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Morphological awareness is an understanding of how words can be broken down into smaller units of meaning such a roots, prefixes, and suffixes. A morpheme is the smallest unit of meaning. A prefix is a bound morpheme that is placed before a root word to change its meaning or to make its meaning more specific. A suffix is a bound morpheme placed at the end of a root word. And a root word is the free morpheme to which a prefix or suffix may be attached.

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The syllable is the unit of pronunciation. Each syllable may have more than one vowel, but only contains one vowel phoneme. In a multi syllable word one syllable will receive more emphasis than the other syllable. The syllables in a word can be divided using accents. There are six syllable types; closed syllables, open syllables, vowel + consonant + e, vowel team syllables, r-controlled syllables, consonant + le syllables.

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Vowels are one of the two classifications of speech sounds. The vowels are a, e, i, o, u, and sometimes w and y. There are 19 vowel phonemes. "Y" does not represent a vowel sound of its own, when "y" is a vowel its pronounciation is show with the key used for "e" or "i". When "w" is a vowel it does not have a phoneme of its own. "W" is used in combination with another vowel, ex. cow. The vowel phonemes are represented by a, e, i, o, and u. Vowels can have long or short sounds depending on the words they are used in.

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Complex consonants are when two letters are combined, but are pronounced as one sound. An example of this is "ck" when this combination is used in the word black it is pronounced as one sound.

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The alphabet is divided into two main groups vowels and consonants. There are 21 consonant letters. 25 of the 44 existing phonemes are consonant phonemes. Most consonants are reliable in sound. There are symbols and keywords for all consonants.

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Phonological Awareness: Is an individual's awareness of the phonological structure, or sound structure, of words. An overall awareness of the sounds in spoken language.

Examples of Good Awareness: identify words that rhyme, counting the number of syllables in words, recognize alliteration, segmenting sentences into words.

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Phonemic Awareness - the ability to conceptualize speech as a sequence of phonemes (sounds) combined with the ability to consciously manipulate the phonemes of the English language. When a student has phonemic awareness he/she is able to separate words into their individual phonemes; add, substitute, and rearrange the phonemes in words; and blend phonemes together to pronounce words.

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Phoneme: phon = sound eme= unit of language
Phonics awareness is the conscious awareness of individual speech sounds, or phonemes, consonants and vowels in spoken syllables. And the ability to consciously manipulate those sounds.

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Phoneme

Phonics

Phonetics

Phonogram

Phonology

Phonological

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Phonological skill develops in a predictable progression. This concept is important, as it provides the basis for sequencing teaching tasks from easy to more difficult. Table 1 outlines the relative difficulty of phonological awareness tasks. Table 2 is a more specific synthesis of several research reviews and summaries (Adams et al., 1998; Gillon, 2004; Goswami, 2000; Paulson, 2004; Rath, 2001) that ties specific ages to the typical accomplishment of those phonological awareness tasks.

Prerequisite to phonological awareness is basic listening skill; the acquisition of a several-thousand word vocabulary; the ability to imitate and produce basic sentence structures; and the use of language to express needs, react to others, comment on experience, and understand what others intend.

Table 1. Phonological skills, from most basic to advanced

Word awareness

Tracking the words in sentences.

Note: This semantic language skill is much less directly predictive of reading than the skills that follow and less important to teach directly (Gillon, 2004). It is not so much a phonological skill as a semantic (meaning-based) language skill.

Responsiveness to rhyme and alliteration during word play

Enjoying and reciting learned rhyming words or alliterative phrases in familiar storybooks or nursery rhymes.

Syllable awareness

Counting, tapping, blending, or segmenting a word into syllables.

Onset and rime manipulation

The ability to produce a rhyming word depends on understanding that rhyming words have the same rime. Recognizing a rhyme is much easier than producing a rhyme.

Phoneme awareness

Identify and match the initial sounds in words, then the final and middle sounds (e.g., "Which picture begins with /m/?"; "Find another picture that ends in /r/").

