Phonics Levels Information

Phonics instruction typically follows a systematic and sequential approach, progressing from
basic sound-letter correspondences to more complex phonetic patterns. Here's a step-by-step
guide to phonics instruction for kids of all ages:

Level 1: Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten

1. Letter Recognition and Sounds:

- Teach children to recognize and name the letters of the alphabet.

- Introduce the basic sounds associated with each letter.

- Use songs, games, and activities to make learning enjoyable.

2. Phonemic Awareness:

- Focus on identifying and manipulating individual sounds (phonemes) in spoken words.

- Practice activities such as rhyming, blending, segmenting, and deleting sounds in words.

3. CVC Words (Consonant-Vowel-Consonant):

- Introduce simple, three-letter words with short vowel sounds (e.g., cat, dog, pig).

- Teach blending and segmenting skills by sounding out and building CVC words.

Level 2: Early Elementary (Grade 1)

1. Digraphs and Blends:

- Introduce common digraphs (e.g., sh, ch, th) and blends (e.g., bl, br, st).

- Teach children to recognize and decode words containing these letter combinations.

2. Long Vowels:

- Introduce the concept of long vowel sounds and the silent "e" pattern (e.g., cake, kite, cone).

- Teach children to di erentiate between short and long vowel sounds.

3. Sight Words:

- Introduce high-frequency sight words that cannot be easily decoded phonetically.

- Use flashcards, games, and repetition to help children memorize sight words.

Level 3: Upper Elementary (Grade 2 and beyond)

1. R-Controlled Vowels:

- Teach words with r-controlled vowel patterns (e.g., car, bird, for).

- Help students understand how the presence of "r" a ects vowel pronunciation.

2. Diphthongs and Variant Vowel Sounds:

- Introduce diphthongs (e.g., oi, oy, ou, ow) and variant vowel patterns (e.g., au, aw).

- Practice decoding and spelling words with these complex vowel sounds.

3. Prefixes and Su ixes:

- Teach common prefixes (e.g., un-, re-, pre-) and su ixes (e.g., -ed, -ing, -ful).

- Help students understand how a ixes change the meaning and grammatical function of
words.

Level 4: Advanced Phonics (Upper Elementary and Middle School)

1. Syllable Patterns:

- Teach di erent syllable types (e.g., closed, open, vowel-consonant-e) and syllable division
rules.

- Help students decode multisyllabic words by breaking them into syllables.

2. Greek and Latin Roots:

- Introduce common Greek and Latin roots, prefixes, and su ixes that are the building blocks
of many English words.

- Explore the meanings of these roots and how they contribute to vocabulary development.

3. Advanced Spelling Patterns:

- Cover advanced spelling patterns, including irregular spellings, homophones, and

homographs.
 - Encourage students to apply spelling rules and patterns in their writing.

Level 5: Fluency and Vocabulary Expansion (Middle School and Beyond)

1. Fluency Practice:

- Provide opportunities for repeated reading and oral fluency practice.

- Encourage students to read aloud with expression and accuracy.

2. Vocabulary Development:

- Expand students' vocabulary through exposure to a wide range of texts and word-learning
strategies.

- Teach context clues, word roots, prefixes, and su ixes to help students infer word meanings.

3. Morphology and Etymology:

- Explore the morphological structure and etymology of words to deepen understanding and
appreciation of language.

- Analyze word origins and word families to enhance vocabulary acquisition.

 Level 1: Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten

1. Letter Recognition and Sounds:

- Teach children to recognize and name the letters of the alphabet.
- Alphabet Books: Use alphabet books to introduce each letter visually and phonetically.
- Letter of the Day: Focus on one letter per day or week with crafts, stories, and songs
emphasizing the letter.

- Alphabet Wall: Create an alphabet wall where each letter is displayed along with images
of objects that start with that letter.

- Introduce the basic sounds associated with each letter.

- Phonics Songs: Use songs that incorporate the sounds each letter makes, such as the
"Alphabet Song" or songs from educational programs.

- Sound Matching Games: Play games where children match pictures with the initial
sounds of their names (e.g., "B" for "ball").

- Articulation Practice: Encourage students to make each letter sound clearly, using
mirrors to see how their mouth forms the sounds.

- Use songs, games, and activities to make learning enjoyable.

- Interactive Games: Use digital games that require children to choose the correct letter
for a given sound.

- Letter Crafts: Let children create each letter using clay, playdough, sticks, or other
hands-on materials to reinforce shape recognition.

- Flashcards: Use flashcards for quick, fun reviews of letters and sounds.

2. Phonemic Awareness:
- Focus on identifying and manipulating individual sounds (phonemes)
in spoken words.
- Listening Games: Play "I Spy" with sounds, e.g., "I spy something that starts with /b/".
 - Segmenting Fun: Use blocks or beads to represent sounds in words, helping children
visually segment sounds.

- Practice activities such as rhyming, blending, segmenting, and

deleting sounds in words.
- Rhyme Time: Engage children in rhyming games, or read books rich in rhymes and ask
children to identify words that rhyme.

- Blending Games: Play blending games by slowly saying the sounds of a CVC word like
/c/-/a/-/t/ and having children guess the word.

- Phoneme Deletion: Challenge children by asking what word remains when one sound
is removed (e.g., "What's 'bat' without the /b/?").

3. CVC Words (Consonant-Vowel-Consonant):

- Introduce simple, three-letter words with short vowel sounds (e.g.,
cat, dog, pig).
- Word Boards: Create boards with images and corresponding words that children can
assemble with letter tiles.

- Picture Matching: Provide pictures and let children match them to corresponding CVC
word cards.

- Teach blending and segmenting skills by sounding out and building

CVC words.
- Sound Boxes: Use boxes where children place a token in each box as they segment the
sound of a CVC word.

