How to teach phonics through writing

Some reading approaches focus on teaching phonics explicitly during writing lessons. At the same time, they encourage the use of phonics, as needed by the learner, in reading lessons.

The approach outlined in these modules was developed by McCracken and McCracken (1982). It has been very useful in mother tongue literacy contexts in Papua New Guinea.

Here are the benefits of teaching phonics through writing:

• It is a very simple method of teaching phonics.
• Lay teachers can use this method easily.
• It requires a minimum of materials.
• It requires only five minutes a day.
• Writing helps learners concentrate on sound-symbol correspondences.

McCracken and McCracken explain the writing lesson as follows:

"We consider phonics a spelling skill used when writing, so we begin phonics by beginning spelling and writing. We teach children

• the name of the letter
• the sound the letter represents
• the way the letter is written, and
• the way the phoneme is made within the mouth, the way it feels." (McCracken and McCracken 1982:10)

Here are the materials needed for teaching phonics through writing:

• Chalkboard for the teacher, chalk

• Something on which and with which learners can write

  • Chalkboard, chalk
  • Paper, pencil

Here are some guidelines to follow when you teach phonics through writing:

• Do the spelling lesson quickly, in about five minutes a day.

• Have the learners write every day in other activities besides the writing lesson. Writing activities help them use and reinforce what they are learning in the "formal" lessons.

  See:	Developing writing skills

1. Teach learners to listen to and write the first letters.
2. Teach learners to listen to and write sequences of sounds.
3. Teach learners to write whole words.

• Task module: How to teach phonics through writing
• In task module: Developing spelling skills
• In task module: Developing literacy skills, by Martha A. Lane (contributor), Delle P. Matthews (contributor), Leah B. Walter (contributor), Glenys Waters (contributor), Anne Klaassens (editor), and Trudy K. Stewart (editor, contributor)
• In task module: Teaching people to read and write, by Carole P. Spaeth (compiler)
• In task module: Implementing a literacy program, by Carole P. Spaeth (compiler)
• In modular book: Implement a literacy program, by Carole P. Spaeth (compiler) and Leah B. Walter (compiler)
• In bookshelf: Literacy

This page is an extract from the LinguaLinks Library, Version 4.0, published on CD-ROM by SIL International, 1999. [Ordering information.]

Page content last modified: 26 August 1999

© 1999 SIL International