Using Phonics Data to Identify Trends and Inform Instructional Next Steps

Overview: The phonics graded assessment page can help teachers understand how a student decodes letters, word parts, and words.  The table below is designed for use when observing phonics data.  

Skill	Definition	Data Analysis to Inform Instructional Next Steps	Some Questions to Consider	Example
Affixes	A suffix or prefix attached to a stem.	1. Identify affixes and words the reader could (not) decode 2. Find patterns in affixes which readers could (not) decode 3. Name reader error (e.g., The reader only reads the root or base word)   4. Create a list of target words built to address the reader’s error	What part(s) of the word did the reader read? How does the reader decode the affix? How does the reader decode the stem?	fitness
Blends	Two or three letters placed next to each other in a word. Every sound represented in a blend (or cluster) is pronounced, if only briefly.	1. Identify consonant blends that the reader could (not) decode 2. Find patterns in which blends the reader could (not) decode 3. Name reader error  (e.g., The reader will decode some, but not all, spellings in the blend) 4. Create a list of target words built to address the reader’s error	Did the reader say each sound in the consonant blend? What phonemes did the reader use when decoding the blend? What phonemes were omitted when the reader decoded the blend?	twig
Consonant Vowel Consonant (C-V-C)	CVC refers to a spelling pattern in which the sequence of letters is consonant-vowel-consonant (e.g., cat).	1. Identify CVC words that the reader could (not) decode 2. Find patterns in which CVC words that the reader could (not) decode 3. Name reader error (e.g. the reader has difficulty accurately producing short vowels)   4. Create a list of target words built to address the reader’s error	Did the reader correctly decode the initial consonant?  Is the reader decoding each spelling or saying the whole word (e.g., /k/ /a/ /t/ vs “cat”)? Did the reader use a plausible sound for a word’s spellings (e.g., reading “cat” with a long vowel /ae/) ?	bed
Digraphs	Two letters that represent one sound.	1. Identify what digraphs the reader could (not) decode 2. Find patterns in which digraphs the reader could (not) decode 3. Name reader error: (e.g., the reader decoded the digraph into more than one phoneme)  4. Create a list of target words built to address the reader’s error	Did the reader attempt to blend the digraph’s spellings? Did the reader say (more than) one phoneme for the digraph?  How did the reader attempt to decode the digraph?	fish
Inflectional Ending	Suffixes that change the verb tense or number of a word.	1. Identify which endings the reader could (not) decode 2. Find patterns in which endings the reader could (not) decode 3. Name reader error: (e.g., the reader omits some phonemes of an inflectional ending) 4. Create a list of target words built to address the reader’s error	Can the reader decode the stem?  What syllable type was the stem (e.g., CVC, CVVC, vowel-consonant-e)? Does the reader omit/add any phonemes in the inflectional ending? Are the inflectional endings decoded or recognized by sight?	foxes
Letter Names	Naming the label or title for a letter.	1. Identify which letter names the reader could (not) identify  2. Find patterns in which letter names the reader could (not) identify  3. Name reader error: (e.g., the reader cannot identify the following letter names…)  4. Create a list of target letters built to address the reader’s error	Did the reader confuse a phoneme for the letter’s name? Did the reader confuse the letter’s name with another letter?   Is there a similarity in letter formation between the correct letter name and the letter name produced by the student (e.g, V and U)?	b
Letter Sounds	Providing the phoneme that corresponds to the letter or spelling.	1. Identify which letter sounds the reader could (not) produce  2. Find patterns in which letter sounds the reader could (not) produce  3. Name reader error: (e.g., the reader confuses letter names with letter sounds) 4. Create a list of target letters built to address the reader’s error	For letter sounds the reader produced incorrectly, did the letter sound have a relationship with the letter’s name (e.g., ‘b’ = ‘bee-’ versus ‘h’ = ‘aech-’)? Did the reader confuse the letter’s sound with the letter’s name?	h
Multisyllabic	A word with more than one unit of sound represented by multiple vowels.	1. Identify which multisyllabic words the reader could (not) decode  2. Find patterns in which multisyllabic words the reader could (not) produce  3. Name reader error: (e.g., the reader could not consistently decode past the first syllable) 4. Create a list of target words built to address the reader’s error	What were the syllable types in the word? Did the reader decode part of the word correctly (e.g., onset or final syllable)?  Which spellings did the reader have difficulty decoding (e.g., blends, digraphs, vowels)?  How did the reader choose and order the phonemes in the word?	gumball
R Controlled Vowel	The modified sound of a vowel when followed by an 'r.'	1. Identify which r-controlled vowels the reader could (not) decode  2. Find patterns in which r-controlled vowels the reader could (not) decode  3. Name reader error: (e.g., the reader decodes r-controlled vowels with a short vowel sound) 4. Create a list of target words built to address the reader’s error	Did the reader isolate the vowel from the ‘r’?  Did the reader produce the incorrect phoneme for the vowel? How did the reader decode the ‘r’ next to the vowel?	bark
Vowel Consonant E (V-C-E)	A letter sequence at the end of a word which usually signals a long vowel sound.	1. Identify which words the reader could (not) decode with a V-C-E  2. Find patterns in which words the reader could (not) decode with a V-C-E 3. Name reader error: (e.g., the reader only uses a short vowel sound when reading a word ending with  V-C-E  4. Create a list of target words built to address the reader’s error	Did the reader produce a long-vowel sound when decoding the V-C-E?  How did the reader  decode the consonant in the V-C-E?  Did the reader use a plausible vowel sound when decoding the V-C-E?	poke
Vowel Team	A combination of more than one letter representing a vowel sound.	1. Identify which words the reader could (not) decode with a vowel team 2. Find patterns in which words the reader could (not) decode with a vowel team 3. Name reader error: (e.g., the reader decodes vowel teams as two short vowel sounds)  4. Create a list of target words built to address the reader’s error	Did the reader produce an individual vowel’s phoneme that was part of the vowel team?  Which vowel sounds did the reader use when reading the vowel team? What types of vowel teams did the reader have difficulty decoding (e.g., diphthongs)?	peep