PHONICS BEST PRACTICE IN EARLY CHILDHOOD CLASSROOMS 1. Phonics Best Practice in Early Childhood Classrooms. Emily Gallmeyer EDUC 340.

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1 PHONICS BEST PRACTICE IN EARLY CHILDHOOD CLASSROOMS 1 Phonics Best Practice in Early Childhood Classrooms Emily Gallmeyer EDUC 340 May 7, 2010

2 PHONICS BEST PRACTICE IN EARLY CHILDHOOD CLASSROOMS 2 Abstract Good phonics programs lay a foundation for literacy instruction by teaching young learners the relationship between speech sounds and spelling patterns (Tompkins, 2010). When choosing a phonics program, early educators should look for programs that include authentic application, explicit instruction, systematic sequence and lively instruction (Varricchio, 2008). Tucker Signing Strategies for Reading, created by Dr. Bethanie H. Tucker, contains all of the necessary elements of a successful phonics program and has current research to back it up. Children and educators who work with Tucker Signing experience interactive learning through a systematic program. The approach quickly teaches students their letters and also helps to gain independence, release excess energy, and even enjoy reading (Tucker, 2001).

3 PHONICS BEST PRACTICE IN EARLY CHILDHOOD CLASSROOMS 3 Phonics Best Practice in Early Childhood Classrooms A is for apple, armadillo and air. B is for book, beach ball and bear. C is for cat, crayon and cape. D is for dog, dragons and drapes, chants a classroom of early learners (Jones, 2010). Around the world, early childhood classrooms exercise phonics activities like this every day. Phonics lays a foundation of letters and sounds and prepares children to explore the word of reading and writing. Good phonics programs have proven to lay a solid foundation for children and have facilitated the development of good readers and writers. Because of the importance of phonics in the development of readers, teachers must incorporate the best practices in phonics research into their daily instruction. Gail Tompkins (2010), the author of Literacy for the 21 st Century, defines phonics as a system that teaches the relationship between speech sounds and spelling patterns. The program should typically occur from kindergarten to second grade and phase out of the curriculum by third grade (Tompkins, 2010). Because children need to see the correlation between spoken sounds and written letters, children first learn about the letters and the sounds they make. Next, students learn to blend sounds to make words and to pull words apart to find individual sounds. This helps students make new words thus expanding their vocabulary and spelling knowledge. Lastly, phonics teaches children the specific rules that apply to the English language. Because the alphabet consists of twenty-six letters and forty-four different sounds, children may find understanding the rules a daunting task (Tompkins, 2010). As a progressive system, a foundation is laid and built upon to generate good readers and writers. Because phonics programs lay the foundation for all literacy instruction, they serve as a necessary part of early childhood classrooms. Reading will not come naturally nor will children logically pick up on all the rules that go along with it. To properly grasp the concept, educators

4 PHONICS BEST PRACTICE IN EARLY CHILDHOOD CLASSROOMS 4 must immerse their students in a systematic program that introduces letters, sounds, and all the rules of the English language (Donnelly, 2006). If not properly taught during early childhood, children will continue to fall behind. Students identified as struggling readers in the first grade have an eighty-eight percent chance of still being a poor reader in fourth grade (Beck, 2006). For this reason, phonics programs must provide children with the proper tools and techniques. A reliable program develops good readers and writers and incorporates all the valuable components. The components include authentic application, explicit instruction, systematic sequence and lively instruction (Varricchio, 2008). Authentic application gives students the opportunity to perform their knowledge of letters and sounds. Gail Tompkins (2010) states, Without meaningful application of what they are learning, phonics instruction is often ineffective (p. 162). For this reason, teacher must demonstrate how to use the information through practice activities. Through application activities, students make meaningful connections between instruction and everyday events such as reading and writing. Teachers should use these moments to determine what needs reinforced through mini lessons or which areas students have mastered. Application activities can take many different forms. Teachers many lead interactive writing session where students segment words in sounds or practice making letters on a large chart in the front of the class. Other activities include making words, word ladders, and words sorts. Teachers should incorporate application into their curriculum in combination with the other important components. Good phonics programs need to include explicit instruction. Research has show that teaching explicitly has consistently had positive effects on reading. Ball and Blachman (1991) conducted a study on two groups of kindergarteners. Half received explicit instruction while the other half received normal classroom instruction. The explicit instruction group showed a growth

