It is widely accepted in the research literature that explicit and systematic teaching of phonics is an integral part of any reading program (Castles et al., 2018; Duke & Cartwright, 2021). As with all teaching of reading, the teaching of phonics takes place within a contextualised program that is underpinned by oral language, is carefully connected to whole texts and draws on differentiation of practices and content to support the learning needs of individual students (for example, EAL/D students, Koorie students, students with learning difficulties and dyslexia) (Wyse & Bradbury, 2022). Teachers play a critical role in the teaching of phonics, as they draw on their knowledge of content and pedagogy to design effective instruction that is focused and responsive for all learners in their school communities.
Effective phonics teaching includes:
- systematic and explicit teaching of phoneme-grapheme correspondences
- time to practise segmenting and blending phonemes and graphemes through using whole texts such as:
- texts not found in decodable texts or commercial reading schemeauthentic texts designed to provide readers with examples of phonic combinations, language, grammar, vocabulary and understandings and views about
- decodable texts designed to assist students to practise phoneme/grapheme correspondences and consolidate students’ knowledge of phonics. Use of decodable texts support early success and independence with decoding
- levelled texts designed for the reader to use contextual cues to make meaning, including phonics, background knowledge, syntax, knowledge of high frequency words, text structure and visuals. Levelled texts are useful for teaching comprehension, grammar and vocabulary
- a routine for decoding words to enable students to read unfamiliar words and store spellings of these words in memory. Spelling instruction helps students remember complete spellings of words
- reading words in meaningful contexts ensures that syntactic and semantic identities of words become bonded to spellings and pronunciations to form amalgamated units in memory
- building a store of sight words that can be read as single units from memory. Automaticity of sight words is essential for students to read and comprehend text.
Phonics and the Literacy Teaching Toolkit
This section includes links to phonics information throughout the Literacy Teaching Toolkit
Students with learning difficulties and dyslexia
The Literacy Teaching Toolkit materials (including the phonics resources on this page) are targetted at students within the expected range of abilities.
For advice, guidelines and tools to assist students with learning difficulties and dyslexia see:
Supporting students’ phonological awareness and phonics using the Response to Intervention (RTI) model
Learning Difficulties and Dyslexia
Focused teaching strategies
Resources for learning difficulties
References
Castles, A., Rastle, K., & Nation, K. (2018). Ending the reading wars: Reading acquisition from novice to expert. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 19(1), 5-51.
Duke, N. & Cartwright, K.B. (2021). The Science of Reading Progresses: Communicating Advances Beyond the Simple View of Reading. Reading Research Quarterly, 56(S1)
Hill, S. (2015). Developing early literacy: Assessment and teaching (2nd ed.) South Yarra, Australia: Eleanor Curtain Publishing.