EDUC 554 Page 1 of 6 PHONICS STUDY GUIDE Reading can be defined as “getting meaning from print.” Early reading experiences generally deal with material that is familiar to the reader in oral form. The task is to learn the written form of the words. Therefore, word identification is the foundation of the reading program. There are basically four strategies to be used: Strategy Task Sight Words Learn the word. Contextual Analysis Check the sense in the sentence. Structural Analysis Look for word parts. Phonic Analysis Sound it out. Sight Words Every reading program should include sight word mastery. The student should first ask himself, “Do I know this word?” No other strategies are necessary if the word is already known. If the reader tries to analyze every word, comprehension is lost. A fluent reader must have automatic sight recognition of almost all of the words in the passage. Two categories of words should be emphasized: 1. Irregular Words: Some words violate phonic principles and cannot be sounded out. These words must be learned as sight words. A chart can be kept visible in the classroom for these “outlaws” (they broke the rules!) The chart can be drawn to look like a jail, and “outlaw families” (chart 8) can be listed in the same color (e.g. could, should, would). 2. High Frequency Words: Some words occur so often that reading fluency is severely affected unless they are recognized at sight. Some words that should be included very early are the pronouns, common verbs (am, is, are, was, were, be, being, been, have, has, had), and common prepositions. The Dolch list of 220 words provides a helpful beginning. Some of these high frequency words are also irregular and should receive special emphasis. Contextual Analysis From the very beginning, reading instruction should stress the meaning of the passage. The reader should always ask himself, “Does this word make sense in the sentence?” Too much emphasis on graphic cues (written form) results in nonsense. Contextual analysis relies on syntactic cues (word order) and semantic cues (word meaning). Structural Analysis If the reader does not know the word, he should ask himself “Do I know part of the word?” To facilitate structural analysis, the reader should learn concepts related to syllabication, root words, and affixes—prefixes (beginning) and suffixes (ending). Instruction should emphasize the effects on the meaning of the word (e.g. pack, unpack, repack). In the upper grades, students should be introduced to the Greek and Latin stems (e.g. hydro = water; bio = life). EDUC 554 Page 2 of 6 Phonic Analysis If the reader does not recognize the word or its parts immediately and cannot guess the word by its context, he may ask himself, “Can I sound it out?” Phonics instruction is an important part of a beginning reading program because its generalizations permit early independence in reading before an ...

1. EDUC 554
Page 1 of 6
PHONICS STUDY GUIDE
Reading can be defined as “getting meaning from print.” Early
reading experiences
generally deal with material that is familiar to the reader in oral
form. The task is to learn
the written form of the words. Therefore, word identification is
the foundation of the
reading program. There are basically four strategies to be used:
Strategy Task
Sight Words Learn the word.
Contextual Analysis Check the sense in the sentence.
Structural Analysis Look for word parts.
Phonic Analysis Sound it out.
Sight Words
Every reading program should include sight word mastery. The
student should first ask
himself, “Do I know this word?” No other strategies are
necessary if the word is already
known. If the reader tries to analyze every word, comprehension
is lost. A fluent reader
must have automatic sight recognition of almost all of the words
in the passage. Two

2. categories of words should be emphasized:
1. Irregular Words: Some words violate phonic principles and
cannot be sounded out.
These words must be learned as sight words. A chart can be
kept visible in the
classroom for these “outlaws” (they broke the rules!) The chart
can be drawn to
look like a jail, and “outlaw families” (chart 8) can be listed in
the same color (e.g.
could, should, would).
2. High Frequency Words: Some words occur so often that
reading fluency is severely
affected unless they are recognized at sight. Some words that
should be included
very early are the pronouns, common verbs (am, is, are, was,
were, be, being, been,
have, has, had), and common prepositions. The Dolch list of 220
words provides a
helpful beginning. Some of these high frequency words are also
irregular and
should receive special emphasis.
Contextual Analysis
From the very beginning, reading instruction should stress the
meaning of the passage. The
reader should always ask himself, “Does this word make sense
in the sentence?” Too much
emphasis on graphic cues (written form) results in nonsense.
Contextual analysis relies on
syntactic cues (word order) and semantic cues (word meaning).

