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What is Comprehension and why is it important?

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What is Comprehension and why is it important?

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What is Fluency and why is it important?

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What is Fluency and why is it important?

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What is Vocabulary and why is it important?

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What is Vocabulary and why is it important?

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What is Phonics and why is it important?

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What is Phonics and why is it important?

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What is Phonemic Awareness and why is it imporant?

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What is Phonemic Awareness and why is it imporant?

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Here is a video explanation on why Comprehension is so important when learning how to read and promoting oral language... 

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Here is a video explanation on why Comprehension is so important when learning how to read and promoting oral language... 

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One Shift That Will Advance Your Child's Oral Language Skills

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How does this at home activity of "Grocery Shopping Item Identification Hunt" and helpful resource "Reading Rockets" website help meet the reading needs of young learners with and without exceptionalities?

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How does this at home activity of "Grocery Shopping Item Identification Hunt" and helpful resource "Reading Rockets" website help meet the reading needs of young learners with and without exceptionalities?

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At Home Activity: The Grocery Shopping Item Identification Hunt helps meet the reading needs of young learners with and without exceptionalities because it allows children to comprehend what they are being asked. When students correctly find an item that is being described, they are indicating that they are capable of comprehended what was asked of them. Simple activities like this build on reading skills because they allow students to learn how to comprehend. Comprehension is a critical aspect of reading in order for students to understand what exactly they are reading.
Helpful Resource: Reading Rockets is a helpful resource and helps meet the reading needs of young learners with and without exceptionalities because it provides different ways of promoting comprehension at home. The activities provided can take place at home in different situations or scenarios or in a place outside of home that si frequently visited. This allows students to become motivated to learn and achieve the comprehension skills that they need in order to read.

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At-home activity and resource that supports the development of Comprehension:

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At-home activity and resource that supports the development of Comprehension:

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At Home Activity: Grocery Shopping Item Identification Hunt
Directions: Families would take their child on their usual grocery shopping run. However, during this trip to the grocery store, families can ask students to find specific items. Students will use their comprehension of what their family member has said to find the item.
Example: A family member can say, "find a tall item that is white." The student can then find an item such as a whip cream can or a milk carton to display their comprehension of what they were asked to find.
Helpful Resource: The attached website provides a variety of activities that support the development of Comprehension.

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Oral language is the foundation of literacy. Pre-kindergarten children are not reading yet, but they are building comprehension skills through listening, the lively back-and-forth of every day conversations, pretend play, and active read alouds where parent and child are having a dialogue about the book.

Parents can develop oral language and comprehension with these activities:

Active every day conversations

Sharing oral stories

Reading books together

Singing and playing rhyming games

Listening games, such as "Simon says"

Dramatic play where your child takes on imaginary roles

One shift that will advance your child's oral language skills

This video is from Home Reading Helper, a resource for parents to elevate children's reading at home provided by Read Charlotte. Find more video, parent activities, printables, and other resources at Home Reading Helper.

Every day conversations with your child are so important! Sometimes those interactions are necessarily brief and direct - "Let's put on your socks and shoes so we can get to the store." Try to also build in open-ended conversations each day - talk that is active, with lots of back-and-forth between you and your child (sometimes called "multi-turn conversations"). You're teaching your child how to take turns listening and speaking, and showing your child that you value their thoughts and ideas.

Ask your children questions that require more than a "yes" or "no" answer. Some questions that help them to talk more openly are "Why do you think that happened?" "What do we do next?" "What would happen if we did it this way?" "What can we do about that?" "How can we make this better?"

Reading aloud is one of the best ways to help your pre-K child absorb new words. It's also a great way to help young children learn about the world and make connections between their own lives and what's in the book - that helps children see the world with empathy. And last but not least, it's a wonderful time to snuggle up with your child and share the experience of reading and discovery together.

There are so many great nonfiction and informational books for very young kids (such as the popular DK Eyewitness series). Try to include some of these during your next trip to the public library. Even very young children love learning about the real world and are proud to share what they know!

Even a walk around the neighborhood or a trip to the grocery store can be a rich learning experience for young children. A child may see an urban bunny for the first time on a walk, and then be able to connect it to stories about rabbits. These personal connections help children connect what they read with what they know - a powerful way to build comprehension skills!