5 PHONICS BEST PRACTICE IN EARLY CHILDHOOD CLASSROOMS 5 of 26% in comparison to the 13% of the control group, thus doubling the progress of normal classroom instruction. Educators achieve this precise way of teaching by using mini lessons directed towards the whole class. The teacher first presents the information about a skill then he or she demonstrates how to use it. During this time, students receive words that relate to the lesson. This way, students can use the words during their practice time. Teachers provide guided practice through activities such as replicating letters or words on dry erase boards or with magnetic letters, word and pictures sorts, word cards, and poster representing a phonics concept (Tompkins, 2010). This allows students to work with sounds while reading and writing words. For many early learners, understanding and mastery will come from explicit instruction (Pollard- Durodola and Simmons, 2009). Explicit instruction influences the abilities of readers and writers and act as a key component of a good phonics program. Good phonics programs require a systematic sequence. As Kevin Donnelly (2006) previously stated, children need letters and sound presented in a logical and structured fashion. This means that educators cannot jump around with their instruction; they must organize and systematize their curriculum. Beginning with the most useful skills and gradually working towards the less common, students can immediately begin working with the rules. A program should set guidelines of when to teach each skill and where each strategy should fall in the course. Different programs will offer different orders; however, most teachers begin with consonants and short vowel sounds. The National Reading Panel (as cited in Tompkins, 2010, p.161) found that, the most effective programs were systematic, that is, the most useful phonics skills are taught in a predetermined sequence. Most teachers begin with consonants and then introduce the short vowels so that children can read and spell CVC words. Children need a

6 PHONICS BEST PRACTICE IN EARLY CHILDHOOD CLASSROOMS 6 systematic sequence to helps them understand the skills that they will use most often and allows students to wrap their minds around the concepts in an organized manner. Lively instruction provides another instructional technique to help students connect with the material. Simply stating letter names and sounds remains outdated. Children learn in different ways and require different forms of instruction (Christodoulou, 2009). Thus, teachers should integrate visual, auditory, kinesthetic, and tactual actions into their phonics lessons. Kinesthetic learners need to move while interacting with the letters (Tucker, 2001). Whether making the letters with their body or writing words in the air, children need movement. Visual learners receive considerably higher scores when lessons pair letters with pictures (Ball and Blachman, 1991). Some children need the visual representation of the letter before they can remember the letter or sound. An extension to this exercise would be to pair a saying with the visual cue. When children say the bee goes buzz while looking at a picture of a bee, two different parts of the brain become engaged. (Raschke, Alper, Eggers, 1999). This helps the students to identify with the content and obtain the material more quickly. One teacher even stated, "The first time I used this technique; I was amazed at how quickly the children learned the names of the alphabet letters (Raschke, Alper, Eggers, 1999, p.3). Using the actual object is a valuable alternative to using pictures. Sometimes touching the object helps to make the correlation. Seeing it, touching, it saying it, and doing it provide important personal connections between children and letters. An important task for early childhood teachers includes finding a program that incorporates all four components of a reliable phonics system. Tucker Signing Strategies, created by Dr. Bethanie H. Tucker, includes all of the elements and has captured the hearts of educators all over the country (Tucker, 2001). A kindergarten teachers even state, Never have I used to a program where the students have learned the letters so quickly. Tucker is the best program I have

7 PHONICS BEST PRACTICE IN EARLY CHILDHOOD CLASSROOMS 7 ever used (J. Juday, personal communication, April 22, 2010). The system provides order, teacher-directed practice, application activities, and interactive lessons. The combination of these components forms a system of best practice which results in various success stories and personal benefits. When used correctly, Tucker Signing Strategies recipients have found success. One study found that students who used Tucker Sign scored points compared to normal instruction growth of 8.4 (Cole and Majd, 2005). Because 80% of young readers learn more effectively through kinesthetic activities, the required genitures help to increase reading stamina while releasing excess energy (Tucker, 2001). The task of solving unfamiliar words instead of waiting on the teacher for assistance helps self-conscious readers obtain responsibility and independence (Tucker, 2001). Children who struggle turn into adults who struggle. Of the adult population, 25% cannot read proficiently (Beck, 2006). However, with tucker Signing Strategies, children will obtain the instruction needed to become effective reader and writers and grow up to be fluent readers. An avid Tucker fan and literacy coach even said, It is almost like you can physically see them retrieve the sound from their brain with just a move of their hand (Tucker, 2001, p. 1). Lastly, children enjoy using this method. Some children like to imagine they have a secret code to crack while others pretend to play a memory game with the gestures. Overall, Tucker provides a fun and interactive program capable of benefiting all involved. Recipients can achieve the rewards, if instructors implement the correct guidelines. First, the teachers should model the signs to their students and draw the letters onto their hand when possible. This allows the students to see how the signs represent each letter and provides a visual image for later practice. Next, students should practice the signs using only their left hands. Though this will become insignificant as the student become more familiar with the signs, in

