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After completing the reading activities, student assessment will be determined through written responses on their worksheet.  Additionally, students may add these foundational words to their sight words lists.

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After completing the reading activities, student assessment will be determined through written responses on their worksheet.  Additionally, students may add these foundational words to their sight words lists.

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Supporting Students with Learning Disabilities in Writing Expression

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Supporting Students with Learning Disabilities in Writing Expression

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Special Ed Students Reach First Grade Reading Levels

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Special Ed Students Reach First Grade Reading Levels

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The first grade reading level represents the point where children are beginning to build a foundation of literacy that will last them a lifetime. Helping special education students read at the first-grade level is an achievable goal, but it can pose a unique challenge because many of these children have specific issues that make it difficult for them to learn how to read.

At the first grade level, students:

Can figure out unknown words and decipher passages and meaning.

Begin to understand how reading can be enjoyable.

Understand the relationship between letters and sounds, and can play with letter substitutions to make new words.

These skills help students navigate the world, from reading signs to taking written instructions in school and in the community. Hence, getting special-education students to read at the first grade level can help them lead more independent lives.

Special-needs students have dramatically different abilities and disabilities. Some will never be able to learn to read at all, while others can learn to read at first-grade level and perhaps beyond. Here are five tips on helping move special-needs students to the all-important first grade reading level.

Evaluate why the student is struggling

A variety of individual disabilities may hinder a student's ability to learn. For example, some students may have vision problems that prevent them from clearly differentiating letters. If this is suspected to be the issue, there should be a special evaluation to determine if the student would benefit from learning the Braille alphabet, or maybe they just need glasses.

Other students may have difficulties tracking the words across the page. For these students, the words may jump around on the page and not form any discernible pattern. These students are going to need assistance with training their eyes to follow the words and they often need assistance from reading devices.

Another common issue is with dyslexia and similar difficulties. These students will struggle with how their brain breaks apart the words on the page. This disorder is most commonly associated with children who write their letters backwards. These students often will need extra time, patience and reading-assistant devices.

One or both eyes may struggle with focusing on the words before them. These students may turn their heads to be able to read the material because one eye is stronger than another.

Develop an individualized education plan

An Individualized Education Plan (IEP) is a list of skills and goals put forth for students by their educators, parents and administrators. These plans detail the unique abilities of the student and the goals to help them throughout the year. These lesson plans help everyone involved in the student's education know what the educational goals are, what the plan is for meeting these goals, and how to know when these goals are met. The IEP should focus on independent reading and the letter and sound relationship that is critical to the first grade reading level.

Use individualized instruction

Many special education students benefit from one-on-one instruction. This allows them to work slowly through the new skills and receive the attention they need to move forward. It allows teachers to also judge how the student is doing with their IEP and what goals are being met. Many special education students also benefit from repeating lessons and skills, and individualized instruction allows them to move forward at their own pace.

Use explicit instructions

Children with special needs often require very clear instructions that offer useful information. Teachers should focus on helping special education students understand techniques and strategies for deciphering words and understanding plots and concepts. This should include the chance for frequent feedback and practice with new skills until the student begins to feel comfortable.

Put technology tools to work

There are a number of programs designed to help students read. For example, text readers can aid comprehension and model fluency and offer pop-up dictionaries for vocabulary, speech synthesis and student feedback. These programs can help students when the teacher is unavailable and can guide pupils toward independent learning.

Students with special needs have a unique set of challenges when it comes to reading. They may require specialized instruction to help them begin to gain the prized independence associated with the first grade reading level. By following the above steps, teachers can help their students take giant leaps forward in their reading education.

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Tags: Early Childhood and Elementary (Grades: PreK-5), Special Education

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Ways to Help Special Ed Students Reach 1st Grade Reading Levels | Resilient Educator

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The first grade reading level represents the point where children are beginning to build a foundation of literacy that will last them a lifetime. Helping special education students read at the first-grade level is an achievable goal, but it can pose a unique challenge because many of these children have specific issues that make it difficult for them to learn how to read.

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Knowing vocabulary words is key to reading comprehension. The more words a child knows, the better he or she will understand the text. Using a variety of effective teaching methods will increase the student’s ability to learn new words.

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Extending English Language Learners' Classroom Interactions Using the Response Protocol

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Extending English Language Learners' Classroom Interactions Using the Response Protocol

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In order to be proficient and productive students, English-language learners (ELLs) need many opportunities to interact in social and academic situations. Effective teachers encourage their students' participation in classroom discussions, welcome their contributions, and motivate them by such practices (Cazden, 2001; Stipek, 2002). However, many educators often allow their less proficient students to remain silent or to participate less than their English-fluent peers (Laosa, 1977; Penfield, 1987; Schinke-Llano, 1983; Wilhelm, Contreras, & Mohr, 2004). I (Mohr, first author) recently participated in a study focusing on how mainstream classroom teachers helped Spanish-speaking immigrant students become successful at school. During the observations, I noticed that the teachers missed many opportunities to help ELLs communicate in class, allowing them to be less involved in oral interactions.

A byproduct of that study was the analysis presented in this article. We considered what classroom teachers could do to more fully engage ELLs in teacher-student interactions, especially during teacher-led question-and-answer sequences. Essentially, teachers can elicit more from the less proficient or reticent students if they consider various response options and then enlarge their response repertoires in order to encourage students' participation and help develop their language proficiencies.

There are several reasons why ELLs may struggle to respond appropriately to teachers' prompts and questions. Certainly, not all teacher questions are clearly understood by students, and, if such is the case, teachers should rephrase or clarify queries in order to facilitate student comprehension. Teachers may also not wait long enough for students to consider a question and formulate a response (Nystrand, Gamoran, Kachure, & Prendergast, 1997; Rowe, 1974). In addition, while first-language learning is largely motivated by a child's intrinsic desire to socialize, second-language learning often needs more extrinsic influence (Elley & Mangubhai, 1983). Wong Fillmore's (1991) model of second-language learning identified three motivational components that contribute to student progress: interest from the learners, proficient speakers who support and interact with the learners, and an environment that supports relationships between learners and proficient speakers. Students may not wish to participate if the teacher expects them simply to recite low-level knowledge or if the teacher sets low expectations for the students. Clarity, wait time, higher order thinking, and higher expectations are factors that influence the quality of teacher interactions with all students, but some factors pertain more specifically to the participation of ELLs.

Immigrant students may come from cultures that do not expect students to ask or answer questions during classroom discussions. These students often perceive the teacher to have elevated status and think that, as students, they should respectfully listen - rather than talk - in the company of their teachers. Because U.S. classrooms are often less formal (e.g., teachers sitting on the floor, students working in groups) than their previous educational environments, immigrant students sometimes take a while to adapt to the typical question-answer sequence that is common there. In addition, language acquisition theory hypothesizes that language learners experience an initial silent period, which is time spent receiving the language as input, prior to developing language-production skills (Krashen & Terrell, 1983; Saville-Troike, 1988). Some teachers are aware of these stages and respect the language-acquisition process by not calling on their ELLs. In order to not embarrass or intimidate their ELL students, however, teachers sometimes continue to give dispensations when it comes to responding in class. I have observed that many students new to U.S. culture and its educational system, and students who are timid or reluctant for any reason, often do not participate readily in class discussions and thereby assume a more passive role in classroom interactions.

Typical classrooms

While classroom discourse events vary, research has indicated that teacher talk dominates classroom communication. Edwards and Mercer (1987) documented that teachers perform 76% of classroom talk. Ramirez, Yuen, Ramey, and Merino (1986) categorized teacher talk as consisting of explanations, questions, commands, modeling, and feedback. Other studies of teacher discourse in primary grades indicated that teacher talk is often managerial rather than conversational in nature (e.g., Cummins, 1994). Forestal (1990) noted that 60% of teacher talk involved asking questions, primarily display questions, which expect students to recall information taught previously by the teacher. In one study of effective primary teachers of literacy, Mohr (1998) tallied the number of questions asked by the teachers in the study at almost 100 per hour. Therefore, the preponderance of teacher talk and the teacher's use of questions continue as factors in how much classroom talk time is shared with students; both the quantity and quality of such interactions deserve scrutiny. For example, there are differences between direct and indirect instruction; the nature of large-group discussion requires more guidance from the teacher than do small-group interactions (Johnston, 2004), and English-language learners may need different support in their communication efforts than do fluent English speakers. Thus, aspects of teacher-led discussions and discourse patterns warrant our continued attention.

Asking and answering questions are typical interactions and are expected in most classrooms (Weber & Longhi-Chirlin, 2001). A very common exchange is referred to as the Initiation-Response-Evaluation (IRE) sequence (Mehan, 1979), similar to what Tharp and Gallimore (1988) termed "recitation questioning." However, the IRE routine may not often be supportive of ELLs because it is a convergent process of seeking one right answer. ELLs may not be able to verbalize that answer in a teacher-expected manner (Fitzgerald, 1993; Jiménez, García, & Pearson, 1996). Wells and Chang-Wells (1992) recommended that the third component of such exchanges be feedback, rather than evaluation, so that the teacher does more than praise or evaluate the student's response. Such feedback can achieve a variety of goals - it can clarify, connect, and elaborate the verbal interactions between teachers and students and among students themselves.

Cazden (2001) differentiated teachers' display questions from exploratory queries. Display questions have specific and generally agreed-upon answers, while exploratory talk is speaking "without the answers fully intact" (p. 170). Display queries function to confirm the teacher's instruction, while the latter is more confirming of students as they exercise self-expression and refine their thinking. As Cazden also noted, "If the potentialities of classroom discourse, in which students talk more and in more varied ways, are significant for all students, then we have to pay careful attention to who speaks and who receives thoughtful responses" (p. 5).

Another well-recognized discourse structure is the "instructional conversation" (Goldenberg, 1993; Perez, 1996; Stipek, 2002; Williams, 2001). Goldenberg characterized an instructional conversation as excellent discussion that is interesting, engaging, relevant to students, and discernible throughout and that has a high level of participation that builds upon, challenges, extends, and varies the roles of the participants (teacher and students). One key role of the teacher in instructional conversations is what Perez called conversational uptakes, connective comments that respect the student and afford linguistic scaffolds that foster more and better discussion of academic topics. As Reyes, Scribner, and Scribner (1999) pointed out, "teachers who apply the concept of instructional conversations embrace the philosophy that talking and thinking go together, and assume that the student may have something to say beyond what the student's teacher or peer is thinking or already knows" (p. 202). English-language learners may not have sufficient English to readily express complex ideas, so teachers must respond in ways that facilitate ELLs' efforts to share their thinking and contribute their voices to classroom communication.

