Hi parents!
It’s around the bend where your little kindergartener will be entering a formal school or when you still fret if your young primary schooler has yet to master a good reading skill for his or her level. Here we want to share the benefits that can be reaped from using this phonics approach to learning how to read but more specifically using the embedded phonics strategy for your primary schooler.
What is the definition of Embedded Phonics?
Embedded phonics is a type of indirect phonics instruction that teaches young school children to read during actual reading experiences in order to learn words and phrases in context of the reader or story although still the phonics way but more incidentally. So, only when the teacher notices that a student is struggling to read a particular word will he lend some guidance. Letter-sound relationships are taught only as part of sight word reading.
Since the sequence of letter-sounds is not prescribed and sequenced, but determined by whatever words are encountered in text, many consider the program as not systematic.
Recommendation
Embedded phonics should supplement other explicit phonics approach of ‘synthetic phonics’ which is widely regarded as the superior approach to teaching reading. Nonetheless, embedded phonics continues to have merit for teaching reading and occurs regularly in primary schools around the world including Singapore.
But why embedded phonics then?
The Benefits of Embedded Phonics for Primary School Students
The benefits of embedded phonics for primary school children are numerous. Here are some of them:
A Foundation for Future Reading and Writing Literacy
A significant advantage of embedded phonics is that it promotes a more holistic approach to language learning. While phonics focuses on the relationship between letters and sounds, embedded phonics also includes aspects of language such as vocabulary, comprehension, inferencing and narrative skills. For primary schoolers, this comprehensive approach benefits them as it supports broader language development and lays a solid foundation for future literacy skills.
Supports Language Diversity
In today’s multicultural and multilingual societies, embedded phonics is especially beneficial as it can be adapted to support language diversity. For school children who speak multiple languages or come from diverse linguistic backgrounds, this method allows for a more inclusive approach to reading and language development, acknowledging and integrating their unique linguistic experiences due to its high adaptability to the needs and interests of the child.
Contextualized Learning
Embedded phonics provides primary students with opportunities to learn within contexts. Here we teach comprehension strategies that integrate phonics skills, such as identifying context clues and using word analysis to infer meanings and to improve our students’ understanding of school or subject texts like solving math story sums and understanding science concepts. This form of phonics being most contextualized would give students maximum time practicing reading. In fact, most 21st Century learning theories emphasize the value of contextualized learning for memory recall and also, that it is a more interactive technique.
Great for Fluency Practice
Many educators do dismiss the embedded approach. However, after school children have received direct instruction (that is, through the synthetic method), students need a lot of immersion and time with texts to practice. This is where the embedded method works best. We use a variety of materials to expand our kids practice sessions, such as, practicing decoding multisyllabic words, unfamiliar vocabulary and specialized terminology in school subjects such as Social Studies and Science.
Student-centered Approach which can Focus on Student Weaknesses
Allowing for more flexibility and adaptability to individual student need s, this strategy can help educators to assess and identify each student’s weaknesses. While a student is developing his reading skills, he will have some natural strengths and weaknesses. Sitting down with a student and teaching based on areas of need is a great way to plug important gaps in a student’s knowledge.
For my primary school kids, I leave them with recommended books from our center library, for them to read before and after classes and get them to share their responses regarding the books they have read. I ask them what interesting words or phrases they have encountered, any difficult ones and what they have gained or not gained from reading them.
Preparation for Academic Success
By fostering a love for reading and instilling strong phonics skills and literacy abilities, embedded phonics can help our kids to develop a positive attitude towards reading and learning. A love for reading not only enhances academic success but also promotes lifelong learning habits that can benefit children throughout their academic journey and beyond.
Also, a robust vocabulary is essential for academic success as it allows our students to comprehend complex texts, communicate effectively, and engage with academic content across various subjects.
Case-studies on Intervention
In certain primary schools, pupils are taught methods and strategies to help improve their use of phonics to read words whilst being provided with extensive opportunities to read and write meaningful text.
a) What was the age of the pupils involved? The pupils involved are aged 8-10 years
b) What is the likely impact? The study found that pupils made progress in:
- word attack skills;
- word identification;
- word decoding;
- accuracy of phonemic decoding (sounding out words);
- spelling.
This is true especially with students who have particularly weak reading skills and are likely to make the most progress. The study found that the pupils showed large improvements in their generalised reading skills and improved from pre-intervention testing.
Typical Embedded Phonics Lessons in Primary Schools
- Sight word practice (5-10 minutes). The pupils practise pronouncing words, using word games or word cards. This could involve a short list of new words, or a longer list of words the pupil has already seen.
- Spelling (5 minutes). The pupils practise spelling both sight words and words that can be spelled phonemically.
- Reading of a passage or short story (10-15 minutes). The pupils first read silently while identifying and discussing any difficult words. The pupils then read it again out loud demonstrating their fluency and accuracy.
- Writing activities using sight words (15 minutes). The teachers ask the pupils to compose and write full sentences that contain words from their list of sight words. The emphasis is on understanding the meaning of the word, using the word appropriately within the sentence, and spelling it accurately.
Conclusion
The idea of teaching children phonics during authentic learning sessions may show advantages such as a more conceptualized learning or a more student-centered approach. Yet, we recommend that educators and parents employ this approach during reading sessions to help support children’s learning. We believe and it is widely accepted that embedded phonics should be used as an add-on to other methods rather than in isolation.
Call to Action on the Part of Parents
To determine which approach your child’s school is using, you can ask your child’s teacher. He or she should be able to provide you with information about the school’s reading curriculum and instructional approach. You can also look for clues in your child’s homework
assignments and classroom materials.
For example, if your child is bringing home decodable books that focus on specific phonics patterns, the school may be using a synthetic phonics approach. If your child is reading authentic texts and engaging in discussions about the meaning of the text, the school may be using an embedded phonics approach. Weigh the two approaches and see where you child stands and what kind of supplementary methods and resources should you adapt.
More Reading Resources
If you have kid in preschool, learn more about the benefits of embedded phonics for preschoolers
If you have kid in kindergarten, learn more about the benefits of embedded phonics for kindergarteners