How can I help children crack
the code?
Steven A. Stahl
The University of Georgia
Center for the Improvement of
Early Reading Achievement
Why teach young children all
about the code?
n
Children begin learning about the
alphabetic principle early on in homes
with a high literacy press.
In homes with a high literacy
press….
Children are read books of various kinds.
n Children play with the alphabet -- blocks,
magnetic letters, and so on.
n Children read alphabet books.
n Children play word games, rhyming and
alliteration.
n Children watch Sesame Street, Between
the Lions, and so on.
n
In homes with a high literacy
press….
Children come to kindergarten and first
grade already as members of a literate
community.
n We need to bring children who do not
come from homes with high literacy press
into that literacy community.
n
Three things that are important
for children to learn the code
Letters of the alphabet
n Phonological awareness
n Learning about print
n
n
Together, these lead to an understanding
of the alphabetic principle.
n
The alphabetic principle is the
understanding that letters represent
sounds. This insight is needed for children
to learn to read.
Learning the alphabet
Alphabet song
n Learn to find letters when they are in
order.
n Learn uppercase letters by themselves.
n Learn lower case letters by themselves.
n
Alphabet books
nL
is for Lion
Alphabet Books
nH
is for horse.
Begin with children’s names
They are most personal.
n Label cubbyholes.
n Use name cards.
n Children should learn their own names
and the names of everyone else in the
class.
n
What is Phonological
Awareness?
n
Phonemic awareness is the ability to
focus on and manipulate sounds in
spoken words.
Types of Language Sounds
Syllables
n Onsets - Rimes
n Phonemes
n
n
Graphemes
Why are phonemes so hard to
grasp?
n
Words are not just collections of
phonemes. Instead, phonemes are
blended together, into the vowel.
n
Some phonemes (k, t, g, p, b, d, among
others) cannot be said without adding a
vowel.
What should children know?
n
Preschool
n
n
n
n
Kindergarten
n
n
n
n
n
First grade
n
Awareness of sounds
Syllables
Appreciation of rhyme
Generation of rhyme
Onset and rime
Initial sounds
Segmentation and
blending
Full analysis of words
How do we teach syllables and
Onsets and Rimes?
n
n
n
n
n
n
Reading and memorizing rhymes
Clapping out rhymes
How many beats?
Pointing out the rhymes
Can you guess the word? (d-uck, c-at)
Alliteration
Phonological Awareness
Activities
n
Sound to word
matching
n
n
n
n
Word to Word
matching
n
The Troll
Which word begins
with the same sound
as _______?
Which one does not
belong?
Sound sorting
To Market, To Market
n
n
n
n
To market, to market to but
a fat pig;
Home again, home again,
jiggety jig.
To market, to market to but
a fat hog;
Home again, home again,
jiggety jog.
Widdy-widdy-wurkey
n
n
n
n
Widdy-widdy-wurkey is the
name of my turkey.
There-and-back-again is the
name of my hen.
Wiggle-tail-loose is the name
of my goose.
Widdy-widdy-wurkey is the
name of my turkey.
Widdy-widdy-wurkey
n
n
n
n
Widdy-widdy-wurkey is the
name of my turkey.
Quackery-quack is the name
of my duck.
Grummelty-grig is the name
of my pig.
Widdy-widdy-wurkey is the
name of my turkey.
Phonological Awareness works
best with letters
n
n
n
n
n
Letters add a concrete referent to the abstract
phoneme
Letters make phonemes easier to remember
Alphabet Books
Invented Spelling
Adding letters to activities such as sound
sorting
Phonological Awareness
Play with sounds in words underlies
children’s learning about letters and
sounds
n Part of preschool education as long as
there have been nursery rhymes
n Important to include letters in activities,
including alphabet books and invented
spelling
n
National Reading Panel:
Phonological Awareness
Findings
n
Phonological
awareness
instruction is
effective in
kindergarten and
first grade.
n
Phonological
awareness
instruction is
especially effective
when combined with
letter training and as
part of a total
literacy program
National Reading Panel:
Phonological Awareness
Findings
n
Phonological
awareness training
of medium length
(less than 20hours)
is more effective
than longer
programs.
n
The most effective
phonological
awareness training
involved two skills
(blending and
segmentation) not
more.