In academic settings, both question-answer and conversational formats entail the use of academic language. Even students who are conversationally proficient need exposure to and practice with academic language in order to function successfully at school (Díaz-Rico, 2004; Weber & Longhi-Chirlin, 2001). This important aspect of school success is also known as cognitive academic language proficiency (CALP). Academic language or CALP in English-speaking classrooms is characterized by Latinate vocabulary; subordinate grammatical constructions (e.g., participial phrases, dependent clauses); less reliance on temporal currency (discussing generalizations, rather than specific events); and rhetorical and cohesive devices, such as conjunctions and figurative language (Wong Fillmore, 2002). These linguistic competencies can be greatly enhanced by wide reading but are generally not learned apart from schooling processes. It is the teacher's responsibility, then, to model and support students' use of both conversational and academic language structures because these are not parallel processes.

While students' command of conversational fluency is more readily accomplished, proficiency in academic language appears to take five to seven years (Collier, 1989; Cummins, 1981). Academic language is certainly more than vocabulary acquisition. Competence in academic English certainly cannot be accomplished without exposure to and practice with the vocabulary and the structures that characterize the language of school. The teacher can model academic language functions, such as seeking information, comparing, problem solving, and evaluating, and then use classroom interactions to guide students' use of academic talk. The opportunity to speak academic language before using it in written work is important for English language learners. It should not be assumed that being able to understand academic language as input is equal to being able to produce it. Teachers can provide the support that students need to acquire this more formal register via their own modeling or think-alouds (Gibbons, 2002; Weber & Longhi-Chirlin, 2001) and then foster the use of similar structures via interactive discussions, allowing students to use academic language in context.

Recommended practice

Currently, there is strong support for socially constructed learning, which is based on Vygotsky's theory of sociocultural learning (1978). Vygotsky's work, as interpreted by educators, fosters students' construction of knowledge, rather than simple acceptance or reception of transferred information. Accordingly, the teacher serves as a mediator, using language to support and scaffold student learning within a social relationship. An essential tenet of Vygotsky's theory is that who we are and how we think are functions of the social interactions in which we participate (Diaz & Flores, 2001). As García (2001) put it, "teaching, in this theoretical view, is perceived as assisted performance.... Learning is performance achieved through assistance" (p. 232). If learning is assisted or well scaffolded (Wood, Bruner, & Ross, 1976), students can accomplish tasks and achieve learning that they would not be able to do on their own. Thus, according to this theory, the role of the teacher is integral to student learning. It is the teacher who facilitates the active transformation of knowledge - or what Cazden (2001) referred to as appropriation - and who supports the students' construction of new skills and competencies.

An important distinction made by Cazden (2001) is that teachers are responsible for both the affective and academic aspects of effective classrooms and classroom talk. Teachers can direct classroom discourse so that both these goals are targeted and supported. For example, teachers can accept, deny, recast, expand, or encourage elaboration of students' responses. "Success for students in culturally diverse classrooms depends on the degree to which there are strategies that encourage all students to talk and work together" (DeVillar & Faltis, 1991). One strategy (among many) promoted by Echevarria and Graves (2003) is the use of direct, rather than indirect, questions to promote clarity. So while instructional talk should be engaging, there is a place to use direct questions of students and then facilitate the elaboration of their responses as a means to develop academic language use and motivate them as learners.

For ELLs especially, the teacher serves as a conduit for sharing information and scaffolding social and academic language. Low levels of instruction and low-quality interactions often combine to yield poor academic achievement among students who are busy constructing the meaning of the language and the content of school. Rich language interactions, however, encourage thinking, social relationships, and expanded language use. As Johnston (2004) admonished, we "have to think more carefully about the language we use to offer our students the best learning environments we can" (p. 1).

Causes for concern

During the recent research project mentioned earlier, I (Mohr, first author) made regular observations of immigrant students newly admitted to a public elementary school (Mohr, 2004). One salient finding of the study of the immigrant students' first year in the school district was the minimal time they spent talking, either in whole-class or small-group formats. The teachers, although well intended and courteous to ELLs, were reluctant to engage the newcomers in classroom discussion (Mohr; Wilhelm et al., 2004). The limited oral interaction for these immigrants was addressed in subsequent teacher interviews, and the teachers claimed that they were allowing an extended silent period (of nearly 10 months at the point of the study) to the new students - letting them get comfortable. To observers, however, the students seemed neglected. Perhaps the teachers were affected by the presence of the researchers, but the teachers were aware that the focus of the study was on the social and academic adjustment of the new immigrant students, so it was more likely that the teachers paid as much or more attention to these students during the observations than they did otherwise. The lack of teacher-supported discourse among the students served as the impetus for further research and this current discussion.

The results of the aforementioned study were not atypical. ELLs are often less engaged and less vocal in class, posing a challenge for teachers, especially less experienced ones (Laosa, 1977; Penfield, 1987; Schinke-Llano, 1983). Novice teachers often ask low-level questions to quickly get to a simple, right answer. However, more effort on the part of the teacher to challenge students with open-ended and exploratory questions can yield richer instructional communications.

During the aforementioned study, the observers realized that the teachers were not making use of the variety of communication options available to them. To maximize instructional interactions, teachers should consider various response options and enlarge their repertoires to encourage students' participation in socially constructed learning. For example, one aspect of teacher-supported interaction is how to handle students' silence. Language learners certainly can understand more than they can produce, especially at the beginning stages. Therefore, just because students do not speak out does not mean that they do not comprehend the discussion or have something to contribute.

Teachers should assume that, like an iceberg that shows only a small percentage of its mass above the water, students have a great deal of competence that is not yet evident. Put simply, "teachers and researchers need to be careful not to interpret silence or one-word answers as lack of knowledge" (Cazden, 2001, p. 86). This might be particularly true among learners who have not consistently been held to high expectations. In an interesting study of working class boys, Brown and her colleagues (as cited in Cazden, 2001) determined that working class boys needed twice as many prompts as middle class children to elicit the same knowledge base. This indicates that teachers might have to be persistent in their efforts to engage students in classroom talk, especially those whose language and cultural backgrounds differ from that of the teacher.

Enlarging the teacher's repertoire

Anticipating possible language difficulties should lead to appropriate scaffolding, not lowered Extending English-language learners' classroom interactions using the Response Protocol 443 expectations for student performance. Therefore, teachers should diligently seek to engage ELLs in classroom talk. ELLs should be expected to participate, and when they do their responses could fall into one or more of the following six categories: an appropriate or correct response; a partially correct response; an incorrect or inappropriate response; a response in their native language, rather than in English; another question; or no response. What should teachers do in response to these possibilities? How can they prepare to address these opportunities to support students' learning? The following Response Protocol is designed to help teachers better their understanding of students' language development and broaden their repertoires for meeting the needs of this special population. (All names used in the samples are pseudonyms.)

Responses that are correct

If a student responds with a suitable answer to a teacher-generated question, the teacher may be gratified by the student's confirmation of the teaching-learning process. Most teachers praise students for correct responses. However, if the question-answer sequence attends to low-level thinking processes (e.g., recall, yes or no items, confirmational queries), teachers can make appropriate use of praise (Brophy, 1981), but they should also encourage students to elaborate their responses. ELLs know more than they might readily speak of, so even when giving an appropriate response, they should be encouraged to tell more, to explain their answers, or to elaborate their responses (see Table 1). Another element to add to appropriate responses is a confirmation that the student's use of English is effective. Even if uttered in nonstandard English, if the message is comprehensible and evidences the student's understanding, commenting about the correctness and comprehensibility of the English should serve to encourage participation and elaboration on the part of the student.

For example, once during a shared reading about reptiles with a small group of English language learners, a boy named Jorge was very interested in the section on turtles. He excitedly responded to the teacher's open-ended question, "What do you know about turtles?"

Teacher:

Yes, turtles can go, but where and how?

Jorge:

Turtles go maybe fast over.

Teacher:

Jorge, tell me more about how turtles go?

Jorge:

A turtle go over the road to be safe. I know because I saw it.

Teacher:

Yes, Jorge, turtles sometimes cross over the road. I have also seen turtles cross a road, and I am glad when they make it all the way across, aren't you?

Jorge:

Yeah, go, go turtles!

Responses that are partially correct

If a student provides even a partially correct response, the teacher can value the contribution, reinforce the correct portion, and then attempt to refine the response (see Table 2). Students have prior knowledge of the world that they make use of at school, as Jorge did in the previous example. However, sometimes their prior knowledge is limited and they need help to accommodate new learning into their schemata. Partially correct responses provide an excellent opportunity to hone students' thinking, to clarify their knowledge on a certain topic, and to lead to new learning (Clay, 1993).

For example, during a lesson on the water cycle, a second-grade teacher was reading aloud Down Comes the Rain (Branley, 1997) to her class. The students were all Latino, and many were Spanish dominant and learning English at school. As the teacher was reading the book aloud, she often stopped to ask questions and hear students' comments. During the discussion, the teacher mentioned that weather forecasters often report the chance of precipitation - one of the vocabulary words and important concepts in their thematic unit. The students were actively involved in the discussion, but at times their comments evidenced their rather naïve perspectives. Here is an excerpt of the ensuing conversation:

Teacher:

Do you watch the weatherman on TV? What is he telling us when he talks about precipitation?

Student:

It means rain. But, teacher, the weatherman lied. He said we get rain today. We don't get rain today.

Teacher:

OK, but let's talk about that; let's think that through. What does the weatherman do? He's a scientist. So, what does he do that we do in our experiments?

Student:

Does he have to do predictions like us?

Teacher:

Yes, he does. And sometimes what happens?

Student:

Predictions don't always work.

Teacher:

That's right! But remember, a weatherman has to go to school for many, many years. A weatherman studies a lot and then has to use what he knows to make a prediction.

Student:

OK, teacher, the weatherman is good.

Teacher:

He does try to be a good scientist, and most of the time his predictions are correct.

