Differentiating Phonics Instruction for All Learners

By: Allie Johnston

In a recent webinar, Dr. Wiley Blevins, phonics expert and author of From Phonics to Reading, shared his experience delivering a lesson while student teaching. While he thought he had done a superb job, his cooperating teacher let him know that he had not done anything during the lesson to support the students who were above grade level, nothing to support the students who were below grade level, and nothing to support the English learners in the class.

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Wiley’s cooperating teacher taught him the realities of what good teaching requires—to really reach each and every child. He learned that differentiation is not something you only do at a little table in the back of the room, but something you do all day, all the time, in both small and whole group.

The reality is that most teachers face a wide range of student needs. This is what makes teaching phonics so challenging and why differentiation is such an important consideration when planning instruction.

"The reality is that most teachers face a wide range of student needs. This is what makes teaching phonics so challenging and why differentiation is such an important consideration when planning instruction."

To learn more about effectively differentiating phonics instruction and meeting the diverse needs of students, watch the on-demand webinar with Dr. Wiley Blevins. In this session, Wiley shares practical strategies and insights to support every learner. Access the webinar now!

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Differentiating Phonics Instruction Start with Assessment

At the beginning of the school year, start with assessment to find out what students know. As Wiley said, “We need to find out where’s that lowest level of deficit in terms of knowing the skill and being fluent with the skill and begin to plug in those holes to make sure the foundation is as firm as possible.”

For Kindergarten and early first grade students, Wiley usually recommends the Comprehensive Spelling Survey which is available with the From Phonics to Reading program. This survey provides information for a good starting point in terms of spelling instruction.

Wiley uses the Comprehensive Phonics Survey also found in From Phonics to Reading for students in 2nd grade and up, noting that it can be used in mid-first grade. This is a nonsense word test divided by categories of skills which takes about one and half minutes to administer. Students read words aloud. When you look at where the skills start breaking down, that gives you your starting point.

Whole Group Instruction is Important in Differentiating Phonics Instruction

All students must be introduced to grade-level content, including each grade’s key phonics skills.

As Wiley reminds us, “We need to provide instruction that meets the widest range of student needs. This instruction scaffolds, front loads, modifies, and enriches at key points of the lesson to offer access and value in that instruction.”

“We need to provide instruction that meets the widest range of student needs. This instruction scaffolds, front loads, modifies, and enriches at key points of the lesson to offer access and value in that instruction.”

For students performing below level, Wiley’s lesson learned is to preplan. “Think if there’s anything you need to front load. You need to preplan. The front-loading support can ensure they have a more successful whole group experience.” You can also modify the amount of content that you are teaching to minimize frustrations and maximize the learning potential during the lesson. Consider modifying expectations and decreasing the cognitive load and frustration during the lesson. Address previous skill needs during small group time.

For English learners/multilingual learners, Wiley’s advice is to “think about sound and spelling transfer issues. Preplan by thinking if there are spelling transfers that we can take advantage of or some that don’t transfer.” Vocabulary is another area we can differentiate by teaching meanings along with sound-spelling.

For students performing above level, the challenge is to keep them engaged in lessons—to make the lessons purposeful and intentional. This can be accomplished with enrichment activities and systematic acceleration of their learning aligned with their instructional needs.

Don’t try to do it all at once, there are opportunities to differentiate during each part of the lesson but start with one.

“Don’t try to do it all at once, there are opportunities to differentiate during each part of the lesson but start with one.”

Below are suggestions for differentiating aligned with the routines found in Seven Key Characteristics of Strong Phonics Instruction written by Wiley Blevins, EdD.

Blending

Blending lines
- Words with previously taught skills (reinforce)
- Words from decodable texts (frontload)
- A subset of words (scaffold)
- Words to support transition to more complex words (scaffold)
- Challenge words (enrichment)
Fluency / speed drills
- A subset of words (scaffold)
Spinners
- Spelling patterns (enrichment)

Dictation (Guided Spelling)

Sound / Elkonin boxes
- Repeated practice (reinforce)
Words with previously taught skills (reinforce)
Related words (scaffold)

Word Awareness

A subset of high-impact words (scaffold)
- Additional, more complex words (enrichment)

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High-Frequency Words

Flashcards (scaffold)
- Write sentences (reinforce)

Decodable Text

Listen to audio of the book the day prior (frontload / scaffold)
- Read the text in small group the day prior (frontload)
- Read a subset of pages (scaffold)

Differentiate Phonics with Small Group Instruction

Use small-group time to reinforce the week’s target phonics skill to make sure on-level students stay on track, provide targeted instruction for below-level students to address deficits in previously taught skills, and accelerate learning for students who have already mastered the week’s focus skill.