Module 2 Reading Reflection

Phonics and Phonemic Awareness (Chapters 5 & 6)


Concept 1: The first important concept from the reading for me was what Cunningham & Cunningham had to say about four block classrooms. They stated that children learning to read should spend 3/4 of their day doing real reading and writing activities, and the other 1/4 receiving phonics instruction. Guided reading, self-selected reading, and writing blocks should all be incorporated within the 3/4 block. They say that these three instructional methods are critical to learning to read.


Concept 2: The second important concept I gleaned from the reading was that phonics instruction should not be isolated or synthetic, and phonemic awareness should not be taught in isolation either. I liked the examples of phonics activities presented in chapter 5. Making Words, Using Words You Know, and Reading/Writing Rhymes. These would be very helpful in the 1/4 time slot for teaching phonics. These phonics activities are not just isolated, they can be intertwined within reading instruction; they are multifaceted intentionally so that all children can grasp the concept - as they all come with different experiences and learning styles.


Concept 3: The third concept I got out of the reading is the difference between phonics and phonemic awareness (PA). I liked the way the authors distinguished them apart. They reinforced the fact that PA is a specific skill involving the manipulation of sounds in speech, whereas phonics is a method of teaching reading, and it is a way to teach students how to use grapheme-phoneme correspondences to spell or decode unfamiliar words. It is interesting to note that in their study, typical findings showed that students who have high PA tend to be better readers than those with low PA. Pretesting is advised when beginning to implement PA instruction, since different children need varied instruction. PA is not a whole reading program, but a very important fundamental piece. PA is a means to enhance children's learning of the alphabetic system to use in reading and writing.


Implementation

If I were a lower grade teacher or a reading specialist, I would begin the year by assessing their phonemic awareness. I would determine where each of them need to start and plan phonemic awareness activities and lessons from the assessments. I would incorporate phonics lessons such as the ones discussed in chapter 5. I think for a phonemic awareness lesson, I would like to read Dr. Seuss to the students, since his books emphasize lots of  rhyme and play on words.   I would give them ample time to read: shared reading, guided reading, self-selected reading, making sentences using sentence strips, and many opportunities for writing as well.


Before/During/After Strategies: 

Before: The Quick-Write strategy is helpful for before, during and after because it gives a quick reference or assessment as to what the student knows at different parts of the reading.  I spent about 2 minutes jotting down what I thought about phonics and phonemic awareness before reading chapters 5 and 6. In my classroom, I had the students write quickly what they knew about writing an essay. "What are the fundamentals of a great essay?" was my question.
During:
Venn Diagrams: I use these frequently to compare and contrast different types of writing modes. For example, in my 8th grade English class, I may have them use a Venn diagram for "Expository Essay" and "Descriptive Essay". The students have a clear visual of how they are alike and how they are different.  This helps them understand and distinguish different essays for the writing test.

During and After:
CUBING:

Describe it: Phonemic awareness is the ability to understand the nature of and work with individual sounds in spoken words. Phonics is the relationship between phonemes & graphemes. Decoding words and spelling.	Analyze it: This topic is broken down into two categories: Phonics: phonemes (the sounds) and graphemes (the letters) Phonemic Awareness:  the ability to understand the nature of and work with individual sounds
Compare it: Phonics and Phonemic Awareness are both ways to learn to read. They are both integral in building skills and strategies to put letters and sounds together, understanding how it all works for the purpose of reading.	Apply it: As a middle school teacher, phonics and phonemic awareness is hard to teach, since it's applicable to the lower grades. Phonemic awareness is crucial to success in all grades, and I hope teachers are aware of how it affects students' literacy throughout their education.
Associate it: Phonics and phonemic awareness remind me of kindergarten and first grade. When I was there, I remember doing phonics worksheets all the time. I am a great speller, so I think at the time, around 80-82, phonics was given precedence over phonemic awareness.	Argue for or against it: PA is a large indicator of success in reading, according to research.  Phonics is important too, but PA is more of an "understanding" of how it all fits together. With an effective and balanced combination of both types of instruction, there is no way a kid wouldn't become a great reader.

This strategy would work wonderfully during and after a reading or when comparing/contrasting two different types of essays, for example.