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english raven's phonics!
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Methodology, Approach and Tips for Phonics Teaching
Provide Consistency - Develop and recycle activities that the students can understand and enjoy;
Create Flexibility - Employ activities that can be easily adapted and "molded" according to the skill level of the students;
Variety is the Spice of Life - Don't over-use or rely too heavily on one approach - constantly try to find new ways to practice and build Phonics skills in the children;
Combine Key Language - Whenever possible, try to incorporate Key Language elements into your Phonics teaching;
Be Patient - Don't rush yourself or your students, be prepared for the fact that they may take some time to grasp things that we as Native Speakers take for granted;
Have Fun - Phonics teaching works very well in conjunction with games;
Create Pride - Try to instill in the students a sense of pride in their work and progress;
Discovery Learning - Make the sounds and letters of English like jigsaw pieces to be used to figure out the"puzzle" of making words;
Peripheral Learning - Try to target elements to be studied within broader contexts and show them things "around the edge" that they have already studied or can help them with elements they will study in the future;
Consider Colors and Charts - Things like sound/color charts and fidel charts can be great tools for helping students to learn pronunciation and spelling.
Consistency
Younger students generally respond well to routine, but there can be a perilous line between consistent activities and boredom. A good consistent approach to Phonics instruction involves building up a "bag of tricks" that the students enjoy and find challenging. At very young levels it can be as simple as singing the alphabet aloud before commencing each lesson. At slightly older levels, it could involve a quick round of alphabet-vocabulary matching. Finding effective activities and constantly recycling them is very healthy for a class, as long as they are not too time consuming, are immediately and easily understood, and have the flexibility required to incorporate new sounds/study areas.
Flexibility
When designing or using Phonics activities, try to make them as flexible as possible. A good example of this is something like Alphabet Bingo - with a simple grid the students can practice letters within a set study range, differentiate big and small letters or match letters with vocabulary (or vice-versa). When planning an activity for a set study area, try to think of ways the activity could be adapted to higher or lower levels, or how the activity could be developed in the future to make it more challenging for any particular class of students. Don't necessarily discard an activity just because it didn't work straight off the bat. Think of ways it could be fine-tuned or adapted, and ask other teachers for their opinions.
Variety
This is a key factor when it comes to maintaining motivation and interest on the part of both the students and the teacher. Besides creating a range of diverse activities and games, think carefully about the way you approach the Phonics textbooks. Have the students ask each other what the sounds and pictures are, occasionally instruct them to note the first letter sounds for all the pictures on the page rather then just the "theme" letter, or perhaps the first and last letters. After completing the pages for a particular letter, follow up with a game of vocabulary bingo or perhaps a simple word find that they illustrate for themselves. Consider timing or even tape recording them when they attempt to name all the vocabulary on the pages, so that they can "see" their progress for themselves. The more variety, the better.
Combination
There are numerous opportunities for Key Language from the regular textbooks to be used in combination with Phonics material. When using the Phonics textbooks, try to regularly deviate away from the standard "What is it?/What is the first letter?" approach. Mix in all the question/answer forms for common language items that are relevant/accessible to their level and ability. For example: "What is this/that? Oh really? What is the first letter then?" or "What do you see/have/like/ want?" etc. This can be used to make Phonics part of chain and open/closed pair work, as well as inviting opinions from the students about the vocabulary they see illustrated before them. Mixing common question/answer forms with Phonics material can often help bring the vocabulary to life.
Patience
Phonics instruction can be trying at times, especially at the younger levels when students are really struggling to come to terms with English being the language of instruction. Teachers sometimes are frustrated when they put a lot of planning into what they consider to be an excellent game/activity, which promptly flops in the classroom. Bear the your teaching objectives in mind at all times, establish realistic expectations of the students, and don't expect the children to grasp everything that is put before their eyes. Note the easier areas and use them as classroom "reward" activities. Note the areas that represented difficulties, and focus on them by using as much variety as possible, so that the same area seems somewhat "refreshed" rather then "beaten". Be prepared to provide remedial measures as early as possible.
Fun
A great way to make Phonics instruction really effective is to try and treat it as "fun time" whenever and however possible. In general, the material lends itself well to games, quizzes, coloring, drawing and competitions. The students tend to remember and retain the material much better when they learn it through or in combination with these kinds of activities. Try to find the kinds of games and activities that they (as a class) really like, and then incorporate your Phonics material into them. Bingo, crosswords, guessing games, card games, hangman, charades - these are all games that students tend to enjoy. As long as you the teacher can focus the targeted Phonics material and apply them through this medium, the children are likely to learn and enjoy learning.
Pride
Students' own self-esteem usually has a major impact on their level of learning, and the area of Phonics is no exception to this. The teacher should be very vocal when it comes to confirming both good work and good progress. Often the best reward you can give them is the actual awareness that they are improving and doing well. Placing stickers or a congratulatory comment onto the pages of their Phonics book tends to really motivate them, as they then have something to show classmates and family. Placing particularly good work on the classroom walls has a similar effect. If you make and distribute many supplements, try to arrange a file for each student - this will keep their work tidy/presentable.
Discovery Learning
Students in general learn things more effectively and develop better long-term retention when they "figure things out for themselves" (see the Silent Way teaching method). An example of this is demonstrated in the Phonics Builder kits, which often contain a wordfind where the vocabulary is illustrated in boxes around the wordfind but no spelling is provided - students need to figure out the spelling for themelves. Guesswork and errors are an important part of learning, and while the spelling system of English seems notoriously inconsistent, there are various patterns that can be learned and applied. This does not necesarily need to become a rote-learning exercise, so don't underestimate your students' potential to discover and apply rules on their own.
Peripheral Learning
There are ways you can make "new" Phonics material feel more familiar to the students than alien, and a sense of familiarity helps to build confidence and encourage re-application of learning strategies. Embed your new study elements in material that also incorporates areas already studied and things they will need to learn later. It is much easier to learn the short "e" sound when it is directly contrasted to the short "a" sound that the students have already mastered, and throwing in some vocabulary that contains short "o" and "u" will provide some reference for later when the students go on to study those vowel sounds.
Peripheral learning can also be attained through the use of physical objects, the most obvious of which would be the students' own work. Display Phonics material on your classroom walls along with illustrations of basic vocabulary that can be used to demonstrate sounds and spellings.
Colors and Charts
Linking sounds to specific colors and/or shapes can be a very effective tool for both memory triggering and sources of analysis and application. The pronunciation sound/color chart and fidel charts used in the Silent Way method are useful supplementary learning aids for Phonics instruction.
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