Teaching Reading

through Phonics
Module 1:
Principles and Practices of
Phonics Instruction
Ayesha Jabbar

1
 TEACHING READING THROUGH PHONICS AYESHA JABBAR

The Five Elements of Reading Instruction

The incontrovertible finding from the

The United States National Reading Panel
extensive body of local and international
(NRP) Report outlined five essential and
evidence-based reading research is that
inter-related components of effective
children during the early years of schooling
reading instruction. These include phonemic
must first master the alphabetic code via
awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary,
systematic, explicit and intensive instruction
and comprehension.
in: phonemic awareness, phonics, reading
These findings are consistent with earlier fluency, vocabulary, and reading
research findings, and inquiries into reading comprehension strategies.
instruction in the UK and Australia.
Department of Education, Science and Training 2005.

Image: Effective Reading Instruction in The Early Years of School (2017).

TEACHING READING THROUGH PHONICS JABBAR, AYESHA

1
© Oxford University Press, 2021
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means.
 TEACHING READING THROUGH PHONICS AYESHA JABBAR

Phonemic Awareness and Phonics

Phonemic awareness is knowledge of, and capacity to manipulate, individual

phonemes in spoken words.
-five from five

Knowledge of how printed letters or groups of letters

represent, or map to, the sounds in speech.
-five from five

Phonemic Awareness Vs. Phonics

Phonemic awareness is not Phonics. It is an aural skill. It involves orally blending and
segmenting words.
Phonemic awareness is not a natural skill. It needs to be taught explicitly.
It is an important oral skill that precedes phonics instruction and prepares children for
identifying letter-sound associations in print.
Phonics is a print related skill. The two core skills of phonics are decoding (letter to sound) and
encoding (sound to letter).
A good phonics programme should focus on developing phonemic awareness before starting
systematic synthetic phonics instruction.

TEACHING READING THROUGH PHONICS JABBAR, AYESHA

1
© Oxford University Press, 2021
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means.
 TEACHING READING THROUGH PHONICS AYESHA JABBAR

Systematic Synthetic Phonics Instruction

The debate about the most effective teaching of reading has arguably been
won (synthetic phonics).
Debbie Hepplewhite

Systematic: SYSTEMATIC , SYNTHETIC

There is a systematic and sequential order of PHONICS
teaching letter sound correspondences that starts
with simple graphemes (one letter, one sound) Systematic Synthetic Phonics is the
graphemes. Systematic phonics programmes
only bottom-up approach to
generally do not follow the alphabetic order but
teaching reading, that starts with
teach the major and most frequently occurring
letters and sound relationships. teaching sounds, and then teaches
children how to blend or segment
these sounds to read and spell
Synthetic: words
The word ‘synthetic’ comes from the ability to SSP leads to significant and
synthesise ‘pure’ sounds or blend the sounds sustained gains in children’s
together to read words. reading and spelling abilities,
particularly in the early years.
Phonics: SSP aligns with high quality,
Phonics involves the knowledge of ‘letter sound scientific and evidence based
correspondences’ and using this knowledge to methods of teaching.
accurately blend and segment the sounds to read
Research evidence shows
and write words.
systematic approach to teaching

‹•‘‡‘ˆ–Š‡‘•–
Šƒ–†‹”‡
‹•–”—
ƒŽ’Šƒ„‡–‹
ˆƒ
”‡ƒ†‹‰ƒ
‘‹Ž‹–ƒ–‡•‡ƒ”Ž›
Šƒ–†‹”‡
‹•–”—
ƒŽ’Šƒ„‡–‹
ƒ–†‹”‡ –‹‘‹
‹ƒŽ’Šƒ„‡–‹
ˆƒ
”‡ƒ†‹‰ƒ –
– “—‹•‹–‹‘
 ‘†‹‰
™‡ŽŽ‡•–ƒ„Ž‹•Š‡†
‹•‘‡‘ˆ–Š‡‘•–
„‡Šƒ˜‹‘—”ƒŽ•
‹Ž‹–ƒ–‡•‡ƒ”Ž›
Ž—•‹‘•‹ƒŽŽ‘ˆ
–‹‘‹
–‹•–”—
“—‹•‹–‹‘
‘†‹‰
 ‘†‹‰
‹‡
–‹‘
‡
phonics works better that non
systematic approaches to teaching
Research studies on early literacy
The evidence is clear that the teaching of find that SSP is a common
systematic synthetic phonics is the most effective approach used in high performing
way of teaching young children to read, particularly primary schools.
for those at risk of having problems with reading.
The Rose Report (2006).

