VOA慢速英语2023--Early Literacy: Letter-sound Connection (Phonics)

Early Literacy: Letter-sound Connection (Phonics)

Phonics is where written language meets spoken language.

Phonics teaches students the relationship between the letters of written language and the sounds of spoken language. The goal of phonics is to help students learn how to use the alphabet to read and write words. It also helps them understand writing.

Teaching tips for phonics

Effective phonics instruction should:

include letter shapes and names

work with each separate sound in a word

include all major letter-sound relationships

Teach phonics in a clear and direct way with a plan.

When you teach letter-sound relationships tell your students the goal of the lesson. Explain the learning strategies you plan to use. After you teach something such as words or spelling patterns, plan to use them often with your students. Use them in sentences, songs, or poems. Play games with them. Read texts and stories using words or letters. Practice writing them.

Teach the ABCs.

Singing the ABC Song is a great place to start. As you say each letter, point to it. This will help teach the connection between letters and sounds. Have them write letters early and often.

However, do not teach the alphabet in order from A to Z.

It is fine to say or sing the full alphabet in order. However, when you begin teaching individual letters, experts advise against teaching them in order. Teachers often start with this group of letters — s, a, t, i, p, n. They make more three-letter words than any other six letters. Have them write letters early and often.

Teach commonly confused letters or sounds separately.

Some English language learners confuse some letters. If that is the case with your students, teach them separately. Let the students master one letter sound before moving to a similar one. Some commonly confused letters are:

- b, d, p

- e, i

- m, n

- t, d

If a sound is written more than one way, teach the different spellings one at a time. For example, the long /a/ sound can be spelled several different ways. Try teaching its forms in order:

First, -ai as in "train;"

Next, -a_e as in "gate;"

Then, -ay as in "day;"

Finally, use them together in a game or activity.

Teach short vowel¹ sounds first. Words with short vowel sounds are usually easier to say and spell. At this stage, teach single-beat (syllable²) words with short vowel sounds, like "sat" and "pat." However, short vowel sounds can be confusing. So, teach them separately.

Teach easy and common consonant³ letter sounds first.

Some consonants⁴ are easier than others. Usually, consonants that you can stretch out are easier to say – letters like m, s, and f.

With some consonant combinations you can hear each letter, such as fl, sp, tr, and st. (These are called blends. In the video for this article, you can hear them all.) Teach these with short vowel sounds, for example "flap," "spin," "trim," "step."

With some consonant combinations, the consonants become one sound, such as the /sh/ in "sheep." (These are called digraphs.) Teach common consonant combinations like ch, sh, and th. But keep in mind, some students may have a hard time with these.

For all of these suggestions, teachers must decide which sounds are easiest for their students.

Learning strategies for teaching phonics

Learning Strategy: Use all the senses.

Let the students see your face and mouth make the sounds. Use a mirror so the students can see their own mouths make sounds.

Have students touch their throats and say letter sounds. Some letters move the throat. Some letters do not move the throat.

Put a tissue in front of your face and show how some sounds make the tissue move while others do not.

Have students draw letters with their fingers while saying them. Students can draw letters in materials like sand or paint.

Students can also build letters with their bodies. Put students in groups. Give them a letter or they can pick a letter. Then they make the letter with their bodies.

Learning Strategy: Alphabet Matching

Young learners are just beginning to understand that there are relationships between written letters and spoken sounds. They are also learning that these relationships follow rules. They are learning the alphabetic⁵ principle.

Teachers can help students develop this understanding with fun activities that play with alphabet letters and sounds — for example, games that match lowercase and uppercase letters.

Assessment⁶ for phonics

Ask students questions about lesson material. Some assessments⁷ will be spoken, and some will be written.

Sample questions:

What sound do the letters "s" and "h" make when you put them together?

How do you spell the /sh/ sound?

How can I turn the word "bit" into "bite?"

Ask students to pick out the following in a text:

uppercase and lowercase letters

consonant sounds and letters

long vowel sounds and letters

short vowel sounds and letters

Read short vowel sounds in consonant-vowel-consonant words:

mat, cat, bag, bat

Read consonant combinations with short vowels⁸:

flag, trim, brag⁹

Read long vowel spellings:

- long /a/ sound spelled ai, ay, a_e

- long /e/ sound spelled ee

Read words with many syllables¹⁰:

- treehouse

- rainbow

- bookbag

- syllable

Use these tips, strategies, and assessment methods that best serve you and your learners. Change them to fit your students and teaching situation.

Words in This Story

syllable –n. a natural division of a word based on sound; a sound unit that makes up a word

blend –n. A blend is two consonants together that each make a sound. In the word "stop" the /s/ and the /t/ each make a sound.

digraph –n. A digraph has two letters but only one sound. In the word "shop" the /sh/ makes only one sound.

alphabetic principle –n the idea that there are systematic and predictable relationships between letters and the sounds they represent

1 vowel   

n.元音；元音字母

参考例句：

• A long vowel is a long sound as in the word"shoe ".长元音即如“shoe” 一词中的长音。
• The vowel in words like 'my' and 'thigh' is not very difficult.单词my和thigh中的元音并不难发。

2 syllable   

n.音节；vt.分音节

参考例句：

• You put too much emphasis on the last syllable.你把最后一个音节读得太重。
• The stress on the last syllable is light.最后一个音节是轻音节。

3 consonant   

n.辅音；adj.[音]符合的

参考例句：

• The quality of this suit isn't quite consonant with its price.这套衣服的质量和价钱不相称。
• These are common consonant clusters at the beginning of words.这些单词的开头有相同辅音组合。

4 consonants   

n.辅音，子音( consonant的名词复数 )；辅音字母

参考例句：

• Consonants are frequently assimilated to neighboring consonants. 辅音往往被其邻近的辅音同化。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Vowels possess greater sonority than consonants. 元音比辅音响亮。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

5 alphabetic   

adj.照字母次序的，字母的

参考例句：

• A generic name for a device that can store and process numeric and alphabetic in formation. 能存储和处理数字与字母信息的设备的总称。 来自辞典例句
• A coded character set whose character set is an alphabetic character set. 一种编码字符集，它的字符集是一种字母字符集。 来自互联网

6 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

7 assessments   

n.评估( assessment的名词复数 )；评价；（应偿付金额的）估定；（为征税对财产所作的）估价

参考例句：

• He was shrewd in his personal assessments. 他总能对人作出精明的评价。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Surveys show about two-thirds use such assessments, while half employ personality tests. 调查表明，约有三分之二的公司采用了这种测评；而一半的公司则采用工作人员个人品质测试。 来自百科语句

8 vowels   

n.元音，元音字母( vowel的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Vowels possess greater sonority than consonants. 元音比辅音响亮。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Note the various sounds of vowels followed by r. 注意r跟随的各种元音的发音。 来自超越目标英语 第3册

9 brag   

v./n.吹牛，自夸；adj.第一流的

参考例句：

• He made brag of his skill.他夸耀自己技术高明。
• His wealth is his brag.他夸张他的财富。

10 syllables   

n.音节( syllable的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a word with two syllables 双音节单词
• 'No. But I'll swear it was a name of two syllables.' “想不起。不过我可以发誓，它有两个音节。” 来自英汉文学 - 双城记