Post by Admin on Jan 4, 2020 0:10:34 GMT
What is Phonemic Awareness?
Phonemic awareness is literally ‘sound’ awareness. Phonemic awareness is understanding that words are made up of sounds and being able to hear, recognize and manipulate the individual sounds that make up a word. Phonemic awareness is primarily an auditory skill of distinguishing and recognizing the sound structure of language. For example, phonemic awareness is realizing the word ‘puppy’ is made up of the sounds /p/ /u/ /p/ /ee/ or the word the word ‘shape’ is made up the sounds /sh/ /ay/ /p/.
Many children do not realize that the words they hear break apart into smaller hunks of sound. Hearing the individual sounds within a word is difficult because spoken language is so seamless. When we speak, we naturally and effortlessly blend all the sounds together to say and hear the overall word. The natural ease of seamless speech hides the phonetic nature of our spoken language. For example: The child says and hears the word “puppy” as one seamless word /puppy/ and does not recognize or distinguish the separate sounds /p/ /u/ /p/ /ee/ that make up the word.
Children vary greatly in their natural ability to hear the sounds within words. Some individuals have a definite natural phonological weakness. Research has shown that children with poor phonemic awareness struggle with reading and spelling. The child’s natural phonological abilities are not related to intelligence. In fact, many highly intelligent children have phonological weakness that leads to reading difficulty. In addition, tendency for natural phonologic weakness may be an inherited trait as it appears to run in families.
Why is Phonemic Awareness Important?
Phonemic awareness is important because it is critical to reading and spelling success. A child’s phonemic awareness is a powerful predictor of the likelihood of reading and spelling success. Children who can not distinguish and manipulate the sounds within spoken words have difficulty recognizing and learning the necessary print=sound relationship that is critical to proficient reading and spelling success. If a child has poor phonemic awareness it is difficult for them to discover the necessary link between print and sound.
The Benefits of Phonemic Awareness Instruction!
Although some children and adults have a definite natural phonological weakness, the good news is that phonemic awareness (PA) can be taught and learned. The scientific evidence proves that PA instruction has a significant positive effect on both reading and spelling. [1] In other words, we can directly teach children how to hear, recognize and manipulate sounds within words and that the intentional development of PA skills has a positive effect on reading and spelling success. Targeted PA instruction helps children develop necessary skills.
Specific Phonemic Awareness Skills: Phonemic awareness is recognizing and being able to manipulate the phonemic structure of language. It includes the following specific skills:
1) The ability to isolate and distinguish individual sounds (the word fish starts with /f/, the word Sam starts with /s/, or the word ‘cat’ ends with /t/)
2) The ability to identifying phonemes (the words ‘bat’, ‘boy’, and ‘Billy’ all start with the /b/ sound whereas ‘tall’ and ‘toy’ start with the /t/ sound)
3) The ability to categorize similar sounds and recognize phonemic patterns: this includes the ability to recognize rhyming words (cat, mat, fat, and sat all rhyme) and the ability to recognize similarities and differences in a group of words (bake and bike start with the same sound but they do not rhyme) or (in the group of words ‘bug’, ‘rug’, ‘run’ and ‘hug’, the word ‘run’ is different)
4) The ability to segment phonemes in a word (the word ‘cat’ is made of the sounds /k/ /a/ /t/, the word ‘shake’ is made up of the sounds /sh/ /ay/ /k/),
5) The ability to blend sounds together (the sound /t/ /o/ /p/ put together make the word ‘top’, the sounds /r/ /u/ /g/ put together make the word ‘rug’)
6) The ability to delete phonemes. (Say the word ‘train’ without the /t/ and the child can say ‘rain’) or (Say ‘mud’ without the /d/ and the child says /mu/)
7) The ability to manipulate phonemes making changes/substitutions (What would the word ‘milk’ be if it started with the /f/ sound instead of the /m/ sound? and the child can say ‘/filk/’, What would the word ‘rug’ be if it you changed the /r/ to a /m/? ‘mug’)
Link the Phonemic Awareness to Print!
Wait! Oral phonemic awareness alone is not sufficient. It is no surprise that the research shows that the phonemic awareness instruction/training is most effective when children are taught to manipulate phonemes with letters. In other words, the greatest effectiveness in helping children learn to read occurs when the essential oral phonemic awareness (hearing/recognizing the sounds) is linked directly to the printed letters (the specific black squiggle). This is teaching the child to link the phonemic awareness skills to the alphabetic awareness skills. Not only can they hear that the word ‘monkey’ starts with the /m/ sound but they can point to the printed letter ‘m’. They can recognize and link sounds to the print.
When can I start teaching Phonemic Awareness?
Begin teaching your child the essential phonemic awareness skills at the preschool level using fun, age-appropriate activities and sound games. After initial oral phonemic awareness is developed, begin to link the phonemic awareness activities directly to the printed letters.