Responses in a language other than English

It can be very frustrating for monolingual English teachers to have students use their first languages, rather than English, to respond in class. Some teachers perceive that students who do so are being inconsiderate, but rather teachers can choose to see this behavior as encouraging (see Table 3). At least such a student seems to be interested and transacting with the lesson. In fact, studies show that students' other-language talk in classrooms is often largely on task (Kasten, 1997; Valdes, 1998). Even when students who share a common first language are whispering to one another, their language usually revolves around explaining what the teacher is talking about or clarifying the procedures that the students are expected to complete. Generally, teachers should not feel threatened when other languages are spoken in their classrooms. In fact, some young learners sometimes don't know which of their words and structures are or are not English. One example is when a second-grade English-language learner confidently labeled the black-and-white, sometimes smelly animal she saw in a book as "el skunko." This example evidences the language transference confusion that can occur, so teachers should not be surprised when especially young students mix and match their languages.

Responses that are questions

Given the preponderance of teacher talk as mentioned previously, student questions might be rare or unexpected. But students' queries are important diagnostic opportunities for teachers and should be appreciated and responded to carefully (see Table 4). In a particular high-performing first-grade classroom known to the authors, the teacher had a jar of 100 marbles at the front of the room. She used the marbles to encourage student questions. The challenge was that for each student's question that was asked "to help all learn more," the teacher would move a marble from one glass jar to another glass jar. When the 100 marbles were all transferred to the second jar, the class could plan a special reward. The students' goal was often to earn more recess or a popcorn party, but the teacher's goal was to encourage good questions that benefited everyone in the learning process. The students learned that good students have good questions and that not knowing something was part of the process, as long as one asked questions to find out more. These students were motivated to ask questions that the teacher would acknowledge with a marble, and the questioning process afforded opportunities for more learning in a shared community.

Responses that are inappropriate or wrong

Again, when students respond incorrectly or insufficiently to teacher questions, the teacher can feel disappointed because the teaching-learning process does not seem to be proceeding smoothly and efficiently. However, teachers must avoid the temptation to blame the student for not listening or processing the question well. Instead, the teacher should use incorrect responses as a means of ongoing assessment to determine students' needs and misunderstandings (Hudelson, 1984). If teachers check student understanding during instruction, rather than wait until the end of the lesson, the teacher has the opportunity to reteach or clarify misunderstandings (see Table 5). One differentiation the teacher can make regarding incorrect responses is whether the source of the miscommunication is content or language based. Some students lack the linguistic ability in English to express themselves clearly, but this does not preclude their comprehension of the material. With support from the teacher, ELLs can refine their linguistic competence so that they can communicate their knowledge of content. The following is an example to illustrate this point.

Before reading a book about sharks, the teacher asked the students to tell what they knew about the commonly feared creatures. The teacher was momentarily surprised when one student said that her older sister had swum with sharks. Fortunately, the teacher followed up with more discussion.

Teacher:

Araceli, did your sister really swim with sharks? Was she in the ocean with sharks?

Araceli:

Yeah, at Sea World, but in the big pool.

Teacher:

Oh, did your family visit Sea World and did your sister swim in the pool with sharks? Or was it with dolphins?

Araceli:

Yeah, that's right, with some dolphins.

Teacher:

So, are dolphins and sharks the same? Or are they different ocean animals?

Araceli:

Maybe they different?

Teacher:

OK, let's read this book and see if we can learn how sharks and dolphins are the same or different. Thank you, Araceli, for telling us something about your trip to Sea World.

Silent responses

Sometimes a student might respond with silence or the ubiquitous "I don't know." When this happens, teachers can be easily frustrated and tempted to make judgments about a student's ability and motivation to learn. Such a conclusion is at best premature and certainly not productive. So, rather than move on to another student or provide the answer him- or herself, a teacher needs to communicate belief in the student's ability to contribute more and maintain high expectations for student performance (see Table 6). Waiting a few more seconds for an answer is certainly one option. Smiling, moving closer to the student (while respecting cultural proxemics), and rephrasing the query more directly or in a more conversational style may also encourage the student to respond. Asking for other contributions and then returning to the student after a few other students have participated communicates a kind, but powerful, message that values the student's participation. It says to the student, "I am giving you some time, but I do want you to contribute to our discussion."

Some of these actions may seem insistent, but they can be done courteously and with warmth. The consequences of not following up on students' responses can be far more detrimental. Our classroom observations (mentioned earlier) included well-behaved, less gregarious students simply remaining silent through hours of classroom instruction, despite stated school goals that targeted English-language proficiency for limited-English speaking students. Honoring silence has limited value in such a context and unfortunately can perpetuate teachers' and students' notions that ELLs should not be fully integrated into classroom activities. When ELLs say "I don't know," they may be meaning that they "don't know how" to express their knowledge in English. Teachers can facilitate these students' need for communicative competence by asking students to demonstrate or draw their responses, as well as giving them options for participating in the discussion.

Increasing classroom talk with English-language learners

The Response Protocol recommended here is characterized by two key elements: valuation of students' response efforts and the teacher's efforts to scaffold elaboration. Teachers may not feel entirely comfortable using the examples provided, but they can plan and employ similar responses that value and extend ELLs' talk in the classroom. The goal is to establish a community in which all members are respected and accountable. One way to think about classroom interaction is to "beckon, broaden, and build" students' language and conceptual knowledge. Teachers must seek student input by beckoning their participation and the contribution of their ideas. Once offered, students' contributions should be elaborated or broadened to address more of the instructional content and develop more sophisticated language use. Finally, the teacher can build the student's concept knowledge and language competence by exploring the context, emphasizing the key components, and rephrasing structures.

If teachers model the use of feedback that extends student responses, students may likely follow the teacher's example in their small-group discussion with peers as has happened among students trained in reciprocal teaching. Thus, the patterns that are established during teacher-directed interaction may be used in conversations between students. It is important that supportive protocols become naturalized ways of talking about learning (Johnston, 2004) and pivotal platforms for critical thinking. Teacher educators can use the examples and recommendations offered here as a framework for preservice teachers' observations of field assignments. It is also recommended that preservice and inservice teachers monitor their own discourse in classroom settings to make productive adjustments.

The focus in this discussion is on English language learners, but these discourse patterns apply in many learning contexts. However, it is ELLs who are more likely to become passive because language and cultural differences can disconnect them from mainstream schooling. Teachers at all grade levels face the challenge to increase and improve the language use of their students; thus educators should consider what they do and could do better and then apply communication structures that are appropriate for both the age and proficiency of the student. The following are some general guidelines.

Uphold high expectations for student participation. Expect everyone to contribute. During key discussions, use a class roster to keep track of students' participation levels and employ ways to get students talking beyond having them raise their hands (e.g., choral responses, shared reading, and paired discussions).

Practice behaviors that value and elaborate students' contributions. Smile and share common courtesies. Make eye contact and move closer to the speaker, if possible, unless these gestures seem to make a student uncomfortable.

Allow sufficient wait time, including patient pauses that support students' possible need for code switching (i.e., thinking or speaking in one language and switching to another). Repeating the question or prompt allows more time for processing while engaging more students.

Use yes or no, either, or other prompts to bridge language gaps. Because oral language production competence follows reception skills, students can comprehend more than they can verbalize. Giving students a way to show their knowledge without having to construct complete sentences keeps students involved and scaffolds their use of English to evidence their understanding.

Accept phrases and partial answers and model more complete sentences. Helping students elaborate their ideas into full sentences with academic structures and terms will help them to write their ideas down in more standard English.

Model standard pronunciation and grammar. Slowing down, oversimplifying, or speaking more loudly are not necessary. Rephrasing and gesturing to help convey meaning are more helpful. Remember to amplify, not simplify (Gibbons, 2002).

Find time to make small talk on a one-to-one basis. Ask questions frequently and listen carefully to student responses. Making time for less intimidating exchanges (e.g., small groups, individual conferences) may provide information that you can use when leading whole-group discussions later.

Don't relent on your expectation of participation. Practice possible follow-up responses to enlarge your response repertoire. Videotape some key class discussions to help self-assess your effectiveness with ELLs.

Be a good listener, focusing on the content of the message rather than its grammatical structure. Acknowledging a student's message is likely to increase interaction, while correcting grammar may not and, in fact, might shift the focus from content to form.

Learn some key phrases in the student's native language to make a connection and to share the language-learning process with your students.

These guidelines can help teachers to become more exploratory in their interactions with students of varying language skills, intellectual levels, and dispositions. They can serve as a challenge, especially to preservice and novice teachers who can expect to have ELLs in their classrooms. New teachers may not readily anticipate the needs of their ELLs, although teacher education programs have put greater emphasis on meeting the needs of culturally and linguistically diverse learners. Still, the challenge to use ordinary words to accomplish extraordinary things remains. The Response Protocol is one way to support teachers' efforts to increase engagement among ELLs in classroom discourse.

About the Author

Kathleen Mohr teaches at the University of North Texas (Teacher Education and Administration, University of North Texas, PO Box 310740, Denton, TX 76203, USA). E-mail: mohr@coe.unt.edu. Eric Mohr teaches at Frisco High School in Frisco, Texas, USA.

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Extending English Language Learners' Classroom Interactions Using the Response Protocol

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In order to be proficient and productive students, English-language learners (ELLs) need many opportunities to interact in social and academic situations. Effective teachers encourage their students' participation in classroom discussions, welcome their contributions, and motivate them by such practices (Cazden, 2001; Stipek, 2002).

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Meeting the Needs of English Learners with Disabilities Resource Book

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Meeting the Needs of English Learners with Disabilities Resource Book

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Ask and answer questions to help determine or clarify the meaning of words and phrases in a text.

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Ask and answer questions to help determine or clarify the meaning of words and phrases in a text.

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Utilize these skills to read through two short stories, The Ugly Duckling and Animals Building Homes, to assess meaning of words and phrases.  

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Utilize these skills to read through two short stories, The Ugly Duckling and Animals Building Homes, to assess meaning of words and phrases.  

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Helping English Language Learners Understand Content Area Text

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Helping English Language Learners Understand Content Area Text

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Teacher Background Knowledge and Preparation

Do you remember following your basal reading series and, before you ever had the students read the story, you would pre-teach vocabulary and front-load tons of background knowledge? Well, say good-bye to doing that! In order to put the emphasis on the text, we are going to do something outlandish - READ THE TEXT!

Today's lesson is going to tackle several standards. In this lesson you are going to teach students specific strategies so when they encounter new words, they can figure out the meaning of those words in a more organic way than having the teacher pre-teach them. Students will utilize bold words and subheadings to aid them in determining the new words. This addresses standards RI1.4 and RI1.5.

