Well, it could be taught as language, but it's still phonics and a very
important component of reading. We teach comprehension strategies, and
thinking aloud strategies, writing strategies, yet we don't want to teach
decoding strategies? And we wonder why our society has literacy issues!
Phonics and phonemic awareness are the underpinnings for good readers.
Those who solve the reading code on their own need only next level
phonics/language lessons to increase their reading abilities and
comprehension. But those who don't figure out the whole complex reading
thing at 6 or 7 or 8 need structured phonics lessons and opportunities to
practice their new skills in safe and successful ways.
I work with adults in a community college that lack these same skills and I
wonder how they made it through high school and job applications without
knowing the difference between 'want' and 'won't' or 'there' and their' and
'they're'. This obviously is more than phonics knowledge; it involves
learning about our language through spelling and sounds. Perhaps we need to
stop thinking about phonics as 'letter naming/sound association' and think
about, as Louisa Cook Moats would recommend, as a sound to spelling pattern
association.
Obviously, my examples aren't matching with this thought pattern I'm
relating, but it is a symptom of a larger problem involving illiteracy that
has roots in the lack of phonics and structure of language that aren't
taught in our schools. Have you ever watched the National Spelling Bee in
Washington, DC and wondered how those students can figure out how to spell
words they've never heard before? It goes back to their home study of a good
phonics foundation followed by learning spelling patterns and Greek and
Latin roots, prefixes, and suffixes. That's why they always ask for the
origin of the word.
Phonics instruction is essential in the development of good readers. The
students who receive RTI or special services because of reading difficulties
would benefit tremendously from structured multisensory language
instruction. We need more advocates and supporters for phonics instruction
in our schools, and better understanding of the research that supports it as
an integral part of reading development. We also need better trained
teachers who acknowledge this thinking. Don't abandon what the students need
just because you don't like to teach it! Or worse, don't think that because
the phonics is imbedded in the lesson all children will internalize the
information and transfer it to working knowledge. We do need to recognize
all children's learning needs are different and accommodate accordingly. All
children in your classroom may not need the same intensity of phonics
instruction, but some children will. Isn't it our job as teachers to teach
to and for our students?
Deidra Chandler
MA Early Childhood Ed
MA Reading
MultiSensory Structured Language Intervention Tutor
----- Original Message -----
From: <ldybugt...@aol.com>
To: <mosaic@literacyworkshop.org>
Sent: Wednesday, July 29, 2009 11:47 AM
Subject: [MOSAIC] phonics instruction in 2nd grade
I know many people are against direct phonics instruction in
the classroom, however, being that I taught 3rd grade for
six years, it drove me crazy that many children come into
class and have no phonics knowledge or phonemic awareness
at all.? We have to teach them comprehension when they can not read
to begin with.? I will be teaching second grade this year and want to be
sure that their 3rd grade teachers do not have to worry about emphasizing
phonics.? Are there any suggestions on how to teach phonics
without "teaching phinics?"
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