Segment and produce the initial sound, then the final and middle sounds (e.g., "What sound does zoo start with?"; "Say the last sound in milk"; "Say the vowel sound in rope ").

Blend sounds into words (e.g., "Listen: /f/ /ē/ /t/. Say it fast").

Segment the phonemes in two- or three-sound words, moving to four- and five- sound words as the student becomes proficient (e.g., "The word is eyes. Stretch and say the sounds: /ī/ /z/").

Manipulate phonemes by removing, adding, or substituting sounds (e.g., "Say smoke without the /m/").

Table 2. Ages at which 80-90 percent of typical students have achieved a phonological skill

4

Rote imitation and enjoyment of rhyme and alliteration

pool, drool, tool
"Seven silly snakes sang songs seriously."

5

Rhyme recognition, odd word out

"Which two words rhyme:
stair, steel, chair?"

Recognition of phonemic changes in words

" Hickory Dickory Clock. That's not right!"

Clapping, counting syllables

5½

Distinguishing and remembering separate phonemes in a series

Show sequences of single phonemes with colored blocks: /s/ /s/ /f/; /z/ /sh/ /z/.

Producing a rhyme

"Tell me a word that rhymes with car." ( star)

Matching initial sounds; isolating an initial sound

"Say the first sound in ride (/r/); sock (/s/); love (/l/)."

6

Compound word deletion

"Say cowboy. Say it again, but don't say cow."

Syllable deletion

"Say parsnip. Say it again, but don't say par."

Phoneme segmentation of words that have simple syllables with two or three phonemes (no blends)

"Say the word as you move a chip for each sound."

6½

Phoneme segmentation of words that have up to three or four phonemes (include blends)

"Say the word slowly while you tap the sounds."

Phoneme substitution to build new words that have simple syllables (no blends)

"Change the /j/ in cage to /n/.
Change the /ā/ in cane to /ō/."

7

Sound deletion (initial and final positions)

"Say meat. Say it again, without the /m/."
"Say safe. Say it again, without the /f/."

8

Sound deletion (initial position, include blends)

"Say prank. Say it again, without the /p/."

9

Sound deletion (medial and final blend positions)

"Say snail. Say it again, without the /n/."
"Say fork. Say it again, without the /k/."

Paulson (2004) confirmed the hierarchy of phonological skill acquisition in 5-year-olds entering kindergarten. Only 7 percent of 5-year-olds who had not yet had kindergarten could segment phonemes in spoken words. The production of rhymes was more difficult for 5-year-olds than commonly assumed, as only 61 percent could give a rhyming word for a stimulus. Only 29 percent could blend single phonemes into whole words. Although some young students will pick up these skills with relative ease during the kindergarten year - especially if the curriculum includes explicit activities - other students must be taught these metalinguistic skills directly and systematically.

Moats, L, & Tolman, C (2009). Excerpted from Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling (LETRS): The Speech Sounds of English: Phonetics, Phonology, and Phoneme Awareness (Module 2). Boston: Sopris West.

For more information on Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling (LETRS) visit Voyager Sopris .

For any reprint requests, please contact the author or publisher listed.

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Basic listening skills and "word awareness" are critical precursors to phonological awareness. Learn the milestones for acquiring phonological skills.

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Phonemic Awareness

Awareness of individual speech sounds, or phonemes

A phoneme is the smallest segment of speech that can determine word meaning, or that can be combined with other speech sounds to make a new word

Ability to manipulate those sounds

Individual sounds are represented between // symbols /k/

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The science of reading is education, psychology, linguistics, and neuroscience all working together to create the best word recognition and language comprehension.

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The science of reading involves two main skills; word recognition and language comprehension. Word recognition involves phonological awareness, decoding, and sight recognition. Language comprehension involves background knowledge, vocabulary knowledge, language structures, verbal reasoning, and literacy knowledge. Students may face individual challenges with reading including, but not limited to dyslexia. Dyslexia presents challenges when it comes to manipulating language. Students will need additional time to decode words. When it comes to learning to read phonics awareness is essential in learning to read and with reading comprehension.