By showing students what subheadings are, and having them ask questions, such as, " What information might be in this section?", you are already promoting student thinking. By thinking about the content in a particular section, students will ask and answer questions of themselves to clarify the meaning of the unknown words. This lesson also shows your students how to look at illustrations, read the word that follows the bold word, and read the sentences surrounding the bold word in order to learn the meaning of the unknown word. This addresses standard RI1.7.

By teaching students these standards, you are helping them to be independent readers. They won't depend on you for all the answers. They will start to think and strategize in order to make sense of the text. If they continually use the strategies that you are going to teach them today when they read, you are also setting them up for success in achieving the anchor standards in future years. I think today's lesson really lends itself to attaining the anchor standard for RI1.4: CCRA.R4 - Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text, including determining technical, connotative, and figurative meanings, and analyze how specific word choices shape meaning or tone.

For this lesson, you will need either the Smartboard Nonfiction Text Features.notebook or Activboard Nonfiction Text Features.flipchart lesson and the student practice sheets Animal Subheadings and Bold Words.pdf. If, after previewing the lesson you feel you need to add more examples to today's lesson, you could also get any nonfiction text from your student library that utilizes bold words.

The student practice sheets are differentiated, short, nonfiction stories that I researched and wrote myself. I intentionally wrote the stories so that students would have to think about the subheadings and then strategize by not only reading the bold words but also the sentences around the bold words in order to determine the meaning of new vocabulary that they were encountering. I hope you enjoy my texts!

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Learning About Subheadings and Bold Words

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Say good bye to all the pre-teaching and front-loading. Students will use several strategies to learn the meaning of new words they encounter in text. Plan your 60-minute lesson in English / Language Arts with helpful tips from Valerie Gresser

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Writing standards for first grade define the knowledge and skills needed for writing proficiency at this grade level. By understanding first grade writing standards, parents can be more effective in helping their children meet grade level expectations.

What is 1st Grade Writing?
Students in first grade develop all aspects of their English language arts skills through daily exposure and practice. In Grade 1, students strengthen their understanding of how print connects with spoken language. First grade students understand that spoken language is composed of sequences of sounds and that letters represent the sounds. In first grade, students can recite the letters of the alphabet in correct order and know the sounds associated with each letter. It's this knowledge of the common letter-sound correspondences that helps students "decode" written words or figure out words as they read.

First grade students listen to, read, and respond to a wide variety of children's literature, including stories, poems, and nonfiction, and begin to connect their experiences with information presented in print. By the end of the year, most first graders are able to read easy books by themselves. First graders also become writers. In first grade, sentences become a key focus of instruction. Students learn to differentiate between words, sentences, and paragraphs, and are able to write complete sentences using subjects and verbs, basic capitalization, and punctuation. Students develop the ability to write brief compositions that describe and explain familiar objects, people, places, events, or experiences. In 1st grade, students are taught a large number of high-frequency words and their vocabulary increases significantly. Penmanship control also increases, and students become proficient at printing letters.
The following writing standards represent what states* typically specify as first grade benchmarks in writing proficiency:
Grade 1: Writing Strategies-The Writing Process
First grade writing standards focus on the writing process as the primary tool to help children become independent writers. In Grade 1, students are taught to use each phase of the process as follows:

Prewriting: With partners or as a class, first grade students discuss the purpose for writing and generate ideas through brainstorming, drawing, and other activities. Students organize their ideas for both self-selected topics and assigned tasks by using simple diagrams, maps, or lists.

Drafting: Students write a draft suitable to the topic, audience, and purpose. In drafting, first grade students strive to maintain focus on a single idea and organize supporting details into a logical sequence that has a beginning, middle, and end.

Revising: First graders will revise selected drafts for varied purposes, including to achieve a sense of audience, precise word choices, and vivid images. Students will also revise and refine their drafts for clarity and effectiveness, and cross out repetitive text.

Editing: Students edit and correct the draft for standard language conventions as appropriate for their grade level.

Publishing: Students produce, illustrate, and share a variety of compositions.

Use of technology: First grade students will use available technology to compose text.

Grade 1: Writing Purposes
In first grade, students learn to write for different purposes and audiences, and in various forms, including creative, informational/expository, narrative, and persuasive. Specifically, writing standards stipulate that students will:

As emergent writers, write their name and dictate messages such as news and stories for others to write.

Participate in writing simple stories, poems, rhymes, or song lyrics.

Write in a variety of informational/expository forms, such as thank you letters, invitations, lists, recipes, notes, labels, and charts.

Write informational/expository paragraphs that contain a topic sentence and at least three details.

Write brief expository descriptions of a real object, person, place, or event, using sensory details.

Write brief narratives that include a main idea based on real or imagined events, characters, and a sequence of events.

Draw a picture and use simple text to explain (persuade) why an item (food, pet, person) is important to them.

Write to discover, develop, and refine ideas; record ideas and reflections, such as keeping a journal.

Communicate with a variety of audiences.

Write simple directions and draw an accompanying map.

Grade 1: Writing Evaluation
First grade students learn to respond constructively to others' writing and determine if their own writing achieves its purposes. In Grade 1, students also identify the most effective features of a piece of writing using criteria generated by the teacher and class. Writing standards recommend that students keep a portfolio of their own written work to monitor growth as a writer. Many teachers will use first grade writing worksheets for this purpose.

Grade 1: Written English Language Conventions
Students in 1st grade are expected to write and speak with a command of Standard English conventions appropriate to this grade level. In particular, 1st grade writing standards specify these key markers of proficiency:

Sentence Structure
- Write clear and coherent sentences and paragraphs that develop a central idea.
- Use nouns and verbs to write complete sentences.
- Achieve subject and verb agreement in simple sentences.
Grammar
- Identify and correctly use singular and plural nouns.
- Identify and correctly use action verbs in simple sentences.
- Identify and correctly use contractions (e.g., isn't, aren't, can't, won't) and singular possessive pronouns (e.g., my/mine, his/her, hers, your/s) in writing and speaking.
Punctuation
- Distinguish between declarative, exclamatory, and interrogative sentences.
- Use appropriate end punctuation for sentences (i.e., period, exclamation point, or question mark).
- Use commas in dates and items in a series.
Capitalization
-Use capital letters for the pronoun "I," the first word of a sentence, names of people, days of the week, and months of the year.
Spelling
- Spell three- and four-letter short-vowel words and grade-level-appropriate high frequency and sight words correctly.
- Focus on regularly spelled patterns such as consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) (hop), consonant-vowel-consonant-silent e (CVCe) (hope), and one-syllable words with blends (drop).
- Write with more proficient spelling of inflectional endings such as plurals and verb tenses.
- Spell single syllable words that have r-controlled vowels (star); that have the final consonants f, l, and s (doll); and that have ck as the final consonants (back).
- Use resources to find correct spellings, synonyms, and replacement words.
Penmanship
- Print each letter of the alphabet legibly in both capital and lowercase, using correct formation, appropriate size, and spacing.
- Write text left-to-right and top-to-bottom on the page, with attention to margins and spacing letters, words, and sentences appropriately.
- Gain an increasing control of penmanship such as pencil grip, paper position, stroke, and posture.

Grade 1: Research and Inquiry
A first grader will learn to gather information and use writing as a tool for inquiry and research in the following ways:

Record or dictate questions for investigating, such as "What do bugs eat?"

Record or dictate personal knowledge of a topic in various ways such as by drawing pictures, making lists, and showing connections among ideas.

Use pictures, print, and people to gather information and answer questions.

Draw conclusions from information gathered.

Locate important areas of the library/media center.

First Grade Writing Tests
While standardized writing tests aren't usually given until at least third grade, some schools administer English language arts assessments in the first grade. These assessments are classroom-based and developmentally appropriate, such as Dibels (pronounced "dibbles"), an early-literacy measurement used in many schools. Other schools use early reading curriculums that feature regular assessments to measure progress in all language arts areas. These standards-based tests help teachers determine where each student needs help and are used to tailor instruction to the individual child. First grade teachers also observe children as they do various writing-related tasks and evaluate students' writing portfolios on a regular basis.

Writing Test Preparation
Students do not need to "prepare" for first grade assessment tests. Instead, you'll be helping their literacy development tremendously if you simply read and talk with your children. Start conversations, write a grocery list together, and select books together at the library. Raise their awareness of language in their environment, such as on billboards, traffic signs, and menus in restaurants. Don't forget, children also need ample time to play for their overall well-being. Play enhances cognitive, physical, social, and emotional development.

Time4Learning Supports First Grade Learning
Time4Learning is an excellent complement to any first grade curriculum, as well as an outstanding home school curriculum. Learn more about Time4Learning online programs for first grade.

For more information about general learning objectives for first grade students including math and language arts, please visit Time4Learning.com.

*K-12 writing standards are defined by each state. Time4Writing relies on a representative sampling of state writing standards, notably from Florida, Texas, and California, as well as on the standards published by nationally recognized education organizations, such as the National Council of Teachers of English and the International Reading Association.

You've been exploring the writing standards for first grade. To view the writing standards for other grade levels, use one of the following links:

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Writing standards for first grade define the knowledge and skills needed for writing proficiency at this grade level. By understanding first grade writing standards, parents can be more effective in helping their children meet grade level expectations. What is 1st Grade Writing?

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Identifying the Main Purpose of a Text Lesson Plan

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Identifying the Main Purpose of a Text Lesson Plan

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What Does an Activist Do? | Lesson plan | Education.com

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Ask an important question this month: What does an activist do? This engaging lesson can be used leading up to Martin Luther King Jr. Day (and year-round). It supports students in understanding what it means to be an activist and how Martin Luther King Jr.

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Ask and Answer Questions to Clarify the Meaning of Unknown Words in a Nonfiction Text Lesson Plan

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Ask and Answer Questions to Clarify the Meaning of Unknown Words in a Nonfiction Text Lesson Plan

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New Words, New Ideas: Reading Nonfiction | Lesson Plan | Education.com | Lesson plan | Education.com

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Your students will deepen their understanding and build their vocabulary through reading nonfiction texts and identifying unknown words.

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What could we do to improve Education.com?

