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Phonograms
What is a phonogram?
Phonemes are those letters or combinations of letters that represent the distinctive sounds that make up words
For example:
ou
is a phonogram that says the sound of /ou/
as in
cloud.
If a child learns the sounds of the phonograms, he can sound out a word such as ledge by blending the sounds of three phonograms: l - e - dge.
He would have no need, then, to memorize lists of whole words placed upon a Word Wall. Instead, he could divide the words he is asked to read into phonograms, blend together the phonograms, and phonetically read the words.
He would not have to memorize a whole string of individual letters in their correct order such as l-e-d-g-e ) to be able to pronounce or spell the word ledge.
Phonograms enable children to "sound out" brand new words they encounter for the first time. Being able to sound out words will drastically increase a child's reading vocabulary. When children can read words (instead of guessing at words) they can begin to understand what words mean in isolation as well as what words
mean within the context of the sentence in
which they are found.
A larger reading vocabulary = An increased
ability to understand
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