National Reading Panel:
Phonological Awareness
Findings
n
Phonological awareness instruction should
be:
n
n
n
Integrated with reading and writing
Moderately short (< 20 weeks) and simple
Conducted in small groups, rather than whole
class
Phonological Awareness
Activities
n
n
n
n
Rhyming
Word-to-word
matching
Initial sounds
Segmentation
n
n
Reciting or making rhymes
Which word does not belong?
n
n
n
n
What is the first sound in fish?
Breaking a word into sounds,
Stretch sounding
n
n
n
Blending
Deletion
n
n
Man, move, pit, monkey
May use boxes
What word is /f/ /i/ /sh/?
Say “make” without /m/?
Alphabet books
nL is for Lion
Alphabet Books
n
L is for Lollipop.
n
L is for lizard.
n
L is for….
Learning about print
n
Children’s knowledge of print develops in
both reading and spelling. As children
learn more about print, it is reflected in
how they read words and attempt to spell
them.
Development of Word
Recognition
n
Visual Cueing
n
Child uses a visual
cue, such as the two
“eyes” in look or the
“tail” in monkey.
n
Partial Alphabetic
Cueing
n
Child uses salient
letter, usually
beginning,
sometimes last.
Development of Word
Recognition
n
n
Full Alphabetic
Coding
Automaticity
n
Child uses all letters,
including vowels, to
“sound out” words
n
Child recognizes
words automatically,
using chunks or
analogies
Development of Spelling
n
Prephonemic
n
n
Early letter name
n
Pictures, scribbles,
unrelated letters
JR
C
n
Letter name
n
JRGN
n
Within Word
n
JRAGUN COT
n
Syllable Juncture
n
DRAGGEN COAT
GRL
Instruction at Different Stages
n
Visual Cueing
n
n
n
Expose children to books
Teach the alphabet,
including alphabet books
Begin instruction in
phonological awareness
At this stage, instruction should look a lot
like whole language, with a great deal of
exposure to books.
n It also should contain direct teaching of
letters and phonological awareness
instruction.
n
What do you teach?
n
Pre-K and Kindergarten
Alphabet names
n Children’s names
n Basic Phonological Awareness
n Consonant sounds
n Consonant blends (introduce)
n Short vowels (introduce)
n
Instruction at Different Stages
n
Partial Alphabetic
Coding
n
n
n
Use books with
increasingly less
predictability
Fingerpointing
Begin letter-by-letter
phonics instruction
n
n
At this point some synthetic phonics instruction is
probably useful. This involves direct letter sound
instruction, practice in blending, and reading of
decodable texts.
A variety of texts should be used in addition, including
instructional level texts and authentic texts (which may
be read to children).
Instruction at Different Stages
n
Full alphabetic coding
n
n
n
Read a variety of
texts, including
decodable texts
Letter-by-letter
decoding instruction
Begin constructivist
instruction (Making
Words) and analogy
instruction.
Instruction at Different Stages
n
Automaticity
n
n
Progress depends on
reading both a large
volume of texts and
more challenging
texts.
Might use repeated
reading, especially
for struggling readers.
Different kinds of text
Authentic text
n Predictable text
n Decodable text
n
Authentic Text
Needed to develop higher level concepts
and vocabulary
n Needed to develop children’s interest in
reading
n Should be relatively difficult
n Might be read aloud to class or read with
support by students
n
Predictable Text
Used to develop print concept and
“booksuccess”.
n Used to develop fingerpointing and printspeech match.
n Might be read using Shared Reading
model.
n Should be phased out by middle of first
grade.
n
Decodable Text
n
n
n
n
Should contain a reasonable percentage of words with
a taught pattern
Used for practice of decoding in context
The best texts tell a story that is comprehensible; the
worst texts make little or no sense
Should be practiced by children, possibly with repeated
reading.