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This website defines what phonemic awareness is.

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You are welcome to print copies for non-commercial use, or a limited number for educational purposes, as long as credit is given to Reading Rockets and the author(s). For commercial use, please contact the author or publisher listed.

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Phonemic awareness is the ability to identify, hear, and manipulate the individual sounds in spoken words. Manipulating the sounds in words includes blending, stretching, or otherwise changing words.

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Click to enlarge

﻿Phonological Awareness: What is it and how does it relate to phonemic awareness?

Phonological Awareness is the ability to recognize that spoken words are made up of individual sound parts.

Word Level Rhyming

Alliteration

Bold big brown bear

Sentence Segmentation

I / see / the / dog = 4 words

Syllable Level

ba-by = 2 syllables
ex-er-cise = 3 syllables

Phonological Awareness is like an umbrella. Phonemic Awareness and other skills exist under this umbrella.

Onset & Rime Level

Phonemic Awareness Level

/m/ /oo/ /n/ moon = 3 phonemes
Phonemic awareness is the most advanced skill of phonological awareness.

National Center on Improving Literacy (2022). Phonological Awareness: What Is It and How Does It Relate To Phonemic Awareness. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, Office of Special Education Programs, National Center on Improving Literacy. Retrieved from http://improvingliteracy.org.

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Phonological Awareness: What is it and how does it relate to phonemic awareness?

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If you prefer, read the text-version of the infographic. Click to enlarge ﻿Phonological Awareness: What is it and how does it relate to phonemic awareness? Phonological Awareness is the ability to recognize that spoken words are made up of individual sound parts.

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Video of each sound and the mouth formation 

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Video of each sound and the mouth formation 

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This is a great video that shows the sounds and how your mouth moves, it is great for all ages.

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This is the website for WIDA, the test to assess English Language Learners. Everything you need to know is on the website.

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WIDA's asset-based approach to each student

The WIDA  Can Do Philosophy reflects the foundational belief that everyone has valuable resources they can use to support their own and others' learning. Linguistically and culturally diverse learners, in particular, bring a unique set of assets that enrich any learning community.

Multilingual learners come with knowledge and skills in multiple languages. With appropriate scaffolding, these assets can become a robust foundation for content-area learning and language development. By exploring and focusing on what language learners can do, educators can engage learners of any language proficiency in meaningful learning that meets standards-based instructional goals.

WIDA believes that multilingual students enrich not only the classrooms in which they learn but also their school, districts, and the nation. WIDA strives to promote the Can Do Philosophy in its work with a wide range of stakeholders: from classroom teachers to national policy makers.

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WIDA's asset-based approach to each studentThe WIDA  Can Do Philosophy reflects the foundational belief that everyone has valuable resources they can use to support their own and others' learning. Linguistically and culturally diverse learners, in particular, bring a unique set of assets that enrich any learning community.

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Use the table of contents to find your grade level to look at the Proficiency Level Descriptors.

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This website defines what phonics and decoding are.

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Phonics instruction teaches the relationships between the letters of written language and the sounds of spoken language. To read, children need to understand the alphabetic principle - the idea that letters represent the sounds of spoken language. Decoding is when we use letter-sound relationships to translate a printed word into speech.

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Wiley Blevins Phonemic Awareness Assessment

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Wiley Blevins Phonemic Awareness Assessment

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This assessment measures the ability to hear and manipulate the sounds in spoken words and the understanding that spoken words and syllables are made up of sequences of speech sounds.

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This blog post will help you understand the components of oral language.

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What Is Oral Language? Developing oral language means developing the skills and knowledge that go into listening and speaking-all of which have a strong relationship to reading comprehension and to writing.

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DAPPA (Diagnostic Assessment of Phonological and Phonemic Awareness) 

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DAPPA (Diagnostic Assessment of Phonological and Phonemic Awareness) 

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This diagnostic test helps you understand what parts of phonological awareness your student has mastered and what they still need to work on.

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This video helps you to summarize what alphabetic principle is so you can better understand what it is and how it applies to your teaching.

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Second Language Learners' Vocabulary and Oral Language Development Brochure

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Second Language Learners' Vocabulary and Oral Language Development Brochure

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This brochure summaries how to accommodate for your ELL students in vocabulary and oral language development.

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App to download. The program engages kids in core subjects like early literacy, reading, writing, language, and math, while encouraging creativity and building social-emotional skills.

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Khan Academy Kids: Learning! - Apps on Google Play

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Early learning for kids ages 2-8! Educational games, stories, and fun lessons.

