Phonics is essential. Many kids won’t learn how to read without phonics. However, the term “phonics” covers a wide variety of materials. When people think about science-based reading instruction, they often think of phonics. However, there’s a lot more to science-based instruction than phonics. There are many phonics-based books and programs that don’t follow the science at all. How can this be so? Isn’t phonics the end all be all? It is not.
As a private dyslexia therapist, I often worked with parents who said their kids were learning phonics in school. However, when the parent showed me the school’s phonics-based materials, I immediately knew why their child was struggling in reading. Phonics is in nearly every program and early reading book. However, most of these resources contribute to illiteracy. Most phonics-based resources don’t follow the science at all.
As an educator, I’ll show you what to look for to help you identify phonics materials that don’t work. Phonics is critical. It’s a key component of effective instruction. But there are other elements that are essential too.
For Reading Elephant 120+ printable decodable phonics books, enter our shop.
Mistake # 1: Phonics worksheets that don’t contain interleaving.
They are likely a big part of why your student is struggling with read.
This is probably one of the most common phonics problems I see in k-2 reading materials. Educators now often print worksheets for reading lessons. These worksheets don’t follow systematic instruction. They focus on one phonics sound. The child focuses on that one phonics sound, does very well, and the educator and parent are left with the false belief that the child has mastered that sound.
Here is a sample of a poorly designed phonics wordlist:
Sail
Frail
Tail
Nail
Pail
To make the phonics worksheet even easier, as if repeating the sound weren’t easy enough, the creator often adds pictures. The repetition alone takes all the cognitive work out of decoding. The child mindlessly repeats the long a sound /ai/. However, /ai/ never transitions into the child’s long-term memory. A week later, the child miscues on words like “Gail” and “pail” while reading books. Of course he didn’t actually learn the /ai/ sound pattern. During this worksheet, all he did was ramble off the long a sound again and again.
Here’s another sample with NO interleaving. This list does NOT help the child retain the /fr/ blend:
Frail
Fred
Fridge
Frame
Fry
From
Here’s another sample with NO interleaving. This short o list, again, is nearly useless for long-term learning:
Cob
Flop
Pop
Hop
Lost
Toss
Worksheets that don’t use interleaving are very common, unfortunately.
Anyone can give the false impression that they’ve mastered something if it’s repeated over and over ad nauseum. For example, here is a capitals lesson:
What is the capital of Kazakhstan? Astana
What is the capital of Kazakhstan? Astana
What is the capital of Kazakhstan? Astana
What is the capital of Kazakhstan? Astana
What is the capital of Kazakhstan? Astana
Now I’m going to test you:
What’s the capital of Kazakhstan? Astana
Of course, you know the answer because I’ve repeated it again and again. But will you have retention? Will you know the capital of next Kazakhstan next week or month? Instead, true learning would require systematic interleaving like the following:
Lesson 1:
NEW: What is the capital of Kazakhstan? Astana
What is the capital of Kazakhstan? Astana
Lesson 2:
NEW: What’s the capital of Hungary? Budapest
What is the capital of Kazakhstan? Astana
What’s the capital of Hungary? Budapest
What is the capital of Kazakhstan? Astana
What is the capital of Kazakhstan? Astana
What’s the capital of Hungary? Budapest
Lesson 3:
NEW: What is the capital of Australia? Canberra
What’s the capital of Hungary? Budapest
What is the capital of Kazakhstan? Astana
What is the capital of Australia? Canberra
What is the capital of Hungary? Budapest
What is the capital of Australia? Canberra
What is the capital of Australia? Canberra
What is the capital of Hungary? Budapest
What is the capital of Australia? Canberra
What is the capital of Kazakhstan? Astana
Lesson 4:
NEW: What is the capital of Denmark?
What is the capital of Denmark?
