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Sound out the symbols, decipher that Code & Read!
Part One Phonics, An Overview:With the “No Child Left Behind” Law in somewhat chaos, it underscores the problem of teaching reading. In any plan for Teaching Reading one must remember that there are only four ( 4) basic methods of teaching Children to read 1 Phonics, Is the method by which children learn the letters and the sounds associated with these letters at the same time. Learning 1 letter per day or at a time cuts down on boredom 2 Look & Say Children learn to recognize whole words or sentences rather than individual sounds. 3 Language experience approach. This method uses student’s own words to help them read. A student may draw a picture of Dad in the car In that case, teacher would write underneath the drawing: Dad is in the car & last is 4 Context support method which affirms the importance of choosing books that really interest them The phonics system, however, has been used successfully in the USA and Europe for many years to teach children how to read. It supplies the student with tools to expand their vocabulary. However, the Phonics approach to reading has been a source of controversy from reading specialists to Head Start through third grade teachers around America. If you “Google” the word phonics, you get 6.2 million listing of this word. The basics of learning to read may be summed up in three stages READING READINESS: The earliest stage, readiness, encompasses the skills that young children usually acquire before they can profit from formal reading instruction. Children acquire knowledge of the language and of letter names; they learn that spoken words are composed of separate sounds and that letters can represent these sounds. Parents can aid in the process by reading to children, thus acquainting them with the more formal language of books, pointing out words and letters, and making them aware that words in a book can tell a story or give information. Other readiness skills are acquired through word and rhyme games. Play with language apparently helps young children focus their attention on the sounds of words as well as on their meanings Once this primary stage is accomplished, they are ready for next stage: BEGINNING READING Early Childhood or nursery schools should begin the reading process with at least the study & memorization of the alphabet.Starting in the first grade, children begin to learn the printed equivalents for the spoken words they know. Some schools and reading textbooks teach the child to recognize whole words and stress the meaning of the text. Others first emphasize the study of phonics—that is, the sounds represented by individual letters—and the development of independent word-recognition skills. Nearly all current programs combine both techniques; they try to teach a child to recognize words and to learn phonics. The LAST STAGE, Reading skills development is intensified during Second Grade where they learn the Five Big Vowels and spelling patterns of increasing difficulty
For some 60 years, now, research has shown that early, systematic phonics instruction produces high reading achievement, at least until the third grade. The most common means of instruction is the basal reading program, consisting of a reader, workbook, and other associated materials. These readers have been criticized as not containing sufficiently high-quality literature and as not meeting the child's needs for meaningful content. Defenders have suggested that a limited vocabulary is necessary in the beginning so that children can concentrate on learning to recognize and sound words. In the early elementary grades, children read stories and selections containing common words already familiar from speech. With practice, most children read with increasing fluency and understanding. The different reading levels in a classroom may lead to the grouping of readers or even to an individualized approach that adapts instruction to each reader's abilities. At this point, you choose your reading method based on criteria & ideas that you have. You then prepare the method for use & analyze its’ progress. Microsoft ® Encarta ® Encyclopedia 2005 © 1993-2004 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
Available Reading Methods
Some methods that immediately come to mind are: “Hooked on Phonics” and “Frontline Phonics”,. Others not well know to the writer are “Scholastic Parent”, and some even lesser-known such as : “Discover Intensive Phonics”; “Think Aloud”, a method of teaching phonics by Dr. Ana T. Licata as part of “A model Lesson and Teaching Reading Methods. Lastly, “Phonetic Rock” that consists of 26 letter-songs and review. “Hooked on Phonics” is probably the most successful reading program ever. HOP uses the tried and true method of flash cards, tapes & books and depends on parental involvement. and “Frontline Phonics” is popular and it is #1 rated according to their website. They have a 4 star rating and appear to be very well organized with a short video to explain how the product is to be used. They claim to have created a program to make the task of learning to read easier and more fun for both you and your child. It is a complete program that will take your child to a beginning 3rd grade reading level. . Scholastic Parent has lesson plans, definitions and goals that make it among the most understandable. “Discover Intensive Phonics” (for yourself), is a part of Reading Horizons.” DIP is a well documented program that uses the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBEL) to measure progress of DIP. The Government’s massive “No Child Left Behind Law” leaves some behind. According to DIP They agree with the Act’s Accountability for Every Child and therefore, strive to meet the criteria’s focuses on accountability. Some States bemoan the fact that NCLB is largely under funded. Even though almost 1 billion dollars was available in 2003. Also,: each state has an individual standard for what every child in grades 3–8 should know, especially in reading. NCLB charts every student’s progress and achievement is measured on a yearly basis. Results from testing are available to the public, and schools are held accountable for performance standards. Schools are given believe schools are given from 4-5 chances to excel. No Child Left Behind Calls their structured program for success “Reading First”. Dr. Ana T. Licata’s “Think Aloud”, is a method of teaching phonics as part of “A model Lesson and Teaching Reading Methods”. Lastly, the Phonetic Rock Educational System by Emily L. Woody. Mrs. Woody understood the need for early comprehensive reading skills . The System’s goal is to for children to sound out syllables, decipher that Code and Read. Phonetic Rock was validated by a panel of experts at Univ of California at Los Angeles, before the product was released & tested. At that juncture, Mrs. Woody organized a group of present & retired teachers called “Friends of Multi-Learning to aid her in assessing how fast the product would work if used correctly. This group put together a compendium of high school students who in turn after training, went into the elementary schools, under supervision and worked with the k-2nd graders. They found a remarkable willingness to learn the sounds in the Phonetic Rock songs as Mrs. Woody thought they would and seemed eager & happy to use the Phonetic Rock method. Her studies proved beyond a doubt that between 15-30 hours of at least 15 min per day of drill & learning, children remember the songs which not only teach them the sounds of the letters but how the letters and sounds work together. They learn vocabulary, ‘rules to remember” pictures to identify, and can even work a crossword puzzle to practice the vowels. The System includes, a Song Book, an Activity Book, The Book, a CD, Blocks, the Vowel Crossword-Puzzle Book and a Vowel Phonic-Graph . Children then begin to make sounding out words, while reading, a permanent habit. Their self-esteem and abilities grow 100%.
