Learning the code and literacy acquisition
To be successfully literate, students need to master three key areas of reading and writing: learning the code, making meaning, and thinking critically.
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Go to top of current page: Learning the code
Go to top of current page: Learning the code
Learning the code
Learning the code
Learning the code is the ability to decode and encode written language.
Learners with dyslexia need support to learn the code – specifically, decoding, and spelling.
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Dyslexia and beginning readers
Dyslexia and beginning readers
Teaching these two steps is important in learning the code:
- Phonemic awareness – understanding that spoken words are made up of individual sounds
- Alphabetic principle – linking the sounds and the letters.
To become readers, learners must develop the skills of blending, segmenting, and manipulating sounds at each of these levels: syllable, onset-rime, and phoneme.
Phonological and phonemic awareness
Phonological and phonemic awareness
Phonological awareness is identifying and manipulating spoken language – words, syllables, onsets and rimes, and individual phonemes.
Phonemic awareness is the foundation for spelling and word recognition.
Closed Captions
The alphabetic principle
The alphabetic principle
The understanding that letters, and letter patterns, represent the sounds of spoken language.
- Teach letter-sound relationships explicitly and in isolation.
- Provide opportunities for practising letter-sound relationships daily.
- Practise new sound-letter relationships and cumulatively review previously taught relationships.
- Provide frequent opportunities for learners to apply their knowledge of sound-letter relationships by reading phonetically spelled words that are familiar in meaning.
- Phonics-based reading instruction helps students discover the alphabetic principle.
Speech sounds of NZ English
Speech sounds of NZ English
Synthetic phonics teaches the 44 sounds of the English language systematically, together with corresponding letter relationships.
Say the sounds clearly to support learners.
No captions or transcript
Useful resources
Useful resources
Phonological and phonemic awareness
Read time: 5 min
An easy to read description with classroom examples of what to look for.
Publisher: WETA Public Broadcasting
Ehri’s four phases of word reading
Classroom activities and teaching tools to support Ehri’s four phases of word reading.
Publisher: FreeReading
The top part of Tolman’s hourglass figure: Phonological awareness
Dr Carol Tolman explaining our ability to be aware of sounds at multiple levels and detailing the skills involved in phonological awareness in this video
Publisher: Dr. Carol Tolman
Next steps
More suggestions for implementing the strategy “Understanding dyslexia and literacy acquisition”:
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Current page Learning the code
Return to the guide “Dyslexia and learning”
How to use this site
Guide to Index of the guide: Dyslexia and learning
Understand:
- Understanding dyslexia
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Understanding dyslexia and literacy acquisitionShow suggestions for Understanding dyslexia and literacy acquisition
- Structured Literacy
- Learning the code
- The simple view of reading
- Building fluency
Strategies for action:
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Develop a schoolwide approachShow suggestions for Develop a schoolwide approach
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Identify student needs and how to provide supportShow suggestions for Identify student needs and how to provide support
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Support early literacy development through a structured literacy approachShow suggestions for Support early literacy development through a structured literacy approach
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Helpful classroom strategies in years 1–8Show suggestions for Helpful classroom strategies in years 1–8
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Helpful classroom strategies in years 9–13Show suggestions for Helpful classroom strategies in years 9–13
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Supporting literacy and numeracy in NCEAShow suggestions for Supporting literacy and numeracy in NCEA
