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Phonics?

Phonics

Phonics is a method through which pupils are taught how to read and write. Through phonics reading, they will learn how to make connections between sounds and the symbols that we use to represent them. There are different types of phonics and different methods for teaching it.

Definition: What is phonics?

For starters, what is phonics?

Phonics is a method for teaching children how to read and write in an alphabetic language, such as English. It helps children to hear, identify and use different sounds that distinguish one word from another in the English language. The Department for Education establishes the core criteria for effective systematic synthetic phonics teaching programmes.

Children studying phonics learn to read and write using phonics, which is by directly linking phonemes (sounds in words) and graphemes (the symbols used to represent them). Through reading in phonics, children will begin to understand which sounds correspond to which symbols. Once they’ve mastered this skill, they will be able to decode books and other texts.

In the UK, phonics for children is an important feature of the curriculum. Children learn phonics through a curriculum scheme called Letters and Sounds. Phonics is considered the best way to teach children to read, but there are a few different types of phonics teaching out there. Let’s break them down…

What are the 4 types of phonics teaching for children?

There are four major types of phonics teaching methods which children who are studying phonics to learn to read might be taught. These include synthetic phonics, analogy phonics, analytic phonics and embedded phonics. Read on to learn more about each of these different teaching structures.

• Synthetic phonics: Synthetic phonics is a method of teaching where words are broken up into the smallest phonemes. This synthetic phonics is a method of teaching where words are broken up into phonemes - the smallest units of sound. We use this method of teaching as a way of showing children how to identify all the phonemes in a word, match them to a letter and successfully spell the word correctly.
• Analytical phonics: Here, teachers focus on teaching pupils to analyse letter-sound relations in words that they have previously learnt to avoid pronouncing sounds in isolation.
• Analogy phonics: In this approach, learners are taught to use parts of words they have already learned to read and decode words they don't know. This method of phonics helps children build upon their existing skills by creating connections to new information.
• Embedded phonics: Teaching pupils phonics skills by using embedding phonics instruction techniques relies upon a much more hands-on approach to reading. There is a more implicit approach that relies on incidental learning.

As you can see the different types of phonics teaching can be useful in helping children gain different literacy skills. In the UK, the most common method of teaching phonics to learn to read is the synthetic phonics method. To understand more about synthetic phonics, in the video below Twinkl Teacher Milly discusses the basics for primary school teachers. She describes the benefit of phonics in teaching and how they help students to read.

YouTube video Synthetic phonics

Phonics for children: Twinkl terminology glossary

One of the most common stumbling blocks for anyone looking to begin teaching phonics is how many bits of phonics terminology there are to learn. Check out this simple glossary to learn what these terms mean.

• Phonics: Using the sounds made by individual letters and groups of letters to read words.
• Decoding: Using your phonic knowledge to sound out and read words.
• Grapheme: A written letter or group of letters, like ‘s’, ‘a’, ‘she’ or ‘air’. Some graphemes are single letters like ‘a’; others are digraphs like ‘ai’.
• Digraph: Two letters that make one sound together, like ‘sh’, ‘ai’, ‘oo’.
• Phoneme: The sound a letter or group of letters make – e.g. the word ‘mat’ has three phonemes, ‘m’, ‘a’ and ‘t’. The word ‘through’ is longer, but it also has three phonemes, ‘th’, ‘r’ and the ‘oo’ sound in ‘ough’.
• Sounding out: Using your phonic knowledge to help you say each sound within a word, e.g. ‘r-e-d’ or ‘s-au-ce-p-a-n’.
• Blending: Running the sounds in the word together to read the whole word, e.g. ‘r-e-d, red’, ‘s-au-ce-p-a-n, saucepan’.
• High-frequency words (also known as ‘common exception words’): The very important, very common words that we use a lot, but which aren’t always decodable using phonics. This includes crucial words like ‘the’, ‘one’, ‘where’, etc. Children are taught to recognise these words on sight – a few of these words are introduced and learnt at a time.

Hopefully, these definitions will help you to 'decode' what phonics is about!

Reading and phonics: How does phonics teach children to read?

When it comes to helping children with reading, phonics is one of the most effective methods out there. As we know, children studying phonics learn to read by matching written and spoken sounds, which gives them a huge boost towards making sense of written texts.

The way in which children will learn to read in phonics will depend somewhat on what type of phonics teaching you decide to use. However, the basic principles of phonics will still be the same. So, let’s take a look at how children studying phonics learn to read!

As we’ve found out, phonics is all about the process of linking sounds (phonemes) to the symbols that represent them (graphemes). For example, when children encounter the word ‘dog’, they might be taught that the letter ‘d’ represents a short ‘d’ sound. They might then be able to recognise this same sound in other words, such as ‘dig’ and ‘den’. Phonics gradually introduces children to different grapheme-phoneme correspondences (GPCs), and eventually some alternative graphemes and spellings that represent sounds.

As pupils learn new sounds and parts of words through phonics reading, they’ll become able to decode words that they might not have encountered before. Being able to decode words by reading phonics graphemes and identifying their sounds is an important skill that will help children to gain reading fluency. By the time they’ve become fluent readers, this process will be almost automatic!

Through the synthetic phonics method, children who are learning phonics learn to read with the help of processes called segmenting and blending. Segmenting is the process of breaking a word apart into its phonemes, while blending means the restructuring of that word. By doing these things, through phonics reading children learn by seeing all of the sounds one at a time, before putting them back together and seeing how they work together to form a word.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of teaching phonics?

