Customer Reviews

Phonics from A to Z (Grades K-3)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I teach reading in special education learning disabilities class and I found this book to be the most comprehensive and teacher-friendly phonics resource available. It covers all the really important information a teacher needs to know in order to teach phonics. I found it an invaluable tool for quickly finding word lists, sound explanations, lesson plans for teaching phonics, sound-letter expectancies, the latest research available on teaching phonics, phonemic awareness activities, phonemic awareness assessment... the list goes on and on... I would recommend this book to any reading teacher. Thanks Wiley for creating such a great teaching tool!

This book is one of my most treasured resources - so much so that I keep one handy in my first grade classroom and another at home. If you are looking for a practical and highly informative book on teaching phonemic awareness and phonics - this is one of the very best. The author knows the subject well. He gets right to the point and organizes the information in a very useful format. To name just a bit of what this book contains: clear phonemic awareness scope and sequence, word family lists, essential teaching strategies, effective lesson formats, game ideas, pronunciation guides, phonetic word lists, definitions, assessment tools, etc. I give this book to friends, student teachers, new teachers, and also recommended it as a "must-have" in staff development courses I've taught.

I did extensive research on phonics and took out numerous ones from the library to find the one I thought would be best for my simple, friendly teaching style. I was hoping to find 1 to meet the needs of an emergent reader and be able to carry us through to middle school. This one will do it for you! Awesome curriculum supplement to non-homeschooled kids!

This book is very comprehensive. It includes wonderful ideas that can be applied in the classroom. In addition, it gives wonderful insight on the phonetic process. Assessments are included as well reading problems and possible solutions to these problems. This is a wonderful book to have in your personal reference library. I refer back to it at least once a month.

Mr. Blevins has written an easy to understand and use reference for primary level teachers! My copy is already becoming worn because I'm actually USING it! I use the large collections of lists of words quite often! I will be investigating this author's other works as his style and ideas are actually usable in a REAL classroom! ~"Educational jargon" free!

As a parent, you read to your children. But how do they learn to read? It's not one of those activities that is learned through observation. This book covers the steps that may seem transparent but are being assimilated through school, TV, etc. While the book is geared toward teachers, the instruction is clear, concise and reinforced by examples. Now I read for my child's instruction as well as enjoyment. I also create simple word games to play when we are away from home. As a result, I have seen a marked increase in my (3 year old) child's interest in and aptitude for both spelling and reading.

I read this book as a parent trying to figure out where to start because I wanted to teach my child how to read. Blevins did a great job introducing ME to teaching phonics.

As a homeschooling parent, I feel like I am bombarded with kits and programs that guarantee to teach reading through phonics, but it seems like a lot of these are not very useful stuff marketed by people who seem a lot more attached to political ideologies rather than the mechanics of what works. By contrast, Blevins writes from the standpoint of an educator rather than an ideologue, which I appreciated.

I must admit, however, that I haven't come even close to following Blevins advice on teaching. It's much too obtuse for our purposes, which is learning to read, simply put.

I first got this from my library, and am ordering a copy to keep. I have been searching for a resource to help my boys, who both have language delays. My older boy has had huge struggles with reading, and I hope to make it easier for my younger son.

As a homeschooler, I have access to a wealth of phonics resources. Most are geared toward "average" kids, and move way too fast for my boys. Many are workbook-based, which is a poor fit for kids who hate to pick up a pencil, and for moms who would rather make learning more fun. Curricula designed for struggling readers are full of manipulatives I already own or can easily make, and cost hundreds of dollars.

The information in this book will allow me to tailor a course of study to my son's weaknesses and strengths, and ensure that I do not leave out critical steps.

This book is very much geared toward teachers teaching in schools, lots of info on phonics theory and assessment, very little on implementation and methodology. This is most definitely not a how-to book.

This book is apparently written as a college text for reading instructors. It spends A LOT of time trying to convince the teacher trainee that phonics is really no better, or at least not much better than sight reading or whole language and promotes a why-can't-we-all-just-get-along political correctness. The author seems to feel that this indoctrination is more important than acutally teaching the reader how to blend sounds, and how to sit down with a child and teach them how to read in a serious manner. There are pages upon pages of time-wasting classroom games. Then, there are word lists which are centered around the sound the spelling makes ("zebra" and "was" might be on the same list because the s in was makes a Z sound), rather than being centered around a group of words which are all spelled the same way and make the same sound (neigh, sleigh, weigh, etc).

If you want a great book on the subject, get the 1955 classic "Why Johnny Can't Read and What You Can Do About It" by Rudolph Flesch. Then, get the Hay-Wingo book "Reading with Phonics."