Blending
Blending and segmenting are critical phonics skills that enable students to read and spell. Phonics programs may teach different methods of blending sounds to read a word. One method is continuous blending. In order to blend this way, the teacher models stretching the sounds as the sounds are produced: s...a...t. Another method of blending is cumulative blending. When students are taught to blend this way, they say the first sound, then say the first and second sound, and then say all the sounds: s...sa...sat. In onset-rime blending, the words are blended by saying the onset and then the whole rime: b-ag, sp-ill, th-ink.
Using Decodable Text
It is important that phonics instruction includes the kind of engaging word work shown in the previous examples. It is also imperative that the skills that students are learning are applied in the texts they read. Decodable text is specifically designed to provide this kind of practice. Decodable texts include many instances of the phonic pattern or sound that students are learning. The text will often also repeat certain high frequency words and controlled vocabulary (non-phonetic words in the text have all been taught before). Students will be successful reading the text because they should have the skills to decode most of the words. These stories may have a limited storyline, but the purpose of these texts is to build automaticity of word recognition skills.
Required Reading
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