Visual Phonics Cueing
(Schworm, 1979)
Background and Research Question
Children with decoding problems usually have few difficulties visually differentiating one word from another, but they do have trouble identifying and remembering sound-symbol correspondences. These children have special difficulty learning vowel patterns such as ai,ee,ea,oi, and oy. Dr. Ronald Schworm was interested in finding a method for increasing children’s ability to identify and retain vowel patterns by directing attention to the spelling patterns and medial positions of words. Spelling patterns were selected because of their regular pronunciation and their repeated appearance in words found in elementary texts.
Translating Research Into Practice
The visual phonics program consists of three steps. Step 1 teaches students to attend to words. Step 2 teaches students where to attend to spelling patterns in words. Step 3 teaches students how to blend vowel patterns to form words.
Step 1.Teaching students to attend to words includes the following steps:
1.Introduce spelling patterns. Present spelling pattern on flashcard. Have students look at the flashcard. Name the spelling pattern and have students name the spelling pattern. Mastery criterion: Each student should correctly name each spelling pattern ten times.
2.Drill. Show students the spelling pattern and have students name the spelling pattern. If the student makes a mistake or hesitates for five seconds, correct the mistake and have the student repeat the name correctly. Mastery criterion: Each student should correctly name the spelling pattern without prompting. Efficient performance = accuracy + time (two seconds or less for each pattern).
3.Drill. Show students the spelling pattern quickly with one second or less exposure. Have each student name the spelling pattern. Mastery criterion: Each student names each spelling pattern within two seconds.
4.Discrimination of spelling patterns from nonspelling patterns. Show students spelling patterns and nonspelling patterns in random order. Have students say “yes” if the flashcard has the correct spelling pattern; have students say “no” if the flashcard has incorrect spelling pattern. Material: set of flashcards with both spelling patterns and nonspelling patterns. For example, ai,ia,oi,io. Mastery criterion: Each student correctly discriminates spelling patterns from nonspelling patterns three times without hesitation.
5.Recognition of spelling patterns. Place two, three, or four spelling patterns in front of students. Have the students look at each. Name one spelling pattern in front of students. Have the students point to spelling pattern named by teacher. Mastery criterion: Each student points to each spelling pattern correctly three consecutive times without hesitation.
Step 2.Teaching students where to attend to spelling patterns in words includes the following exercises:
1.Recognition of spelling patterns in whole words. Show students word with spelling pattern in medial position. Have students look at the flashcard. Say: “Look in the middle of the word. (Pause.) Name the spelling pattern.” Have students name the spelling pattern. Material: Use spelling patterns that students can name automatically. Use one-syllable words. Vary the words. Mastery criterion: Each student should correctly name spelling patterns in words without hesitation.
2.Recognition of spelling patterns in whole words. Show flashcards of words with spelling patterns for one second or less. Show card a second time if student is incorrect, and prompt student to look in the middle of the word. Student names spelling pattern in word. Mastery criterion: Each student names spelling patterns without hesitation.
Step 3.Teaching students how to blend vowel patterns to form words, which includes the following exercises:
1.Backward blending. Show students a flashcard of a word with spelling patterns and prompt students to “look in the middle of the word.” Have students name spelling pattern, final consonant, and beginning consonant to form whole word. Have students rehearse sequence if student is incorrect. Material: Use one-syllable words with beginning and ending consonants, for example, rain,towel,firm,beat. Use pseudo words if the student knows the words by sight, for example, birm,weat, etc. Use multisyllabic words as student becomes efficient. Mastery criterion: Each student should blend and name words correctly using the sequence repeatedly, without prompting, and without hesitation.
2.Practicing word naming without prompting. Show students words with spelling pattern. Have students name each word. Prompt students if necessary. Mastery criterion: Each student names each word presented in less than five seconds without prompting. (Continue activity using multisyllabic words.)
3.Practicing word naming in context. Teacher has student read sentences. Student reads as directed. Teacher prompts student to look in middle of word if student hesitates. Student uses backward blending procedure for all words not named within five seconds. Material: Passages that contain words with target spelling patterns. Mastery criterion: Student searches for spelling patterns in words and uses blending procedures independently when encountering words.
Source
Schworm, R. (1979). The effects of selective attention on the decoding skills of children with learning disabilities. Journal of Learning Disabilities,12(10), 5–10.