Learning to decode words and increase the automaticity of word recognition is a very complex and difficult process. Children cannot learn phonics and phonemic awareness with the flip of a switch; it takes hard work and appropriate assistance from people such as teachers. There are many ways to teach phonics and coach children's development of phonemic awareness, many of which can be challenging and fun as well. It's important to understand where your students are in their development of these skills, and choose activities and support on their level. Activities that I like for young children include rhyming games and word play in order to get them thinking about the different sounds different words make. More complex and sophisticated activities, such as Guess the covered word and Making words (Cunningham & Allington, 2011), can be used for children who are a little older and further along in their process of learning to decode words. Games like Hangman and story of the day activities can also help children with their phonemic awareness and phonics. Questions I encourage you to consider are how can you figure out where your students are in this developmental process? and What are some specific ways you can coach or teach their continued development?
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