Multisensory Monday: Phonics First 3-Part Drill Fun

The Three-Part Drill is an excellent way to practice previously taught sounds for reading, spelling, and fluency. After a new skill is taught it becomes part of the Three-Part Drill. In Brainspring’s Phonics First and Structures courses, you learn the basics of the Three-Part Drill and have the opportunity to practice so that you can jump right into the process you’re your students.  Once mastered, students will enjoy fun adaptations easily added to your instruction.

What is the Three-Part Drill?

The Three–Part Drill:

• Aims to develop sound- and symbol-level automaticity and fluency
• Valuable warm-up and crucial review of previously taught concepts
• Comprised of 3 components
  • Visual Drill- Builds symbol-to-sound automaticity to support decoding
    • The teacher shows the card; students give the phoneme(s) for the corresponding grapheme.
  • Auditory Drill- Builds sound-to-symbol automaticity to support encoding
    • The teacher provides the phoneme; students write the grapheme(s) and give the corresponding sound(s).
  • Blending Drill- Builds automaticity at the syllable level to support decoding
    • The teacher presents CVC real words and pseudo-syllables for students to blend and read.
• Utilizes multiple learning pathways.
• Critical for the student to verbalize throughout the entire drill.
• Facilitates greater retention of previously taught skills.

Three-Part Drill Activity Extension Ideas

Visual Drill Extension Ideas

• Show the cards and ask specific students or groups to say the sounds (girls, boys, wearing blue, etc.)
• Ask struggling students to become the “echo.” After the group says the sound, those students echo their response.
• Deal the letter cards face up to students in a small group (like dealing cards in a card game). Ask each student to say the sound of the card that is dealt to them. 
• Ask students to use fun voices as they say the sound of the cards.  Prompt them to whisper or shout the sound, plug their nose and say the sound, etc.

Auditory Drill Extension Ideas

• Fill a sand tray filled with sand, rice, cereal, shaving cream, pudding, fingerpaint, etc.
• Using whiteboards or chalkboards, students can practice “trace and erase.” Students write the letter for the sound they hear, underling the letter with its sound. Then students trace and erase the letter with their finger while saying the letters name and sound again. To keep the student’s hands clean, you can cut the fingertips off of the small ‘magic’ gloves from the dollar store. Give each student a special ‘eraser’ to put on their finger.
• Use sealed plastic bags with fingerpaint, hair gel, or colored glue as a tactile surface to write the letter and underline the letter with its sound. Tape the bag to a piece of cardboard.
• Using a piece of fine sandpaper, students can trace the letter, feeling its shape but not seeing the letter. To incorporate a visual component, provide students with sandpaper cut into the shape of the letters, or write the letter on the sandpaper, ask them to ‘find’ the /d/ and trace the letter as they say it. You can also include starting points and arrows for correct letter formation with this strategy.
• Gel boards or Magna doodles.
• Writing the letters on the carpet, their leg, or on another student’s back (they won’t be able to “see” the letters, but it is excellent practice).
• If you repeat the same sound multiple times, you can observe all the students form the letters correctly.

Blending Drill Extension Ideas:

• Ask students to think of a longer word for the detached syllables which appears on the blending.
• Use the echo or fun voices from the Visual Drill (above).
• Put rimes on the blending board and have students practice rhyming by changing only the first card.
• Ask individual students to read the board as opposed to the group reading.

Assessing Learned Skills with the Three-Part Drill Framework

• The Three-Part Drill is a diagnostic and prescriptive tool.
  • Use errors during decoding and encoding to drive your instruction.
  • During the Visual Drill, use the Phoneme-Grapheme Chart to track covered skills and miscues.
  • Miscues can be immediately addressed across all three drills.
    • Return miscued cards to the pack for additional exposures during the Visual Drill.
    • Clarify troublesome sounds
    • Bring back miscued cards for additional practice on the Blending Board. 

Making the Three-Part Drill fun and inclusive will ensure positive practice and engagement.

Written by Ingrid Hartig

Ingrid is a Master Instructor with Brainspring’s Educator Academy