Try these oral language comprehension activities at home

Walk and talk

When you take a walk through your neighborhood, encourage your child to point out things she sees and to talk about them. React to her observations, ask open-ended questions (who, what, why, where, when, how), and add your own observations to encourage a lively conversation. During the walk you might want to stop and say, "Listen, what can you hear?" Or if you hear a familiar sound, stop and say, "Do you hear that knocking sound? What do you think that could be? Maybe it's a woodpecker -​ let's look up and see if we can spot the bird."

Act it out

Read stories such as The Three Bears or Three Billy Goats Gruff. Act out the stories using different-sized stuffed animals. This is a great opportunity to talk about the concepts of "small, medium, and large." Go on a scavenger hunt in your home to find other objects of different sizes (shoes, socks, cups, etc.) and ask your child to classify the items by size. You might also ask your child if he knows another word for small and large.

Sing it

Create or learn songs to expand your child's vocabulary. One idea: make up songs to describe your daily routines, periodically adding new verses that include new vocabulary words.

Listening games

Play "I Spy" with your child using words that describe an object's position. ("I spy something on the carpet, in front of the couch, next to the dog.") Play games such as "Red-Light Green-Light," "Mama, Puedo," and "Simon Says" that require talking, listening, following directions, and giving directions.

Grocery store literacy

Position words are used every day at home and in preschool. Use the items on the grocery shelf to give your child practice finding something above their belly button, below their nose, on the bottom shelf, and between other items on a shelf. Opportunities to use superlatives, those little endings that help describe size, are all around the grocery store. Have your child find a big fruit, a bigger fruit and the biggest fruit in the produce section. What's the smallest item in the cart? The largest item?

Kitchen conversations

Take advantage of daily activities. For example, while in the kitchen, encourage your child to name the utensils needed. Discuss the food you'll be eating, their color, texture, and taste. Where does the food come from? Which foods do you like? Which do you dislike? Who will clean up? Emphasize the use of prepositions by asking him or her to put the napkin on the table, in your lap, or under the spoon. Identify who the napkin belongs to: "It is my napkin." "It is Daddy's." "It is John's."

We're going on an adventure

Ask your child to draw a map of an imaginary place he would like to explore. Have him tell you a little bit about the setting and who might live there. If you like, you can dress up (sometimes a hat or cardboard tube spyglass is all you need) and set out on your adventure. Encourage your child to tell you all about the journey and what he's experiencing. Your child will love it if you are "all in" for this imaginary journey!

Active reading

Model active reading when you read with your child. Talk about what's happening as you're reading. Stop and discuss any interesting or tricky vocabulary words. Help your child make pictures of the story in his mind. Ask your child, "What just happened here? How do you think that character feels? Have you ever felt like that? What do you think will happen next?" Not only will this develop your child's comprehension, but critical thinking skills as well.

Tell me about it

After a read aloud, one of the best and easiest ways to check for understanding is to ask your child to summarize what the book was about in their own words. You can ask a question or two to help your child clarify her thinking or to add more detail.

Family stories

This is a wonderful activity for a family picnic or for a rainy day when you're snuggled together on the couch. Share a favorite story about your childhood or a family story that's been passed down from generation to generation. Use vivid language and details about people, places, and things. Funny or scary will really get your child's attention! Your child will probably have lots of questions, which keeps the storytelling alive. You could also ask your child if she has a favorite family story of her own.

More oral language comprehension resources

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Oral Language Comprehension: Activities for Your Pre-K Child

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Oral language is the foundation of literacy. Pre-kindergarten children are not reading yet, but they are building comprehension skills through listening, the lively back-and-forth of every day conversations, pretend play, and active read alouds where parent and child are having a dialogue about the book.

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Classroom Activity #2 that supports the development of Comprehension:

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Classroom Activity #2 that supports the development of Comprehension:

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Activity #2: Active Reading Conferences

Directions:  Students would each work with the teacher in a 1-on-1 situation. During this time, the student will read a story to the teacher. As they are reading, the teacher will stop and ask questions along to way to assure the student's understanding.
Differentiation: Students who need additional assistance on the topic would be read to by the teacher. While the teacher is reading the story, the child would follow along and answer prompted questions to assure their understanding.

