Essay on Using the Power of both Phonics and Whole Language

Moat argues that learning to read is in fact not a natural process and students need explicit phonics instruction. Furthermore, the English alphabetic writing system cannot be learned simply from print exposure: students need to be taught how to develop phonological awareness to sound words out to help them learn how to read and without the support of context-based word recognition. Whole language’s legacy is still embedded in educational practices despite being disproven by scholars, thus Moat advocates for updating state language-arts standards, assessments, and textbooks to reflect direct, explicit phonics-based instruction as the best approach in teaching literacy. She also notes that teacher licensing requirements and preparation programs also need to be informed of effective literacy instructions that is supported by

The Simple View of Reading (SVoR) model suggests that children must have language comprehension and word recognition skills to be proficient readers, Medwell et al (2014). Jim Rose’s report (2006, p. 40) outlined the Simple View of Reading as a useful framework, which would make explicit to teachers what they need to teach about word recognition and language comprehension (see appendix 1). Before the Rose report, reading was defined as decoding black marks, Graham and Kelly (2012). After this the searchlights model suggested that phonics, grammatical knowledge, reading comprehension and graphic knowledge are equally useful tools when learning to read, Ward (2008). The Rose report’s Independent Review of the Teaching of Early reading reconstructed this model and created the SVoR. Rose (2006, p. 38) determines word recognition as a process which allows you to use “phonics to recognise words” and language comprehension as the means by which “word information, sentences and discourse are interpreted.” The SVoR suggests that, to become a fluent reader, the skills of language comprehension and word recognition are equally important and dependent on each other. Gough and Tummer first mentioned this model, as stated that “comprehension is not sufficient, for decoding is also necessary” Wyse et al (2013, p.

Comprehension is also an important factor when speaking of literacy. Students should be taught the many strategies that will help them with comprehension and word recognition. In my experience in a first grade classroom I used many of these strategies. Within my lessons I included the activation of prior knowledge to construct meaning, the use of context clues in a sentence, pictures clues, predicting, and drawing inferences about ideas or characters in the text. I always made sure that I modeled the strategy for the student before they set of to do it.

Phonemic awareness is a vital role in literacy instruction. Many schools and districts adopt a commercially published basal reading program and it becomes the cornerstone of their instruction ( (David Chard, n.d.). We also know that through investigation and research it has shown us that word-recognition instruction and instruction in oral language skills related to word recognition were inadequately represented. (David Chard, n.d.) The same researchers have found that the reading passages that students are reading didn’t relate to the words they were learning. In order for students to read at grade level or above a supplemental program should be implemented. I have found that at my school we are lacking a phonics program that will reach different students abilities and make them successful in reading. My goal for this paper is to show my district that using a supplemental phonics program aside from our basal phonics program will prove beneficial to strategic readers who fall below grade level.

In order to narrow the achievement gap there is a big focus of phonics knowledge and learning that reading should be a pleasurable thing to do and not a punishment. Too many pupils

Phonics will start to be taught in nursery or reception and a child will not be able to learn to read without proper understanding of phonics.

“ Models of the reading process often depict the act of reading as a communication event between a sender and a receiver of information ”(Vacca et al., 2012). Models are developed to describe the reading process and how a reader interprets language and gains meaning from print. Bottom up models of reading “assume that the process of translating print to meaning begins with the print”, where as a top down model of reading, “assume that the process of translating print meanings begins with the reader’s prior knowledge” (Vacca et al., 2012). The bottom up model of reading is driven more by data where as the top down model is more conceptually driven. When using a bottom up model, letters, syllables and words are used in order to initiate reading. The use of letters, syllables and words helps the reader to form meaning. Where as the top down model is based off of a reader’s prior knowledge and experience. With many different literacy programs, a teacher’s belief system helps to determine how students can best be taught how to read. “One way to examine your beliefs about reading and learning to read is to connect them to theoretical models of the reading process” (Vacca et al., 2012). Depending on the teacher, he or she may have a bottom up approach or a top down approach. Teachers, who feel a bottom up method is best, may feel that his or her students must decode letters and words and feel

Gross (2010) state that children should systematically be taught to read through phonics and not by memorising “whole words”; by the late 1970’s teachers were no longer fond of that approach as it was not working because children were still struggling to read, it was dull and repetitive and new words were introduced at a

’51. Having considered a wide range of evidence, the review has concluded that the case for systematic phonic work is overwhelming and much strengthened by a systematic approach’ (Rose, 2006, p20). To further his proposal Rose (2006) proclaimed that the teaching of systematic phonics should be enhanced and active by the age of five; It can be evidence through practice that children as young as five can define the terminology for a phoneme and a grapheme, due to the position phonics has within the English curriculum. There is also a world-wide debate on the various ways educational practitioners can most effectively implement phonics in their practice states Dombey (2010). Due to the impact of the Rose Review, it could be suggested that the value of systematic phonics had increased, meaning that primary teachers have to be confident in their ability to teach and support pupils in their reading and spelling through the use of phonological

As the standards of education change a consistent factor remains the focus on reading. Early childhood educators must provide an atmosphere that is both developmentally stimulating to the student while also meeting the standards of education. The methods used to help recognize phonics and begin the transition into emergent readers vary from student to student. Without the foundation of phonics research shows that a child will not learn to read. All children must know the alphabet in order to communicate effectively. Phonics cannot be drilled into the child. This will only produce memorization. Instead, educators must understand a child’s individual needs as well as balance. There is no true need to teach phonics as a separate subject. Most children will develop a sense of curiosity from their own knowledge, ideas, and interest. There will of course be a select few that may benefit from a more formal instruction. When children

For this assignment, I will first briefly discuss the value of early reading pre-school and the stages of reading. After that I will critically evaluate the history of introducing synthetic phonics reading in primary schools in England. Furthermore, I will investigate the developments and issues which have been brought about the different teaching strategies used in schools and using teaching synthetic phonics in early years to teach first reading.

There are different aspects to phonics that should be taken into account by teachers. The first is how important phonics is to children. It is said that “both phonics and fluency need to be taught, practiced, and nurtured in the earliest stages of reading instruction and provided to students at

There have been many debates over which literacy instruction produces the most favorable outcomes in terms of test scores. During the 1960’s, teachers favored the phonics approach in helping students become literate because they believed that it made the most

How did you learn to read? Most of us do not put much thought into this question, but learning to read is a difficult task. According to Cervetti and Hiebert, the National Reading Panel identified five essential components that a teacher should use during reading instruction, which gives the student the highest chance of being an effective reader (2015, p. 548). These five essential components are also called five pillars of reading instruction. They are Phonics, phonemic awareness, vocabulary, fluency and comprehension. This paper will describe each of the five pillars, how they are related, the benefits, as well as give some effective methods of teaching phonics and phonemic awareness. It will continue by addressing the relationship between reading assessment and instruction and end by identifying ways to address the needs and different learning styles of a student. This paper will start by looking at a definition of phonics and phonemic awareness, then move onto the role that each play in learning to read, how they are related, the benefits and effective methods of teaching both.

There is a battle going on elementary schools across the Globe. This battle is not a malicious battle fought with armies and weapons of mass destruction, but rather a tactical battle where the two opponents are known to us by the simple phrases, phonics and whole language. These two opponents use very different styles, but those who use a certain style swear by it almost religiously. Seriously, though, one might be asking the question which is the best method for teachings young students how to read? Honestly, there is not a simple answer; education specialists have been arguing over the issue of phonics vs whole language for years and a definite answer still has yet to be