“An Earful of

Phonemic Awareness”

Sara NewtonAngela Rush

Phonemic Awareness

Phonemic awareness is

the understanding that

words are made up of

sounds. It is also the

ability to pick out and

manipulate sounds

in spoken words.

The goal of phonemic

awareness is to help

children develop an

“ear” for language-to

hear specific sounds,

identify sound sequence,

and understand the role that

phonemes( the smallest

units of sound in spoken

language) play in word

formation.

Phonemic awareness is not…

• related to print.

(Written words or letters should not be the focus of phonemic awareness activities.)

• the same as phonics.• an isolated skill.

Why Teach Phonemic Awareness?

Students need to have a

strong understanding of

spoken language before

they can understand

written language.

Jo Fitzpatrick

If children do not have

adequate and rich

language development

to scaffold their reading

and writing, their learning

often stalls or regresses.

Regie Routman

Key Research Findings About Phonemic Awareness:

• Research has identified phonemic awareness as the most potent predictor of success in learning to read. It is more highly related to reading than tests of general intelligence, reading readiness, and listening comprehension (Stanovich, 1986,1994).

• The lack of phonemic awareness is the most powerful determinant of the likelihood of failure to learn to read because of its importance in learning the English alphabetic system or how print represents spoken words. If children cannot hear and manipulate the sounds in spoken words, they have an extremely difficult time learning how to map those sounds to letters and letter patterns - the essence of decoding. (Adams, 1990).

• It is the most important core and causal factor separating normal and disabled readers (Adams, 1990).

• It is central in learning to read and spell (Ehri, 1984).

Phonemic Awareness Instruction

Phonemic awareness is

basically oral in nature

and presents itself well

in meaningful, interactive

games and activities.

Phonemic awareness

activities are playful and

provide an engaging way

for children to hear how sounds

are put together to form words.

Most children can develop phonemic

awareness in literacy-rich environments-

through activities that involve experimenting

with and enjoying rhymes, poems, chants,

and songs and manipulating sounds of words

(substituting consonants, “clapping” syllables,

using alliteration, repeating classmates’

names), and by engaging in regular talk about

words.

Regie Routman

5 Basic Types of

Phonemic Awareness TasksTask 1: The ability to hear rhymes and alliteration.Task 2: The ability to do oddity tasks.Task 3: The ability to orally blend words and split syllables. Task 4: The ability to orally segment words.Task 5: The ability to do phonemic manipulation tasks.

Rhymes and Alliteration

If you are a currently a kindergarten teacher orhave taught kindergarten,think back to the firstweek of school. Didany students come to yourclass already reading? Didthese students also haveknowledge of nurseryrhymes?

Kindergarten teachers

often state that early

readers know a variety of

nursery rhymes. Predictable

rhymes and structured verses

aid in phonemic awareness

development. Rhyming words are

important to reading because they

call children’s attention to the

sounds inside words. Children also

enjoy this ‘tried and true”

literacy form.

Activities to Support the Ability to Hear Rhyme and Alliteration

Rhyme Hunt

• Children go on “rhyme hunts” inside and outside of the classroom.

Example: “Let’s find all the objects in our room that rhyme with sock.” Possible Answers: clock, block, lock, jock.

*This could be a quick, oral warm-up task prior to Word Work, Writing, or Shared Reading.

Round Robin Rhyme • Students sit in a circle. • The teacher tells the students that the class is going on an imaginary trip. The teacher states the destination and one

object he/she wishes to take.

Example: “I am going to the beach and I am taking a hat.”

• The next child in the circle must say, “ I am going to the beach and I am taking a hat and a mat.”

• Continue around the circle until no more rhyming words can be generated.

Variation: Students must identify words that start with the same initial letter (hat, hamburger, horse, etc.).

Nursery-Rhyme Rattle• Display three pictures on a board. Say the name of

each picture and have the students help you identify

the two rhyming words from the set.

• Display a nursery rhyme on chart paper.

Example: “Hickory Dickory Dock”

• Pass out noisemakers to students.

• Choose a target word and identify it to the students. Tell students to use their noisemakers when they hear a word in the poem that rhymes with the target word. Teacher reads the poem to the class.

Example: Teacher states the target word sock. Students repeat the

target word. Students shake their noisemakers when they

hear a word that rhymes with sock.

Hickory, Dickory, Dock

Hickory, Dickory, Dock, The mouse ran up the clock. The clock struck one, The mouse ran down, Hickory, Dickory, Dock

Rhyme Around the Rosy

• Organize the students’ chairs in a circle. Place a stack of picture cards face down under one chair.

• Students walk in front of the chairs in a circle formation singing the following: “Rhyme around the rosy, pocket full of posies, ashes, ashes, we all sit down.”

• The children sit at the appropriate point in the song. The student who sits in the chair with the deck of picture cards must select the first card and state a word that rhymes with the picture.

