Alphabetics: What is It? Who Needs It?

From Improving Adult Literacy Instruction: Options for Practice and Research (2012):

Alphabetics Quote.PNG

What is alphabetics? Alphabetics is an umbrella term for the reading foundational skills that help all readers
“get print off the page.”

These skills include:

1. Following print from left to right, top to bottom, and page to page	6. Applying knowledge of all consonant blends, endings, and digraph patterns
2. Naming and writing all upper and lower case Roman alphabet letters	7. Applying knowledge of all long vowel-silent e and vowel team patterns
3. Applying knowledge of all single consonant and short vowel sounds	8. Applying knowledge of irregularly spelled patterns
4. Segmenting spoken and written words into sounds or syllables	9. Applying knowledge of syllable, prefix, and suffix patterns
5. Blending sounds or syllables into spoken and written words	10. Applying knowledge of a variety of roots, their meanings, and word families

Note that the language in many of the bulleted skills above starts with "Applying Knowledge of..." We may have students who have phonics knowledge but may not apply what they know.

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View the following short video to learn about some common ABE/EL reading profiles and a synthesis of findings for teaching alphabetics to adult learners.

Slide Deck PDF Alphabetics Background.pdf

Handout of CCRS Reading Foundational Skills RF 1-4 Detailed.pdf

Click "Next" to review a resource that presents an instructional order for teaching sequential and systematic phonics to beginning and intermediate-level learners.