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Classroom Activity #1 that supports the development of Comprehension:

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Classroom Activity #1 that supports the development of Comprehension:

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Activity #1: Group Read Aloud and Discussion

Directions:  In a large group, the teacher would read a story aloud. In order to check the comprehension of the students, the teacher would ask for volunteers to recall what happened in the story once the read aloud is over. After this, the teacher can split the students into small groups to read together. After the students finish reading their story, they have to talk with a partner about what the story was about.
Differentiation: Students who need more assistance on the topic would do small groups with the teacher and follow along to the story. Once the story is complete, the teacher will ask prompted questions that the children will have to answer to assure their comprehension of the story.

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*All information regarding "Comprehension" will be in the green color/category.

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How does this at home activity of "Rereading Practice" and helpful resource "We Are Teachers" website help meet the reading needs of young learners with and without exceptionalities?

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How does this at home activity of "Rereading Practice" and helpful resource "We Are Teachers" website help meet the reading needs of young learners with and without exceptionalities?

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At Home Activity: Rereading Practice helps meet the reading needs of young learners with and without exceptionalities in many ways. It allows students to become familiar with a story and boost their confidence when reading it. Because of this, students focus more on their fluency skills considering they know "what happens" in the story and are familiar with reading it. This allows students to focus more on their fluency and speed of reading.
Helpful Resource: We Are Teachers is a website with different activities and resources that includes differentiation material as well. These activities allow free choice and build on fluency for the student. These activities focus on decoding and speed in order to assist on reading skills.

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At-home activity and resource that supports the development of Fluency:

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At-home activity and resource that supports the development of Fluency:

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At Home Activity: Rereading practice
Directions: Families should familiarize their child with a book of choice. Children often remember how to read their favorite book. This book often includes engaging material and repetition. After the child is familiar with a book, families should consistently reread the same book with the child.
Helpful Resource:  The attached website provides a variety of activities that support the development of Fluency.

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Learning to read starts kids on a lifelong learning journey, but literacy is more than just understanding the words on a page. Reading fluency involves comprehension, speed, accuracy, and prosody (reading with expression). There are many ways to help kids develop reading fluency, both in and out of the classroom. Here are some of our favorite reading fluency activities.

1. Start with a reading fluency anchor chart

Introduce the basics of reading fluency with an anchor chart you can hang in the classroom. It's a good reference for kids throughout the year. Here are more fluency anchor charts to try.

Learn more: Oral Reading Fluency/Teaching With a Mountain View

2. Model fluency with read-alouds

Reading aloud to kids is important for so many reasons, but one of the best is that it teaches kids what fluency sounds like. Adults can model expression, phrasing, pace, and so much more when they read to kids. Try some of our favorite read-alouds, or check out this list of the best read-alouds on YouTube as part of your reading center activities.

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3. Hang reading fluency posters

Post these in your classroom reading center to remind kids what reading fluency really means. They're simple but effective. Get your free set of reading fluency posters here.

4. Try sentence trees

Sentence trees are terrific reading activities that build fluency in younger students. They allow kids to focus on each word, improving accuracy and speed along the way.

Learn more: Sentence Trees/Fun in First

5. Put together poems and nursery rhymes

Kids often memorize nursery rhymes long before they learn to read. By breaking those rhymes apart into individual words and putting them back together again, kids see how words build into sentences and stories in a natural flow.

Learn more: Fluency To Improve Comprehension/Mrs. Winter's Bliss

6. Use line tracking and word pointers

For some kids, focus is a challenge. Their eyes wander around the page, and they have trouble developing the speed needed for fluency. Use another piece of paper to help them focus on the line they're reading, or try pointing to the words one by one.

Learn more: Reading With Fluency/Katelyn's Learning Studio

7. Read and reread ... and reread

Fluency involves lots and lots of reading and rereading. When kids read a passage over and over again, they build up their speed and accuracy automatically. One fun way to work on expression is to try rereading with different voices.

Learn more: Improve Reading Comprehension/Teach123

8. Add a timer to rereading

Combine repeated reading with a timer. Students read a passage for 1 minute, working to increase the number of words they read correctly each time. This is a nice tool for working on speed and accuracy.

Learn more: Build Reading Fluency/1st Grade Pandamania

9. Track student progress

While you don't want to overemphasize numbers, tracking a student's fluency is helpful to both you and them. Parents can help with this one at home too.

Learn more: Reading With Fluency/Katelyn's Learning Studio

10. Work on those sight words

One of reasons elementary readers focus so much on sight words is that they help to build reading fluency. Find a roundup of all our favorite sight word activities here.