Phonemic Awareness Riddle of the Day

• Place a riddle on a board each day or week. Explain to students that two rhyming words will answer the riddle. Let students try to discover the answer.

Examples: What do you call a chubby kitty? (fat cat)

What do you call a crying father? (sad dad)

What do you call a rabbit that tells jokes? (funny bunny)

What do you call a dog out in the rain? (wet pet)

What do you call a book with recipes? (cookbook)

What do you call a space for a broom? (broom room)

Activities to Support the Ability to do Oddity Tasks

Simon Says Sounds

Give each student a baggie of pictures.

• Students display their pictures on their desk or table.

• The teacher uses such commands as “Simon says touch the picture that starts like horse;” “Simon says place the picture that starts like cat on your knee;” “Place your thumb on the picture that starts like dog.”

Clap!The teacher says two words.

If the two words share a

sound (i.e. initial sound,

ending sound, medial sound),

the students clap their hands.

If the two words do not share

a sound, everyone must be

quiet.

No Zoo for You!• Place three animal picture cards in a

pocket chart, including two that share a common phoneme (e.g. bear, bird, and goat).

• Have the class say each animal name together. Without offering any clues, invite a volunteer to remove the picture that does not belong and say, No zoo for you!”

• Repeat the same pattern with other picture cards, having children use deduction to determine which animals “enter the zoo” and which do not.

• Repeat with new sound matches and/ or categories.

Sing a Song of Sounds

• Have the children sing the following song to the tune of “If You’re happy and You Know It.”

If your names begins with /m/, stand up, If your name begins with /m/, stand up, If your name begins with/m/, stand up and take a bow, If your name begins with /m/, stand up.

• Repeat with different phonemes and movements such as clapping, touching your toes, etc.

Variations: Have children use picture cards with the song. Example: If your picture begins with /s/, stand up.

Find Your Match

•Make picture cards in the shape of socks

(sock shape is optional).•Punch holes in the top corners of each card and

string yarn through them to create a necklace for

each child.•Have children find their match by finding the

classmate whose picture card begins with the same

sound, ends with the same sound, or rhymes.•Play music to make the activity more engaging and

playful.

Do You Know?

•Sing the song “Do You know” to the tune of “Muffin Man.”

Do you know two words that start with /b/,

Start with /b/,

Start with /b/?

Oh, do you know two words that start with /b/?

At the beginning, they sound just alike.

(Take student suggestions.)

Bear and boy are two words that start with /b/,

Start with /b/-Start with /b/.

Bear and boy are two words that start with /b/.

At the beginning, they sound just alike.

Picky Puppet

• Distribute two picture cards evenly among children.

• Using a classroom puppet or sock puppet, explain to the children that this puppet is a “sound puppet” who likes only things whose names begin with a sound it chooses.

• Let students go on picture card hunts with the puppet.

Example: Dylan puts the puppet on his hand. Teacher

tells Dylan that Picky Puppet only likes words

today that begin with /l/.

Activities to Support the Ability to Orally Blend Words and Split

Syllables

Get Your Blenders Out!

Suggestions for Instruction• There are three levels of oral blending:

Level 1) blend words syllable by syllable

Level 2) blend words by onset and rhyme

Level 3) blend words phoneme by phoneme

• Modeling for your students how to blend sounds into words.

“Listen to me as I say a word very slowly, sound by

sound. Then I’ll say the word a bit faster. Finally, I say the

word as it is normally said.”

• It is easier for most students if you begin with short CVC words that start with continuous consonants such as m, s ,l ,f , r.

*For more intensive learners, you can even start with just VC or CV words.

• In order to decrease confusion for students, you need to be cognizant of how you articulate each phoneme.

Animal Names

• Make a deck of picture cards containing familiar animals.

• The teacher selects a card without revealing the picture to the students.

• The teacher will pronounce the name of the picture with isolated sounds. (/c/-/a/-/t/)

• The students will need to blend the sounds to guess the name of the picture. The teacher shows the picture to affirm the responses of the students.

*Since animals are often characters in books, this could be

an initial activity to introduce a new book or story.

“Arm Blenders”

• In order to blend words, tell students that they are going to use their arms as blenders.

• Model using the word baseball. Close both hands to make fists. Extend one arm out to the right and say base. Extend the other arm out to the left and say ball. Pull both arms together and say baseball.

• You can do this activity with compound words and words with two syllables.

Read My Mind• Say the following in a chant:

“I’m thinking of a word.

It ends with /ack/.

It starts with /b/.

The word is ______.

• Continue the chant with other onsets and rimes.

*This activity is a quick

brain break or energizer.

I’m Thinking of a WordSing to the tune of “The Wheels on the Bus.”

The teacher sings,

“I’m thinking of a word named /m/ /a/ /n/,/m/ /a/ /n/, /m/ /a/ /n/.

I’m thinking of a word named /m//a//n/.