Like any other teaching strategy, there are many benefits to teaching phonics, as well as some disadvantages. It’s natural to feel slightly unsure or sceptical when you’re considering a whole new method of teaching for your learners, so we’ve broken down some of the pros and cons of teaching reading in phonics below:

• Letter and sound recognition: Research into the benefits of teaching phonics shows that a child who practises phonics reading will have excellent phonemic awareness. This means that children will be able to connect letter symbols with their appropriate sound, even when letters can make more than one sound!
• Supports children's independence when sounding out unfamiliar words: Phonics helps support children to develop important reading skills that encourage children to tackle new and unfamiliar words. For example, if a child knows, through learning phonics, that "'ch can say 'chuh', or 'shhh',. Depending on the word, they will know to try out both when sounding out an unfamiliar word.
• Supports teaching an understanding of syllable structure: Another benefit of teaching phonics is teaching the understanding of syllable and word structure. A pupil who learns phonics will become familiar with syllable structure. With the help of a phonics programme, will know that a closed syllable will end in a consonant and have a short vowel, while an open syllable will end in a vowel that makes a long sound.
• It's fun: All primary education teaching strategies need to be as engaging and interactive as possible to help pupils remain motivated in the classroom. The teaching of phonics is often designed to be fun and engaging for children. For example, games are often tied to lessons, and the visuals which accompany the lessons are usually very vibrant.

The disadvantages of teaching phonics

1. Can overlook the meaning of words: The overemphasis of syllables in phonics programmes can overlook teaching pupils the meaning of new words. This means that learners can have a good understanding of how to spell and say words without understanding what they mean.
2. There can be some gaps in teaching: Unfortunately, not all words are spelt phonetically. Many English words are not spelt the way they sound, which can be frustrating for new readers who depend on the phonetic approach while reading. Children who depend solely on the phonics reading approach would fail to read such words correctly.

How are phonics lessons for children built into the curriculum?

Now that we know all about phonics, the difference between different phonics methods and how children in phonics learn to read, you may be wondering how it fits into the school curriculum.

In pre-school or nursery, before they even start learning letter names and sounds, children begin developing their listening skills so that they are tuned into the different sounds in words. Being able to listen to and identify sounds is crucial in speech awareness and will really help children advance their oral comprehension.

In reception or year 1, the letters of the alphabet are introduced and children learn one sound for each letter. At that point, they can sound out and read simple, short words like ‘c-a-t, cat’ and ‘s-u-n, sun.’ Next, children learn that some letters make different sounds when you put them together, like ‘sh,’ ‘ee’ and ‘ai.’ At this stage children may still be using simplified names for letters, however, this is something they will advance beyond as their understanding of sounds progresses.

Once they’ve learned to read words with the most common letter-sound combinations, children move on to learn lots of alternative combinations. They will start to practise reading increasingly complex words. By the time they finish their first year, the majority of children will be able to read pretty much all familiar English words. In their second year, children go on to develop their skills further, practising using phonics to read and spell words that are less familiar and more challenging.

How are phonics stages taught?

There are six different stages to teaching phonics. These are sometimes referred to as phases or levels. The first stage, Level 1, starts before school at nursery. This stage focuses on developing a child’s phonological awareness, helping them distinguish between different sounds. These listening skills are important for moving forwards to the next stages of learning, where children need to identify the sounds within words.

The levels after this stage focus on teaching the individual phonemes and letters. Over the course of reception and year 1, children learn 44 different phonics, with different word groups these sounds are a part of. As children are taught the different phonics levels, these are integrated into their English lessons, learning to read and spell new words, so they are also expanding their vocabulary. Levels 2 to 6 develop in difficulty, as children learn more and more new sounds they also learn more complex words. From words like ‘no’, ‘she’ and ‘was’ to ‘emotion’, ‘treasure’ and ‘disappoint’.

At the end of year 1, after completing Level 6, children are assessed on their ability to read using the phonics method. They are required to take the Phonics Screening Check, this is a test that tasks students to decode 40 words from a selection of real and pseudo words. This is an important test to ensure that pupils are up to standard in their reading. Students that fail the test can resit in year 2 and are provided with more support during the next year so that they have all the help they need. It's important to remember, that while mandatory, these tests are designed as an informal measure of learning and to help identify students that need a little extra help. Pass or fail all students proceed onto the next school year and continue their learning

Teaching phonics for children: Introducing the Twinkl Phonics programme

Now that we’ve learned all about phonics, the different phonics systems, and how children in phonics learn to read, you might be left wondering where to start. There’s a lot of ground to cover when teaching phonics, and having a well-structured programme can make teaching children reading in phonics much more straightforward. That’s where our Twinkl Phonics programme comes in!

Twinkl’s tried-and-tested, DfE validated synthetic phonics programme empowers your teaching and includes everything you need to support your little learners. With clear and rigorous coverage of phonic sounds, tricky words and essential skills, you can guide your children quickly and confidently towards reading and writing fluency.

If you're supporting your child during home learning, you can find some helpful phonics resource packs and activity booklets. You could also try some interactive games to help make phonics fun. We've got a range of activity packs, lesson plans and overviews to support your phonics teaching. Here's some you might like:

• Twinkl Phonics Training Guide - check out all the different training options that we have with this handy guide. It details all four of the choices, so just take a look and decide which approach works best for you!
• Twinkl Phonics SSP Programme Handbook - our wonderful phonics handbook contains all the information you’ll need to start your Twinkl Phonics journey, providing you with a detailed overview that you can always refer to! It’ll guide you from the very basics of phonics, to confidently setting up our programme across your school or delivering it to your class.
• Twinkl Phonics Whole Scheme Overview Plan - starting with Level 2 and progressing through to Level 6, this plan maps out every sound, blend and alternative spelling taught within the Twinkl Phonics scheme.