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This assessment helps to measure understanding of phoneme awareness, letter-sound correspondences, decoding and spelling of words, sight-word reading, and the application of decoding and spelling in sentences.

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Watch this video to learn about how to use Khan Academy Kids.

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Phonemic Awareness Placement Assessment 

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Phonemic Awareness Placement Assessment 

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This assessment is a great in-depth indicator for 2nd grade and above to determine what your student(s) knows.

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Please take the time to let me know what information was most useful for you, and any additional information you may want to see added. Thank you!

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ReadingBear.org is a free website for young learners. It teaches phonics and vocabulary. It is self paced. It is systematic and processive. Helps with decoding.

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Website with black and white images to add visuals to assignments for students. It is great for adapting an assignment for an ELL.

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Watch this video to learn how to navigate the free website Readingbear.org

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Attached in the International Literacy Association's Children's Right to Read Pledge.

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Phonological Awareness Brochure

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This spelling test was created by R. Gentry, who came up with the stages of spelling. This is a quick assessment to see where your students are in the development of spelling.

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Textual lineage is when a text becomes apart of you long after you have read it. When reading has a long lasting effect, it can and will change you as a person.

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Teaching Tools for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) Education

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Teaching Tools for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) Education

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This website includes briefs that discuss different topics within STEM education that revolve around equity.

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Digital/Multimedia Texts: Discovery Education 

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Digital/Multimedia Texts: Discovery Education 

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This is a link to a video on Discovery Education, that goes with the 3rd grade unit on Regions. Discovery Education is a great resources for videos, texts, and lessons for students.

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New York City | Boston | Providence Explore universities in New England & big cities like New York.

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This is a great resource that includes sentence starters to help promote meaningful discussions in the classroom. It also includes lists of different signal words.

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Read Aloud- The True Story of the Three Little Pigs 

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Read Aloud- The True Story of the Three Little Pigs 

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Interactive Read aloud for perspective of the story The True Story of the Three Little Pigs

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Book talk on three different picture books that are great for early elementary students.

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Fort Bend County Libraries Youth Services

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A graphic novel perfect for 8 to 12 year-olds, it's about a girl named Maggie that desperately wants a pet but finds out she's allergic to fur. Read to find out if she can outsmart her allergies and get the perfect pet!

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Tips for how parents can help their child with vocabulary at home.

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How teachers can teach vocabulary to multilingual learners.

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Vocabulary Techniques for Multilingual Learners  

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Explicit Vocabulary Instruction Infographic 

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Explicit Vocabulary Instruction Infographic 

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This infographic goes over the steps for specific word instruction regarding vocabulary development in the classroom.

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We’re currently checking your connection. This shouldn’t take long.If you keep getting this page, check if there’s a problem with Canva.

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This screencast focuses specifically on vocabulary.com's teacher resource page. The page has a ton of different types of lists for teachers to use in the classroom to enhance their vocabulary instruction.

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Untitled Video November 13, 2024 7:19 PM

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This website has a lot of different vocabulary word lists to help teachers with guiding vocabulary instruction in the classroom. Specific it helps with what words to choose, or groups of words.

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Vocabulary.com - learn new words, play games that improve your vocabulary, and find easy-to-understand definitions in our super-fast dictionary.

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Article: The Educator’s Science of Reading Toolbox: Explicit Vocabulary Instruction to Build Equitable Access for All Learners

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Article: The Educator’s Science of Reading Toolbox: Explicit Vocabulary Instruction to Build Equitable Access for All Learners

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This article talks about explicit vocabulary instruction in the classroom, focusing on steps of specific word instruction.

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The best approach to beginning reading instruction for students with or at risk for literacy-related disabilities incorporates explicit instruction in five areas: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension (National Reading Panel, 2000). These are known as the "5 Big Ideas" in beginning reading. While the research is clear on what to teach, knowing how to teach these pieces can be challenging. To start, there is overwhelming evidence that in order to maximize struggling readers' meaningful access to the 5 Big Ideas in the reading curriculum, teachers must provide systematic and explicit instruction in each area (Gersten et al., 2009).

Instruction that is vague and ambiguous may prove to be confusing to struggling readers. Providing explicit instruction in each of the 5 Big Ideas ensures equitable access for the range of learners in our classrooms. Put another way, not providing struggling readers explicit instructional supports to access the curriculum is unjust and inequitable (Fien, Chard, & Baker, 2021). This Educator's Toolbox provides practical ways to incorporate explicit vocabulary instruction within your classroom to ensure your vocabulary lessons are accessible to all learners.

