What If You’ve Never Taught Phonics? A Practical Guide for Middle School Interventionists

What If You’ve Never Taught Phonics—But Your Students Need It?

Are you a middle school or upper elementary teacher working with students who struggle to decode words—but you’ve never actually taught phonics before?

You are not alone.

Many secondary educators enter the classroom equipped to teach literature, writing, or comprehension strategies—but without formal training in phonics instruction. Yet this gap in knowledge can become a real barrier when working with older students who still lack basic word recognition skills.

My Journey Into Phonics Instruction

When I transitioned into middle school after teaching high school English, I quickly realized that some of my students’ most persistent reading issues stemmed from gaps in foundational decoding skills. Words that should have been automatic—weren’t. I saw the frustration on their faces, and honestly, I felt a little helpless.

It wasn’t until I completed Orton-Gillingham training that the pieces finally clicked. I began to understand how speech sounds (phonemes) and written symbols (graphemes) work together—and how this knowledge could be applied explicitly and systematically to support students still struggling with decoding.

Phonics Basics Every Secondary Teacher Should Know

Below are a few essential terms and concepts that can help you get started with phonics instruction, even if it’s new territory.

• Phoneme
  The smallest unit of sound in a word.
  Example: The word ship has three phonemes: /sh/ /ĭ/ /p/.

• Grapheme
  The letter or letter combination that represents a sound.
  Example: In ship, the sh is a digraph—two letters that make one sound.

• Blending
  Combining individual sounds to form a word.
  Example: /m/ /ă/ /t/ → mat

• Segmenting
  Breaking a word into its component sounds.
  This is essential for spelling and phonemic awareness.

How to Identify Gaps and Begin Intervention

If a student cannot fluently read grade-level text, it’s important to determine why. Older readers often memorize or guess their way through familiar texts but struggle with unfamiliar or multisyllabic words.

A simple phonics diagnostic or screening tool can help determine whether a student is struggling with:

• Letter-sound knowledge

• Sound blending

• Syllable division

• Word recognition

Once you know where the breakdown occurs, you can tailor your instruction accordingly.

Practical Strategies for the Intervention Classroom

If you’re feeling unsure about how to begin, here are five low-prep strategies you can start using right away:

1. Grapheme Cards for Letter-Sound Practice
Use flashcards to reinforce automatic letter-sound associations.

• Show the card b → student says /b/

• Show the card th → student says /th/

These can be homemade or purchased. The goal is accuracy and automaticity.

2. Blending Drills with Nonsense Words
Use nonsense words like mav, sot, or jig to reinforce decoding without relying on memorized vocabulary.

Model on a whiteboard or blending board:

• Point to each letter and say the sound

• Stretch across and blend the word

• Example: /m/ /ă/ /v/ → mav

3. Syllable Division Strategies
Teach students a systematic way to approach multisyllabic words:

• Identify the vowels

• Draw bridges between vowel sounds

• Divide between consonants using rules like VC/CV

• Example: candid → can–did → two closed syllables

4. Teach Open vs. Closed Syllables
Help students predict vowel sounds based on syllable structure:

• Closed syllable (e.g., cat): vowel is short

• Open syllable (e.g., me): vowel is long

This empowers students to read unfamiliar words with greater accuracy.

5. Teach Word Attack with the REWARDS Strategy
The REWARDS program by Dr. Anita Archer teaches students to:

• Identify prefixes and suffixes

• Isolate the root

• Apply syllable division rules

• Blend and reassemble the word

Example: investigate → in + vesti + gate → investigate

This structured method helps students approach longer words with confidence.

Final Thoughts

Teaching phonics to older students isn’t about lowering expectations—it’s about filling gaps that were never addressed. Even if you’ve never taught phonics before, you can learn alongside your students.

Start small. Build your confidence. And give your students the tools they need to decode successfully.

My course, Reading Reset: A Framework for Middle School Intervention, is designed to give you the tools, confidence, and structure to support adolescent readers who need foundational instruction in decoding, vocabulary, comprehension, and more.

Watch my full YouTube video on this topic here.