PERI (HANDOUTS)

Definitions
In order to clarify exactly what it is we are going to be teaching, we must distinguish between various terms.
Term

Definition

Phonological
knowledge

Our knowledge of the sound properties (or

phonology) of our language.

phonemic knowledge

Our knowledge of individual speech sounds or

phonemes.
(Having the knowledge, not just an awareness.)

phonemic awareness

Example
How many sounds are there in these words?
to

two

too

What sound is made by g?

What sound is more likely to follow g?
b?

r or

Phoneme a single sound. In English they are

typically represented by a group of more than one
letter, called a digraph.

Phoneme - a, t, sh, ee, ai

Our awareness of individual sounds.

How well we can pick the difference between

m and n, map and nap

(A step on from this is phonemic knowledge.)

You are aware there is a difference.

phonetic knowledge

Our knowledge about saying single sounds with

other sounds.

The sound p is affected by the other sounds

around it.
Say pin now say spin notice how the p is
affected by the s. It sounds more like sbin
than spin.

phonic knowledge

Phonological
recoding

Our knowledge of letter-sound patterns; linking

sounds with letters. The sound knowledge provides
the coat-hanger for the orthographic knowledge.

sound knowledge (sounds)

The process by which we convert a written string of

letters to match a sequence of sounds.

to

two

too

orthographic knowledge (letters)

- shun
- tion

Phonological recoding = number of sounds

Orthographic
knowledge

Patterns of letters used in written English to write

words (symbols).
Letter cluster knowledge without the intervening

Graphemes the written individual letter _tion_

Digraph two successive letters whose phonetic
value is a single sound (a phoneme) - ai, sh, ee,

sound knowledge.

ch

PHONOLOGICAL EARLY READING INSTRUCTION (PERI) and (PreERIK strategies)

Acknowledgement: This table was taken from John Munros lecture
notes: Literacy Intervention Strategies.
Developmental sequence in learning to read words:
Linking

Alternative word reading strategies young students use:

spoken and
written words

select and memorise distinctive visual features of words and their context

convert each letter in a word to a sound and then blend.

use first (few) letters of a word with contextual information.

Using distinctive visual features is least effective. Sound recoding is slower and
Recognising

demands more attention. Direct teaching of letter-sound matches does not help.
Students learn to recode a letter cluster as a sound pattern. They need to:

letter-groups
and words

know the sounds that match the letter cluster (phonological knowledge)

recall the sound of each letter fast enough so that they can blend them and
link with the letter pattern. Doing this rapidly is called rapid automatised
naming' (RAN). Naming-speed affects orthographic skill.

Orthographic knowledge develops gradually; some words are read automatically

Reading

and others recoded

Students develop an orthographic learning capacity: two processes

words directly

phonemic recoding; progressively recode and blend letters and sounds;

use phonemic knowledge automatically

make analogies between words; note letter group similarities between

two words and move the sounds from one word to other.

Reading

Child can read train and uses this to read plain and gain
Students develop representations of 2-, 3- words by combining segments of

words of two

1-syllable words. This involves learning to

or more

manipulate the stress patterns of multi syllabic words

syllables

recognise functional letter clusters in words, for example,

ed, micro

recognise smaller written words, stems in longer words.

John Munro (1996)

What to teach
Assessment task not mastered
adequately
(did not achieve the maximum
score)

Relevant teaching activity

Task 1 Acquiring implicit awareness of

sound patterns in words
1.1

Recognise rhyming words

Teaching activity 1.1

1.2

Produce rhyming words

Teaching activity 1.1, followed by 1.2

1.3

Recognise rhyming words in prose

Teaching activity 1.3

1.4

Produce rhyming words in prose

Teaching activity 1.2, followed by 1.4

1.5

Recognise words that alliterate

Teaching activity 1.5

Task 2 Segmenting words into sounds

2.1

Segment words into onset & rime

Teaching activity 2.1

2.2

Identify the first sound

Teaching activity 2.2

2.3

Identify the last sound

Teaching activity 2.3

2.4

Segment words into syllables

2.4.1 Say each syllable in order

Teaching activity 2.4.1

2.4.2 Syllabic clapping

Teaching activity 2.4.2

2.5 Segment words into individual

sounds
2.5.1 Saying each sound in order

Teaching activity 2.5.1

2.5.2 Tapping for each sound

Teaching activity 2.5.2

2.5.3 Counting the sounds

Teaching activity 2.5.3

Task 3 Sound Blending

3.1
word

Blend onset-rime to make a

Teaching activity 3.1

3.2

Blend a sequence of sounds

Teaching activity 3.2

Task 4 Manipulating sounds within

words
Teaching activities 4.1 & 4.2 after
mastering 2.5.1, segmenting words
of that length into sounds.

4.1

Delete a sound from a word

4.2

Substitute one sound for another

4.3

Segment multi-syllabic words into Teaching activity 4.3

sounds

Task 5 Phonemic recoding: written

word
5.1

Say and name individual letters

Teaching activity 5.1

5.2

Say letter clusters

Teaching activity 5.2

5.3

Say groups of letter clusters

Teaching activity 5.3

PERI PHONOLOGICAL EARLY READING INSTRUCTION

How do you gradually learn to read words? The following developmental trend is taken from Munro (1996).

The developmental trend in learning to read words

Actions to take to move to the next level

Link spoken and written words using individual letters. Strategies:

phonemic knowledge;
segment and blend

recall rapidly the sound of

each letter (RAN).

use phonemic
knowledge
automatically;
segment + blend
simultaneously

make analogies between

words; use shared letter
group to transfer sounds

manipulate the stress

patterns of multisyllabic words

use functional letter

clusters in words, eg.,
ed, micro

select and memorise distinctive visual features of words;

select and memorise distinctive visual features of a word & context;

convert each letter in a word to a sound and then blend.

Recognise letter-groups: students learn to recode letter cluster as

sound patterns progressively and then blend the sounds.

Read words directly.

Read unfamiliar 1-syllable words automatically

Reading unfamiliar words of two or more syllables by combining

segments of 1 syllable words