Science of Reading Phonics Routines

Science of Reading Phonics Instructional Routines

Routine 1: Phonemic Awareness Warm-Up (5 minutes daily)

Elkonin Boxes (Sound Boxes): 1. Give students a strip with 3-4 boxes 2. Say a CVC word (e.g., "dog") 3. Students repeat and segment sounds 4. Push a token into each box for each sound: /d/ - /o/ - /g/ 5. Practice with 5-7 words daily

Blending Drill: 1. Say segmented sounds: "/c/ - /a/ - /t/" 2. Students blend to say whole word: "cat" 3. Use hand motions (tap shoulder, elbow, wrist, then slide to blend)

Routine 2: Explicit Phonics Lesson (30-40 minutes)

Step 1: Phonemic Awareness Warm-Up (5 min) - Oral blending and segmenting practice

Step 2: Introduce New Pattern (5-7 min) - State pattern explicitly: "Today we learn 'oa' says /ō/" - Show grapheme, say phoneme - Provide keyword: "When you see o-a together, say /ō/ like in 'boat'"

Step 3: Blending Practice (10 min) - Model blending with 3-5 new words - Practice with decodable word lists (12-15 words) - Continuous blending: "/m/—/oa/—/t/... moat"

Step 4: Word Reading (5-7 min) - Mixed review: new pattern + previously taught patterns - Include high-frequency words with the pattern

Step 5: Connected Text Reading (10 min) - Decodable text featuring target pattern - Students read aloud with teacher monitoring - Error correction: point to word, prompt student to sound it out

Step 6: Dictation/Encoding (5 min) - Teacher says word, students write it - Include words with new pattern - "Write 'boat.' /b/ /ō/ /t/. What letters?"

Routine 3: Phoneme-Grapheme Mapping (K-3)

1. Say the word: Teacher says "cat" clearly
2. Tap the sounds: Students tap c-a-t (3 taps)
3. Map the graphemes: Write each sound in a box: |c|a|t|
4. Blend and read: Sweep finger across, blend sounds, read word
5. Practice: Repeat with 5-7 words daily (5 minutes)

Routine 4: Decodable Text Repeated Reading

1. Preview: Introduce 3-4 target words from text
2. Decode together: Choral read first paragraph, model decoding
3. Partner read: Students read in pairs (3 min), partner corrects errors
4. Timed read: Individual read for 1 minute, count correct words
5. Comprehension check: Ask 2 literal questions

Routine 5: Morphological Awareness (Grades 4-12)

For students who can decode single syllables but struggle with academic vocabulary:

1. Teach the morpheme: Introduce prefix/suffix (e.g., "un-" means "not")
2. Generate examples: Unhappy, unsafe, unkind (student-generated)
3. Apply in context: Find "un-" words in grade-level text
4. Break and define: Use word sum: un + happy = not happy
5. Spiral review: Keep morpheme wall, add 2 per week

Fluency Building Routines

Choral Reading: - Teacher reads with expression - Class reads together with teacher - Builds confidence, models prosody

Echo Reading: - Teacher reads sentence - Class repeats, mimicking prosody - Gradually release to student-led

Partner Fluency: 1. Stronger reader reads first while partner follows 2. Partner gives praise and one tip 3. Switch roles 4. Read together in unison

Repeated Reading: - Same text read multiple times - Builds automaticity - Track words correct per minute (WCPM)

Key Principles

• Explicit: Tell students exactly what sound a letter makes
• Systematic: Follow a scope and sequence
• Cumulative: Review previously taught patterns daily
• Multisensory: Include visual, auditory, kinesthetic elements
• Decodable texts: Practice reading with controlled vocabulary