Phonics, Phonemic Awareness, and Word Analysis for Teachers An Interactive Tutorial

Preface This edition marks the beginning of a new author team for this classic work. As we wrote this edition, we kept the best of the past and we added important new areas: phonological and phonemic awareness, onset and rime patterns, context, sight word knowledge, and insights made possible by knowing developmental spelling phases. Our purpose in this edition is to provide practical information about phonemic awareness, phonics, and word analysis for preservice teacher education students and for those in-service teachers who are updating their knowledge or preparing for examinations. This self-paced tutorial allows students to learn the important aspects of phonics, phonemic awareness, and word analysis independently. As students complete their reading, they can check their understanding with "self-checks" at the end of each chapter and two separate posttests at the end of the book. Acquiring the insights necessary for effective reading instruction requires extensive reading, study, and practice. The course time normally needed for teaching content about phonemic awareness, phonics, and word analysis included here can instead be devoted to other material. Most students go through this text on their own and then demonstrate their knowledge by passing an exam on its contents. While we focus on phonics, phonemic awareness, and word analysis in this book, it is important to be clear about the relationship between word analysis strategies and meaning construction. Meaning must be the focus of all reading, and word analysis should be viewed as one of many strategies necessary for constructing meaning from printed language. We believe that word analysis strategies are important in a balanced program of reading, especially in the early stages, but it is also important to keep in mind that readers bring meaning to their texts as they decode the meaning in printed materials. We feel that teachers need information about a wide range of word analysis strategies: phonological and phonemic awareness, onset and rime patterns, phonic generalizations with high utility, context use, sight word knowledge, developmental spelling phases, morphemic and structural analysis, and using a dictionary. In learning to read, children must acquire effective strategies for recognizing unfamiliar words. Each child, however, is an individual. No single strategy will meet the needs of every child in a classroom. We believe that children learn best when they have an insightful teacher who is capable of making professional judgments about what each child requires. We also believe that the information in this text will help you to develop the insights about word analysis that are so critical to children starting off successfully on their reading journeys. After you are familiar with the content presented here, we recommend that you study procedures and materials for teaching phonics, phonemic awareness, and word analysis to students. We also recommend that you investigate diagnostic instruments that assess learners' application of reading strategies and identify the instructional needs of individuals. We recommend, too, that you keep abreast of research on this topic in order to make the best decisions about what to teach your students. CHANGES IN THIS EDITION In this edition, we have made a number of additions, including completely new chapters on: phonological awareness and phonemic awareness onset and rime context sight words developmental spelling patterns We have also completely revised previous chapters, including the division of the phonics chapter into separate chapters on consonants and vowels. Each chapter now has a review section. We have also added two final posttests for your use. You may use one as a pretest before beginning the book or use the second posttest to provide you with an additional review experience. ACKNOWLEDGMENTSWilson, Robert M. is the author of 'Phonics, Phonemic Awareness, and Word Analysis for Teachers An Interactive Tutorial' with ISBN 9780130181718 and ISBN 0130181714.