8 PHONICS BEST PRACTICE IN EARLY CHILDHOOD CLASSROOMS 8 beginning it will prevent the letters from appearing backwards and provide another visual reference. Additionally, both the teacher and the student need to make the letter sound whenever making the gesture. The combination of seeing it and saying it will apply to more learners. Also, lessons should begin with the most frequently used consonants and short vowel sounds, followed by less commonly used letters and long vowel sounds. By doing so, the students can begin to read and write early in the program. Once the students have grasped all the letters, teachers should introduce chunks and words families. Lastly, when the students recognize words immediately, instructors should discontinue all signs (Tucker, 2001). By following these guidelines, classrooms will find themselves on the path to success. In addition to signs, other strategies should be incorporated to assist in the learning process. First, when introducing a letter, teachers should say the letter name, an object the letter begins with, and the sound it makes. For example, the teacher should make the sign for B while encouraging her class to chant B, ball, /b/ (Cole and Majd, 2005). Another strategy, word walls, offers additional support for children during the letter learning process. Children reference the words when writing or practicing their letters and when determining the spelling of unknown words (Tompkins, 2010). Good writers and good readers go hand in hand; therefore, teachers should incorporate writing activities into the lesson. The program provides pages that correlate to each lesson by printing sentences that connect to the lessons. Instructors encourage the students to read the sentence or sentences and draw a picture in relationship to the text (Tucker, 2001). At the completion of the lessons, the students will have a story that has increased in difficulty overtime. Other activities should include word sorts, magnetic letters, interactive writing, reading and writing workshop, guided reading, and much more. Teachers must incorporate a variety of

9 PHONICS BEST PRACTICE IN EARLY CHILDHOOD CLASSROOMS 9 supplemental resources and should remember that Tucker should not be used as an independent program. Because of the importance of phonics in the development of readers, teachers must incorporate the best practices in phonics research into their daily instruction. These programs, like Tucker Signing Strategies, must contain authentic application, explicit instruction, systematic sequence, and lively instruction. Early implementation of a strong phonics system will develop good readers, which will continue throughout life. Children s lives need to be set up for success with quality, researched based literacy programs and first-rate instruction. Today s educators hold the future of this country in their hands and it should be their main goal to use the correct resources during the journey.

10 PHONICS BEST PRACTICE IN EARLY CHILDHOOD CLASSROOMS 10 Reference Ball, E. W., & Blachman, B. (1991). Does phoneme awareness training in kindergarten make a difference in early word recognition and developmental spelling? Reading Research Quarterly, 26, Beck, I. (2006). Making sense of phonics: The hows and whys. New York: Guildford Press. Christodoulou, J. (2009). Applying multiple intelligences. School Administrator, 66(2), 22. Donnelly, K. (2006, May 13). Go back to basics, and put literacy teaching on the same page. Jones. (2010). Mrs. Jones room. Retrieved from Pollard-Durodola, S., & Simmons, D. (2009). The role of explicit instruction and instructional design in promoting phonemic awareness development and transfer from Spanish to English. Reading & Writing Quarterly, 25(2/3), Raschke, D., Alper, S., & Eggers, E. (1999). Recalling alphabet letter names: A mnemonic system to facilitate Learning. Preventing School Failure, 43(2), 80. Cole, C., & Majd, M. (2005). The effect of Tucker Signing Strategies for Reading on the decoding skills of students in four elementary schools. Retrieved from Tompkins, G. (2010). Literacy for the 21 st century. Boston: Pearson. Tucker, B. (2001). Tucker Signing Strategies for Reading. aha! Process, Inc. Varricchio, M. (2008). Portals to learning. Retrieved from

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