5 Strategies For Teaching Phonics

5 Strategies for
Teaching Phonics
Tanya Tankersley
PURPOSE:
• The goal of this presentation is to provide

strategies for teaching phonics in an
elementary classroom
• Each strategy will be used in the context of

the book The Cat in the Hat
TH
E
ST
1. “Working with Words” Sessions RA
TE
2. Guided Reading G
IE
S
3. Making Words
4. Writing with Invented Spelling
5. Using word you know

STRATEGY #1:
“Working-with-Words” sessions
• Direct teaching of phonics is necessary because “regardless of the type
of instruction they receive, [students will] learn about letter-sound
correspondences as part of learning to read” (Stahl, 1992, p.619)
– “To become fluent readers, children must learn the common sounds for vowel
patterns” (p.93)
– “Children need to learn sequential decoding” (Cunningham & Cunningham,
2002, p.92)
– “Because morphemes provide meaning clues as well as decoding and
spelling patterns, learning how to use the morphemes in large words helps
you build your meaning vocabulary” (p.96)
– It is often helpful for children to “look at words in isolation at times so that
they can examine the patterns in words without the distractions of context”
(Stahl, Duffy-Hester & Stahl, 1998, p.342)
• Teachers should help students recognize and “make sense of patterns

noticed within words” (Stahl, 1992, p.620)
• “Effective phonics instruction helps children… by first drawing their

attention to the order of letters in words, forcing them to examine
common patterns in English through sounding out words, and showing
similarities between words” (Stahl, 1992, p.622)
“Working with words” in The Cat in the Hat
BEFORE READING:
• Introduce the short “a” sound by showing students words
that take a short “a” and having them practice the sound
aloud as they pronounce short “a” words
• Have students brainstorm more words that use short “a”
IN THE READ ALOUD CONTEXT:
• Help students decode and recognize the short “a” sound in
the text
• Point out the rhyming words that share the short “a” sound
such as “cat” and “hat”
• Keep a chart size list of the short “a” words found in the
text, adding them as you read
“Working with words” in The Cat in the Hat
AFTER READING:
• Drill the short “a” pattern by allowing students to practice

spelling short “a” words with manipulative letters
• When students feel comfortable with the short “a” pattern

of the words in the book, help students add short “a” words
not found in the text to their original list
– Creation of new rhyming short “a” words such as “Aristocrat,” will

help to build student vocabulary as well as phonemic awareness
• To demonstrate further the understanding of the phoneme,

