ABSTRACT
The goal of phonics is to teach students the most commonly used sound-spelling relationships so that they can decode all kinds of words. When children are using phonics, they can use what they understand about letters and their sounds to read and write words. Phonemes are the smallest units of speech sounds, individual sounds within words. Phonics has historically been used to teach reading, dating back to the early sixteenth century during the Protestant Reformation when there were widespread efforts to increase literacy rates. All children can benefit from phonics instruction. Assessing children's phonetic knowledge helps inform about instruction for them in small group.
