Stephanie Downey Toledo is a bilingual speech language pathologist in New York City as well as a professor at Teachers College, Columbia University. She has collaborated with the LEADERS project on this module series and others.
Phonics refers to sound-letter correspondence and is another essential component of reading development. English language learners (ELLs) face special challenges because they do not have the benefit of familiar vocabulary that native English speakers have. However, remember that even English speakers may not be familiar with the vocabulary presented in the lesson. As a result, vocabulary instruction is also an important support in reading development and will help to ensure the development of reading comprehension as well. Different strategies are presented to support the development of phonics.