What Is Vocabulary and Why Is It Important?

Vocabulary refers to the words we must know in order to comprehend and communicate effectively. In general, vocabulary can be described as either oral vocabulary or reading vocabulary. Oral vocabulary refers to words that we use in speaking or recognize when listening. Reading vocabulary refers to words we recognize or use in print. The primary way that students develop a robust vocabulary is through wide and independent reading (Stanovich, 1986). However, we must also teach students vocabulary before they learn to read, and we must continue to explicitly teach vocabulary to students who struggle to learn to read in the early grades (Beck & McKeown, 2007).

Vocabulary plays an important part in learning to read. Instruction and intervention in language- based skills, including language, vocabulary, and listening comprehension, should start at the very beginning of preschool and continue throughout the early elementary grades. This instruction is often a part of oral language activities in the early grades because emerging readers have a much more difficult time reading words that are not already part of their oral vocabulary (Fien et al., 2011). Vocabulary is also important for reading comprehension. Readers cannot understand what they are reading without knowing what most of the words mean. As children learn to read more advanced texts, they must learn the meaning of new words that are not part of their oral vocabulary.

How Do Students Learn Vocabulary?

Vocabulary learning occurs in different ways (Diamond & Gutlohn, 2006). Children learn the meanings of most words incidentally, through everyday experiences with oral and written language. This indirect learning occurs in three ways: by engaging in conversations with other people-especially adults, by listening to others read to them, and by reading extensively on their own.

Although a great deal of vocabulary is learned indirectly, some vocabulary is also learned through direct, explicit instruction. Explicit vocabulary instruction helps students learn difficult words, such as words that represent complex concepts that are not part of the students' everyday experiences (Beck et al, 2002). Explicit vocabulary instruction relevant to a given text leads to better reading and listening comprehension (Fien et al., 2011; Marulis & Neuman, 2013). Students learn vocabulary directly when they are explicitly taught both individual words and word-learning strategies. A variety of direct and indirect methods of vocabulary instruction should occur in classrooms. This Educator's Toolbox focuses on one type of vocabulary instruction called specific word instruction.

Specific Word Instruction

Specific word instruction is the teaching of individual words. It can deepen knowledge of word meanings and help students understand what they are hearing or reading. It also can help them use words accurately in speaking and writing. Specific word instruction should occur before, during, and after reading. Before students read a text, it is helpful to teach them specific words they will encounter (Baker, Fien, & Baker, 2010). Teaching important vocabulary before reading can help students both learn new words and comprehend the text.

During reading, students should be provided with specific word instruction that allows them to actively engage with the words (Baker et al., 2013). The more students use new words in different contexts, the more likely they are to learn and retain the words (Santoro et al., 2016).

Infographic

This infographic illustrates how vocabulary can be introduced both before and during reading to help students identify real-life connections between a vocabulary word and how the word is used in a variety of semantic contexts, such as categories of words (e.g., do words, feel words).

Click to Enlarge

Steps of Specific Word Instruction

There are four steps to providing specific word instruction in the classroom.

Step 1: Select the Word

You won't be able to directly teach your students all of the words in a text that they might not already know. You should aim to thoroughly teach perhaps eight to ten new words per week, so you need to choose these carefully.

How should you choose vocabulary words to use for specific word instruction? If you are using a core program, you will first want to look at the vocabulary selections provided in the program and evaluate them for their utility and complexity. You will want to select the words that are Tier II words, or words that are likely to appear frequently in a wide variety of texts and in written and oral language (Beck & McKeown, 2004). Ask yourself these questions when choosing vocabulary words:

Is this word important for understanding a concept or the text?

Is this word useful for students to learn? Are students likely to see and use the word often across different contexts?

Is this word difficult for most of your students? Some types of words may be particularly difficult for students to learn, including words with multiple meanings and idiomatic expressions.

Flag the words from your core program's vocabulary list that you will use for specific word instruction. Next, look for additional words in the text you are using. Are there other words that are important, useful, or difficult? Flag any additional words that you will use for specific word instruction.

Step 2: Provide a Student-Friendly Definition

You will want to provide a student-friendly definition of each vocabulary word. For example, when explicitly teaching the meaning of the word gigantic, a student-friendly definition would be, "The word gigantic means very big."