have students in small groups create silly sentences with
their new list of short “a” words; they can also illustrate
their sentences
STRATEGY #2:
GUIDED READING
• “It is important that children read words in stories or short
pieces of expository text. The purpose of reading is
comprehension. Reading words in stories may allow
children to apply their phonics knowledge to task that
allow for comprehension of a message as well as to
sounding out words” (Stahl, Duffy-Hester & Stahl, 1998,
p.342)
• “Guided reading instructional time provides students with
guided practice in applying the phonics skills they are
taught through the working-with-words sessions”
(Cunningham & Cunningham, 2002, p.97)
• “Predictable books work especially well for beginning
word recognition” (Stahl, 1992, p.620)
Guided Reading of The Cat in the Hat
• In small group settings have the students
“whisper read” the book while you listen to the
one student read a section aloud
• Ask questions about rhyming words to
encourage phonemic awareness
• Help students pronounce unfamiliar words
and use context and the illustrations to
determine meaning of the new words
• Help students make connections as the story
progresses, since the reading goal is still
comprehension, though phonics one individual
literacy skill
STRATEGY #3:
MAKING WORDS
• Making words is “a manipulative activity in which
children learn how to look for patterns in words
and how changing just one letter or where a
letter is placed changes the whole word”
(Cunnigham & Cunningham, 2002, p.98)
• There are three parts to the strategy:
– Manipulating letters to make 10-15 words
– Sort words into patterns
– Learning how to transfer phonics knowledge by using
rhyming words they have made to decode and spell
some other rhyming words
Making Words in the context of
The Cat in the Hat
• Allow students to use manipulative letters to
spell out 10-15 words from the text
• Let students sort the words into patterns
(since the short “a” appears more than any other
sound, there should be a number of words with
this sound pattern)
• Have students create more rhyming words by
changing the vowel sound to a short “u” (ex. cut,
hut…); after playing with vowel sounds, allow
students to practice creating other consonant
sounds that change the original words
STRATEGY #4:
WRITING WITH INVENTED SPELLING
• Invented spelling is “the practice of having
children invent their own spellings in their
writings, using what they know about letters and
sounds” (Stahl, Duffy-Hester & Stahl, 1998,
p.343)
• Invented spelling “has its greatest effect on
children’s phoneme awareness and knowledge
of letter-sound correspondences” (p.343)
• “Practice with invented spelling does improve
children’s awareness of phonemes, which, as
discussed earlier, is an important precursor to
learning to decode” (Stahl, 1992, p.623)
Writing Responses with Invented
Spelling
• After reading The Cat in the Hat, have students respond
in a journal-type format
• Ask students to think about what it would be like to
interact with the Cat from The Cat in the Hat for one day;
allow them to brainstorm aloud before beginning to write.
• Instruct students to do a journal response that imagines
their own adventures when the Cat comes to their own
house for the day
• Have students create a visual picture of something that
happened in their journal response
• Conference with students to allow them to explain their
visuals and ask questions about their stories
STRATEGY #5:
USING WORDS YOU KNOW
• “Using words you know” is “an activity designed
to help students learn to use words they already
know to decode and spell many other words”
(Cunningham & Cunningham, 2002, p.101)
• “Develops cognitive clarify as students see how
paying attention to the patterns in words helps
you decode and spell many words” (p.103)
• Helps students learn rhyming patterns and
practice analogy decoding strategies
• Can be differentiated for more advanced
learners to use multisyllabic words
Using words you know with
The Cat in the Hat
• Students make four columns and list each of the
following words in one column: cat, tub, ring, fun
• Have the students list rhyming words under each
column, ensuring that the created words share
the same spelling patterns the word at the top of
the column (see example on next slide); teacher
modeling this process will be beneficial.
• This can be done individually or in small groups;
at the end have students compare their words to
the rest of the group
• A fun twist: Have the students compete to see
who can come up with the most rhyming words
in a given time
Example of “using words you know”
CAT TUB RING FUN
Hat Cub Sing Bun

Sat Stub Thing Sun
Bat Rub Wing Gun
Rat Nun
Mat
Chat
References
• Stahl, S. A. (1992). Saying the "p" word: Nine guidelines
for exemplary phonics instruction. The Reading Teacher,
45 (8). p. 618-625.
• Duffy-Hester, A.M., Stahl, K. A. D., & Stahl, S. A. (1998).

Everything you wanted to know about phonics (but were
afraid to ask). Reading Research Quarterly, 33 (3).
p.338-355.
• Cunningham, P.M. & Cunningham, J.W. (2002). What

We Know About How to Teach Phonics. What Research
Has to Say About Reading Instruction, 3rd edition. p.87-
109.

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5 Strategies for

• The goal of this presentation is to provide

• Each strategy will be used in the context of

4. Writing with Invented Spelling

5. Using word you know

• Teachers should help students recognize and “make sense of patterns

• “Effective phonics instruction helps children… by first drawing their

• Drill the short “a” pattern by allowing students to practice

• When students feel comfortable with the short “a” pattern

– Creation of new rhyming short “a” words such as “Aristocrat,” will

• To demonstrate further the understanding of the phoneme,

CAT TUB RING FUN

Hat Cub Sing Bun

• Duffy-Hester, A.M., Stahl, K. A. D., & Stahl, S. A. (1998).

• Cunningham, P.M. & Cunningham, J.W. (2002). What

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