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NJRF home > The 6 Essentials

Phonics: Understanding the relationships between written letters and spoken sounds.
Phonics instruction teaches children the relationships between the letters (graphemes) of written language and the individual sounds (phonemes) of spoken language. The goal of phonics instruction is to help children learn and use the alphabetic principle. Children who have attained an understanding of this know that there is a predictable relationship between the phonemes and the graphemes and thus are able to "sound out" words they have not encountered before... (continue reading from New Jersey's Reading First Program Grant Application).

More Reading on this Topic:
The Classroom - Audio! Vowel Sound Essentials from Tampareads.com (uses RealPlayer)

Phonics instruction, from Put Reading First, from The National Institute for Literacy (NIFL). Overview of sounds, instruction, evaluation of programs, and more.

Assessment

Phonemic Awareness Assessment Tools, from the Los Angeles County Office of Education. Examples of assessments for beginning, final and blended sounds.

For the Parent

How Parents Can Assist with Phonics K-2 from the Irvine Unified School District, CA. Quick and easy tips.