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What could we do to improve Education.com? Please note: Use the Contact Us link at the bottom of our website for account-specific questions or issues. What would make you love Education.com? What is your favorite part about Education.com? Submit Form

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Sensory Words and Context Clues Worksheets

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Sensory Words and Context Clues Worksheets

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Determining Words in Nonfiction Texts Worksheet

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Determining Words in Nonfiction Texts Worksheet

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Hey readers! Back with another blog post for Explore ELA, a blog series that takes you inside each elementary reading standard and studies it closely. Last week, we explored Making Connection in an informational text, one of the hardest standards I think there is to teach. Today is all about teaching tricky words and phrases in an informational text! So on to handling difficult vocabulary in a nonfiction text!

Standards:

1st Grade: Ask and answer questions to help determine or clarify the meaning of words and phrases in a text.

2nd Grade: Determine the meaning of words and phrases in a text relevant to a grade 2 topic or subject area.

3rd Grade: Determine the meaning of general academic and domain-specific words and phrases in a text relevant to a grade 3 topic or subject area.

4th Grade: Determine the meaning of general academic and domain-specific words or phrases in a text relevant to a grade 4 topic or subject area.

Key Words to Focus On:

-determine
-words and phrases
-topic or subject area (CONTENT)
-meaning
-general academic
-domain specific

5 Key Tasks for Teachers:

1. Model, model, model.

2. Teach context clues without texts.

3. Teach context clues with texts.

4. Teach dictionary and reference text skills.

5. After unit, revisit skill (at least) once a week.

Give students a strong idea of what it's like to dive into text and tackle difficult vocabulary. The best way to do this is to have daily nonfiction read alouds. However, this can be difficult if you want one that isn't too reference-y and more read-aloud based! Here are a few strong read alouds I suggest to get your unit started.

Unknown Vocabulary (RI.1.4, RI.2.4, RI.3.4)
All the book links in this blog post are affiliate Amazon links.

2. Teach context clues without texts.

It's a very strong practice to teach the skill of using context clues outside of difficult texts. For example, use a sentence and have them start there. Or maybe teach the process of determining a definition using the text around it.

Vocabulary Mini-lessons

(Source on L: 1st Grade RI.1.4) (Source on R: 4th Grade RI.4.4)
In the picture on the left, there is a first grade mini-lesson that includes a couple of non-passage types of activities where the students can look at pictures and read simple sentences. This will help them to work on determining how to ask a question and use context around the word or idea.

In the picture on the right, there is a fourth grade mini-lesson activity where the fourth graders are having a content lesson and learning the process of HOW to find meanings of unknown words. They're putting together puzzles about definitions, synonyms, and explanations. In this way, they can really study and understand the ways that they'll learn new vocabulary.

Brain Pop Context Clues Video

If you have a subscription to Brain Pop, you should definitely check out the video that they have made for context clues. It's an excellent overview of what they are and how to use them when you come across vocabulary that you are unsure of.

3. Teach context clues with texts.

After you teach the lessons about what context clues are and how to use them to determine difficult vocabulary in a text, you can start incorporating texts into the standard. The reason I like to start with simple sentences or paragraphs before diving into books and passages is that the strategy itself is quite difficult. So, adding in harder content makes finding vocabulary meaning even harder! So let's dive into teaching context clues with passages.

Vocabulary in an Information Text Mini-lessons

(Source on L: 4th Grade RI4.4) (Source on R: 2nd and 3rd RI2.4, RI3.4)

On the left, you see a fourth grade reading a mini-lesson activity where the students read about a historical figure. Throughout their reading passage, they are going to be circling and underlining difficult text. At the bottom, they have an activity where they have to find the three words in their texts and determine the meaning.

On the right, you'll see a first, second, and third grade reading mini-lesson. This mini-lesson is included in each of the packs, so if you buy your grade level, you'll see this activity in there. It's a reading passage where the students have to color-code their passage. The task cards give specific directions for each of the difficult words. For example, one task card says "use context clues to find what the word thermometer means". Then, they'll use their red crayon to underline where they found it in the text.

Post-it Note Activities

(Source: 2nd Grade RI2.4)

Post-it note activities are incredibly useful for this standard. This is because you can use the post-it note in many ways. One way to use Post-it notes is for brainstorming, so while students come across difficult vocabulary, they can jot down the vocabulary to look up and study later.

On the left, you see post-it notes being used for possible meanings to the first word that is covered up in the students' text. The second picture shows a repeat activity, so you could laminate the bottom page and use it constantly throughout centers or small group. And give students new post-it notes for each story or text. The page asks them to identify the word, the clue, and what they think it means.

Some students may try their hardest to use their comprehension and context clue skills to determine the meaning of a word. However, some students may need a step further than this. This is where we can start teaching and tying in the Language skill of the Common Core domain and teach how to use dictionaries and other reference texts.

Dictionary and Definitions

(Source on L: 4th Grade RI4.4) (Source on R: RI2.4)

On the left, there is a fourth grade mini-lesson activity that involves the students looking words up in a dictionary and writing their definitions. This can help widen their vocabulary skills, plus it can also teach the skills of dictionary referencing when they're reading independently.

Another way to use dictionary skills is to give students Post-it notes and have them write down any difficult vocabulary they can't determine using their context clues. Then, let them use a dictionary throughout their reading time to determine these words they jot down. It's even a great way to have them self-check their guesses, too.

5. After unit, revisit skill (at least) once a week.

Now that you've taught your unit on context clues and difficult vocabulary, it's time to bring in all the materials to practice. Work these into small group, independent reading time, partner reading time, center games, and more!

Task Cards and Interactive Notebooks

(Source: All RI4 sets)

Task cards and interactive notebooks are always a fantastic way to keep the student's standards-based focused while reading independently or with a partner.

Vocabulary Printables

(Source: Most RI4 sets)

These vocabulary printables will work for any informational text, too. So, if you want to have them practice and review the skills, let them choose any informational text that they want, but give them these standards-based worksheets to keep them intentional about their reading.

Need Unknown Vocabulary Resources?

Check out these full units for K, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grade.

Difficult Vocabulary in a Nonfiction Text

I hope you've found my latest blog post helpful covering difficult vocabulary in a nonfiction text. Be sure to keep an out for more in the series.

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Difficult Vocabulary in a Nonfiction Text (Exploring ELA) - Elementary Nest

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Hey readers! Back with another blog post for Explore ELA, a blog series that takes you inside each elementary reading standard and studies it closely. Last week, we explored Making Connection in an informational text, one of the hardest standards I think there is to teach.

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Demonstrate understanding of spoken words, syllables, and sounds (phonemes).

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Demonstrate understanding of spoken words, syllables, and sounds (phonemes).

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All assessments should be given one-on-one.

When should it be assessed?

Phonemic awareness assessments should be done three times during the kindergarten and first grade years to help guide instruction.

Examples of assessment questions

* Remember, when a letter appears between slash marks, you should say the letter sound, and not the letter name.

Phoneme matching

Which words sound alike? man, sat, sip (Correct response: sat, sip)

Phoneme isolation – Initial (first) sound:

What's the first sound in "sat?" (Correct response: /s/)

Phoneme isolation – Final (last) sound:

What's the last sound in "sat?" (Correct response: /t/)

Phoneme isolation – Medial (middle) sound:

What's the middle sound in "sat?" (Correct response: /a/)

Phoneme blending:

What word do these sounds make? /h/ – /o/ – /t/ (Correct response: hot)

Phoneme segmentation:

What sounds do you hear in "hot?" (Correct response: /h/ – /o/ – /t/)

Phoneme manipulation – Initial (first) sound:

Say "mat" without the /m/ sound. (Correct response: at)

Phoneme manipulation – Final (last) sound:

Say "mat" without the /t/ sound. (Correct response: ma)

Phoneme manipulation – Substitution:

Say "pig." (Correct response: pig)

Now change the /p/ in "pig" to /f/. (Correct response: fig)

Age or grade typically mastered

Phoneme matching: The middle of kindergarten

Phoneme isolation – Initial (first) sound: The middle of kindergarten

Phoneme isolation – Final (last) sound: Late kindergarten or early first grade

Phoneme isolation – Medial (middle) sound: Late kindergarten or early first grade

Phoneme blending: Late kindergarten or early first grade

Phoneme segmentation: First grade

Phoneme manipulation – Initial (first) sound: First grade

Phoneme manipulation – Final (last) sound: First grade

Phoneme manipulation – Substitution: Middle to end of first grade or early second grade

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An informal assessment of phonemic awareness, including what the assessment measures, when is should be assessed, examples of questions, and the age or grade at which the assessment should be mastered.

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End of Year Phonemic Awareness & Phonics Skills Assessment

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First Grade Baseline Phonemic Awareness & Phonics Skills Assessment

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First Grade aseline Phonemic Awareness & Phonics Skills Assessment

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I am interested in understanding how phonemic awareness and phonics can support students who do not have a structure for learning the English language. For example, English Language Learners who have no structure for language in their home language or in English. If you can suggest resources that address this matter I would be so grateful.
Shanahan response:

The research on these aspects of second-language literacy learning is limited. However, the research that has been done indicates that English learners clearly benefit from explicit instruction in phonemic awareness and phonics for English reading (Shanahan & Beck, 2006).

That shouldn't be too surprising. No matter what your background, if you are trying to learn to read English, you will have to learn to decode. That means that you will need to be able to perceive English phonemes in oral language and that you will need to learn the relationships between the letters and spelling patterns and those sounds or pronunciations. (And, that would be true at any age of development, if we're talking non-readers).

However, it is also notable that such instruction tends to have a smaller impact on overall reading achievement (e.g., reading comprehension) than has been reported for first-language learners. Phonics instruction helps you to translate from print to pronunciation. If you don't know the meaning of the word that you have translated then pronouncing the word won't help you to understand the text. Native English speaking children are likely to know the meanings of more English words than will their ELL classmates, so phonics has a bigger positive impact for them than for the ELLs (it helps, just not as much).

Second-language learners, like all learners, bring knowledge with them. I've written before about my experiences in teaching myself to read French. My knowledge of the sound-symbol relationships in English is very helpful because I can often apply my knowledge of English to French. Take a word like, "danse." Except for the medial vowel, all of the sound-symbol relations are the same as in English... and the replacement of the /ah/ sound for the "short a" sound is not particularly jarring or foreign to my English ears. Reading a word like " danse" is pretty easy for me because I get to apply my English knowledge of phonemic principles and sound-symbol relations.

What you know in your home language can be helpful. It can also be misleading. When I was first learning, I would read a word like " ecoutent" as AY-COO-TAHNT... the French pronunciation, however, is more like AY-COOT. In English, we'd pronounce those last letters, but in French, not so much. I had to learn to simply eat those final letters when it came to my pronunciation. Generalizing from my home language helps me to decode in some cases, and it misleads me in others. Fortunately, it has been much more helpful than a hindrance.

