What signals the need for phonics instruction?
If your reader demonstrates two or more of the following: • Reluctance to read • Low scores on reading tests • Skips or adds words • Misreads or guesses • Reverses and transposes letters Examples: confused b and d or “no” for “on”. • Can’t unlock long words • Doesn’t read smoothly; lacks fluency • Doesn’t observe punctuation • Doesn’t understand what has been read If your speller demonstrates difficulty in these categories: • Poor handwriting • Doesn’t observe punctuation or capitalization • Doesn’t know the rules and structure of language or isn’t applying the rules. Example: • black spelled as blak; pink spelled as pinck; • catch spelled as cach; steep spelled as step; • spill spelled as spil; trimming spelled as triming • Difficulty sequencing sounds. Example: • form spelled as from • left spelled as felt • chart spelled as chrat • was spelled as saw • stick spelled as sick • Inaccurate sound discrimination.