3. Structural Analysis
If the reader does not know the word, he should ask himself “Do
I know part of the word?”
To facilitate structural analysis, the reader should learn
concepts related to syllabication,
root words, and affixes—prefixes (beginning) and suffixes
(ending). Instruction should
emphasize the effects on the meaning of the word (e.g. pack,
unpack, repack). In the upper
grades, students should be introduced to the Greek and Latin
stems (e.g. hydro = water; bio
= life).
EDUC 554
Page 2 of 6
Phonic Analysis
If the reader does not recognize the word or its parts
immediately and cannot guess the
word by its context, he may ask himself, “Can I sound it out?”
Phonics instruction is an
important part of a beginning reading program because its
generalizations permit early
independence in reading before an extensive sight word
vocabulary has been established.
Caution: Phonics Instruction is a means to an end, not an end in
itself! The purpose of
phonics instruction is to develop a tool that can be used to
identify words in order to

4. understand the meaning of a passage. The goal is “getting
meaning from print,” not reciting
rules.
Three important principles apply:
1. Phonics instruction should be kept simple.
2. Most phonics instruction should be completed by the end of
second grade.
3. Phonics is not the best method for every reader. (If a student
is not doing well with
phonics, the answer is not more phonics drills!)
Phonics instruction should include three components:
1. Letter Sounds (phoneme-grapheme correspondence)
2. Basic Phonics Patterns
3. Word Blending
Letter Sounds
Letter Sounds include consonants and vowels. Response cards
are an effective practice
technique. (These may be teacher-made, student-made, or
ordered from Open Court.)
Computer programs also make practice fun (could order from
Silicon Express). The
difficulty in English is the lack of one-to-one phoneme-
grapheme correspondence. In other
words, there are more phonemes (about 45 sounds) than
graphemes (26 letters), and the
same sound may be represented by more than one letter
combination (and vice versa!)
Consonants: Avoid the heavy “uh” at the end of consonant

5. sounds to facilitate blending.
Do not say “buh,” “tuh,” and “muh.” (Use the Open Court
phonics tape for teachers if you
need help.) Begin with the Single Consonants (chart 1). Note
that w and y are sometimes
vowels, but this can be taught later. (Y is only a vowel when not
at the beginning of a word.
W is only a vowel in combinations: aw, ew, ow.) Special
Consonants (chart 2—variant
consonants) can be introduced next. (Q is special because it
never stands alone: QU.
C, G, S, and X are special because they each have a hard sound
and a soft sound.)
Consonant Digraphs (chart 3) must be taught because they do
not sound like either
component letter, as opposed to Consonant Blends (chart 4) in
which each letter can be
heard. It confuses readers to include gn, kn, and wr with the
digraphs - it is easier to learn
that the first letter is silent. Beginning readers may find it
helpful to practice the consonant
blend chart, but it requires a minimum of attention, and it
certainly is not necessary to
memorize any of the lists. Most beginners experience little
trouble with consonant blends if
they have learned the consonants without the “uh.”
EDUC 554
Page 3 of 6
Vowels: Beginning readers should learn the long and short

6. sounds of each vowel (chart 5).
The long vowel sounds are easy because they “say their names.”
A helpful sentence for
learning the short vowel sounds is, “Fat Ed is not up.” (chart 7).
The schwa (represented by
an upside-down e) is the indefinite sound (similar to short u)
found in unaccented syllables
(elephant). Other vowel sounds include the “a” in father and
two sounds of “o” (long =
moon, short = book), which may also be spelled with “u” (long
= moon/rule - not the same
as long u in mule, short = book/put). Diphthongs (chart 6) are
gliding sounds from one
vowel to another.
Basic Phonics Patterns
In order to simplify phonics instruction, avoid memorizing lists
and minimize the number
of rules introduced. Because there are many exceptions to the
rules, insert the word
“usually.” If a rule applies to only a small number of words,
teach the words as an “outlaw
family” (chart 8) rather than teaching the rule. Also remember
in planning instruction that
applying the rules is more useful than reciting them! As you
teach each rule, be sure to
introduce many regular words (those that follow the rule).
Phonics handbooks provide many rules that every reading
teacher should know, but the
instruction must be simplified for students. The following
patterns (chart 7) are practical:
• Short Vowel Pattern: A single vowel followed by a consonant
is usually short (cvc
= consonant/vowel/ consonant). Examples: mad, big

7. • Long Vowel Patterns: When a word ends in final e, the vowel
is usually long and
the e is silent (vce = vowel/ consonant/final e). Examples: cape,
like, rode
• When two vowels occur together the first one is usually long
and the
second one is silent – “When two vowels go walking, the first
one
usually does the talking” (cvvc =
consonant/vowel/vowel/consonant).
Examples: meat, loaf, paid
• Optional (less often used): When a word ends with a vowel it
is usually
long (cv = consonant/vowel). Examples: go, by, me
• R-Controlled Vowels: The “Bossy R” rule states that a vowel
followed by r has a
special sound—neither long nor short (v+r = vowel plus r).
Examples: car, term,
skirt, fur
• Signal Letters: When the letters c or g are followed by the
signal letters (e, i, y) they
usually have their soft sounds. Examples: cent, city, cycle,
gentle, giant, gym.
(Also, signal letters often follow vowels to make them long:
meet, laid, play.) To

