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How to Teach Phonics

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How to Teach Phonics

Phonics gives children the skills needed to teach themselves new words, unlike other methods for teaching reading, which focus mostly on memorizing words. Children who learn key phonics rules can become good readers and spellers.

Phonics mainly consists of teaching the phonetic sounds of letters and blends. There are also certain phonics rules that also need to be taught since not all words sound the way they are spelled.

The first step in teaching phonics is teaching the sound of each letter in the alphabet beginning with the short vowel sounds, moving onto the sound of every consonant, and then teaching the long vowel sounds. During this process be sure to emphasize that A, E, I, O and U are vowels, and all other letters are consonants.

Most kids best learn the sounds of the letter by memorizing rhymes, riddles, or songs that teach the name of the letter plus the sound of the letter. For example: A says "a" (say the sound of the letter) as in apple.

Now It's time to move onto introducing blends. A blend is the combination of a consonant (at the beginning) with a vowel (at the end.) The blend will always be said with the vowels saying their short vowel sound. Teaching these blends will help move the student onto sounding out one vowel words.

Phonics Games, Songs, Rhymes, and Charts

ClickN' READ Phonics: The world's most advance phonics and spelling programs!
The ABC Song-Free mp3 Download, free kids songs: Free Mp3 Download of the ABC Song. Very Popular!
Learn to Read with phonics: A free website to teach children to read with phonics. For preschool, kindergarten, and first grade. Exciting phonics games and online interactive books.
Phonics Song: A phonics song to help children learn the letter sounds.<br />Written and performed by A.J. Jenkins<br />Copyright 2009: All rights reserved<br />For free MP3s,
Alphabet Songs and Poetry: Free, printable educational activities for preschool, kindergarten and grade school children.

Intermediate Phonics

Once all the short vowel and consonant sounds have been learned it is time to move onto reading one vowel words with the short vowel sound. For example: cat, dog, bat, mom, dad, etc.

Introduction of sight words should be incorporated into this phase of phonics teaching. Sight words include words that don't follow any particular phonics rules, but also don't sound out the way they are spelled. Example of sight words include: the, to, do, or, a.

“Simple books with mostly three letter words, and sight words, should be introduced during this phase”

Early Reader Books

Early reader books are essential when teaching phonics successfully.

Advance Phonics Rules

Below are some advance phonics rules that will need to be taught.

Some words do not sound out the way they are spelled, so we either add them to the sight word list, or teach the following advance phonics rules.

When there is a double consonant at the end of a word you say the sound once. For example: Off, sass, bass, clock. This also apply to "ck" since they make the same sounds.
Since C an K makes the same sound. Most of the time C preceded the vowels a, o, u. K precedes the vowels i, and e.
er, ir, and ur all make the sound "er"
When a "w" comes before "or" it makes the sound "er" - example work.
"oi" and "oy" both make the same sound as a pig as n Oink. "Oi" always comes at the beginning of a word, while "oy" comes at the end of a word.
Q and u always go together. Ex: queen, quick, quill, etc.

Sight Word List

I
like
see
the
a
can
me
be
yes
no
one
two
you
blue
to
come
go
are
was
this
my
be
she
for
said
we
four
five
six
white
green
going
her
have
here
with
came