Phonics They Use Words for Reading and Writing

This long-standing bestseller is a classic in the field, used by both pre-service and practicing teachers because it offers a collection of strategies and hands-on activities that provide a framework for teaching phonics. Written by an outstanding scholar, Phonics They Useseamlessly weaves together the complex and varied strategic approaches needed to help students develop reading and writing skills. Building on previous editions, it focuses on how students use phonics to read and write, not just how much phonics a student knows. Each chapter is filled with developmentally appropriate activities that help students with fluency, rhyme-based decoding, spelling, and more. This edition includes three chapters on assessment, more suggestions for adapting activities for English language learners, and new phonics interventions for older struggling readers. New to the Sixth Edition: A new chapters on Assessment and Differentiation of Early Reading Concepts (Chapter 5), Fluency Assessment and Interventions (Chapter 8), and Phonics Assessment, Coaching and Interventions (Chapter 13) More suggestions For English Language Learnersshow how teachers have adapted the Phonics They Useactivities to meet the needs of their students who are learning English. Phonics interventions for older struggling readers focus on activities such as "Brand Name Phonics," "The Wheel," and "Mystery Word Match" to help older students learn basic phonics skills. Updated research, materials, and technology (Chapter 14)provides the latest findings on phonics and its impact on reading and writing.

 Patricia Cunningham grew up in Rhode Island. For seven years, after graduating from The University of Rhode Island, she taught a variety of elementary grades in Florida and Indiana. She received her Ph. D in Reading Education from the University Of  Georgia in 1974.  After teaching at Ohio University and serving as Director of Reading for Alamance Co., North Carolina Schools, she came to Wake Forest University to direct the Elementary Education program in 1978. Pat’s particular interest has always been in finding alternative ways to teach children for whom learning to read is difficult. Reading and Writing in Elementary Classrooms, first published in 1978, is currently in its fourth edition. In 1991, She published Phonics they Use:  Words for Reading and Writing, which is currently available in its fourth edition. Along with Richard Allington, She published Classrooms that Work and Schools that Work. Along with Dorothy Hall, she developed the Four Blocks Literacy framework, which is currently used as the balanced literacy framework in thousand of classrooms throughout the country. She and Dorothy Hall are co-directors of the Four Blocks Literacy Center, which is housed at Wake Forest University.

PART ONE: BUILDING THE FOUNDATION FOR PHONICS THEY CAN USE

1.     Early Reading and Writing Activities

2.     Phonological and Phonemic Awareness

3.     Concrete Words, Letter Names, and Sounds

4.     Making Words in Kindergarten

5.     Early Reading Strategies: Assessment and Differentiation

 

PART TWO: FLUENCY

6.     Fluency Activities

7.     High-Frequency Words

8.     Fluency: Assessment and Interventions

 

PART THREE: USING PHONICS AND SPELLING PATTERNS

9.     Making Words

10.  Rhyme-Based Decoding and Spelling Activities

11.  Decoding and Spelling Big Words

12.  Making Words in Upper Grades

13.  Phonics Assessment, Coaching and Interventions

 

PART FOUR: RESEARCH AND TERMINOLOGY

14.  The Theory and the Research—The Why Underlying the How

15.  Phonics Terminology for Teachers