TEACHING READING THROUGH PHONICS JABBAR, AYESHA

1
© Oxford University Press, 2021
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means.
 TEACHING READING THROUGH PHONICS AYESHA JABBAR

English Orthographic System

Did you ever wonder why teaching to read and spell in English is so difficult?
English has an irregular and incredibly complex orthographic system. There are
forty four sounds in English which are represented by only 26 letters of the
alphabet.

44 26 250
Phonemes Letters Grapheme
s

The ‘alphabetic code’ is the reversible relationship between

the discrete sounds we can identify in speech and the letters
or letter groups which are code for the sounds.
Debbie Hepplewhite.

Complexities of the English Alphabetic Code:

TEACHING READING THROUGH PHONICS JABBAR, AYESHA

1
© Oxford University Press, 2021
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means.
 TEACHING READING THROUGH PHONICS AYESHA JABBAR

The 44 Sounds of English

s a t p i n m d

g o c e u r h b

f l j v y x y z

qu sh ch th ng ai ee igh

oa oo oo ar or ur ow oi

ear air ure er

https://home.oxfordowl.co.uk/reading/learn-to-read-phonics/

TEACHING READING THROUGH PHONICS JABBAR, AYESHA

1
© Oxford University Press, 2021
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means.
 TEACHING READING THROUGH PHONICS AYESHA JABBAR

Phonics Instructional Phases (K-2)

Kindergarten Grade 1

Phase 1: oral blending and segmenting Phase 4: revisit and review all sounds,
Phase 2: 19 phonemes + reading CVC reading CVCC and CCVC words.
words Phase 5: further graphemes for
Phase 3: new graphemes, digraphs and reading/alternative graphemes for
trigraphs CVC words spelling.

Letters and Sounds (DfES), Phases 1-3 letters and Sounds (DfES), Phases 4-5

Grade 2

Increase fluency and accuracy in reading, teaching spelling (past tense), suffixes, spelling
long words, finding and learning the difficult bits in words, useful spelling guidelines)
Letters and Sounds (DfES), Phase 6.

Phoneme Grapheme Correspondences:

Phase 2 : s, a, t, p, i, n, m, d, g, o, c, k, ck, e, u, r, h, Phase 3: j, v, w, x, y,

b, f, ff, l, ll, s, ss z, zz, qu, ch, sh, th, ng,
ai, ee, igh, oa,oo, oo,
ar, or, ur, ow, oi, ear,
Phase 4: Revisit Phase 5: ay, ou, ie, ea, air, ure, er
and Review oy, ir, ue, aw, wh, ph,
graphemes. ew, oe, au, a_e, e_e,
i_e, o_e, u_e,

Letters and Sounds (DfE, 2007).

TEACHING READING THROUGH PHONICS JABBAR, AYESHA

1
© Oxford University Press, 2021
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means.
 TEACHING READING THROUGH PHONICS AYESHA JABBAR

The Three Core Phonics Skills

Children need to master the three core phonics skills, in addition to the knowledge
of the alphabetic code, for them to become proficient at reading and writing.
These three skills are decoding (word reading), encoding (spelling) and handwriting
(letter shapes).

DECODING PRINT‐TO‐SOUND ENCODING SOUND‐TO‐PRINT

Scan the printed word to identify letter sound Stretch the word to orally segment it into
correspondences. constituent sounds.

Say each sound, pointing under the Identify and select correct graphemes or
graphemes, from left to right. letter/s for the identified sounds.

Blend the sounds quickly (sliding finger under Write letter shapes (when able)
each sound from left to right) texts)
Sound out and blend to check spelling

HANDWRITING

Form capital and small case letters correctly.

Write graphemes for letter sounds
Understand the difference between letter names and their sounds.

