1.1 Phonics and Dyslexia
About 10% of the population have dyslexia. Dyslexia can lead to difficulties with reading and writing. There are a few red βlags that you can look out for, to spot signs of dyslexia in children. One of the biggest ones is trouble with phonetics, including confusing two sounds with one another, trouble with rhyming and making blending and segmenting errors.
While each case of dyslexia is different, it is a myth that dyslexic individuals cannot learn to read through phonics. People with dyslexia may take more time to build phonetic awareness than others, but, once they have acquired that foundation, teaching them how to read and write using phonics is possible. Programmes such as 'Jolly Phonics' use a multi-sensory approach, which helps make lessons more accessible to children with dyslexia.
1.2 Year 1 Phonics Screening Check
The Year 1 Phonics Screening Check is a very short assessment that is used to verify that children are learning phonics as expected. It helps to identify the children who need extra help, while also letting the screening administrator know where the child is struggling. In most cases, this guide is administered by Year 1 teachers, although parents and other carers may also want to use the guide with their own children.
The test itself is made up of 40 words. Half of these words are real words, and the other half are non-words. Some children are able to identify real words because of a strong visual memory, not because they have learned phonic decoding, which is why non-words are included.
Examples of non-words include 'dov' and 'vead'.
1.Administration of the entire tests takes about βivefto ten minutes per child.
2.Children who fail the screening in Year 1 are provided with extra help throughout the rest of the school year.
3.Parents and other adults involved in the child's life, such as carers or relatives, are also consulted and given resources, so that they can support the child's phonetic development, when they are not in school.
4.The screening is then administered again in Year 2 for these children, to ensure that they have caught up with their peers.
1.3 Boosting Phonics Confidence
Some children underperform on the screening, despite having strong phonics skills. In these cases, the reason for poor performance is a lack of confidence. A child may know the answer but lack the confidence required to be sure, resulting in delays or wrong answers. One way in which to help children perform to the best of their ability during screenings and tests is to build up their confidence.
Building confidence is a strategy that also works with children who are struggling. Once they feel sure of themselves in one area, they can apply these skills to another area.
There are a few things that parents, teachers and carers can do:
1.Match images and sounds to reinforce the connection between individual letters and the sounds that they represent
2.Use a multi-sensory approach, including songs, stories and actions
3.Try locomotion phonics, whereby children move around, physically forming letters, to learn associated sounds
4.Don't overlook tactile learners
5.Include a social component in all your lessons
1.4 Teaching Phonics to ESL Students
The use of phonics with ESL students is somewhat controversial. Some programmes encourage it, while others believe that it may only cause confusion.
There are certain benefits to this approach:
1.It helps to teach the English alphabet to individuals who do not use the same alphabet
2.It can help students become much better spellers
3.It gives students a good foundation that they can use to read unfamiliar words
There are also a few drawbacks:
1.It teaches pronunciation and spelling, but not necessarily meaning — a student may be able to spell and pronounce a word perfectly, but cannot use it appropriately in a new sentence
2.Native English speakers can link a word that they are reading and spelling to one that they already have an experience with, while non-native speakers must learn what the words mean, as well as how to pronounce and spell them
3.There are a lot of exceptions to phonics rules, which can make this a confusing way in which to learn
Most ESL teachers agree that, when teaching students how to read, a few different approaches must be used together, including phonics. It is important to include other strategies as well, so that students can learn the meanings and contexts of words, as well as how they are supposed to be spelled.
Module Summary
This is the end of the Teaching Phonics course. You now have a brief introduction to phonics and the information about how it is used to teach children and ESL students!
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