11. Look to punctuation for expression cues

Punctuation makes passages easier to read, but it also gives a reader cues on proper expression. Help your kids recognize what each punctuation mark sounds like when reading fluently.

Learn more: Teaching Expression in Fluency/The Owl Teacher

12. Answer the fluency phone

These are such a fun tool for helping kids really hear themselves read! They're great for busy classrooms and reading centers. Kids talk softly into the phone, and the sound is amplified in their ear. You can buy fluency phones or make them yourself from PVC pipe.

Learn more: Fluency To Improve Reading Comprehension/Mrs. Winter's Bliss

13. Read with partners

Whether kids are reading together or you pair an adult helper with a student, taking turns reading is a terrific way to get more fluent. When one reader is stronger, have them read the passage first and have the other reader echo it back.

Learn more: Ways To Improve Reading Fluency/The Measured Mom

14. Get a reading buddy

Shy kids will especially appreciate the chance to practice reading out loud to a stuffed animal pal. Encourage them to read as if their fuzzy friend can hear everything they're saying.

Learn more: Ways To Use Stuffed Animals in the Classroom/Stories by Storie

15. Give kids a reading fluency rubric

Use this free printable rubric when evaluating students' reading fluency, or send it home for parents. Kids can even use it to self-evaluate!

Learn more: Reading Fluency Is Not Just About Speed/Teacher Thrive

16. Use a fluency bookmark

A handy bookmark keeps fluency strategies front and center when kids read. We love this idea for kids who are ready for chapter books.

Learn more: Focusing on Fluency/Upper Elementary Snapshots

17. Introduce the concept of scooping phrases

Pointing to words is good for building speed and accuracy, but scooping phrases takes things to the next level. This practice is a great help for developing expression and comprehension.

Learn more: Reading Fluency Phrasing/This Reading Mama

18. Hold a school-wide fluency challenge

Make literacy and reading fluency something the whole school focuses on. Have PE teachers post sight words for kids to read out when they run past. Invite cafeteria workers to join you for story time. Track fluency and celebrate milestones with individual and whole-school rewards! Learn more about holding a school-wide fluency challenge here.

19. Set up buddy reading

Pair older students with younger students to practice and model reading fluency. Older students can read picture books, which have longer sentences and higher vocabulary that challenge older students but are still out of reach for younger students. The older students will get practice with fluency, and younger students will benefit from hearing picture books read aloud.

20. Use highlighter strips

Highlighter strips, bright tape-like strips that students can use to follow along as they read longer books, can help upper elementary students keep their place. And keeping their place helps them read fluently.

Buy it: Highlighter Strips at Amazon

21. Teach robot vs. non-robot reading

Help students understand the prosody or expression part of fluency with a lesson on robot reading vs. fluent reading. Have students practice (silly) robot reading and then fluent reading to hear (and feel) the difference.

Learn more: Arlene Neubarth/Pinterest

22. Put on a play

Readers theater, with a script or a favorite book, is one way to practice fluent reading. Choose a book with lots of dialogue and encourage students to really feel the story.

23. Use the BEST strategy for multisyllabic word reading

When students get to multisyllabic words, they may struggle to get past longer words like "momentarily" and "topography." Teach them a strategy to sound out longer words:

Break the word apart into syllables.

Examine each part.

Say each part.

Try the whole word.

24. Host a poetry jam

Poetry is a great way to practice fluent reading, and it can be used at any grade level. For younger kids, work with simple poems and rhymes. For older children, use poems from Shel Silverstein or Jack Pruletsky. Have each child choose a poem and practice reading it with flare, then host a poetry jam where students read the poems they've practiced.

Learn more: Poetry Cafe/School and the City

25. Record students' reading

Recording audiobooks for your classroom library is one way for students to see how fluent reading benefits everyone. Have students record reading a book on an audio recording app, and save it for other teachers to use with their students.

Learn more: Fluency Activities for Your First Grader/Reading Rockets

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25 Fantastic Reading Fluency Activities To Build Literacy in Young Readers

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Help kids improve their reading fluency with these fun activities and center ideas that cover a wide range of proven strategies.

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Classroom Activity #2 that supports the development of Fluency:

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Classroom Activity #2 that supports the development of Fluency:

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Activity #2: Index Card Reading Method

Directions:  Students will be given poems to read. While they read, they will use an index card to assure that they are reading from one line to the next. This index card method enables readers to assure they are reading at a proper speed and decoding the words, accurately.
Differentiation: Students who needs additional assistance on the topic would be given a shorter reading to decode and read. These students would also use an index card. However, aside from this, they would also follow along with the teacher as she points to each word on the line that they are reading.