- Magnetic Letters: Use magnetic letters on a board to build and break apart CVC words,
reinforcing the concept of blending and segmenting.

- Interactive Storybooks: Read books designed for early readers that focus on CVC
words, encouraging children to sound out words as they read.

These steps and activities aim to create a fun and engaging environment where young children
can develop foundational phonics skills through interactive and multisensory learning
experiences. By progressively introducing complexity in a supportive setting, children can build
a strong base for reading and spelling proficiency.
 Week Plan: Phonemic Awareness Activities

Day 1: Introduction to Phonemic Awareness

- Morning Circle:
- Introduction to phonemic awareness: Discuss the idea that words are made up of di erent
sounds.

- Listening Game:
- "I Spy with Sounds" where the teacher says, "I spy something that starts with /b/" and children
guess objects starting with that sound.

- Wrap-up:
- Reflect on the day’s learning with a group discussion on di erent sounds heard throughout
the day.

Day 2: Rhyming Focus

- Morning Circle:
- Read a rhyming book aloud (e.g., "The Cat in the Hat" by Dr. Seuss). Discuss the rhyming
words.

- Rhyme Time Game:

- Play a game where children form pairs and find rhyming words around the classroom (e.g.,
hat, cat, mat).

- Wrap-up:
- Children create their own rhymes or a rhyming tree on a bulletin board.

Day 3: Blending Sounds

- Morning Circle:
- Introduce blending by using simple CVC words (e.g., demonstrating how /c/-/a/-/t/ blends to
form "cat").

- Blending Games:
 - Split children into groups and give them sound cards; they must arrange themselves to form
words.

- Wrap-up:
- Reflect on the blending activity and discuss how di erent sounds combine to make words.

Day 4: Segmenting Sounds

- Morning Circle:
- Demonstrate segmenting a word into individual sounds using color blocks or beads.

- Segmenting Fun:
- Provide children with words (visually and orally) and have them use blocks or beads to
segment the sounds.

- Wrap-up:
- Segmenting challenge: Children try to segment names of items from the snack or story time.

Day 5: Phoneme Deletion

- Morning Circle:
- Introduction to phoneme deletion with a simple word (e.g., "What's 'bat' without the /b/?").

- Phoneme Deletion Games:

- Children take turns saying a word and then saying it without the first sound.

- Wrap-up:
- Play a phoneme deletion game with a puppet where the puppet "eats" the first sound of the
word, and children guess the new word.

Additional Activities:
- Daily Phonemic Awareness Journal: - Encourage children to draw or write
about the word sounds they learned each day.

- Sound of the Day: - Highlight a di erent phoneme each day, and throughout the day,
collect words that contain this sound.
- Interactive Story Time: - During story time, occasionally pause to ask the children
to identify the sounds in specific words.
 Week Plan: CVC Words Introduction and Practice

Day 1: Introduction to CVC Words

 Morning Circle:
 Introduce the concept of CVC words; explain that they consist of a
consonant, a vowel, and a consonant (e.g., cat, dog).
 Interactive Demonstration:
 Use magnetic letters to build a few CVC words together on a board,
discussing each sound as you place it.
 Activity:
 Create simple CVC word boards with slots for letter tiles. Children
attempt to spell CVC words using tiles.

Day 2: Picture Matching

 Morning Circle:
 Review yesterday’s CVC words and introduce new ones.
 Picture Matching Activity:
 Provide pictures and corresponding word cards. Children match
pictures with the right word cards.
 Crafting Words:
 Children draw a picture and then write the corresponding CVC word
beneath it.

Day 3: Sound Boxes

 Morning Circle:
 Discuss the sounds in several example CVC words.
 Sound Boxes Activity:
 Each child gets boxes and tokens. They segment the sounds of a CVC
word by placing a token in each box for each sound.
 Group Challenge:
 Children work in small groups to segment words and check each
other’s work for accuracy.

Day 4: Blending Practice

 Morning Circle:
 Review segmenting from the previous day and introduce blending as
putting sounds together to make a word.
 Blending Games:
  Play a game where the teacher slowly says the sounds of a CVC word
(/c/-/a/-/t/) and children blend them together to say the word.
 Interactive Blending:
 Use a ball or a beanbag; each child says one sound and passes it on
until the word is formed.

Day 5: Using Magnetic Letters

 Morning Circle:
 Quick recap of what blending and segmenting are.
 Magnetic Letters Activity:
 Children use magnetic letters on a board to build and break apart CVC
words. Discuss each word and its sounds.
 Peer Teaching:
 Pair up children and have them teach each other new CVC words using
magnetic letters.

Day 6: Interactive Storybooks

 Morning Circle:
 Introduce several new CVC words that will appear in today's storybook.
 Reading Time:
 Read an interactive storybook designed for early readers that focuses
on CVC words. Pause to let children identify and sound out CVC words.
 Story Creation:
 Children create their own simple stories using CVC words from the
week.

Day 7: Review and Reinforcement

 Morning Circle:
 Review all CVC words learned during the week.
 CVC Word Bingo:
 Play Bingo with CVC words where children must identify the word from
hearing it segmented.
 Assessment Activity:
 Informal assessment through individual or small group sessions where
children read and spell CVC words from flashcards.

Additional Notes:

 Daily Review: Start each day with a quick review of previous day's words.
  Continual Assessment: Use informal methods to gauge understanding and
provide extra help where needed.
 Parent Involvement: Send home a weekly newsletter detailing the CVC
words learned and suggesting simple activities or games parents can play at
home.

This structured approach not only reinforces the learning of CVC words through
various engaging activities but also helps ensure that children grasp the foundational
skills necessary for reading.