Phonics & Word Study
Elementary Word Work
Middle Years Word Work
High School Word Work
Overview
Literacy Skill Development
Speech develops naturally through exposure and conversation - barring any physical, cognitive or contextual barriers
Reading & writing requires the brain to repurpose different parts of itself to:
recognize letters - convert them to sounds - blend sounds into words - connect words to meaning (decoding, ie. reading)
isolate sounds in a word - convert sounds to letters - write or type letters (encoding, ie. writing)
Brains need different amounts of instruction to learn these skills with proficiency and automaticity
Where do we start?
Short answer: with speech THEN print
Starting with phonemes allows students to begin with speech, a naturally-developing skill (for most children)
Developing phonemic awareness skills helps children to tune into the individual sounds in words. New learning is emerging about what makes phonemic awareness instruction effective. More information will be shared below!
Using a sound wall with routines that bring focus to the articulatory gesture (mouth movements to produce phonemes) has a solid base of evidence behind its efficacy in helping students connect phonemes to graphemes (letter/s representing sounds). Also, it's fun! (And engagment is critical to learning - see the Active View of Reading).
Article: What is the Alphabetic Principle?
Article: How To Use Elkonin Boxes To Help Children Practice Reading Skills
Video: Elkonin boxes in Kindergarten
Horizon SD Phonics Program
Horizon SD Sound Wall
Horizon SD Printable Decodables
automatically folded & stapled!
Lesson Resources
Games & Activities
Why are words spelled the way they are?
Compound Word Boggle (Lesson 66)