Step 3: Illustrate the Word

It is important to illustrate the word with examples and non-examples to provide multiple contexts for the word. You can illustrate vocabulary words in different ways:

draw pictures

act out the word

write novel sentences using the word

share sentences from read-aloud texts containing the vocabulary word

share sentences from student texts containing the vocabulary word

Visual presentations of words are very powerful for students. For example, posting each vocabulary word in a classroom with a student-friendly definition and an anchor picture (a picture of the word that serves as a representation of that word) is an excellent way to help students reference previously learned words. Picture sorting can also be used to support vocabulary development (Diamond, L. & Gutlohn, 2006). For example, students can sort vocabulary picture cards to gain a sense of how words and concepts either relate or don't relate to one another.

Step 4: Check Student Understanding

Finally, check students' understanding of each vocabulary word taught. Ask the students questions that will prompt answers that demonstrate complete understanding of the use of the vocabulary word or its meaning. Ask students to generate examples or nonexamples to show that they understand the correct use of the vocabulary word. In addition, ask students to generate a sentence that includes the vocabulary word (Coyne et al., 2010).

Sample Vocabulary Routine

The following is an example of an instructional routine for specific word instruction (Center on Teaching and Learning, University of Oregon, 2013; Fien et al., 2015). In this sample, bold text provides teachers with the specific language of the instructional routine, including introducing the task ("You're going to learn the meaning of new vocabulary words..."), reading and defining the word for the students ("This word is..."), distributing practice to students ("What word?"), and conducting checks for understanding. The routine also provides specific information for the teacher about how to provide examples and correct student errors. As you gauge students' understanding, provide consistent and specific feedback to support their learning.

Vocabulary: Specific Word Routine

Materials: Vocabulary words with student-friendly definition to display for all students to see (e.g., written on cards, chart paper, sentence strips, displayed on white board and so forth).

Explain: You're going to learn the meaning of new vocabulary words, and you will practice using those words in sentences.

Practice for students only: Use the routine for each vocabulary word. *Have students sitting by their talk partners. Your turn.

*Routine for each vocabulary word

1. This word is [vocabulary word]. Introduce the new vocabulary word.

2. What word? Have the students repeat the vocabulary word.

3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 for difficult-to-pronounce words.

4. [Vocabulary word] means [student-friendly definition]. Tell students the student-friendly definition for the word. Have students repeat the student-friendly definition with you (as you point to the words).

5. What word? Have the student repeat the vocabulary word again.

6. Provide Examples of the vocabulary word that will help your students understand the word. Here are some options:

Pictures

Acting out the word

Novel sentences using the word

Sentences from read-aloud texts containing the vocabulary word

Sentences from student texts that contain the vocabulary word

7. Check for understanding by asking students questions where they will have to use the vocabulary word correctly in their answers. Choose one to two of these options for the vocabulary word. Provide a sentence frame for student responses. For example:

Ask the students questions that will prompt a complete understanding of the use of the vocabulary word or its meaning.

Ask students to generate examples or nonexamples to show that they understand the correct use of the vocabulary word.

8. Ask students to say a sentence that uses the vocabulary word. Use steps 1 through 7 for each vocabulary word.

Correcting Student Errors

My turn. [Vocabulary word] means [student-friendly definition].

Provide necessary scaffolds to guide the student to develop a sentence that is the correct use of the vocabulary word.

If the student is still struggling or nonresponsive, give them a sentence example and have them repeat it. Use a lot of positive reinforcement to encourage the student to take risks when trying to use vocabulary.

Make sure the student uses the sentence frame and answers in a complete sentence.

Adapted From Enhanced Core Reading Instruction © 2013 by The Center on Teaching and Learning

Summary

Vocabulary plays a critical piece in both learning to read and comprehending what we read. Readers must know what most of the words mean in a text before they can understand what they are reading. Vocabulary can be developed incidentally when students engage daily in oral language, listen to others read to them, and read extensively on their own. However, some vocabulary words need to be taught directly. Specific word instruction is one way to explicitly teach individual vocabulary words that are important, useful, and difficult for students to learn. It also provides equitable access to the reading curriculum for our most vulnerable children.

Suggested Citation

National Center on Improving Literacy. (2023). The Educator's science of reading toolbox: Explicit vocabulary instruction to build equitable access for all learners. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, Office of Special Education Programs, National Center on Improving Literacy. Retrieved from https://www.improvingliteracy.org.

References

Baker, S. K., Fien, H., & Baker, D. L. (2010). Robust reading instruction in the early grades: Conceptual and practical issues in the integration and evaluation of tier 1 and tier 2 instructional supports. Focus on Exceptional Children, 42(9), 1-20.