Adapted from Debbie Hepplewhite’s Model of the Three Phonics Core Skills and Their Sub‐Skills

TEACHING READING THROUGH PHONICS JABBAR, AYESHA

1
© Oxford University Press, 2021
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means.
 TEACHING READING THROUGH PHONICS AYESHA JABBAR

Systematic Synthetic Phonics: Teaching Principles

The three core teaching principles of Systematic Synthetic Phonics according to the phonics Expert
and consultant, Debbie Hepplewhite, are as follows:

1. Explicit and systematic teaching of the alphabetic code

2. Focus on the three core skills of Phonics:

• Letter to sound (blending for reading)
• Sound to letter (segmenting for spelling)
• Handwriting
3. Immediate and guided practice using cumulative and decodable sentences and texts.

Phonics Instruction: Tips for Classroom Practice

Teach the
alphabetic code
• Practice blending and segmenting during daily phonics lessons knowledge by
as children learn the sounds and their graphemes. Do not wait systematically and
till they have learnt all sounds to start teaching blending and comprehensively
segmenting. introducing the
letter/s‐sound
• Children should apply phonics knowledge and skills as their first correspondences of
approach to reading and spelling, and use phonics to accurately the English
decode words (instead of guessing words based on first letters alphabetic code.
or picture and context clues)
Debbie Hepplewhite
• Practice reading irregular and high frequency words in the class
by drawing attention to any known letter sound
correspondences, even for irregular words.
• Provide opportunities for independent reading practice right
from the start (using decodable words, common exception
words or tricky words, cumulative and decodable texts)

TEACHING READING THROUGH PHONICS JABBAR, AYESHA

1
© Oxford University Press, 2021
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means.
 TEACHING READING THROUGH PHONICS AYESHA JABBAR

Paradigm Shift in Teaching Reading

from Multi-cueing to Simple View of Reading

Simple View of Reading Multi-cueing System

Accuracy in decoding words through Guessing words based on context, initial

teaching letter‐sound correspondence. sound(s), context and picture clues in the
text.
Decode first
Word decoding involves syntactic and
Decoding and comprehension are both
contextual clues as well as vocabulary.
essential components of reading
Not based on scientific evidence
Reading comprehension can be
accurately predicted using decoding Does not encourage accurate word reading
skills and language comprehension skills
Based on scientific evidence

Simple View of Reading: Implications for Classroom Practice

Decoding needs to taught first. children should use phonics as their first approach to reading
words.

Comprehension and word reading can be taught and accessed separately.

Decoding and language compression skill can be used to accurately predict reading ability.
Struggling readers need targeted intervention in the skill they are struggling with (i.e. word
reading/decoding, comprehension, or both).

The 'multi‐cueing reading strategies model' is not evidence‐

based, can damage long‐term reading, and detract from quality
systematic synthetic phonics teaching and learning. The Simple
View of Reading is a sensible 'conceptual framework' and
respected by many globally.
Debbie Hepplewhite.

TEACHING READING THROUGH PHONICS JABBAR, AYESHA

1
© Oxford University Press, 2021
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means.
 TEACHING READING THROUGH PHONICS AYESHA JABBAR

Simple View of Reading

“The Simple View has had increasing empirical support over the last
25 years, and highlights the importance of decoding as the pre‐
eminent strategy for saying what’s on the page, and language
comprehension for understanding that which has been decoded”
Hempenstall (2016), Read About It: Scientific Evidence for Effective Teaching of
Reading.

TEACHING READING THROUGH PHONICS JABBAR, AYESHA

1
© Oxford University Press, 2021
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means.
 TEACHING READING THROUGH PHONICS AYESHA JABBAR

Phonemes and Graphemes

Phoneme Grapheme

Phoneme is the smallest unit of sound

A grapheme is a letter or groups of letters that
represent a sound.

A phoneme if often represented within For example, the graphemes f (as in fish), ph (as on
dashes, such as: phone, ff as in cuff and gh as is cough represent the
/f/ sound.
/f/ as in fish or phone.

