Effective Phonics Instruction. Literacy Report No. 21.

Phonics instruction alone cannot fully develop students' ability to comprehend a text or story. Reading instruction should emphasize students interaction with print, compensating for lower level skills with higher level skills, and gaining meaning and knowledge throughout the process. Too often, teachers give minimal attention to the development of strategies for comprehending and focus on the parts of language instead of the whole. Furthermore, there are many exceptions to phonics rules, which provide additional confusion when attempting to apply those skills to a reading situation. Phonics skills must be taught within a meaningful context, allowing students to see themselves as active readers and writers in a scribal world. Teachers can best achieve a balanced approach between phonics and context by using children's literature in the classroom. (Contains 15 references.) (RS)