Phonemic awareness is literally ‘sound’ awareness. Phonemic awareness is understanding that words are made up of sounds and being able to hear, recognize and manipulate the individual sounds that make up a word. Phonemic awareness is primarily an auditory skill of distinguishing and recognizing the sound structure of language. For example, phonemic awareness is realizing the word ‘puppy’ is made up of the sounds /p/ /u/ /p/ /ee/ or the word the word ‘shape’ is made up the sounds /sh/ /ay/ /p/.
Many children do not realize that the words they hear break apart into smaller hunks of sound. Hearing the individual sounds within a word is difficult because spoken language is so seamless. When we speak, we naturally and effortlessly blend all the sounds together to say and hear the overall word. The natural ease of seamless speech hides the phonetic nature of our spoken language. For example: The child says and hears the word “puppy” as one seamless word /puppy/ and does not recognize or distinguish the separate sounds /p/ /u/ /p/ /ee/ that make up the word.
Children vary greatly in their natural ability to hear the sounds within words. Some individuals have a definite natural phonological weakness. Research has shown that children with poor phonemic awareness struggle with reading and spelling. The child’s natural phonological abilities are not related to intelligence. In fact, many highly intelligent children have phonological weakness that leads to reading difficulty. In addition, tendency for natural phonologic weakness may be an inherited trait as it appears to run in families.
Why is Phonemic Awareness Important?
Phonemic awareness is important because it is critical to reading and spelling success. A child’s phonemic awareness is a powerful predictor of the likelihood of reading and spelling success. Children who can not distinguish and manipulate the sounds within spoken words have difficulty recognizing and learning the necessary print=sound relationship that is critical to proficient reading and spelling success. If a child has poor phonemic awareness it is difficult for them to discover the necessary link between print and sound.
The Benefits of Phonemic Awareness Instruction!
Although some children and adults have a definite natural phonological weakness, the good news is that phonemic awareness (PA) can be taught and learned. The scientific evidence proves that PA instruction has a significant positive effect on both reading and spelling. [1] In other words, we can directly teach children how to hear, recognize and manipulate sounds within words and that the intentional development of PA skills has a positive effect on reading and spelling success. Targeted PA instruction helps children develop necessary skills.
Specific Phonemic Awareness Skills: Phonemic awareness is recognizing and being able to manipulate the phonemic structure of language. It includes the following specific skills:
1) The ability to isolate and distinguish individual sounds (the word fish starts with /f/, the word Sam starts with /s/, or the word ‘cat’ ends with /t/)
2) The ability to identifying phonemes (the words ‘bat’, ‘boy’, and ‘Billy’ all start with the /b/ sound whereas ‘tall’ and ‘toy’ start with the /t/ sound)
3) The ability to categorize similar sounds and recognize phonemic patterns: this includes the ability to recognize rhyming words (cat, mat, fat, and sat all rhyme) and the ability to recognize similarities and differences in a group of words (bake and bike start with the same sound but they do not rhyme) or (in the group of words ‘bug’, ‘rug’, ‘run’ and ‘hug’, the word ‘run’ is different)
4) The ability to segment phonemes in a word (the word ‘cat’ is made of the sounds /k/ /a/ /t/, the word ‘shake’ is made up of the sounds /sh/ /ay/ /k/),
5) The ability to blend sounds together (the sound /t/ /o/ /p/ put together make the word ‘top’, the sounds /r/ /u/ /g/ put together make the word ‘rug’)
6) The ability to delete phonemes. (Say the word ‘train’ without the /t/ and the child can say ‘rain’) or (Say ‘mud’ without the /d/ and the child says /mu/)
7) The ability to manipulate phonemes making changes/substitutions (What would the word ‘milk’ be if it started with the /f/ sound instead of the /m/ sound? and the child can say ‘/filk/’, What would the word ‘rug’ be if it you changed the /r/ to a /m/? ‘mug’)
Link the Phonemic Awareness to Print!
Wait! Oral phonemic awareness alone is not sufficient. It is no surprise that the research shows that the phonemic awareness instruction/training is most effective when children are taught to manipulate phonemes with letters. In other words, the greatest effectiveness in helping children learn to read occurs when the essential oral phonemic awareness (hearing/recognizing the sounds) is linked directly to the printed letters (the specific black squiggle). This is teaching the child to link the phonemic awareness skills to the alphabetic awareness skills. Not only can they hear that the word ‘monkey’ starts with the /m/ sound but they can point to the printed letter ‘m’. They can recognize and link sounds to the print.
When can I start teaching Phonemic Awareness?
Begin teaching your child the essential phonemic awareness skills at the preschool level using fun, age-appropriate activities and sound games. After initial oral phonemic awareness is developed, begin to link the phonemic awareness activities directly to the printed letters.