Phonemic
Awareness Activities for the Classroom
So what is
phonemic awareness anyway?
•
Words are composed of sounds.
•
Phonemic Awareness is the BEST predictor of
reading success.(
•
Only 40%-50% of children start school with
sufficient phonemic awareness. (Cunningham, Allington, 1995, 2000).
•
There is a predictive and causal relationship
between phonemic awareness and reading success. Early systematic instruction in
Kindergarten and first grade in phonemic awareness should be a priority in
reducing reading failure.
•
Phonemic Awareness must be explicitly taught.
(Brady, Fowler, Stone, & Winbury, 1994).
•
Skillful implementation in meaningful
contexts.
Are there
any guidelines for phonemic awareness activities?
·
Make the activities fun and
exciting. Play with sounds – don’t drill
them.
·
Use phoneme sounds represented by
/ / . Do not use letter names during the
activities. Reminder: there are three sounds in the word these /th/
/ee/ /z/.
·
Exaggerate the sounds by holding
on to them rrrrrrrring. Or use rapid repetitions such as k-k-k-k-ite.
·
Sounds in different positions:
initial ( /t/ table) is easiest, next comes final (/l/ fill), with medial
position ( /i/ sit) being the hardest.
·
CV patterns (to,
no, go) should come before VC patterns (on,
it, up). CVC patterns (man, pan, pat) should
follow. Making Words Activities (Cunningham, 1992) are great practice.
Let’s look at some activities:
Onset and Rime: (Practice with Common Phonograms or
Word Families)
|
Literature to use for rhyme
patterns: |
Hop on Pop (Dr. Seuss) There’s a Wocket in my Pocket (Dr.
Seuss) Sheep in a Jeep (Nancy Shaw) |
|
Literature to use for
alliteration: |
FaintFrogsFeelingFeverish AndOtherTerrifically TantalizingTongue
Twisters(Obligato) |
|
Practice with Phonograms |
Make a Word Family Chart Introducing Word Families
Through Literature ( Easy Lessons for Teaching Word
Families (Judy Lynch) Have children create their own
Word family Books. Making Words Activities with Cunningham tiles. (Fox to
Hen) Change bat to cat. Change cat to cap. Change cap to cup. |
|
Rhyming Practice |
Rounding up the Rhymes. Rhyming Pairs: Do these sound
the same? (nose-rose) or different (bed-car)? Odd Word Out: What word doesn’t
belong? (weed, bead, pill, seed)? Rhyming Word Pairs
Concentration: Name the pictures on the cards out loud. Find two that rhyme. |
Practice with Phoneme Awareness:
|
Isolated phoneme recognition |
Sammy Snake
Says-------------./s/ |
|
Segmenting Word/Syllable/Phoneme Counting |
How many
(words/syllables/sounds) do you hear in this (word/sentence)? Can you clap
the sounds? (Use of Elkonen Boxes) |
|
Blending |
It starts with /m/ and ends
with –ight, put them together and you’ve got ------- (might). What word am I saying /d/
/i//sh/ ? (dish) |
|
Initial phonemes |
Is there a /b/ in bat? boy?
pig? What is the first sound that
you hear in doll? daisy? donkey? |
|
Final phonemes |
Is there a /t/ in cat? hit?
hip? What is the last sound that you
hear in hot? hit? pit? |
|
Identification of phoneme
positions |
Where do you hear the /t/ in
cat? (at the beginning, middle or end?) |
|
Phoneme Matching |
Do cookie and cup begin with
the same sound? Do cup and map ends with the
same sound? |
|
Phoneme Matching |
Which one does not belong? cup,
rat, cookie Which one does not belong? hat,
fit, cap |