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Learn the six types of syllables found in English orthography, why it’s important to teach syllables, and the sequence in which students learn about both spoken and written syllables.

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Phonological awareness, or sound awareness, is a critical literacy skill. It is essential for reading and spelling, and it has been proven to be one of the best predictors for reading success. The reason that this skill is so important is that the brain processes letter-sound relationships, and that skill is what helps mold students into the skilled readers that they need to be.

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Teaching morphology is important because it teaches students how to recognize and read related words, and will help broaden their vocabulary. Morphological awareness is necessary in speaking so that we are sure to convey the correct meaning of words. And it is also important in reading comprehension when a student is able to understand what the word means in the text they are reading.

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Single-letter phonics is so important as it is a fundamental part of reading basics. Without this basic understanding students will struggle with the simplest words. With an confident understanding of single-letter phonics students will be able to successfully teach themselves new words.

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Amber Monson Schaefer needs some fun new ways to teach short vowel sounds to my k-kids. Pdf's, games, websites and songs would all be welcome! Andrea Trevethan Tudor
We use SIPPS reading, which comes with big picture cards that I put up on the wall. Each one show a cat in relation to a chair ... the "a" is "at the chair", "e" is the "edge of the chair", "i" is "in the chair," "o" is "on the chair", and "u" is "under the chair." So when a child is sounding out a word, I will prompt "a .. a.. at the chair? or i ... i ... in the chair?" After some practice they begin to figure it out on their own 🙂 (Of course "e" and "i" are difficult!
Emily Ray
From Saxon... laying large consonants and vowels learned on floor.... and hopping on them to spell words. I used the Orange, "rubbery" letters bought in the good ole' days. They came in handy for "marching around the alphabet." Hap Palmer Days, too, we said the sound too.
Kelly Victor
Check out Dr. Jean. I just went to a conference she did she has wonderful stories and songs for vowels. Everything you need is on her site and available to print.

Also the flip chart from Scholastic works great for singing the vowels to a song they have an abc one and a phonics 1 tho my students have been taught both they benefited more from the phonics one.
Jenn Kram Starfall.com Christina Mondro
Jack Hartman's CD Shake,Rattle and Roll- Vowel Sound Samba or Dr. Jean's Kiss Your Brain CD-Vowel Cheer.

I also practice the vowel sounds daily using hand movements: short a /a/ use arms to make an alligators mouth opening. Short e /e/ exercise your thumb and pointer finger (or make something up that works for you). Short i /i/ pretend that you are itching yourself. Short o /o/ open mouth like you are saying ahh. Short u /u/ point thumb up. We talk about them separately because they are important...they show up in every word.
Lynne Murray Smith
I learned from a friend and use: /a/a/a/ ankle (tap ankle), /e/e/e/ elbow (tap elbow), /i/i/i/ itch (itch sides), /o/o/o/ on (tap shoulders), /u/u/u/ up (lift hands up). We recite these and also use them when sounding out words. It adds kinesthetic learning as well.
Sherri Lake Hickin
Dr. Jean's vowel family song is awesome! Just taught it to my class today and they totally know the sounds!
Wendy Rader Lima
We have "vowel friends" (a clip art picture on a piece of paper) and was say hi to them the special way that they like to say their names. /a/ /a/ /a/ Apple Annie, /e/ /e/ /e/ Ed the Elephant, /i/ /i/ Isabella Inchworm, /o/ /o/ /o/ Ollie Octopus, /u/ /u/ /u/ Uncle Ugbee. I think they might be from Carson Dellosa, but I just search on-line for a picture that could go with the character.
Lynette Feenstra
http://www.elementarysmartboardlessons.com has lots of FREE SMART Board lessons available on a flash drive! It has files for each letter of the alphabet! It's an invaluable resource for all SMART Board users.
Ashley Parks
What sound does a short a make? (Children repeat) What sound does a short a make? Repeat each Twice. a, a, a! a, a, a! What sound does a short e make? (Children repeat) What sound does a short e make? e, e, e. What sound does a short I make? (Repeat) What sound does a short I make? i, i, i. What sound does a short o make? (Repeat) i, i, i. What sound does a short u make? (Repeat) u, u, u.

