Understanding the Science of Reading: Meet the POSSuM Framework

At My Learning Farm, reading instruction is grounded in the Science of Reading (SOR)—a large body of research that explains how the brain learns to read. When children receive instruction that aligns with this research, they develop stronger decoding skills, better spelling, richer vocabulary, and deeper comprehension.

One way to understand how reading works is through the POSSuM framework. This model highlights five important language systems that work together when we read and write.

P – Phonology

O – Orthography

S – Semantics

S – Syntax

M – Morphology

Each part plays a role in helping children move from sounding out words to truly understanding language.

Let’s explore how these systems work together using a familiar word: bank.

Phonology: Hearing the Sounds in Words

Phonology refers to the sounds in spoken language.

Before a child can read a word on a page, they must first be able to hear and recognize the individual sounds inside that word.

Take the word bank.

The sounds we hear are:

/b/ – /ă/ – /ng/ – /k/

Even though the letters n and k appear together, our ears hear the nasal /ng/ sound before the final /k/.

When children practice phonology, they learn to:

• break words into sounds

• blend sounds together

• identify beginning, middle, and ending sounds

• notice rhyming patterns

For example, words that rhyme with bank include:

tank

sank

rank

thank

plank

These sound patterns help children build the foundation for reading.

Orthography: How Sounds Become Letters

Orthography refers to the spelling system of language—how sounds connect to letters on the page.

In the word bank, we see the spelling pattern:

b + a + nk

Students learn that nk is a common spelling pattern in English where the nasal /ng/ sound is followed by k.

Many words share this pattern:

bank

tank

sank

think

trunk

When students understand spelling patterns, reading and spelling begin to support each other.

How This Shows Up at My Learning Farm

At My Learning Farm, students learn these skills through Orton-Gillingham structured literacy instruction, an evidence-based approach aligned with the Science of Reading.

During reading and spelling lessons, students practice:

🌻 hearing sounds

🌻 mapping sounds to letters

🌻 recognizing spelling patterns

🌻 building words step by step

These foundational skills help students become accurate and confident readers.

In our next post, we’ll explore how understanding word meaning and sentence structure strengthens reading comprehension.