Baker, S. K., Santoro, L. E., Chard, D. J., Fien, H., Park, Y., & Otterstedt, J. (2013). An evaluation of an explicit read aloud intervention taught in whole-classroom formats in first grade. Elementary School Journal, 113, 331-358. https://doi.org/10.1086/668503

Beck, I. L., & McKeown, M. G. (2004). Elements of reading vocabulary. Steck-Vaughn.

Beck, I. L., & McKeown, M. G. (2007). Increasing young low-income children's oral vocabulary repertoires through rich and focused instruction. Elementary School Journal, 107, 251-271.

Beck, I. L., McKeown, M. G., & Kucan, L. (2002). Bringing words to life: Robust vocabulary instruction. Guilford.

Coyne, M. D., McCoach, D., Loftus, S., Zipoli, R., Ruby, M., Crevecoeur, Y., & Kapp, S. (2010). Direct and extended vocabulary instruction in kindergarten: Investigating transfer effects. Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness, 3, 93-120.

Diamond, L. & Gutlohn, L. (2006). Vocabulary handbook. Consortium on Reading Excellence, Inc. (CORE).

Fien, H., Santoro, L., Baker, S. K., Park, Y., Chard, D. J., Williams, S., & Haria, P. (2011). Enhancing teacher read alouds with small-group vocabulary instruction for students with low vocabulary in first-grade classrooms. School Psychology Review, 40, 307-318.

Fien, H., Smith, J. L. M., Smolkowski, K., Baker, S. K., Nelson, N. J., & Chaparro, E. A. (2015). An examination of the efficacy of a multitiered intervention on early reading outcomes for first- grade students at risk for reading difficulties. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 48(6), 602-621. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022219414521664

Fien, H., Chard, D., & Baker, S. K. (2021). Can the evidence revolution and multi-tiered systems of support improve education equity and reading achievement? Reading Research Quarterly.

Gersten, R. M., Compton, D., Connor, C. M., Dimino, J., Santoro, L., Linan-Thompson, S., & Tilly, W. D. (2009). Assisting students struggling with reading: Response to intervention and multi-tier intervention for reading in the primary grades: A practice guide (NCE 2009- 4045). U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance. Retrieved from http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/publications/practiceguides/

Marulis, L.M. & Neuman, S.B. (2013). How vocabulary interventions affect young children at risk: A meta-analytic review. Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness, 6(3), 223- 262. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/19345747.2012.755591

National Reading Panel. (2000). Report of the National Reading Panel: Teaching children to read: An evidence-based assessment of the scientific research literature on reading and its implications for reading instruction: Reports of the subgroups. National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

Santoro, L.E., Baker, S.K., Fien, H., Smith, J.M., & Chard, D.J. (2016). TEACHING Exceptional Children, 48(6), 282-292. https://doi.org/10.1177/0040059916650634

Stanovich, K. E. (1986). Matthew effects in reading: Some consequences of individual differences in the acquisition of literacy. Reading Research Quarterly, 21(4), 360-407. https://doi.org/10.1598/RRQ.21.4.1 University of Oregon. (2013). Enhanced core reading instruction. Center on Teaching and Learning.

Abstract

This Educator's Toolbox, developed in Partnership with The Reading League Journal, provides practical ways to incorporate explicit vocabulary instruction within your classroom to ensure your vocabulary lessons are accessible to all learners

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The Educator's Science of Reading Toolbox: Explicit Vocabulary Instruction to Build Equitable Access for All Learners

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The best approach to beginning reading instruction for students with or at risk for literacy-related disabilities incorporates explicit instruction in five areas: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension (National Reading Panel, 2000). These are known as the "5 Big Ideas" in beginning reading.

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Intensifying Literacy Instruction in the Context of Tiered Interventions 

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Intensifying Literacy Instruction in the Context of Tiered Interventions 

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This brief talks about the benefits you get from a literacy specialist when it comes to interventions. Classroom teachers, need support to carry out effective interventions to help their students.

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Meeting the Challenges of Early Literacy Phonics Instruction

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Meeting the Challenges of Early Literacy Phonics Instruction

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This brief talks about how a teacher should have explicit and systematic phonics instruction, it goes into the different parts of phonics and the causes for instructional failure.

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This resource goes over all parts of individualized interventions from who should be in it, to what to do when the intervention is not working. It is a great resource for a teacher to help them navigate through the intervention process.

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This resource was created to summarize information about theory and best practices in fluency instruction. Read it to learn more about what fluency is and the best ways to teach it.

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This is the Effective Early Literacy Infographic I created which follows what good interventions should include.