Phonics to Blends

In the previous blog post, you read about how I incorporate daily phonics instruction for my younger students. Phonics is the foundational level of learning to read. The next step toward reading is the ability to blend. According to Reading Rockets, "Phonemic awareness is the understanding that the sounds of spoken language work together to make words." Being able to recognize blends is an important step toward phonemic awareness, and reading.

In the student work sample below, you will see a phonics portion and a blending portion.

During the blends step of instruction, marking vowels is introduced. In this phase of instruction students are reminded of the phonics instruction, and that the vowels can make two sounds. Students are taught how to mark long sounds with a "hat" and short sounds with a "smile." They are taught to look for clues on how to mark the vowels, such as Bossy E or Two Vowels Walking. They are reminded that if they don't see the clues, then the short sound "smile" mark should be used. Examples can be seen in the student work sample below.

Once students have practiced with marking vowels before reading words, they are taught how to mark special sounds. Special sounds are typically consonant blends. In the student work sample below, you will see that the student was working on the special sound "k" produced by the consonant blend "ck."

I would like to take this opportunity to remind you that when teaching phonics I teach that "q" is never alone. Just like a queen, "q" must always have the helper "u." The "qu" blend works together to say "kw." (See previous blog with video regarding phonics.) Now look back at the student work sample above. Without prompting, the student recognized the "qu" special sound blend and circled the blend. The student then circled the special sound "k" made by the consonant blend "ck" before properly marking the vowel with a "smile." Had the student not been specifically taught the "qu" blend from the beginning, the student would have potentially used the two vowels walking clue to improperly mark the word, and would have had difficulty sounding out the word. In my opinion, this is a perfect example as to why specific phonics instruction is needed daily for young learners.

Reference:

Reading Rockets. (2017). Phonemic Awareness. Retrieved from : http://www.readingrockets.org/teaching/reading-basics/phonemic