“Learning to read can, at times, seem almost magical,” Blevins begins this brief on phonics instruction. “But it’s not magical.” In this brief, the author provides a clear description of what phonics is and why it matters. Although phonics can be taught in different ways, research supports instruction that is explicit and systematic. In addition to being explicit and systematic, strong phonics instruction has the following seven key characteristics: readiness skills, scope and sequence, blending, dictation, word awareness, high-frequency words, and reading connected text.