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Classroom Activity #1 that supports the development of Fluency:

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Classroom Activity #1 that supports the development of Fluency:

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Activity #1: Sentence Trees

Directions:  Students will be given "sentences trees" which are cards with sentences on them. These sentences start with one word, line after line more words get added, and finally a full/complete thought is provided. Students would read them aloud in order to practice their speed, accuracy, and fluency of reading. Students would also create their own Sentence Trees after working with pre-made ones.
An example of a Fluency Tree:
She
She can
She can go
She can go after
She can go after I
She can go after I stop.
Differentiation: Students who need additional help would stick to viewing and reading the pre-made Sentence Trees. They would work with a partner in order to read the entire tree. They would then be prompted to re read the Sentence Tree on their own in order to assess their individual fluency.

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*All information regarding "Fluency" will be in the red color/category.

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How does this at home activity of "Charades" and helpful resource "Magoosh Blog" help meet the reading needs of young learners with and without exceptionalities?

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How does this at home activity of "Charades" and helpful resource "Magoosh Blog" help meet the reading needs of young learners with and without exceptionalities?

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At Home Activity: Charades helps meet the reading needs of young learners with and without exceptionalities in many ways. It allows students to comprehend new vocabulary words in a fun and interactive way. This engaging game allows students to focus on and improve their vocabulary skills. Overall, vocabulary assists on reading because it allows students to recognize and understand new words with their meanings.
Helpful Resource: Magoosh Blog helps meet the reading needs of young learners with and without exceptionalities because it is written by a teacher with great ideas on how to enhance vocabulary skills. The blog includes activities that fit the needs of different learners and all improve vocabulary skills in order to enhance their reading skills.

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At-home activity and resource that supports the development of Vocabulary:

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At-home activity and resource that supports the development of Vocabulary:

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At Home Activity: Charades
Directions: Families can play the game charades with their children to work on vocabulary skills. Players would act out the vocabulary word and the remaining players would try to guess which word is being acted out. The players would continue to switch until all words are identified.
Helpful Resource: The attached website provides a variety of activities that support the development of Vocabulary.

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9 Classroom Vocabulary Games to Use with Your Students

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Looking for some fun classroom vocabulary games to use with your students? Try these 9 quick and easy vocabulary review games.

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Classroom Activity #2 that supports the development of Vocabulary:

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Classroom Activity #2 that supports the development of Vocabulary:

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Activity #2: Circle Rotations

Directions:  Students will be placed in two circles throughout the room. Students will be handed flash cards with the vocabulary word on one side and its definition on the other side. Students in the inner circle would test the students in the outer circle then they would switch. They would repeat these rotations until all of the vocabulary words are accurately defined.
Differentiation: Students who need additional assistance on the topic would do these flash cards in a small group, rather than a large group. However, instead of having word definitions, these cards would have the vocabulary word on one side and a visual on the other side. Students would test each other on the vocabulary words until the words run out.

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Classroom Activity #1 that supports the development of Vocabulary:

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Classroom Activity #1 that supports the development of Vocabulary:

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Activity #1: Vocabulary BINGO

Directions:  Students will be distributed BINGO cards with the weekly vocabulary words on them. When playing the game, the teacher would read the definition of the word and the student would identify which would was being described by marking their BINGO board accordingly. Whoever gets a row first, wins BINGO!
Differentiation: Students who need additional assistance on the topic would work in a small group with the teacher. The teacher would read the definition of the word and see if the students are able to identify the word. If they are, they would mark their card. If they are not, the teacher would break down the definition and help the student identify what word the meaning corresponds too.

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*All information regarding "Vocabulary" will be in the Orange/Yellow color/category.

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How does this at home activity of "Alphabet Memory Game" and helpful resource "Reading Egg" website help meet the reading needs of young learners with and without exceptionalities?

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How does this at home activity of "Alphabet Memory Game" and helpful resource "Reading Egg" website help meet the reading needs of young learners with and without exceptionalities?