TEACHING READING THROUGH PHONICS JABBAR, AYESHA

1
© Oxford University Press, 2021
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means.
 TEACHING READING THROUGH PHONICS AYESHA JABBAR

Phase 2 Graphemes:

 /
сѷ

 /
рѷ
$
–
$/Ѷ
$.Ѷ
.$/Ѷ
+$/Ѷ
/$+

.Ѷ
Ѷ
/Ѷ
+
)
–
)Ѷ
$)Ѷ
)$+Ѷ
+)Ѷ
)+

/Ѷ
Ѷ
./Ѷ
+/Ѷ
/+Ѷ
.+Ѷ
.
(
–
(Ѷ
()Ѷ
(/Ѷ
(+Ѷ
$(


–
Ѷ
)Ѷ
.Ѷ
$(Ѷ
$



 /
тѷ

"
–
/"Ѷ
""Ѷ
."Ѷ
".Ѷ
+$"
 /
уѷ

*
–
"*/Ѷ
*)Ѷ
)*/Ѷ
/*+Ѷ
*"
&
–
&$&Ѷ
.&Ѷ
*&Ѷ
.$&Ѷ


–
)Ѷ
*/Ѷ
*+Ѷ
+Ѷ
*
+*& /

&
–
&$Ѷ
&$/Ѷ
$(Ѷ
)

–
" /Ѷ
+ /Ѷ
/ )Ѷ
) /Ѷ
+ )

0
–
0+Ѷ
(0(Ѷ
-0)Ѷ
(0"Ѷ
0+

-
–
-$+Ѷ
-(Ѷ
-/Ѷ
-*& /Ѷ

 /
фѷ

#
–
#Ѷ
#$(Ѷ
#$.Ѷ
#*/Ѷ
#0/


–
0/Ѷ
$"Ѷ
&Ѷ
 Ѷ
0.

!Ѷ
!!
–
*!Ѷ
$!Ѷ
*!!Ѷ
!$/Ѷ
!*"Ѷ
+0!!

'Ѷ
''
–
' /Ѷ
' "Ѷ
'*/Ѷ
 ''Ѷ
*''

..
–
' ..Ѷ
#$..Ѷ
(..Ѷ
( ..Ѷ
*..

www.oxfordowl.co.uk

TEACHING READING THROUGH PHONICS JABBAR, AYESHA

1
© Oxford University Press, 2021
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means.
 TEACHING READING THROUGH PHONICS AYESHA JABBAR

Getting Started with Oral Blending:

Listening practice where the teacher models orally blending sounds to make words is integral to
developing oral blending and phonemic awareness.

Developing a ‘sound orientation’ before children start reading with letters and letter groups in
important.

Play games, such as ‘I spy’ or toy/robot talk. Using puppets in imaginative play for oral blending
is a good idea to catch children’s attention.

Model orally blending single syllable words. You can include words with all 44 sounds, including
digraphs (2 letters/one sound) and trigraphs (3 letters/one sound).

Start with segmenting the last word in a sentence and then immediately blend it so that
children understand how all words are made up of sounds (e.g. let’s sit down and read a b-oo-k,
book!, or ‘who wants to sit with me on the m-a-t, mat?).
You do not need to involve students in segmenting or blending sounds initially. Just model it
frequently and correctly for children initially, so that they understand that words are made up
of individual sounds.

Once the children have been familiarized with oral segmenting and blending through teacher
modelling, start blending practice as a whole group activity. Think of common CVC words and
sound out each sound in the word while clapping. For example:

p a n
Now, blend the sounds to say the word ‘pan’.

Start blending practice with basic set of sounds (s,a,t,p,i, n) and practice orally blending VC and
CVC words (such as it, at, sat, sip, tin) in whole class and small group activities.

For oral segmenting practice, remember to stretch the word out so that
children can hear the sounds in the word clearly. For example, hold up the
picture of a ‘log’ and stretch the word to say llll ooo gggg. Now model counting
the sounds on your fingers, sticking out a finger for each sound. Then, count
the number of sounds, pointing towards the fingers to show that the word ‘log’
has three sounds.
Image: Shutterstock

TEACHING READING THROUGH PHONICS JABBAR, AYESHA

1
© Oxford University Press, 2021
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means.
 TEACHING READING THROUGH PHONICS AYESHA JABBAR

Model segmenting by showing children how to segment words into sounds

(stretch the word to identify number of sounds initially).
You can also practice segmenting by clapping out sounds in the word or by using
sound boxes and sound counters (such as the one shown below). Children can
put counters in each sound box for the number of sounds they hear in the word
or they can use plastic letters or flashcards instead (where possible).

image: five from five

Start segmenting practice using stretchy sounds or continuous sounds, such as /s/, /m/, /l/ and
/n/, as they are easier to stretch and thus easier to identify in words.

