A Case for Phonics

Many years ago, I became a literacy volunteer. I was trained to become a literacy volunteer through LVMPC, Literacy Volunteers of Monongalia and Preston Counties; they are located in West Virginia.

We were taught to work with students, based on their interests, a big plus. We would get books, reading materials based on the student's interest. We would help them to read unfamiliar words, along with the words they already knew. Phonics was not really part of their protocol. I did see some progress, but not a lot.

I worked with various students over a course of around six years. The students didn't seem as interested in long term learning. Some of the students were referred by other types of agencies.

Eventually, I decided to go out on my own. I got various referrals about adults, that wanted one on one literacy tutoring, that did not come through an agency.

Right off, the lessons proceeded differently. These students had more questions.

One student in particular, past her intake quiz with flying colors. I told her that she was reading fine, and did not need additional lessons. She then explained that she knew lots of words, and was only good at reading words that she recognized. She had an amazing sight vocabulary for reading. She however didn't have any tools for figuring out a 'new' word. She asked to receive lessons. I realized, I needed a different approach.

I started incorporating phonics into the lesson plans. Some students started asking, when does this rule apply and when does that rule apply.

I started making worksheets and purchasing worksheets to help reinforce what I was teaching them, to work on throughout the week in between the lessons.

The students started learning and applying what they were learning. They stuck with it. One student commented that one of her grandkids told her she was talking differently. She had learned knew words to communicate with as well as was able to read more words.

I worked with four of my students for a number of years, and they all improved greatly. When it was coming to an end, I started writing down what I had been teaching them, which became The Phonics Guide: A Guide to Reading and Spelling Patterns.

It is an alphabetical listing of many common spelling patterns, so that students and even teachers and tutors, can easily look up a common spelling pattern, and get guidance on the pronunciation of that spelling pattern. The book can be purchased on Amazon.

The photo is by the author.

The Phonics Guide: A Guide to Reading and Spelling Patterns, Check price.

Literacy Volunteers may have new and different protocols now, this article is based on the experiences that I had over fifteen years ago. If you have new information on their current protocal, you are welcome to share.

Cheryl Paton

Purpose Uses of The Phonics Guide

When I was a literacy tutor for adults, I had wanted a go to phonics guide that I could easily refer to - to find out what the common letter patterns for any certain letter sound. I had wanted to know what all the different patterns were that I should cover for my students. My students that were advancing also started asking about particular letter patterns and in which cases did they applied. There wasn't any book like it around at the time, so I started writing it all down, alphabetically.

After I wrote it, I realized that it could be a resource book for literacy students as well as a reference book for tutors. Students could look up letter patterns and combinations, alphabetically, to help them review what they were learning. Tutors could look up common patterns to make sure that they covered them all in their lessons.

For both the tutor and the student, it serves as a reference guide, though it may be used differently by both.

For the tutor:
It serves as a teaching resource or reference guide. For instance; how many l blends are there and what are they. They can easily find this under the letter L. The same goes for R blends, etc.? Many teachers may already know this, but for a literacy tutor that did not have a teaching background, this could be a great help. I had started out as a Literacy Volunteer, and this type of training was not given.

For the student:
It serves as reinforcement, like a dictionary would. It is there as a resource for students not sure of a particular pattern; they can easily find it alphabetically. The illustrations will help to them jog their memory. They can also use the book to help them review. They can refer to a particular section, and create words and or sentences based on a particular blend, etc. They can also start to create new words, on their own, that aren't listed in the book.

This is a resource that can be used by both. The Phonics Guide: A guide to reading and spelling patterns. Check price on Amazon.

Cheryl Paton

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What are some different ways of spelling the long sound of A?

There are several ways of spelling the long sound of A.

The letter A is a vowel. A by itself can be pronounced as long a, such as, I will go on a hike. The letter a is also a word. The only other letter that is also a vowel and a word, is the letter i.

AI
A common letter pattern for long a, is the letter a, followed by a consonant, followed by a silent e; such as cake, made, grapes, and mate.

The letter pattern AI is also another common spelling for long A; such as train, aim, paid, and grain.

The AI pattern is found in the middle of the syllable or single syllable word.

An exception for the sound is found in the word said, the AI pattern represents the sound of short E in the word said.

Keep in mind that when the AI pattern is immediately followed by the letter R, that the sound is R-controlled. The pattern AIR is also a word when used by itself. It also represents the same sound when used as part of other AIR words, as in hair and fair.

AY
AY is another long A pattern, as in lay, play, stay. and gray.

AY is used mainly at the end of the word or syllable. An exception to this is the word crayon where the A is actually at the end of the first syllable and the Y is the first letter of the next syllable.

EA
EA represents a variety of sounds, one of them is long A, as in break, steak, and great. The EA pattern for long A is found in the middle of the syllable.

EI
The letters EI also represent the sound of long A, as in vein, weigh, weight, and neighbor.

The EI pattern is found in the middle of the syllable

EY
EY can also represent the sound of long A, as in prey and they. EY also represents long E, as in the word, key.

The EY pattern for long A is found at the end of the word or syllable.

You can find this type of information, and more, in The Phonics Guide. If you have found this information helpful, or know someone who would, then you and/or they would probably benefit from reading The Phonics Guide: A guide to reading and spelling patterns. The text link will take you to Amazon where you can order it.

It is not a lesson book, but a reference book, guide, that one can refer to, to look up common spelling patterns, alphabetically.

Cheryl Paton

Cheryl Paton was a literacy tutor for over 12 years. She wrote The Phonics Guide based on the types of questions her adult literacy students were asking her. Cheryl receives income for qualifying items purchased through links on this page.