The same is true with children and with other languages. The more similar a home language is to the one you are trying to learn, the more transference that is possible. I can translate a lot of English decoding to French and I'll do pretty well. If I were trying to read Arabic, I would have a lot more to learn.

You say these students have no "structure for language." I suspect that you mean they come to school not being literate either in their home language or in English. If a Mexican youngster can't read Spanish, then he won't be able to transfer those common sound-symbol relations from Spanish to English. But that doesn't mean that he or she couldn't learn to hear the English sounds or to decode with them. (That's why some authorities argue for teaching children to read in their home language: it should be easier to learn the language that you speak and then to transition from that written language to written English. Research does suggest that can be helpful, though it is not absolutely necessary).

Even when students aren't literate in their home language they may have relevant knowledge to bring to the task. For example, phonemic awareness is the most transferable aspect of language. If youngsters can hear the sounds within words in their home language, they should be able to hear those sounds within English words. Of course, there are languages that lack some of the English phonemes (Japanese doesn't have "l" or "r"), or particular sounds might be combined with other phonemes in ways that we don't combine sounds in English. Those instances can benefit from direct instruction.

What does all this mean?

1. Teach phonemic awareness and phonics to beginning English readers no matter what their language background or how much literacy they have. (If you are teaching kids to read in their home language first, then teach the decoding for that language, and provide additional instruction as needed when the transition takes place).

2. If students can already read in the home language, you should be able to reduce the amount of phonics that is needed to the extent that there is overlap between the two languages.

3. If students are phonemically aware in their home language, you shouldn't have to do as much with that (though there can be a benefit from focusing on those English sounds that may be unfamiliar).

Finally, second-language students in U.S. schools often underperform in reading. That means they may require some kind of intervention to give them extra targeted teaching. Many schools rightfully provide special interventions that target skills like phonemic awareness and phonics.

However, just because a reader is struggling doesn't automatically mean the problem is with decoding. That is especially true for these second language learners. They, too often, are assigned to extra decoding work even when their decoding skills are adequate. For them, the extra focus should be on developing their English language.

Here are a couple of relevant resources that you should find helpful:
http://www.colorincolorado.org/article/reading-101-english-language-learners http://www.readingrockets.org/article/what-does-research-tell-us-about-teaching-reading-english-language-learners

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Phonics for English Learners? | Shanahan on Literacy

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I am interested in understanding how phonemic awareness and phonics can support students who do not have a structure for learning the English language. For example, English Language Learners who have no structure for language in their home language or in English. If you can suggest resources that address this matter I would be so grateful.

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The Effectiveness of Phonological-Based Instruction in English As a Foreign Language Students at Primary School Level: A Research Synthesis

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Phonological-based instruction, namely phonological awareness instruction (PA) and phonics instruction, has shown to be effective on early literacy skills among young children in western countries. Children who learn English as a foreign language (EFL) learn to read English differently from children…

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Sally Shaywitz, author of Overcoming Dyslexia, asserts, "It is phonemic awareness and not intelligence that best predicts ease of learning to read. Even at the high school level, phonemic awareness is the best predictor of the ability to read words accurately and quickly."1

Phonemic awareness is the ability to identify and manipulate phonemes, the individual consonant or vowel sounds. Dyslexia is a disorder or disruption in the phonologic module of the brain, resulting in the inability to hear and manipulate phonemes. Research shows that dyslexic students who receive intervention in explicit, systematic phonics can overcome dyslexic tendencies and can become skilled readers.

The following activities will help you assess and strengthen a student's phonemic awareness.

(Note: Letters within slash marks are to be pronounced as the letter sounds, not as the letter name.)

Sound isolation of initial and final phonemes is another important aspect of phonemic awareness.

Begin with isolating initial phonemes. For example, say, "What sound do you hear at the beginning of the following words?"

vet bed man fish dad cup

big, band, boy, ripe ten, ton, frog, test

rich, sing, red, right snake, sun, sand, ring

If the students do well, isolate the final phoneme. For example, you could say, "The final sound is the last sound you hear. What is the final sound in the following words?"

vet bed man fish dad cup

dog, frog, dig, wish hat, rat, find, mat

car, desk, star, far will, fill, bill, still, wet

If helpful, you can also isolate phonemes, using vowel sounds in the middle of words. Ask students whether the sounds in the middle of words are the same or different. Examples: bed/ bad, dog/ dig, cup/ cap.

Ask students how many sounds they hear in the following words.

rat dig jump stop plane

If students have difficulty with this activity, give them a coin, a poker chip, or some other object to represent each sound. Place the items in a row across their desks, and have the students pull down one object for each sound they hear. In the word plane, there are four sounds: /p/ /l/ /a/ /n/. Even though the word is spelled with five letters, there are only four sounds.

This is a more difficult skill. Ask students what sound they hear in seat but not in eat. (Answer: /s/.) Continue comparing with the following pairs of words. (Letters used within slash marks represent sounds.)

To fully develop phonemic awareness, it is essential to understand how many syllables are in a word. Knowledge of syllables will help students separate words into smaller pieces. Syllables are the largest units of sound that make up a word and are relatively simple for native speakers to identify and manipulate.

The number of working (sounded) vowels in a word will determine the number of syllables.

Some words are short and have only one syllable.

Other words are longer and are comprised of more than one syllable.

1. Ask students to clap syllables, using the names of class members.

chair e-lec-tri-ci-ty sub-ject

drum he-li-cop-ter per-son-al-i-ty

let-ter re-spon-si-bil-i-ty ap-ple

butterfly - take off fly (butter)

lipstick - take off stick (lip)

sunshine - take off shine (sun)

railroad - take off pancake - take off raincoat - take off road (rail)
pan (cake)
rain (coat)

Sensitivity to rhyme implies an awareness that words can be broken down into smaller segments of sound and that different words may share a sound in common; it is a very early indicator of getting ready to read. Students who demonstrate reading difficulties may show insensitivity to rhyme.

To increase awareness, engage the students in the following activities:

1. Show a picture ( ball, hat, cane, etc.), and ask the students to give a word that rhymes with the word the picture represents (e.g., wall, sat, rain).

2. Read several rhyme phrases aloud, emphasizing the word in bold. Stop when coming to the rhyming word, and allow students to fill in the word. Possible answers are in parentheses after each phrase below.

Write the numbers one to a ______. ( ten with a pencil or
pen)

3. Read any rhyming story or a familiar rhyme. Stop when coming to the rhyming word, and allow students to fill in the word.

Dictate the following sentences. Have students tap with their pencils the number of individual words they hear.

May I please have a cookie? (six taps)

The weather was windy and rainy. (six taps)

When will you come pick me up? (seven taps)

The children went to the lake to swim. (eight taps)

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Sally Shaywitz, author of Overcoming Dyslexia, asserts, "It is phonemic awareness and not intelligence that best predicts ease of learning to read. Even at the high school level, phonemic awareness is the best predictor of the ability to read words accurately and quickly."1 Phonemic awareness is the ability to identify and manipulate phonemes, the individual consonant or vowel sounds.

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Phonemic Awareness Activities with Teacher Task Cards!

You know phonemic awareness is so important, and you do it in small groups...but sometimes it's hard to remember ALL the skills in the spectrum. Sometimes it's hard to think of one more pair of rhyming words. Sometimes it's hard to generate those silly sentences...Not anymore! With these Phonemic Awareness Teacher Task Card activities, you have over 100 systematic and explicit phonemic awareness building activities at your fingertips (literally)!
What are these?
Phonemic Awareness Teacher Task Cards are task cards that teachers can use to help their students build phonemic awareness. There are over 100 task cards that include skill building activities for the entire spectrum of phonemic awareness. All the activities are done orally, so there is no need for student copies or projector displays. The activities are scripted for a systematic and explicit approach, so simply read aloud and start building those skills with your students!
Why should I use these?
Time and time again, scientific research shows that phonemic awareness has a significant impact on learning to read. However, phonemic awareness is not just for children who will learn to read, it is also an effective intervention for students struggling with phonics. Research shows that instruction in phonemic awareness produces positive effects on decoding and word reading. Learning to listen to sounds in words can also foster improved spelling and writing.
When can I use these?
You can use these anytime during the day. Use them at your guided reading table, whole group on the carpet, while standing in line before leaving the classroom, one-on-one as an intervention, or as a classroom transition. Conveniently keep these task cards on a ring and be ready to use them anytime, anywhere!
The following skills/task cards are included with a clickable table of contents for your convenience!
-Beginning sounds discrimination

-Ending sounds discrimination

-Generating like phonemes

-Medial sound discrimination

-Identifying rhymes

-Generating rhymes

-Counting words in a sentence

-Alliterations

-Segmenting compound words

-Segmenting syllables

-Onset and rime

-Blending 2 phonemes

-Blending 3 phonemes

-Blending 4 phonemes

-Segmenting 2 phonemes

-Segmenting 3 phonemes

-Segmenting 4 phonemes

-Deleting compound words

-Deleting syllables

-Deleting phonemes

-Identifying phoneme position

-Switching syllables

-Beginning phoneme substitution/manipulation

-Medial phoneme substitution/manipulation

-Ending phoneme substitution/manipulation

Each task/skill is CLEARLY defined, with scripted teacher directions. Every task card is clearly labeled by skill and additional words/lists are provided for each skill to ensure your students get PLENTY of practice.

You only need ONE set of task cards, and they print four to a page to save ink and paper!

Pictures and directions included in both the preview and the file. Please see the preview for more details!

Enjoy!

Lauren
Are you looking for more phonemic awareness activities?
Check out these 100% picture based Phonemic Awareness Worksheets.

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Phonemic Awareness Activities with Teacher Task Cards!You know phonemic awareness is so important, and you do it in small groups...but sometimes it's hard to remember ALL the skills in the spectrum. Sometimes it's hard to think of one more pair of rhyming words. Sometimes it's hard to generate those...

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While phonics is the skill of knowing the sounds made by letters in the alphabet, phonemic awareness is the skill of identifying sounds and where they are located - at the beginning, middle or end of a word.

Listeners should be able to hear, identify and manipulate phonemes, the smallest units of sound that can differentiate meaning. Separating the spoken word "cat" into three distinct phonemes, /k/, /æ/, and /t/, requires phonemic awareness.