What’s the capital of Hungary? Budapest
What is the capital of Denmark? Copenhagen
What is the capital of Hungary? Budapest
What is the capital of Kazakhstan? Astana
What is the capital of Australia? Canberra
What’s the capital of Hungary? Budapest
What is the capital of Denmark? Copenhagen
What is the capital of Australia? Canberra
What is the capital of Hungary? Budapest
What is the capital of Australia? Canberra
What is the capital of Denmark? Copenhagen
Interleaving is critical for phonics learning and retention. Phonics lists with interleaving look something like this:
Lesson 1:
NEW: short a
Cat
Rat
Mat
Sat
Fat
Pat
Lesson 2:
NEW: short i
Pit
Bat
Lit
Rat
Nip
Rim
Had
Lesson 3:
NEW: short o
Pop
Has
Him
Nod
Dad
Mom
Log
Dot
Wag
Bib
Ideally, each new phonics sound would include 1-3 lessons or lessons would continue until the student reaches mastery.
The above lists don’t mindlessly repeat the same phonics sound. Thus, the child must do word analysis. In addition, the child gets to review old phonics sounds. This allows the student to stay strong in her phonics knowledge.
Mistake # 2: Phonics lessons with no scope and sequence.
Effective phonics lessons require a scope and sequence. The scope is the phonics sounds the curriculum or book series includes. For example, a phonics scope could be: short vowels, consonant digraphs (sh, th, ch, _tch, _ck), consonant blends, silent e, long vowels (ai, ee/ea, oa, igh), oo/ew, r-controlled (ar, er/ir/ur, or).
The phonics sequence is the order in which these sounds are introduced. Typically, phonics programs and books follow: short vowels, consonant digraphs, consonant blends. However, after this, the phonics sequence can vary widely.
There is no correct phonics sequence. Children can learn phonics sounds in various orders. However, every effective phonics program needs a sequence. This is part of why many printable phonics worksheets are ineffective. They don’t weave in old phonics sounds. Thus, children forget or become weak in old phonics sounds.
Without a phonics scope and sequence, the child is perpetually learning something new without any lasting knowledge. Instead, the child should learn one new phonics sound while reviewing old phonics sounds. This requires a solid phonics scope and sequence.
Find the Reading Elephant phonics scope and sequence HERE.
Mistake # 3: Phonics decodable books with no storyline, awkward phrases, no interleaving and incorrect grammar.
Almost all phonics materials are labeled as SOR (science of reading), though they almost never are.
With phonics decodable books, it’s likely the author never took the time to learn how to write. Instead, the author may toss in a phonics sound repeatedly without any thought to the storyline, grammar or phrasing.
This is why decodables often have strange sentences like, “Jon did run and dash.” This is why decodables also often flip flop haphazardly between past and future tenses, “Jon did run and dash. Jon got a ham.” These types of sentences may follow the rules of a decodable book, but they almost never follow the rules of grammar or a storyline.
With Reading Elephant decodables, I worked hard to eliminate awkward phrases, mismatched tenses, and incorrect grammar.
Another common problem with decodable phonics books is the hodgepodge of events that never amount to a storyline. Kids want a story. Like us all, kids enjoy learning about the world, eccentric, fun characters, finding out how to solve a problem, and learning life lessons. Without a story, kids don’t enjoy reading at all.
The early stages of learning to read are hard. Kids have to laboriously read sound-by-sound and blend the sounds together. However, if there’s no story in any of the lessons, kids begin to lose interest.
With Reading Elephant decodables, I made sure every single book tells a story, introduces a fun character (like Poofy the cat), or shares information about the world (like our Redwood Trees story).
This way, when kids put in the hard work of decoding, they can experience the joy of a real story.
Reading Elephant decodable phonics books also include interleaving, meaning kids get to review old phonics sounds while learning a new phonics sound.
For Reading Elephant 120+ decodable phonics stories, enter our shop.
Mistake # 4: No explicit instruction.
Kids need to learn phonics sounds explicitly. It’s ineffective to expect the child to catch on to phonics sounds. Explicit instruction means the educator tells the child the symbol-sound correlations directly. For example, with short o, the teacher might say, “o says ooooo as in octopus.” Then, the teacher would put “o” on a phonics flashcard for the child to review daily.
In sum, the most common phonics problems are:
-No interleaving.
-No phonics scope and sequence.
-Poorly written decodable phonics books.
-No explicit instruction.
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