8. help children remember the signal letters, they can be written
inside a flag shaped
like those used to signal ships (chart 7).
EDUC 554
Page 4 of 6
Word Blending
Students who know their letter sounds may still encounter
difficulty blending them into
words. Here are two suggestions that will make the blending
process easier:
1. Avoid the heavy “uh” at the end of consonant sounds.
2. Blend only two sounds to begin a word, then add one sound
at a time.
Word blending instruction should begin as soon as the student
knows at least one vowel
sound and one consonant sound. It is easier to start with cvc
patterns because they are more
regular (follow the rules). The Primary Phonics readers
available from Educators
Publishing Service are an excellent source of supplementary
practice material (40
paperbacks with short, 40 more with long vowel patterns).
Once the student has learned to pronounce the consonant sounds
correctly (without the

9. “uh”), the next step is to blend them to form a word. It will not
help to tell the student to
“say the sounds faster.” It will help to blend only two sounds to
begin a word, then add one
sound at a time. For example, to blend the word “bat”:
• Pronounce the first two sounds separately. b - a
• Blend the first two sounds. ba
• Pronounce the third sound separately. - t
• Blend the third sound with the first two. bat (already
blended)
Use your finger or a pointer for each step. Point to each letter as
it is pronounced
separately, then slide it across beneath the letters when you
blend. Teach the students to use
the same motions.
Syllable Rules
1. The number of syllables equals the number of vowels heard
(write, re-lease)
2. Divide before a single consonant (fa-mous, fi-nal)
3. Divide between two consonants, whether like or unlike (hap-
pen, pic-nic)
4. Do not divide digraphs or blends (a-chieve, an-gry)
5. Divide before consonant preceding -le endings (un-cle, ta-
ble)
6. Divide after prefix or before suffix if a separate syllable (pre -
heat-ed, played)
7. Divide between words in a compound word (note-book, sun-
shine)
Resource List

10. 1. Beacon Press, CA 1-800-962-1776
• Self-Pronouncing Alphabet
• Animal puppets, jingles, activities for each sound
2. Educators Publishing Service 1-800-225-5750
• Primary Phonics - supplementary readers for beginners
• Solving Language Difficulties - phonics rules and practice
3. Jolly Learning Phonics 1-800-488-2665
EDUC 554
Page 5 of 6
• Finger Phonics
• Action for each sound, puzzles, stencils
4. Open Court Publishing Company 1-800-435-6850
• Response cards
• Phonics cassette, many other useful materials
5. Sing, Spell, Read & Write 1-800-321-8322
• Videos and other instructional materials
6. Wikki Stix 1-800-869-4554
• Manipulatives made of wax-colored yarn
7. Zoo-Phonics 1-800-622-8104
• Phono-visual, tactile, kinesthetic approach to reading and

11. spelling
Phonics Charts
Chart 1: Single Consonants
b k t
d l v
f m x
h n y
j p z
r
Chart 2: Variant Consonants
qu /kw/
c /k/ /s/
g /g/ /j/
s /s/ /z/
x /ks/ /gz/
Chart 3: Consonant Digraphs
ch
ph /f/
sh
th
(wh) (gh) /f/

12. EDUC 554
Page 6 of 6
Chart 4: Consonant Blends
bl br sc scr
cl cr sk spl
fl dr sm spr
gl fr sn squ
pl gr sp str
sl pr st tw
tr sw
Chart 5: Vowels
Long Short Special
a a a (two-dot)
e e (schwa)
i i
o o oo (long)
u u oo (short)
Chart 6: Diphthongs
oi oy
ou ow
Chart 7: Vowel Patterns
Short vowels one-vowel pattern

13. Long vowels two-vowel pattern
final e pattern
Special vowels a, oo, oo, oi, oy, ou, ow
[2-dot, straight line, smile]
Bossy r ar, er, ir, or, ur
Signal letters e, i, y
Chart 8: Outlaw Families
could dove
should love
would shove
Phonics Study GuideBasic Phonics PatternsResource
ListPhonics Charts
Discussion Question - From Grassroots (local level) to Policy
Discussion Topic
Discussion Prompt
Select and describe the key characteristics of one vulnerable
population from your practice or locale and discuss why this
population is considered vulnerable. Include one or two health
practices and beliefs of the chosen population that increases the
vulnerability of the population. Describe how you, in an
advanced nursing role, could be an advocate for this vulnerable
population at the local, state (New Jersey) or national level.
NOTE: You can be Creative. Thanks in advance!
Expectations

14. APA format with intext citations
Word count minimum of 250
References: 2 high-level scholarly references within the last 5
years in APA format.
Plagiarism free.
Turnitin receipt.