Info.

on sight words and phonics instruction

Anne Speer

<aspeer@gwaea.org>

to Heather
Hi Heather,
I am on the road and in meetings in Washington most of today. Here is some info. to get you through
until we can chat tomorrow.
The argument for teaching phonics at this age level is a pretty easy one. The teaching of sight words is
essential, however, it does nothing to help with the teaching of reading/decoding. Many sight words can
e decoded as well (he, she, it, we, etc.) Both strats need to be taught at this level. Since the classroom
teacher spends a lot of time on sight words, you chose to spend the majority of instruction in your
classroom on the decoding of words, which is a skill that will be needed throughout Zander's educational
career and life, as one continually encounters words that need to be decoded especially when multisyllabic words become part of reading materials.
Here is quoted material from the National Reading Panel if needed. LETRS also supports this approach,
but I do not have my modules with me to give you any quoted materials.
"Systematic instruction in phonics skills and sight word reading are key components of effective, early
reading instruction. Research-based instruction in phonics includes explicit instruction in sounding out
letters and blending letters to form words, and ongoing instruction in letter-sound correspondences for
simple as well as more complex phonics patterns. Gaining mastery of fundamental skills for decoding
simple, one-syllable words provides students with a strong foundation for accurate decoding of longer
and more complex words at later stages of reading development."
"Systematic sight word instruction is focused on promoting students' automatic recognition of words
that occur with the highest frequency in texts, including words that follow regular phonics patterns as
well as those that do not. In addition to explicit instruction and teacher-monitored practice in these
areas, students need frequent practice applying these skills to achieve mastery. Activities that
reinforce instruction in these areas play a key role in promoting students' ability to recognize words
automatically."
Couple this with the fact that progress monitoring needs to be measurable with normed based
materials, there leaves no argument against your instruction. I hope this helps, and I will see you
tomorrow!