Literacy Matters - Winter 2020

mistake or misplace, c) dis- as in dislike or disagree, or d) re- as in reread or replace. Among common suffixes in early grade reading materials are a) -ful as in joyful or harmful, b) -ment as in employment or basement, or c) -able as in breakable or useable. Specifics of any of these basic nine areas of phonics concepts can be subject to a screening for samples in an authentic text and subsequently the focus of pre, during, and post reading practices. Next, the analysis chart and its implementation are introduced. Analysis Tool to Identify Relevant Phonics Concepts in Literature Figure 1 shows the phonics concept analysis chart designed by the author to identify 2-3 relevant phonics patterns that appear at least five times in the selected reading source to allow for repeated exposure to a phonics concept. However, the number of minimum appearance of a phonics pattern may vary depending on howmany words are in a literature source overall. Kindergarten readings or poems may be so short that only 3-5 representations of a specific phonics pattern can be found. Additionally 2-3 differently looking and sounding irregular words can be recorded and taught in the context of the authentic piece of literature. Since teachers are always under time pressure, it is advised to set a reasonable 10-15-minute time limit for such a search even if the authentic reading source contains more examples. The author completed the following example in this time frame. To demonstrate how content area topics can link with ACL, a common history and cultural topic with expressive imagery was chosen.

vowels in open syllables as in she or ta.ble , 2) single vowels in closed syllables as in shed or win.ter , 3) single vowels with silent E at the end as in came or a.lone , 4) single vowels controlled by letter R as in shirt or re.turn , 5) single vowels muffled and unidentifiable in unaccented syllables as in wood.en or a.go , 6) Vowel teams as in train or bright , and 7) Consonant-le patterns in words such as ca.ble or noo.dle . 7. Word division rules that guide learners how to divide multi- syllable words into syllables to read one at a time and then blend all together into the complete word contain six subtypes: (1) dividing syllables with even numbers of consonants (C) between vowels (V) such as (VC.CV) as in den.tist or in.vent, (2) dividing syllables with an uneven number of consonants between vowels (V.CV) as in mu.sic, la.zy or ro.ta.tion, or as (VC.V) as in bas.ket or cas.cade; (3) dividing syllables between vowels in words of Greek/Latin decent as in the.ater, or muse. um; (4) dividing compound words between its components as in house.hold or day.dream, (5) dividing syllables between prefix, root or suffix components as in in.dent.ing, and lastly dividing a word that contains a consonant-le pattern so that that part always remains undivided as in puz.zle or tem.ple. 8. Spelling Rules most relevant for elementary English Language Arts instruction are (1) the FLOSS Rule according to which only {f}, {l}, {s} and sometimes {z} are doubled after a single short vowel in words such as cliff or ex.press ; (2) the Change {y} to {i} Rule according to which a single {y} in a final syllable only remains in the base word if the suffix begins with an {i} as in fly.ing. If the

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suffix does not begin with an {i}, {y} leaves the base word and letter {i} steps in for it as in cry vs. cried; (3) the 1-2-3 Consonant Doubling Rule when a suffix beginning with a vowel is added to a one-syllable base word that carries a single short vowel as in run/runs vs . runner/ running; (4) keeping or dropping final silent E when a suffix is added as in insane. ly vs. lik(e)ing; (5) Single short vowel signals that only allow a single short vowel in front of them such as {-ck} as in stick or back.pack, {-dge} as in bridge or lodge, {-vowel + ng} as in bring.ing or lungs, and {-vowel + nk} as in think or flunk; (6) Special jobs of final silent E such as a) keeping the single vowel long as in wave, b) keeping {g} soft in stage, purge or oblige, c) keeping {c} soft in rice or peace, and d) signaling that {s) is part of the root of a word and not a plural as in nurse or please.

A. Background information: ACL reference

Theis Raven, M. (2002). Mercedes and the Chocolate Pilot. A true story of the Berlin Airlift that dropped from the sky. Chelsea, MI: Sleeping Bear Press.

Grades:

3-5

Reading level

Lexile: 850L; Guided Reading S; DRA: 40

Topics

European History: Berlin 1948 during Russian blockade and implementation of American Marshall Plan to drop food packages for citizens of Berlin. True event; Other themes: importance of writing, perseverance, compassion, hope, poverty, German- American cultural differences and similarities

B. Phonics content: Phonics concepts

Examples

Concept 1: Silent E- or Magic E

a-e: block.ade, came, late, made, make, planes, take i-e: in.side, nice, nine, like, life, prize, time, white, write o-e: close(d), home, hopefully, whole One syllable: and, as, at, back, hand, had, lamp, last, sad, that Multi-syllable: af.ter, be.gan, can.dy, can.not, cap ture, hap.py, land.ing, shad.ow, trans.late One syllable: cloud, house, ground, loud, out, rounds, sound Common ones: building, busy, canal, chocolate, handkerchiefs Also Tier 3 words: airlift, soldier, engine, bombs, colonel

Concept 2: Short A

Concept 3: ou (‘out’sound)

9. Inflections/Affixes: South Carolina College and Career Standards (SCDE, 2015) include the explicit instruction of common prefixes and suffixes that are also referred to as inflections. While not specified explicitly, common affixes to look for in authentic reading materials as early as first grade are prefixes such as a) un- as in unsafe or unknown, b) mis- as in

Irregular words (select 2 different looking and sounding ones) Unique feature s (i.e., homonyms, idioms, contractions, tier 2 or 3 vocabulary, proper nouns)

Tier 3 vocabulary: airlift, bomb, soldier, Foreign words: Frau, Tempelhof, Berlin Proper nouns: Russian, Raisinbombers, Gail Halvorsen, Mercedes, Simon

Figure 1 Completed Phonics Analysis Chart

| 14 | Literacy Matters | Volume 20 • Winter 2020 | scira.org

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