Our annual book study with Abbie from Kindergarten Chaos is 7 Mighty Moves; the second move is about systematic and explicit phonics instruction.
What Is Systematic And Explicit Phonics Instruction?
Explicit phonics instruction means we’re teaching the sounds and letters to spell those sounds in a very intentional way. It’s direct instruction that doesn’t make the students guess or figure it out. Systematic phonics instruction means we’re teaching those skills in an order that makes sense.
Explicit Phonics Instruction In The Classroom
The book suggests a phonics lesson plan that is very similar to what we do in our classroom, so I will share what it looks like in our classroom in the context of our TKS BOOTCAMP curriculum. I also want to point out that the author discusses how it’s okay to spread out instruction over days, and you can do them in order or move the components around to meet the needs of students. We actually spread these steps out over days and we do them in whole group and small groups as well as incorporating them into single days.
Review
In our classroom, our review is a daily sound/letter review using a PowerPoint or our embedded mnemonic cards. We quickly go through the slides/cards, saying the sounds and letters. After a few weeks, we drop the letter and just do the sound. Here’s the thing to remember: include all phonics patterns/sounds you’ve learned, not just beginning sounds! The slides look like this:
Another review activity that we utilize is oral blending. It’s so easy and requires absolutely zero prep! It’s also necessary because if they can’t do it orally, they won’t be able to do it on paper!
Phonics Activities: State Goal And Purpose
I simply say: “Today we’re going to learn the sound /m/ and how to spell m.” We also discuss how learning our sounds helps us read and write!
Phonemic Awareness Warm-Up
This is a way to get students to focus on the sound (but also attaching the sound to concrete objects, which is best practice). For our TKS BOOTCAMP, we do this before each sound and circle chart. We repeat the sound and talk about what our mouths are doing. We might even brainstorm some words.
Another way we review is with our Phonemic Awareness Bootcamp circle charts. These take about 5 minutes and focus on the sound attached to images (concrete objects). After the sound-only circle chart, we move to the phonics circle chart for TKS BOOTCAMP, which includes sounds and spelling. The pairing of these with TKS BOOTCAMP is easy and effective.
Another phonemic awareness activity that my kids love and is super effective is Change Your Name! This takes 2 minutes and no prep so it can really be done anytime of day! We simply pick a sound and change our name to that sound! Easy! Fun! And powerful!
Introduce New Concept
When we introduce the new sound and letter correspondence, we put the circle chart on the easel. I say: “Today we’re going to learn the sound /m/.” I repeat the sound and have the students say the sound. We repeat the sound multiple times. Then I say: “We spell /m/ with the letter m.” I ask students to repeat the sound and ask them how we spell the sound.
Read Words: Explicit Phonics Instruction
This component of the lesson plan is where we change it up a bit. We explicitly teach the new skill using the “I Do, We Do, You Do” model. Instead of just reading words, the students actually come up with the words, we segment the sounds, spell the sounds, and then read the words. I draw the picture on the circle chart because attaching the sound to known words and objects creates memory pegs in the brain, allowing for easier learning and recall! Plus it’s so much fun!
Dictation
In our classroom, dictation happens in whole group and small groups. During whole groups, it happens in the days following the circle chart lesson. In small groups, it happens on the same day and the following days. We use a variety of materials for dictation, including paper and pencil, whiteboards, chalkboards, and even frisbees.
- We use this routine:
- Say the word. Students repeat the word.
- Say the sounds in the word. We hold up our fingers for each sound to know how many sounds to spell.
- Spell the word.
- Read the word.
- Discuss the meaning if necessary.
Decodable Text
Just like the dictation, decodable texts happen in small groups and whole group. For whole group, we’re using the decodable stories included in our required curriculum. We choral read these stories. We typically read the story two times and focus on decoding unknown words. In small groups, we use the decodable texts from TKS BOOTCAMP. In small groups, we focus on building fluency and automaticity. We read the same decodable multiple times because research says students need to decode words 5-8 times in order for orthographic mapping to happen!
Closing
For our closing, we go back to the circle chart and decode and read the words again. I also ask what sound we learned and how we spell the sound.
Systematic And Explicit Phonics: Additional Takeaways
One of the “criticisms” about the science of reading a that I see is that phonics is boring. FALSE! Phonics should be fun. It should be engaging. Kids should be participating and responding. You should be playing games to practice phonics skills. It should be multisensory.
Do word sorts! We incorporate word sorts into our TKS BOOTCAMP curriculum regularly. We do word sorts in small groups. When I first started teaching we did word study using Words Their Way and it was so effective. We will be working on ways to bring this back into our routines!
Our TKS BOOTCAMP curriculum is a science of reading aligned resource. TKS BOOTCAMP is all inclusive and classroom proven. The curriculum was created to make phonics instruction easier and effective.
Phonics Resources
For more ideas and resources, check out these blog posts:
Be sure to visit Abbie at Kindergarten Chaos for her thoughts on chapter 1 of 7 Mighty Moves.