Phonemic awareness activities in pre-school and kindergarten focus on simple tasks such as rhyming, matching words with beginning sounds, and blending sounds into words. Later, students move onto the addition, subtraction and substitution of phonemes to learn how words change.

Ways in which students learn phonemic awareness are through activities that may require them to:

Match words by sounds;
Isolate a sound in a word;
Blend individual sounds to form a word;
Substitute sounds in a word;
Segment a word into its sound parts.

Here are some activities you can do with your budding reader to engage them in phonemic awareness:

Sound matching activities

One of the easier phonemic awareness activities is matching sounds.

Select pictures of familiar objects, such as a flower, fruit and ferry, cat, car and clown. Paste them in a word document, and cut them out as cards. Mix up the pictures and have your child pick out the cards that start with the same sound, say /f/.

Sound isolation activities

In sound matching kids are asked to identify an individual sound. In sound isolation activities they are asked the reverse - they're given a word and asked to tell what sound is at the beginning, middle or end of a word.

One activity you can do is to help isolate sounds is to sing. To the tune of 'Old MacDonald Had a Farm'.

Pick three words that start with the same sound, say: fan, fox and freeze.

Here are the lyrics:

"What's the sound that starts these words:
Fan, fox and freeze.
(Wait for the response from your child.)
/f/ is the sound that starts these words:
Fan, fox and freeze.
With an /f/, /f/ here and an /f/, /f/ there.
Here an /f/, there an /f/, everywhere an /f/, /f/.
/f/ is the sound that starts these words:
Fan, fox and freeze."

You can do the same for identifying middle and end sounds.

Here's one for middle sounds:

The words are cat, hat and mat.

"What's the sound in the middle of these words:
Cat, hat and mat.
(Wait for the response from your child.)
/ æ/ is the sound in the middle of these words:
Cat, hat and mat.
With an / æ/, / æ/ here and an / æ/, / æ/ there.
Here an / æ/, there an / æ/, everywhere an / æ/, / æ/.
/ æ/ is the sound in the middle of these words:
Cat, hat and mat."

Blending activities

Blending requires your child to use individual sounds by combining them to make a word.
For example: /k/ - /a/ - /t/ - cat
An activity you can do with your child is to play: what am I thinking of? Tell your child you are thinking of an object in a specific category. For example: I'm thinking of an animal. You'll then tell your child the separate sounds in the word.
For example: /b/ - pause - /a/ - pause /t/
Your child must then blend the sounds together to make the word - bat.

Addition and substitution activities

In adding and substituting sounds in words in familiar songs, your child will learn to focus on the sounds that make up speech.
For example, take the Happy Birthday song. Substituting the initial sound with a /b/ throughout, you would sing:

"Babby birthday bo bou
Babby birthday bo bou
Babby birthday bo Brianna (or insert your child's name with a substituted first letter B. For example, if your child's name is Tim, he would be Bim)
Babby birthday bo bou."

Segmentation activities

Segmenting means the act of isolating sounds in a spoken word.

Segmenting the sounds in a word is the hardest of all phonemic awareness tasks. It's is critical, though, for your child to learn as it relates to their later success in decoding words when learning to read.

You'll want to start with segmenting the sound at the beginning of a spoken word.

One activity you can do to teach segmentation is to use flashcards with pictures of familiar objects, such as animals, vehicles, kitchen items, etc. For each picture, have your child exaggerate - or elongate - the first sound of each picture.

If the picture is of a dog, your child would say d-d-d-d-og. And then ask them what that first sound was and have them repeat /d/.

Once your child has mastered the first sound, move onto the middle sounds and later the ending sound. Finally you'll want to have them sound out the entire word - /d/ /o/ /g/.

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Five Phonemic Awareness Activities for your Budding Reader

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While phonics is the skill of knowing the sounds made by letters in the alphabet, phonemic awareness is the skill of identifying sounds and where they are located - at the beginning, middle or end of a word. Listeners should be able to hear, identify and manipulate phonemes, the smallest units of sound that can differentiate meaning.

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Phonological awareness is a broad skill that includes identifying and manipulating units of oral language - parts such as words, syllables, and onsets and rimes. Children who have phonological awareness are able to identify and make oral rhymes, can clap out the number of syllables in a word, and can recognize words with the same initial sounds like 'money' and 'mother.'

Phonemic awareness refers to the specific ability to focus on and manipulate individual sounds (phonemes) in spoken words. Phonemes are the smallest units comprising spoken language. Phonemes combine to form syllables and words. For example, the word 'mat' has three phonemes: /m/ /a/ /t/. There are 44 phonemes in the English language, including sounds represented by letter combinations such as /th/. Acquiring phonemic awareness is important because it is the foundation for spelling and word recognition skills. Phonemic awareness is one of the best predictors of how well children will learn to read during the first two years of school instruction.

Students at risk for reading difficulty often have lower levels of phonological awareness and phonemic awareness than do their classmates. The good news is that phonemic awareness and phonological awareness can be developed through a number of activities. Read below for more information.

What the problem looks like

A kid's perspective: What this feels like to me

Children will usually express their frustration and difficulties in a general way, with statements like "I hate reading!" or "This is stupid!". But if they could, this is how kids might describe how difficulties with phonological or phonemic awareness affect their reading:

I don't know any words that rhyme with cat.

What do you mean when you say, "What sounds are in the word brush?"

I'm not sure how many syllables are in my name.

I don't know what sounds are the same in bit and hit.

A parent's perspective: What I see at home

Here are some clues for parents that a child may have problems with phonological or phonemic awareness:

She has difficulty thinking of rhyming words for a simple word like cat (such as rat or bat).

She doesn't show interest in language play, word games, or rhyming.

A teacher's perspective: What I see in the classroom

Here are some clues for teachers that a student may have problems with phonological or phonemic awareness:

She doesn't correctly complete blending activities; for example, put together sounds /k/ /i/ /ck/ to make the word kick.

He doesn't correctly complete phoneme substitution activities; for example, change the /m/ in mate to /cr/ in order to make crate.

He has a hard time telling how many syllables there are in the word paper.

He has difficulty with rhyming, syllabication, or spelling a new word by its sound.

How to help

With the help of parents and teachers, kids can learn strategies to cope with phonological and/or phonemic awareness problems that affect his or her reading. Below are some tips and specific things to do.

What kids can do to help themselves

Be willing to play word and sounds games with parents or teachers.

Be patient with learning new information related to words and sounds. Giving the ears a workout is difficult!

Practice hearing the individual sounds in words. It may help to use a plastic chip as a counter for each sound you hear in a word.

Be willing to practice writing. This will give you a chance to match sounds with letters.

What parents can do to help at home

Check with your child's teacher or principal to make sure the school's reading program teaches phonological, phonemic awareness, and phonics skills.

If your child is past the ages at which phonemic awareness and phonological skills are taught class-wide (usually kindergarten to first or second grade), make sure he or she is receiving one-on-one or small group instruction in these skills.

Do activities to help your child build sound skills (make sure they are short and fun; avoid allowing your child to get frustrated):

Help your child think of a number of words that start with the /m/ or /ch/ sound, or other beginning sounds.

Make up silly sentences with words that begin with the same sound, such as "Nobody was nice to Nancy's neighbor".

Play simple rhyming or blending games with your child, such as taking turns coming up with words that rhyme (go - no) or blending simple words (/d/, /o/, /g/ = dog).

Read books with rhymes. Teach your child rhymes, short poems, and songs.

Practice the alphabet by pointing out letters wherever you see them and by reading alphabet books.

Consider using computer software that focuses on developing phonological and phonemic awareness skills. Many of these programs use colorful graphics and animation that keep young children engaged and motivated.

What teachers can do to help at school

Learn all about phonemes (there are more than 40 speech sounds that may not be obvious to fluent readers and speakers).

Make sure the school's reading program and other materials include skill-building in phonemes, especially in kindergarten and first grade (these skills do not come naturally, but must be taught).

If children are past the age at which phonemic awareness and phonological skill-building are addressed (typically kindergarten through first or second grade), attend to these skills one-on-one or in a small group. Ask your school's reading specialist for help finding a research-based supplemental or intervention program for students in need.

Identify the precise phoneme awareness task on which you wish to focus and select developmentally appropriate activities for engaging children in the task. Activities should be fun and exciting - play with sounds, don't drill them.

Make sure your school's reading program and other materials include systematic instruction in phonics.

Consider teaching phonological and phonemic skills in small groups since students will likely be at different levels of expertise. Remember that some students may need more reinforcement or instruction if they are past the grades at which phonics is addressed by a reading program (first through third grade).

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Phonological awareness is a broad skill that includes identifying and manipulating units of oral language - parts such as words, syllables, and onsets and rimes. Children who have phonological awareness are able to identify and make oral rhymes, can clap out the number of syllables in a word, and can recognize words with the same initial sounds like 'money' and 'mother.'

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Blachman, B. A., Ball, E. W., Black, R., & Tangel, D. M. (2000). Road to the code: A phonological awareness program for young children. Baltimore: Brookes.

Clay, M. (1993). Reading Recovery: A Guidebook for Teachers in Training. NH: Heinemann.

Elkonin, D. (1971). "Development of Speech". In A.V. Zaporozhets and D. B. Elkonin (Eds.). The Psychology of Preschool Children. Cambridge, MA: M.I.T. Press.

Ellis, E. (1997). How Now Brown Cow: Phoneme Awareness Activities.

National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. (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 (NIH Publication No. 00-4769). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

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Elkonin boxes build phonological awareness skills by segmenting words into individual sounds, or phonemes. To use Elkonin boxes, a child listens to a word and moves a token into a box for each sound or phoneme. In some cases different colored tokens may be used for consonants and vowels or just for each phoneme in the word.

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Digraphs | Phonics Song for Children | Phonemic Awareness | Jack Hartmann

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What Letter Is It? | Random Order | Phonics Song for Kids | Phonemic Awareness | Jack Hartmann

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This article defines phonological awareness and discusses historic and contemporary research findings regarding its relation to early reading. Common misconceptions about phonological awareness are addressed. Research-based guidelines for teaching phonological awareness and phonemic awareness to all children are described. Additional instructional design guidelines are offered for teaching children with learning disabilities who are experiencing difficulties with early reading.

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Phonemic Awareness Lesson | For Teachers: Lesson Ideas, Class Activities | Preschool & Kindergarten

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Kids in pre-K and kindergarten can play with words, rhymes, and syllables they hear in everyday speech to prepare for reading. This is called phonological awareness.

