Why It Matters: Phonics

Alphabet Letters (Phonics)

A reader must be able to build the connections between the sounds one hears and the visual symbols (alphabet letters) one sees. This skill is known as Phonics.

• The Speech Bubbles icon represents Focus Sound (Phonemic Awareness) activities. At this level children do not have to know the names of the alphabet letters to master this skill. The emphasis is on listening, not letter recognition.

• The Alphabet Letters icon represents Phonics activities. At this level children are connecting the letters to their corresponding sounds.

Phonics

Phonics is the process of connecting sounds (phonemes) to their written symbols (alphabet letters or graphemes) (National Reading Panel, 2000). By developing this foundational key, emergent readers grasp how alphabet letters (graphemes) are linked to sounds (phonemes) forming letter-sound correspondences along with growing awareness of spelling patterns.

The goal of phonics instruction is to help emergent readers learn the alphabetic principle (letters represent sounds of the spoken language). Phonics instruction allows emergent readers to see an organized & logical relationship between written letters and spoken sounds.

Why it Matters

Phonics is a foundational building key that enables readers to decode printed letters (graphemes) into their corresponding sounds (phonemes), as well as writers to hear sounds (phonemes) and link them to the proper letters (graphemes). This ability empowers a reader to read unfamiliar words, and the writer to write.

As emergent readers learn the relationships between sounds and letters, their literacy foundation will develop to apply this knowledge to familiar and unfamiliar words. This in turn leads to reading fluency.

A phonics lesson, for example, would focus on the letter b representing the sound /b/. To build upon this understanding, hearing the words bat, bake, and bike, the emergent reader would connect that first letter in each word begins with the letter b.

As this knowledge base develops, an emergent reader is able to sound out and read (decode) new words.

Find out more by investigating Essential Elements - Alphabet Letters (Phonics).

NOTE: The goal is to continue to talk to and with your child. The Leveled Activities offered on this website are developmentally appropriate for various ages as your child progresses and develops their foundational literacy abilities.