Matt Burns discusses the importance of phonemic awareness in reading instruction. Phonemic awareness is an outcome of skilled reading, not a precursor, and it has a reciprocal relationship with reading. Matt also emphasizes the need to focus on decoding skills in second, third, and fourth grade, rather than solely on phonemic awareness. Matt provides practical takeaways for teachers and recommends additional resources for learning about phonemic awareness.
Takeaways
- Phonemic awareness is an outcome of skilled reading, not a precursor.
- Phonemic awareness and reading have a reciprocal relationship.
- Decoding skills are a strong predictor of reading success.
- Nonsense word fluency assessments can be beneficial for assessing decoding skills.
- Avoid teaching nonsense words and focus on decoding instead.
Resources
We answer your questions about teaching reading in The Literacy 50-A Q&A Handbook for Teachers: Real-World Answers to Questions About Reading That Keep You Up at Night.
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