According to Cockrum and Shanker (2013), phonics knowledge involves forming connections between letters or combinations of letters and the sounds they represent (p.95).

What is phonics knowledge?

Phonics is the most helpful for students reading at or below the 2nd-grade reading level because phonics is a valuable tool for decoding phonetically regular words (Cockrum & Shanker, 2013).

When is phonics knowledge most beneficial?

1. Phonics should be tested the same way students read.

2. “The student taking the test needs to try to read the words and produce the sounds the letter in words represent” (Cockrum & Shanker, 2013, p.96).

3. Three Levels of Phonics Knowledge Assessment

   1. Observation - teacher observes the student struggle while reading orally and decides to assess further

   2. Quick Assessment of Phonics Knowledge - the teacher can provide the student with an unfamiliar word following the phonics rule.

   3. ○ In-Depth Assessment of Phonics Knowledge - the teacher provides a phonics assessment to determine the student's deficiencies.

How is phonics knowledge assessed?

How is phonics best taught?

​Begin with letter sounds.

"Students who struggle to read materials written at or below the second-grade level should be taught to recognize and apply the letter-sounds associations for single consonants, consonant blends, and consonant digraphs. In addition, instruction on vowels should also be provided" (Cockrum & Shanker, 2013, p. 97).

​Teaching Phonics Knowledge

1. Start with the beginning letter sounds. Focus should then be placed on single consonants, consonant blends, consonant digraphs, and vowels through direct instruction.

2. Word Attack - "Identify and separate the letters and, then, pronounce and blend the individual letter sounds, or phonemes, to decode the word" (Cockrum & Shanker, 2013, p.98).

If a student struggles with the symbol-sound association, teaching phonograms, "a common word family beginning with a vowel or vowel pair followed by a consonant or consonants, and sometimes ending in e", is beneficial (Cockrum & Shanker, 2013, p.100).

Explicit Direct Instruction Consonant Recommendations

Six Steps to Teach Consonant Letter Sounds:

1. Develop sound awareness

2. Develop awareness of seeing the letter that stands for the sound, grapheme.

3. Practice words with the consonant sound.

4. Practice blending the sound with other phonograms.

5. Make a word list with words that start with that sound.

6. Provide reading practice of the consonant.

Activities to Practice Consonant Sounds

1. Flashcards - place the letter on one side of the card with the letter in bold and a picture of the word on the other side of the flashcard.

2. Place 10 flashcards face up, each with a different letter on them. Give students 7, 6, 6, 5, 5, 4, 4, and 3 seconds (each round time slowly decreases because there are fewer letters) to locate the card that has been orally provided.

3. Auditory matching

4. Practice making lists of words with the beginning letter sound.

5. Multimodal techniques that incorporate gamification.

Consonant Phonic Rummy

​Recommendations (Vowels)

1. Teach short vowels using CVC and CVCC combinations, then show students words with CVC + e to expose to long vowels.

2. Auditory practice.

3. Have students sort words between those with the breve (short sound) and the macron (long sound).

4. Interactive technology that incorporates gamification.

​Recommendations (Blends, Digraphs, and Diphthongs)

1. Use a list to see which blends, digraphs, and diphthongs are not yet mastered.

2. Use additional auditory exposure to the blends, digraphs, and diphthongs.

3. Interactive technology incorporating gamification.

​References

Cockrum, W. A., & Shanker, J. L. (2013). Locating and correcting reading difficulties (10th ed.). Pearson.