Phonics

 Phonics focuses on the sound-letter relationships used in reading and writing, and involves an understanding of the alphabetic principle (Hill, 2006 p. 208). The alphabetic principle is the idea that letters in words usually stand for certain sounds. Some sounds are made up of one letter whereas other sounds are made up of more than one letter. For example, in the word ‘ship’ the letters ‘sh’ make one sound and the letters ‘i’ and ‘p’ each make their own individual sound. So whilst the word has four letters it only has three sounds. However, there are some letters in words that don’t represent a sound at all; these are known as silent letters. For example, in the word ‘thumb’ the letter ‘b’ makes no sound. So the word ‘thumb’ has five letters but only has three sounds. The English alphabet has a set of 26 letters which represent 44 sounds or phonemes (Hill, 2006 p. 208). Phonemes are speech units that make a difference to meaning (Hill, 2006 p.210). The words ‘cat’ and ‘hat’ differ by one phoneme. There are five stages in the content of phonics. STAGE ONE- Letters of the alphabet There are both consonants and vowels in the alphabet. Consonant sounds are formed when there is an obstruction of air (Hill 2006 p.213). Some consonants in the alphabet make or represent more than one sound (Hill 2006 p. 213). Take the letter Cc for example; in the word car it makes a hard sound, whereas in the word circle it makes a softer sound. The consonants in the alphabet include b, c, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, q, r, s, t, v, w, x, y, z. Vowel sounds are made are made in the mouth and there are no contact points between the lips, tongue and teeth (Hill, 2006 p.214). The vowels in the alphabet include a, e i, o, u. STAGE TWO- Onset and rime The onset in a syllable is any consonant that precedes the vowel (Hill, 2006 p. 214). The rime consists of the vowel and consonants that come after the onset (Hill, 2006 p.214). For example, in the word best the onset in ‘b’ and the rime is ‘est’. STAGE THREE- Blends A blend is when two or more letters are combined (Hill, 2006 p.216) Phase 1- Two letter initial consonant blends: bl br cl cr dr fl fr gl gr pl lr sc sk sl sm sn sp st tr tw Phase 2- Two letter final consonant blends: ft ld lk lp lt mp nd ng nk nt py ry sk sp st ty  Phase3- Three letter initial consonant blends: scr spl spr str squ STAGE FOUR- Digraphs Digraphs are two letters making a single sound (Hill, 2006 p. 219). They can be consonant diagraphs- sh, ph, ck and vowel diagraphs- ai, ea, ie (Hill, 2006 p.219). STAGE FIVE- Structural analysis Structural analysis involves making structural changes to a base word (Hill, 2006 p. 221). For example, if the base word is like you can change it to likes, liked, liking.
 * Phonics** [[image:abc.png align="right" caption="(WP Clipart, 2008)"]]

By Ashleigh Smith 700180008