Parents and caregivers can introduce phonological awareness during reading, singing, or play activities.

Kids who struggle with these kinds of activities may be showing early signs of reading issues.

There are a few ways kids in pre-K and kindergarten can get ready to read. One way is by noticing and playing with the words, rhymes, and syllables they hear in everyday speech. This called phonological awareness .

Kids also start to tune in to the individual sounds or phonemes in words. This is called phonemic awareness. The more you can build on these early "pre-reading" skills, the more prepared your child will be for the challenge of learning to read.

Good phonological awareness starts with kids picking up on sounds, syllables and rhymes in the words they hear. Read aloud to your child frequently. Choose books that rhyme or repeat the same sound. Draw your child's attention to rhymes: "Fox, socks, box! Those words all rhyme. Do you hear how they almost sound the same?"

It also helps to point out repeated sounds. For example, if you're reading One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish, ask your child to listen to the /fffff/ sound in fish. (Really stretch the sounds out at first.) Outside of story time, try pointing out other words that start with the /fffff/ sound, just like in the book.

Ask your child to pick out the rhyming words in books without your help. Ask, "Did you hear a word that rhymes with fox?" Teach your child nursery rhymes and practice saying them together. Or say four short words, like log, cat, hog, frog. See if your child can pick out the word that doesn't rhyme.

Make syllables easier to understand by clapping the "beats" your child hears in words. Let's say you choose the word elephant. Pause as you say each syllable - e-le-phant - and clap out each syllable together. You can also get your child up and moving by having your child stomp or jump with each syllable.

Guessing games such as "I spy" can be used to work on almost any phonological skill. Want to practice noticing what sounds word begin with? Try "I spy something red that starts with /s/." Want to work on rhymes? "I'm wearing something warm that rhymes with boat."

Singing in general is a great way to get kids rhyming. There are also good songs teachers use to focus on other kinds of phonological and phonemic awareness skills. "Apples and Bananas" is a fun one. You can search online for more songs about phonemic awareness or ask your child's teacher for recommendations.

Sound blending is an important skill for early readers. They need to put sound units - phonemes - together to be able to read a word smoothly. You can help your child start working on this by putting together sounds of different words. Ask your child to connect the beginning sound with the rest of a word. For example, say, "Start with /p/ and add /ig/. What do word do you hear if you put them together?"

Have your child work on hearing a word and taking it apart. Start by using compound words such as cowboy, baseball or firefly. Tell your child, "Say the word cowboy. Now take away boy. What word is left?"

You can also use LEGO bricks to make this point. Give your child two attached LEGO bricks to represent parts of the word. Then have your child physically take the LEGO pieces apart while removing part of the word.

8. Get creative with crafts.

Kids respond to hands-on learning. Try making a collage of items that start with the same sound using pictures from magazines. Sock puppets can be another fun way to work on these skills. Make one that likes to munch on words that start with a certain sound. Let your child have fun "feeding" the puppet different objects or pictures that start with that sound.

There are many resources and ideas online to work on phonological and phonemic awareness skills. Check out YouTube for teaching videos, Pinterest for games and crafts, or the app store for nursery rhymes, sound games, and songs.

Whatever you do, keep the activities short and fun. If your child finds one activity too difficult or boring, try something different. If you find that activities of this type are too hard, talk to your classroom teacher . Your district's early childhood department may also be able to help you get extra help.

There are many ways to include sound play in your daily routine with your child.

Kids who play with sounds, syllables and rhymes when they are young are gaining important reading readiness skills.

If these skills are really difficult for your child, you may want to seek extra support in this area.

About the Author

About the Author

Kelli Johnson, MA is an educational speech-language pathologist, working with students from early childhood through 12th grade.

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9 ways to build phonological awareness in pre-K and kindergarten

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Kids in pre-K and kindergarten can play with words, rhymes, and syllables they hear in everyday speech to prepare for reading. This is called phonological awareness. Parents and caregivers can introduce phonological awareness during reading, singing, or play activities. Kids who struggle with these kinds of activities may be showing early signs of reading issues.

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Phonemic awareness is the ability to hear and manipulate the smallest units of sounds (phonemes) in words. Many students with learning differences like dyslexia struggle with phonemic awareness. Because phonemic awareness is a foundational literacy skill, students who have trouble with this skill often have difficulty with reading.

Elkonin sound boxes can help students develop phonemic awareness by focusing on segmenting and blending the sounds in words. Segmenting is breaking a word apart into its individual sounds. Blending is putting the individual sounds together to say the word. Read on to learn how to use Elkonin sound boxes to teach these important skills.

Scroll down for tips on adapting this strategy for distance learning.

K (Common Core ELA Literacy RF.K.2: Understand spoken words, syllables, and sounds)

1 (Common Core ELA Literacy RF.1.2: Understand spoken words, syllables, and sounds)

Gather materials. Give each student an Elkonin sound boxes printable and five counters, coins, tiles, or other small objects. For students who struggle with fine motor skills, consider using larger objects that are easier to handle.

Words with two sounds and two letters: it, no

Words with three sounds and three letters or with three sounds and four letters ending in a 'silent e': hop, cat, game

Words with three sounds and one or more digraphs (two letters that make one sound): fish, tooth, chime

Words with four phonemes and blends (two or more letters that blend together but that have separate sounds): crab, skip, trade

Words with five phonemes and blends: street, crust, blend

2. Model. Point to the set of boxes that has two squares. Explain that students will move one counter into one square for each sound they hear. Model how you'll do that by lining up two counters above the squares. Say the word it. Pull down one tile into the first square as you say /ĭ/ and the second tile as you say /t/. Then run your finger along the arrow underneath the box to blend the sounds back together: it.

3. Practice and give feedback. Invite students to practice another word with you. Depending on your students' needs, you might use the sound box with three squares and the word hit. Support students as they pull down one tile for /h/, one for /ĭ/, and another for /t/. Then blend the sounds back together to make hit.

Repeat the activity with several words that have two, three, four, or five sounds (as appropriate for your students). Provide feedback as students segment and blend the sounds.

For English language learners (ELLs): Hold up a picture of the word you are asking students to segment. Say the word and have students repeat it. (If the word is a cognate, say the word both in English and in the student's home language.) After students say the word in English, segment the sounds and then blend them together. By doing so, you'll help students build vocabulary by connecting the word with its meaning.

All students-and particularly students who learn and think differently-benefit from explicit instruction in literacy. The visual element of the sound boxes helps students to segment each sound separately. Similarly, moving the tiles and dragging their finger along the word helps to engage students in multisensory learning.

Elkonin sounds boxes are especially useful for ELLs. Learning English can be difficult for some students because there are sounds in English that may not exist in their home language. For instance, English has many more vowel sounds than Spanish. Elkonin sound boxes give students repeated practice with hearing unfamiliar sounds.

Share this resource with families to help them understand the importance of phonemic awareness and other phonological skills.

Partner with your students' families. Find out what resources they have available and what they might need to support learning at home.

Guide an individual student or a small group of students through the steps (including how to draw the sound boxes) in a synchronous online lesson. Use UDL as you're planning the lesson.

Make sure your modeling is easy for students to see. Position your camera to show how you move the counters into the sound boxes. Or create slides that show the sound boxes and use animation to fade in the counters.

Give ideas for manipulatives that students might be able to find at home, like crayons, small game pieces, cotton balls, or coins.

About the Author

About the Author

Kim Greene, MA

is the managing editor of Understood for Educators. A former elementary teacher and a certified reading specialist, she has a passion for developing resources for teachers and school leaders.

Reviewed by

Reviewed by

Margie B. Gillis, EdD

is the founder and president of Literacy How, which provides professional development for teachers on research-based reading practices in the classroom.

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Elkonin Sound Boxes: An Evidence-Based Literacy Strategy

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Phonemic awareness is the ability to hear and manipulate the smallest units of sounds (phonemes) in words. Many students with learning differences like dyslexia struggle with phonemic awareness. Because phonemic awareness is a foundational literacy skill, students who have trouble with this skill often have difficulty with reading.

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When talking about letter sounds, show your child what your mouth does to create the sound. Describe where your tongue is and how you're breathing.
"When I make the m sound, I press my lips together and make my voice hum like this "mmmmm". My tongue is relaxed." Choose a letter sound, then have your child find things around your house that start with the same sound. This is great activity to do in the kitchen while making dinner. "Can you find something in our house that starts with the letter "s" ssssss sound? Stairs, sofa, sandwich."
Sound Hunters
Have your child give a rhyme for a word you tell them. It can be a made up word. "What rhymes with "bindergarten"?
Ridiculous Rhymes

Be Silly!

Make up your own rhymes, songs, or silly stories to focus on a particular sound. Big Billy blows beautiful bubbles!

What's the Sound?

When you're reading together with your child, pick a word from the book and put emphasis on the first sound. Pick another word and compare them. "Aaaaaaalligator and eeeeeeeelephant. Can you hear what letter aaaaaligator starts with? Is it the same as eeeeelephant? What letter does elephant start with?"
Before kids are ready to read words, they need to be able to separate the sounds they hear in words. Tell them a whole word, like "cat" and have them separate the sounds as they touch their head /c/, then shoulders /a/, then knees /t/ (and toes for four sounds if they can handle it!). At the end, have them say the whole word, "cat", as they stand back up. If it's too hard for them, slow down saying the word and stretch out each sound so they can better hear the individual sounds.
Head Shoulder Knees and Toes

Fingers Up

Take turns saying a word while the other person puts up their fingers to match the number of sounds. For "cat," they'd hold up their pointer finger for "c", middle finger for "a" and ring finger for "t".

Show Me

Using Cheerios, rocks or beads, say a word and have your child show you how many sounds the word makes. For example, "cap" = c+a+p = three sounds, so they'd place three objects in a row. Then have them tap each object as they say the sound. Remember, your child is just showing you the sounds they hear. So the word "take" would be = t-a-k (silent e) = only three sounds.

Tell Me the Members of the Word Family

Word families are words that rhyme. Tell your child the "mom's" name is "bat" and they have to tell you all the "kids'" names, such as cat, fat, sat, rat, pat, mat, at, and hat. This will help children hear patterns in words.

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First Grade Phonemic Awareness | Knowing Sounds in 1st Grade

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Learn more about first grade phonemic awareness, as well as find free 1st grade goals & activities around knowing sounds.