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At Home Activity: The "Alphabet Memory Game" helps meet the reading needs of young learners with and without exceptionalities in many ways. This game focuses on identifying letters with their corresponding sounds. Students need to be capable of identifying letters as well as their sounds in order to read words, sentences, and eventually books.
Helpful Resource: "Reading Egg" helps meet the reading needs of young learners with and without exceptionalities in many ways. This website lists different activities and has different learning games that fit the need of each different type of learner. Based on each child's needs, the activity and/or would be chosen to improve skills and assess their knowledge of phonics.

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At-home activity and resource that supports the development of Phonics:

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At-home activity and resource that supports the development of Phonics:

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At Home Activity: Alphabet Memory Game

Directions: Families can play Alphabet Memory Game by writing the letters of the alphabet on cut out pieces of paper. Then, the family member would lay all of the letters on the table and flip them over. Every match gets kept by the person who does it. At the end of the game, the person with the most matches wins. However, for this game, every time someone finds a match, the person as to identify what the letter and its corresponding sound is.
Resource: The attached website provides a variety of activities that support the development of Phonics.

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Classroom Activity #2 that supports the development of Phonics:

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Classroom Activity #2 that supports the development of Phonics:

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Activity #2: CVC Cups

Directions:  Cups with different letters would be on the table for students. In small groups, the students would try to build as many words as possible (CVC words) with the consonants and vowels provided.
Differentiation: Students who need additional assistance on the topic would be instructed to create fewer words with the assistance of the teacher. Students would view the letters on the cups and attempt to build small words.

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Classroom Activity #1 that supports the development of Phonics:

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Classroom Activity #1 that supports the development of Phonics:

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Activity #1: Letter Hunt

Directions:  Prior to the lesson, the teacher will hide letters around the room and distribute worksheets for each student with specific letters on them. Children will have clipboards and pencils for this activity. Students would go on a hunt around the room looking for the letters that are assigned to each student. As the student finds the letter on their list, they have to identify which letter it is and cross it off.
Differentiation: Students who need additional assistance on the topic, would work 1-on-1 with the teacher during the hunt and look for a minimal amount of letters. However, students would still have to find and identify the letters that they find to the teacher rather than crossing them out on the worksheet.

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*All information regarding "Phonics" will be in the purple color/category.

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How does this at home activity of "I Spy" and helpful resource "Reading Rockets" website help meet the reading needs of young learners with and without exceptionalities?

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How does this at home activity of "I Spy" and helpful resource "Reading Rockets" website help meet the reading needs of young learners with and without exceptionalities?

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At Home Activity: The sound activity of I Spy helps meet the reading needs of young learners with and without exceptionalities in many ways. Students need to understand sounds and letters in order to read. Without a knowledge of sounds and letter, students cannot do so. With this being said, the I Spy activity focuses on letter sounds and allows the child to practice and perfect those skills in order to learn how to read effectively and confidently.
Helpful Resource: The Reading Rocket website article helps meet the reading needs of young learners with and without exceptionalities in many ways. This website includes a variety of different learning activities that focus on building a child's phonemic awareness. Because of the different activities and information provided, differentiation can occur because there is a different activity for each type of learner. These activities focus o building Phonemic Awareness skills when learning how to read.

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Here is a video explanation on why Phonemic Awareness is so important when learning how to read...

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Here is a video explanation on why Phonemic Awareness is so important when learning how to read...

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Why is Phonemic Awareness the Key to Learning to Read?

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At-home activity and resource that supports the development of Phonemic Awareness:

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At-home activity and resource that supports the development of Phonemic Awareness:

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Activity #2: I Spy with my little eye something that begins with the ______________ sound...

Directions: Families can play I spy to teach their children sounds. The family member would simply say, "I spy with my little eye something that starts with the "t" (toothbrush).
Resource: The attached website provides a variety of activities that support the development of Phonemic Awareness.

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That's a complicated sounding term, but it's meaning is simple: the ability to hear, recognize, and play with the sounds in spoken language. Phonological awareness is really a group of skills that include a child's ability to:

Identify words that rhyme

Count the number of syllables in a word or in familiar names

Recognize alliteration (words with the same beginning sound)

Segment (break) a sentence into words

Recognize and play with the individual sounds (phonemes) in spoken words. This is called phonemic awareness.

Strong phonemic awareness is one of the strongest predictors of later reading success. Children who struggle with reading, including kids with dyslexia, often have trouble with phonemic awareness, but with the right kind of instruction they can be successful. Learn some of the warning signs for dyslexia in this article, Clues to Dyslexia in Early Childhood.