What is my word?”

The students sing back,

“Are you thinking of the word called man, man, man.,

Man,man, man, man, man, man?

Are you thinking of the word called man, man, man?

The teacher sings,

“Yes, man is my word.”

Sound Clues

• Create riddles for your class to solve using sound clues. The teacher reads the riddle aloud, pronouncing the answer sound by sound. Ask the children to blend the sounds together to solve the riddle. The riddles can relate to a theme or unit of study.

Examples:

You can see me at night, when I shine bright. I am the

/m/ /oo/ /n/.

Put me in the water and watch me float. Now you know I am a /b/ /o/ /t/.

Sing a Rhyme with Onset and Rime

Sing to the tune of “If your Happy and You Know It.”

If you’re happy and you know it ,say my name: /c/ /ake/.

If you’re happy and you know it ,say my name: /c/ /ake/.

If you’re happy and you know it, then your face will surely show it.

If you’re happy and you know it, say my name.

Children say in unison “cake.”

Activities to Support the Ability to

Orally Segment Words

Graphing Sounds

• Each child receives a picture card. The student must orally segment the phonemes in the word to determine the total number of phonemes.

• The class creates a graph of the results.*This activity could be a whole group

activity, small group activity, or an individual activity.

Tap and Sweep

• Say single-syllable words one at a time. Have students tap on their desktop with their fists as they say each phoneme. They should move their fists in left to right progression.

• After segmenting the phonemes in a word, have students go back to the first tap position and sweep their fists on their desktops from left to right, blending the sounds together to say the word.

Variation: Students can extend their fingers to count off each phoneme. Then they can use a sweeping-hand motion as they blend the sounds together.

Jump to the Sounds

• Show a picture of an object to the class.

• Have the students say the phonemes that comprise the object’s name.

• Have the students jump for each phoneme of the word.

* You could ask the PE teacher do this activity with jump ropes.

Sound Baseball

• Draw a baseball diamond on poster board and stick Velcro on each base. Make team markers by sticking Velcro to laminated baseball hats. A collection of picture cards is also needed.

• Divide the class into two teams. • A team scores a “hit” or an “out” when a player

correctly segments each phoneme in a word.• Attach baseball caps to the bases to show

progress.

Echoes

• The teacher assesses students’ prior knowledge of echoes.

• After sufficient modeling and practice, the teacher divides the class into two groups. The groups should sit at opposite sides of the classroom.

• The teacher shows a picture card to one group. This group will say the segmented word. The other group will echo the blended word in response.

Sound Tree

• Each student needs a tree pattern and several leaves.

• The teacher says a word. The students must place a leaf on the tree for every phoneme they hear. Students should say the phonemes as they place leaves on their trees.

Can You Say?

• Sing the following song to the tune of “Happy Birthday”:

Can You Say?

Can you say the first sound?

Can you say the first sound?

It’s the first sound in _______.

Can you say the first sound?

Variation: Isolate ending sounds and medial sounds.

Activities to Support the Ability to do Phonemic Manipulation Tasks

Initial Sound Switch

• The teacher models changing the initial sounds in words to make new words. (cat to bat).

• After modeling, the teacher says the following: “You are going to make new words by replacing the first

sound in each word I say with /s/.”• Words to use include: hit, rat, bun,mad, bend, and funny.Variations: Use different initial sounds. Students can substitute final sounds and medial sounds.

Consonant Riddles

• The teacher says a word, and the students must think of a word that rhymes with the word and starts with a given sound.

Example: What rhymes with mat and starts

with /s/.

What rhymes with sand and starts with

/h/.

Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Word

• Sing the following song to the tune of “Twinkle, twinkle, Little Star”:

Twinkle, twinkle, little word,

What’s the new word to be heard?

If I take off the first sound,

What new word will now be found?

Take the /c/ right off of cold.

Now the new word sounds like old.

Sound Deletion

• “Say pancake without pan.”• “Say robot without ro.”• “Say top without /t/.”• “Say mop without /p/.”• “Say stake without /s/.”• “Say past without /t/.”• “Say brake without /r/.”

Professional References

Bishop, A., Bishop, S. (2001). Teaching phonics, phonemeic awareness, and word recognition. Westminister, CA: Teacher Created Materials.

Blevins, W. (1997). Phonemic awareness activities. Jefferson, New York NY: Scholastic Professional Books.

Fitzpatrick, J. (1997). Phonemic awareness: playing with sounds to strengthen beginning reading skills. Cypress, CA: Creative Teaching Press, Inc.

Lane, H., Pullen, P. (2004). Phonolgical awareness assessment and instruction. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Routman, R. (2003). Reading essentials: the specifics you need to teach reading well. Portsmouth, NH.:Heinemann.

Zgonc, Y. (2000). Sounds in action: phonological awareness activities and assessments. Peterborough, NH: Crystal Springs Books.