Final answer:
Phonics instruction focuses on teaching students the relationship between letters and sounds, helping them to read and spell words, including non-real words, by using their understanding of phonetic patterns.
Step-by-step explanation:
Understanding Phonics
The focus on phonics pertains to the relationship between letters and sounds and how phonetic knowledge is applied in reading and writing. When students are presented with non-real words, they are encouraged to use their phonics skills to decode the words. This involves recognizing letter patterns and understanding how they represent sounds, despite not forming real words. Learning and practicing phonics is crucial in developing fluent reading and spelling abilities. For example, the word 'else' contains four letters but only three sounds, illustrating that letters and sounds are often not a one-to-one match.
An exercise in phonics might include counting the number of letters in a word, then counting the sounds heard when the word is pronounced. This helps students discern between silent letters, digraphs (two letters that make one sound, like 'th'), and others instances where the relationship between letters and sounds is not straightforward. Teaching students to navigate these complexities is a core aspect of phonics instruction.