So you have a struggling reader? You are not alone. I am approached on a regular basis by parents of struggling readers who need help. Their child is usually in 1st grade or higher and struggling with basic Kindergarten material. The question that always runs through my head is...How is their phonemic awareness? There are specific diagnostic tests for this that a Reading Specialist would use but you aren't here for testing, you are here for a jumping off point on how to help. If your child, at any age is struggling it is important to go back to the basics. I am going to be doing a running series on how to identify this weakness at home and what you can to do help. So, I know you have questions and want answers that are simple and straight forward. I'm hear to help.
What is Phonemic Awareness?
The answer is simple. It's the ability to identify the smallest identifiable unit of sound (phoneme) of spoken language. In other words, when you hear the word "sat" you can distinguish the sounds /s/, /a/, /t/ in that world. Even if you didn't know the names of the those sounds (letter names) you can still identify the sounds themselves.
Why is Phonemic Awareness Important?
More than 52 peer reviewed experimental studies have indicated that helping a child master phonemic awareness skills when combined with teaching letter names (National Reading Panel [NPR] 2000) revealed significant positive benefits.
Phonemic Awareness enhances the outcomes in word recognition and spelling for all students. Children with phonemic awareness training become better readers overall. In addition, the [NPR] 2000 reports that phonemic awareness helps all students with disabilities, students with reading difficulties, very young students, and so on. The skills can be taught in brief time frames each day.
Okay, So What Should Be Taught?
This is simple. Segmenting (taking apart) words into phonemes and blending them back together contributes more to learning to read and spell well than any of the other phonological awareness skills. [NPR] 2000.
First grade students who lack phonemic awareness, or who read lower than 20 words per minute, should also be learning these skills. This is in addition to phonics rules or other reading components typically focused on in that grade level.
Words can be divided into parts such as syllables, onset-rimes, or phonemes.
HUH? What Onset-Rime?
Words that can be divided into onset-rime are one syllable words. "Onset" refers to the consonant/s before a vowel and rime refers to the vowel and every sound that follows. Below are a few examples.
- In the word can, /c/ is the onset & /an/ is the rime.
- In the word scratch, /scr/ is the onset & /atch/ is the rime
This type of segmenting at the onset-rime level is considered a warm up skill and should be shifted to quickly to smaller unites as quickly as possible.
Okay, now that we've cleared that up. Let's talk about how you can help your child.
How Do I Know If I Should Teach Phonemic Awareness At Home?
First ask yourself...
- Does my child need phonemic awareness instruction?
- What phonemic awareness instruction would my child benefit from?
- How much time should I spend teaching phonemic awareness?
If you aren't sure yet how to answer these questions, let me be your guide.
Does your child need phonemic awareness instruction?
- Is your child struggling with reading?
- Is your child in Kindergarten or First Grade?
- Is your child in First Grade and reading a grade behind?
- Is your child in any grade above First Grade and stuck at a First Grade Level?
If you answered yes to any or all of these questions, then your child would benefit greatly from Phonemic Awareness Instruction at home.
What phonemic awareness instruction would my child benefit from?
There are several ways to approach this question. One, you can simply as your child's teacher if any phonemic awareness assessments have been done and ask what the results indicated? The answer should be one or all of three answers, your child could need help with....
- deleting (taking out sounds in words)
- segmenting (pulling apart sounds in words)
- blending (putting together sounds in word)
There are 4 very common assessments that can be administered by any teacher. If you are having difficulty getting these answers from your child's teacher try harder or you can move forward on your own and start at the beginning. You will eventually, if not right away, hit bumps in the activities that will give you a good clue as to whither to move on or keep working.
If you aren't sure were to start it helps knowing that the two most important aspects of phonemic awareness are segmenting and blending....pulling apart and putting back together.
Okay, I Want To Get Started. Where Do I Begin?
First, let's establish some very important foundational guidelines. The instruction you provide should be systematic and explicit. Meaning, the methods of instruction should not vary and you should be clear with your instructions. The instruction should be obvious, visible, and with goals that anyone listening could understand. Lessons should be highly focused and well sequenced.
Allow time to model the activities, time for your child to respond, and time to reflect on how and when to move forward.
You should consider allowing your child opportunities to write the letters that represent the sounds that are heard. It is important for children to be able to transfer their phonemic awareness skills to reading and spelling as they move along by writing. Reading and writing go hand in hand, always.
What do I need to get started?
There are a couple of things you will need handy for sure.
- Word Lists (click here)
- chips, tiles, or fingers to help track syllables
- Printable Phonemic Awareness Activities
I will be publishing 9 different activities for download that will be linked below. Start with the first and work your way to the last with your child. If additional materials are needed they will be mentioned in the activity list. Since phonemic awareness has more to do with listening to sounds there are not many materials needed at all. Some of these activities can even be practiced on the go.
Phonemic Awareness Activities:
(activities available beginning after 11/25)
Deleting Syllables
Jumping Syllables
Elkonin Boxes
M&M Phonemes
What Did I Say?
Do The Phoneme Shuffle
Smiley Face Phonemes
Which Word is Different?
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