Just make sure to repeat each twice and let them repeat you! I do hand movements as well. You can make up your own. Be creative or whatever your kids will understand. If they forget a short vowel sound I repeat that part of the song. Ex. Pet and they don't know "e" I say "What does a short e make? e, e, e. I have a CD from Scholastic that had this song on it! It also has a long vowel song! Awesome CD!
Nickki Del Pizzo-schreiner
Go to You Tube - Letter a song Actually there is a song for every letter. 🙂
Alia Harland
Sing "Bingo", but with Vowels: "The vowels of the alphabet, I know them all by name-O, A-E-I-O-U, AEIOU, AEIOU, I know they all by name-O! 🙂 And you know the rest....my kids love it and always catch on!
Shelley Griffiths
Vowel Bat video-You Tube under Harry's kindergarten. My kids love it...I downloaded it at home and took to school since school blocks You Tube...
Megan LeDoux
Stephen Fite does a great song called "Rock the Vowels" - goes through short and long sounds. It's always a favorite of my kids!
Laura D'Amico
I have this little song/chant/dance we sing with the kids; they watch, repeat me, then after awhile they can do it independently:

(reach arms up to the sky) "long a says, AAA" - "Apron!"

((crouch down and touch toes) "short a says /a/, /a/, /a/ - "Alligator!"

repeat for all vowels in order (a, e, i, o, u) . It takes only about a minute, but it's so cute watching them recite it alone =) I hold up the big letter cards for each letter

long e - eagle

short e - egg

long i - ice cream

short i - igloo

long o - over

short o - octopus

long u - unicorn

short u - under

I switch the words as we go to get a variety of vocabulary/sounds incorporated!
Christina Mondro
Dr. Jean vowel cheer from Kiss Your Brain CD. I review vowel sounds daily during circle/calendar time (we practice the sounds with gestures; a-alligator and make alligator mouth with arms, e-exercise and make exercise movement with arms, i-itchy and scratch ourselves, o-ahhh and open our mouths like we are at the doctors, u-up and point thumbs upward. This helps greatly and I stress how important these vowels are in learning to read and write.
Suzzanne Schueller
I found some great songs on youtube by havefunteaching. They have a song for each letter of the alphabet. My little darling love the songs. Just type the letter you are looking for and I'm sure one of their videos will come up. The vowel songs include long and short sounds.
Cindy Branam Boyer
To the tune of Frere Jacques-A says /a/ /a/, E says /e/ /e/, I says /i/,/i/,/i/,/i/, O says /o/ /o/, U says /u/ /u/, I know my vowels, a, e, i, o, u. Also-Old McDonald had a vowel, a, e, i, o, u. And on his farm he had an a, /a/ /a/ /a/ /a/ /a/ and so on.
Shelley Griffiths
Vowel Bat song by Shari Sloane. There is a video of it on you tube my kids love.....It is to the tune of Batman music.
Jennifer Gilbert
I have Jack Hartmann's "Hip-Hop AlphaBop" CD, and the kids love it.

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A,E,I,O,U: Tips for teaching short vowels

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The Question: Amber Monson Schaefer needs some fun new ways to teach short vowel sounds to my k-kids. Pdf's, games, websites and songs would all be welcome! Andrea Trevethan Tudor We use SIPPS reading, which comes with big picture cards that I put up on the wall.

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It is so important for students to learn syllable types. It allows them to break words down into parts that are manageable for them. This skill helps them to identify patterns in words, which in tern helps with reading and writing.

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Complex consonants can be just that, complex. However, when students grasp this concept it will help them to excel in both decoding and spelling words. Understanding that some consonant blends only make one sound when used in certain words.

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It is so important for students to learn vowels and vowel sounds. Vowels combined with consonants are the building blocks of words. Once students have an understanding of vowels and consonants they can begin to decode words, spell words, and read.