You can choose CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) words from the word bank given below to
practice blending and segmenting orally:

pan sat pin nip pat tap

pit sit pan pit pin

Incorporate oral blending and segmenting practice into daily activities and practice oral
blending and segmenting often to engage all students and provide enough practice to build a
strong foundation for phonics and reading.
Keep providing practice in oral blending and segmenting, even as you start a structured phonics
programme and provide extra support to children who need intervention.

TEACHING READING THROUGH PHONICS JABBAR, AYESHA

1
© Oxford University Press, 2021
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means.
 TEACHING READING THROUGH PHONICS AYESHA JABBAR

Blending to Read Words:

Here are some tips for teaching blending to read words:
Start with VC words, i.e. words that are made up of two sounds, a consonant followed by a
vowel. Be sure to include words that contain graphemes that the children have already learnt.
Move on to practicing blending with CVC words. CVC words are words that contain a consonant
sound, followed by a vowel sound and then a consonant sound at the end. Cat, sit, but, pin, mat
and sun are all examples of CVC words.
Start blending practice with words that start with stretchy consonants, rather than words with
bouncy consonants in the initial or middle position, as bouncy sounds can be slightly
challenging to blend.
Have students recognize each grapheme in the word before they start blending, putting their
finger under each grapheme, from left to right. Then have them slide their finger under the
whole word from left to right to blend the sounds to read the word.
Model blending often and have students repeat after you.
Encourage the use of good blending routines right from the start so that all children are
blending to read independently.
Provide extra time and support to students struggling with blending.
Provide a lot of blending practice to students using words, cumulative texts and decodable
readers.
Provide practice in reading real as well as pseudo or made-up words so that they can practice
blending unfamiliar words.

TEACHING READING THROUGH PHONICS JABBAR, AYESHA

1
© Oxford University Press, 2021
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means.
 TEACHING READING THROUGH PHONICS AYESHA JABBAR

Tips for a comprehensive Phonics Programme

Follow a well-designed programme that follows direct or explicit instruction

model for teaching phonics, and provides teaching and learning resources.
Fidelity to the programme is crucial.
Set the right pace for introducing graphemes. Start with at least 2 graphemes/
week and pick up pace as children become familiar with the basic graphemes
and blending/segmenting routines.
Make time for discreet daily phonics instruction and practice in daily lessons.
Train the staff and teachers in phonics skills and knowledge, and teaching
principles.
Continuous and effective assessment is integral to an effective programme.

Explicit Instruction
Explicit instruction is a teaching model, rather than a teaching strategy.
Explicit instruction has the following characteristics:

• Teacher directed
• Planned and sequenced lessons
• Clear and detailed instructions and explanations
• Content / skills are introduced in small steps
• Practice after each step
• Modelled and guided instruction and practice – (‘I do – we do – you
do’)
• Teaching to mastery
• Frequent, systematic monitoring and feedback
• High level of teacher-student interaction
• Cumulative reviews and spaced practice

Five from Five.

TEACHING READING THROUGH PHONICS JABBAR, AYESHA

1
© Oxford University Press, 2021
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means.
 TEACHING READING THROUGH PHONICS AYESHA JABBAR

References

Hempenstall, Kerry (2016), Read About It: Scientific Evidence for Effective Teaching of Reading.
Hepplewhite, Debbie (2011), Phonics Training Online (handouts).
Hepplewhite, Debbie (2013). Retrieved from:
https://phonicsinternational.com/Triangle_sub_core_skills.pdf
Hepplehwite, Debbie (2004). Memorandum submitted by Debbie Hepplewhite, Reading Reform
Foundation. retrieved from:
https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200405/cmselect/cmeduski/121/4111502.htm
Hepplewhite, Debbie (2019), Floppy’s Phonics Teaching Handbook 1, Oxford University Press.
Letters and Sounds: Principles and Practice of High Quality Phonics, Primary National Strategy
(2007).
Hepplewhite, Debbie. The Simple View of Reading. Retrieved from:
https://www.phonicsinternational.com/The_Simple_View_of_Reading_model.pdf
Hepplewhite, D. (2012), The English Alphabetic Code. Phonics International
Rose, J., 2006. Independent review of the teaching of early reading. [online] Nottingham: DfES
Publications.
www.oxfordowl.co.uk
https://fivefromfive.com.au/

TEACHING READING THROUGH PHONICS JABBAR, AYESHA

1
© Oxford University Press, 2021
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means.