• Syllable Clapping: Clap for each syllable in a word.

• Syllable Lists: Create lists of words and break them into syllables.

• Multisyllabic Word Manipulation: Practice changing syllables in multisyllabic words.

• Syllable Scoop: “Scoop” each syllable with a finger as you say the word.

Structrual Analysis

process of breaking down words into their parts (prefixes, roots, suffixes) to determine their meaning. It helps teach multisyllable words

Example:

• Predictable = pre- (prefix) + dict (root) + -able (suffix)

Multisensory approaches to support recognition of

nondecodable / irregularly spelled words

• Visual: Use flashcards or word walls with irregular words.

• Auditory: Say the word out loud, emphasizing its sounds.

• Kinesthetic: Have students trace the word with their finger or write it in sand.

• Tactile: Use textured materials (e.g., sandpaper letters) to feel the word.

• Memory Tricks: Create mnemonics or stories to remember irregular spellings.

High frequency or Sight words

common words that readers recognize by sight without needing to decode them.

ex.

• and

• it

• you

• to

• is

• he

• she

• was

• for

Ways to build and extend phonics

• Blending: Combine sounds to form words.

• Word Families: Teach common endings (e.g., -at, -in).

• Segmenting: Break words into sounds.

• Phonics Games: Use rhyming or matching games.

• Multisyllabic Words: Decode longer words by syllables.

• Decodable Texts: Use texts that match students' phonics knowledge.

• Authentic Shared Tasks: Engage in real-world reading activities.

• Oral Reading: Practice reading aloud.

• Whisper Reading: Students read quietly to practice fluency.

• Word Walls: Display key words for easy reference.

• Interactive Reading: Use interactive activities to engage with texts

Cueing Systems

strategies that help readers decode and understand text.

ex.

• Phonological: Using letter-sound relationships to decode words.

• Syntactic: Using grammar and sentence structure to predict words.

• Semantic: Using meaning from context to figure out words.

• Pragmatic: Using social and cultural cues to interpret text.

Semantic Cues

help readers understand meaning using context and background knowledge.

Example:

• The cat sat on the ____.

• "Mat" fits the context.

Graphophonic Cues

help decode words by matching letters (graphemes) to their sounds (phonemes).

ex.

"cat" is decoded by recognizing the sounds /k/, /a/, and /t/