The Alphabetic Principle: An Introduction (full show notes here)

The Alphabetic Principle

What is it?:

• Having knowledge of letters and the sounds that make up those letters.
• Rollanda E. O'Connor states that the Alphabetic Principle is "how phonemic awareness and knowledge of letter/sound correspondences come together in the practical application of reading and spelling."

Why is it important?:

• With knowledge of the Alphabetic Principle, students are able to decode words they see into words they can read. They are able to realize that any word that we say can be broken up into letters and groups of letters from the alphabet. Therefore, when they have a full grasp of the alphabet, they have the ability to encode (write and spell) and decode (read).
• Through phonemic awareness, students break down sound orally and later on apply it to print.
• Teachers may assume that phonemic awareness, along with the alphabetic principle, would lead directly to reading and spelling. Unfortunately, this isn't always true.
• Students sometimes have a difficult time bridging the gap between the two.
• Students have difficulty understanding that letters and letter patterns represent spoken language.

The Scoop for Teachers:

• Because of this struggle, we must establish the Alphabetic Principle as early as possible.
• Students do not in fact have to learn all the letter names and sounds before reading words. They only need a handful of letters and sounds and they can begin to blend and segment these phonemes before instruction can begin.
• We begin this instruction through assessments.

Additional Resources & References:

FREE Resources:

FREE Short Vowel Intensive

FREE Find It! Dot It!

FREE Spin It, Say It, Write It

Letter Sound Resources:

Letter Sound Bundle

Letter Name and Sound Sorts

Letter Name Recognition

References:

10 Simple Letter Sound Recognition Activities

Teacher Prerequisites for Teaching Letter Sounds

Making Letter Sounds Stick

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