For pre-K children, the focus is on rhyming, alliteration, syllables, and beginning sounds. Parents can make a big difference in helping their children become readers by practicing these pre-reading oral skills at home. Try some of the simple rhyming and word sound games described here.

Why phonemic awareness is the key to learning how to read

This video is from Home Reading Helper, a resource for parents to elevate children's reading at home provided by Read Charlotte . Find more video, parent activities, printables, and other resources at Home Reading Helper .

Try these speech sound activities at home

Rhyme time

"I am thinking of an animal that rhymes with big. What's the animal?" Answer: pig. What else rhymes with big? ( dig, fig, wig)

Body part rhymes

Point to a part of your body and ask your child to think of a rhyming word. For example, what rhymes with hair? ( bear). What rhymes with eye? (pie) What rhymes with head? (bed). Make it more challenging by asking for two or three rhyming words. Nonsense words count, too!

Read books that play with sounds

Try these books featuring rhyme, alliteration, and more:

All About Arthur (An Absolutely Absurd Ape)

Alphabears

Animalia

Buzz Said the Bee

Catch a Little Fox

Each Peach Pear Plum

A Giraffe and a Half

The Hungry Thing

Jamberry

See You Later Alligator

Sheep in a Jeep

Yours Till Banana Splits

Zoophabets

Clap it out

Practice listening for syllables. Explain to your child that syllables are the big chunks in words as you say them: some words have one syllable (hat), some have two (apple), and some have three or more (banana).

You can actually feel syllables! Have your child put her hand under her chin and say the word slowly so she can feel when her mouth goes down. Be sure to explain that each time her chin goes down, she's saying another syllable or part of the same word.

Think of everyday words your child knows (for example: apple, baby, toothbrush). Tell your child that you'll both clap the number of syllables in each word. Show her how to clap one time as you say each syllable: /ap/ (clap) /ple/ (clap). Try it with more words. Kids also love clapping their name!

Tongue ticklers

Alliteration or "tongue ticklers" - where the sound you're focusing on is repeated over and over again - can be a fun way to provide practice with a sound. Try these:

For M: Miss Mouse makes marvelous meatballs!

For S: Silly Sally sings songs about snakes and snails.

For F: Freddy finds fireflies with a flashlight.

"I Spy" first sounds

Practice beginning sounds with this simple "I spy" game at home, on a walk, or at the grocery store. Choose words with distinctive, easy-to-hear beginning sounds. For example, if you're in the bathroom you can say, "I spy something red that starts with the "s" ssss sound ( soap)."

Sound scavenger hunt

Choose a letter sound, then have your child find things around your house that start with the same sound. "Can you find something in our house that starts with the letter "p" pppppp sound? Picture, pencil, pear "

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Phonological and Phonemic Awareness: Activities for Your Pre-K Child

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Phonological awareness is a set of critical pre-reading skills: the ability to hear, identify, and play with the sounds in spoken language - including rhymes, syllables, and phonemes. Children with strong phonological awareness skills are ready to become readers.

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Classroom Activity #2 that supports the development of Phonemic Awareness:

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Classroom Activity #2 that supports the development of Phonemic Awareness:

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Activity #2: Pass the rhyme.

Directions: In small groups, students will participate in the "pass the rhyme" circle game. Students will sit in a circle. The teacher will start the game by saying a word, the students would then say a word that rhymes with the teachers given word. In a circle rotation, each child will say a word that rhymes with the provided word. Once every student in the circle goes, another round will begin.
Differentiation: Students who need additional assistance on the topic would work in a small group with the teacher guiding the instruction. In this group, the teacher would have word cards with photos describing each word. The teacher would then display rhyming words by using the visuals. Students would identify which visuals sound the same or "rhyme."

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Classroom Activity #1 that supports the development of Phonemic Awareness:

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Classroom Activity #1 that supports the development of Phonemic Awareness:

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Activity #1: Count and clap out the syllables in a word.

Directions: In a large group, students would clap out the number of syllables in each word card that the teacher displays. After this, students will turn to a friend and continue the "clapping game" in small groups to identify how many syllables are in the provided words.
Differentiation: Students who need additional assistance on the topic would work in a small group with the teacher guiding the instruction. In this group, the teacher would clap out the syllables of the word and have the students listen and count the claps. As the students understand the claps, they will start to clap out the sounds on their own.

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*All information regarding "Phonemic Awareness" will be in the blue color/category.