Level 1 Phonics-Based Reading: Letter Sounds, Decoding, Blending, & Segmenting

🌟 This class focuses on phonics, phonemic awareness, letter sounds, blends, segmenting, decoding, CVC words, and other early reading skills.

This class is taught using the Phono-Graphix method of reading instruction which is very similar to Orton Gillingham. This is a phonics-based approach that focuses on the sound-to-symbol relationship students need to master in order to become strong readers and spellers. 

📖 The Phono-Graphix reading method has been proven 98% effective at addressing reading problems at any age or ability level. Phono-Graphix is research-based, developmentally appropriate, simple, concrete, and affordable. This program addresses the fundamental skills of decoding, encoding, auditory processing, code knowledge, and sequencing.

Level 1 is for learners who do not yet know all the sounds of the letters in the alphabet. They will learn all the sounds and how to blend them together to make Consonant-Vowel-Consonant (CVC) words. Students will also learn to segment the sounds in order to spell the words they are learning to read. 

👉🏻The "advanced code" will be lightly introduced in Level 1 with some CVC words that have two letters that represent one sound like in "bell", and "buzz".  The "advanced code" which will be taught intensively in higher levels in the Phono-graphix program, refers to any time two or more letters represent one sound. (When we see the two l's in "bell", we only make one /l/ sound. This also refers to vowel teams, and digraphs, but also includes three and four-letter spellings of one sound like the -igh in "right" and -ough in “bought".

Students will use their own letter tiles or the Google Jamboard (interactive whiteboard) provided to follow the lessons. PDF letter tiles will be provided but need to be printed and cut apart by an adult before the class begins.

Word lists are provided in a pdf format for families to use in order to support their learners. 

During each class meeting, learners will be introduced to the correct pronunciation of all the consonant and vowel sounds we'll be working with for the week. Students will practice identifying, blending, and segmenting sounds in CVC (Consonant-Vowel-Consonant) words. Learners will use a wipe-off board and marker or pencil and paper to "map" the sounds on paper to write words. 

During the third class meeting, learners will have the opportunity to read sentences with the words they've mastered over the week. Every learner will have an opportunity to read and participate, however, they also have the option to pass. Please communicate the level of participation you expect from your child to the teacher before class. Participation at one's own comfort level is respected.

Visual aids, props, intermittent games, and slides will be used. Please be advised that this class uses a multi-sensory approach to learning to read, however, singing is NOT an activity used in this class. The main focus of the class is for students to learn reading skills, the sounds of the letters, experience reading and spelling CVC words, and gain confidence in reading sentences with CVC words.

📝Word lists used in this class make great spelling lists. Once this level is completed, learners will be ready to enroll in my 1st-grade spelling class. 

After completing this four-week class, learners are encouraged to continue with the Phono-graphix course by enrolling in Levels 2-4.

🗓Topic schedule:
Week 1-Fat,Cat, Sat words. Consonant sounds: f, t, s, m, h, p, c   Vowels: Short A and Short O
Week 2-Bug on Jug words  Consonant sounds: g, j, d, b, r   Vowels: Short U and Short I
Week 3-Ben Bun words  Consonant sounds:  n, w, l, z, v    Vowels: Short E and review of A, O, U, I
Week 4-Words with mixed combinations of the above sounds, CVC word reading, and sentence reading practice.

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🌟 Level 2 is for learners who have completed Level 1 or already know the sounds of the letters and are starting to blend and segment. This level features VCC (Vowel-Consonant-Consonant) words as well as CCVC (Consonant-Consonant-Vowel-Consonant) and CVCC (Consonant-Vowel-Consonant-Consonant) words. Examples: VCC=and, CCVC=trip, CVCC=fast.  Level 2 also addresses phoneme manipulation which is necessary when learners see a familiar word but one letter is different. This allows students to see the word “cot” and only change the middle sound of a familiar word like “cat” to read the word without having to sound it all out from the beginning. (4-week class)

🌟 Level 3 is for learners who have mastered the blending, segmenting, and phoneme manipulation of Level 2 words and are ready to learn the “advanced code” as explained above. Learners do not need to complete Levels 1 and 2 before taking Level 3 if the family is confident they can read CVC, VCC, CCVC, and CVCC words proficiently.

In Level 3, students will learn digraphs like sh, th, ch, ck, wh, ph, gh, etc. As well as vowel teams like ea, ou, au, ai, oi, etc. They will also learn combinations of vowels and consonants that represent one sound like -igh, -aigh, -ough, -eigh, etc. (15 week class)

🌟Level 4 is for learners who have mastered the advanced code and are ready for attacking multi-syllable words. A specific process is taught for breaking longer words down into smaller chunks to make them easier to read and spell. (8 week class)

Note: This method teaches students to use “chunks” to sound out long words. A “chunk” is similar to syllables in that each chunk includes one vowel sound but I do not refer to them as syllables as we do not follow strict syllable rules to accomplish the task. Breaking words into syllables between two letters that represent one sound like in pil-low causes confusion for emerging readers who think they need to make two separate /l/ sounds. The sound goes into one chunk or the other, not both. Breaking words into syllables like in the example above is now an obsolete practice due to technology wrapping words from the end of one line, to the beginning of the next. 

Level 4 Continues with instruction in “special endings”. The Phono-graphix program refers to special endings as chunks that normally occur at the ends of words that don’t sound out correctly like: -tion, -sion, -cious, -xious, -sure, -sia. Knowing these special endings is like knowing an irresistible shortcut for sounding out longer words. Knowing that the -tion in “convention” sounds like /shun/ saves students all the time of trying to sound out /t/, /i/, /o/, /n/ when those sounds don’t blend together to make /shun/ as pronounced in the word. 

📝 After completing Levels 1-4, I recommend students take my “Daily Skills Practice with Reading, Spelling, and Grammar” in order to apply and practice all the reading skills and the word attack strategies learned in this series of classes. The “Daily Skills Practice with Reading, Spelling, and Grammar” class is offered in an ongoing-live format, as well as a flex class. If you do not see a time /day listed for this class that fits your needs, please reach out to me as I may be able to open another time slot, or know of a spot coming available soon. This is my most popular class and I am more than happy to accommodate new learners.

phonics, phonemic awareness, multi-sensory, blending, segmenting, phoneme manipulation, auditory processing, spelling, decoding