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

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First of all, Phonemic awareness is not phonics. Phonemic awareness is the ability to hear, identify, and manipulate individual sounds-phonemes--in spoken words. Before children learn to read print, they need to become more aware of how the sounds in words work. They must understand that words are made up of speech sounds, or phonemes (the smallest parts of sound in a spoken word that make a difference in a word's meaning).

Why Phonemic Awareness Is Important

Phonemic Awareness Can Be Developed Through Activities

Identify and categorize sounds

Blend sounds to form words

Delete or add sounds to form new words

Substitute sounds to make new words

Phonemic Awareness Instruction Is Most Effective When--

Students are taught to manipulate phonemes by using alphabet letters.

Instruction focuses on only one or two rather than several types of phoneme manipulation.

Phonemic instruction is taught in Kindergarten or First Grade.

Phonemic Awareness Instruction Basics

Children who cannot hear and work with the phonemes of spoken words will have difficult time learning how to relate these phonemes to graphemes (A letter of an alphabet, or all of the letters and letter combinations that represent a phoneme, as f, ph, and gh for the phoneme- American Heritage Dictionary) when they see them in written words. Early readers can show they have phonemic awareness in several ways:

recognizing which words in a set of words start with the same sound

isolating and saying the first or last sound in a word

combining or blending the separate sounds in a word in order to say the word

breaking up or segmenting a word into its separate sounds.

Examples of Phonemic Awareness Skills

Blending: What word am I trying to say? Nnnnn-oooo--t.

Segmentation (first sound isolation): What is the first sound in not?

Segmentation (last sound isolation): What is the last sound in not?

Segmentation (complete): What are all the sounds you hear in not?

"One of the most compelling and well-established findings in the research on beginning reading is the important relationship between phonemic awareness and reading acquisition." (Kame'enui, et. al., 1997)

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First of all, Phonemic awareness is not phonics. Phonemic awareness is the ability to hear, identify, and manipulate individual sounds-phonemes--in spoken words. Before children learn to read print, they need to become more aware of how the sounds in words work.

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How to Play Phonemic Awareness Games | Reading Lessons

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Teaching English to a Filipino Child (ESL) - Phonemic Awareness (DAY 1)

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1. Learning the First Language(s)

2. Learning a New Language (English) Later

3. Teaching English Language Listening and Speaking

4. Teaching English Language Reading and Writing

5. Teaching Language Arts and Social Studies

6. Teaching Mathematics and Science

7. Recognizing and Addressing Problems in Learning English

8. Putting It All Together

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1. Learning the First Language(s) 2. Learning a New Language (English) Later 3. Teaching English Language Listening and Speaking 4. Teaching English Language Reading and Writing 5. Teaching Language Arts and Social Studies 6. Teaching Mathematics and Science 7. Recognizing and Addressing Problems in Learning English 8.

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Words Their Way

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Phonics They Use: Words for Reading and Writing

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Written by an outstanding scholar, Phonics They Use seamlessly weaves together the complex and varied strategic approaches needed to help students develop reading and writing skills. Building on previous editions, it focuses on how students use phonics to read and write, not just how much phonics a student knows.

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The Balanced Literacy Diet

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What the experts say about phonemic awareness:

Without phoneme awareness, students may be mystified by the print system and how it represents the spoken word.
~ Louis Cook Moats & Carol Tolman

No matter the level of phonemic awareness, to make use of it he or she [the student] must learn to visually identify the individual letters.
~ Marilyn Jager Adams

Explicit instruction in sound identification, matching, segmentation, and blending, when linked appropriately to sound-symbol association, reduces the risk of reading failure and accelerates early reading and spelling acquisition for all children.
~ Learning First Alliance

Read more about phonemic awareness!

Test your Understanding of Phonemic Awareness

Test 1

Test 2

OVERVIEW of phonemic awareness

Phonemic awareness is an oral language ability that students demonstrate when they can play with the sounds in words. For example, they can change a sound in word to make a new word, blend sounds together to make a word, or break words into individual sounds. Phonemic awareness helps students read by sounding out and blending letter sounds together, and to spell by breaking apart the sounds in a word.

TEACHING phonemic awareness

Teachers can use a number of brief and engaging activities such as songs and games to facilitate students' phonemic awareness. Teachers can model key skills and provide opportunities for review. They can start with simple phonological awareness activities, including rhyming words, and move toward those that involve the identification and/or manipulation of the sounds in words.

ASSESSING phonemic awareness

Teachers can assess phonemic awareness in many ways. They can observe how their students respond to various phonemic awareness tasks and complete informal assessments of important phonemic awareness skills such as blending and segmenting. Gathering this information can aid in lesson planning and the identification of students at risk for reading difficulties.

Featured Videos

Push That Sound: Foundations for Phonemic Awareness

Pound and Sound: Helping Students Hear and Blend Phonemes

Phonemic Awareness Read Aloud: Using Stories to Develop Phonemic Awareness Skills

All Phonemic Awareness Recipes

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Without phoneme awareness, students may be mystified by the print system and how it represents the spoken word. ~ Louis Cook Moats & Carol Tolman No matter the level of phonemic awareness, to make use of it he or she [the student] must learn to visually identify the individual letters.

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I'M NUMBER ONE by Michael Rosen , Bob Graham | Kirkus Reviews

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Mother and daughter leave for the day while four toys and the dog stay home.

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Blending and Segmenting Games

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Blending and Segmenting Games | Classroom Strategy | Reading Rockets

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Children who can segment and blend sounds easily are able to use this knowledge when reading and spelling. Segmenting and blending individual sounds can be difficult at the beginning. Our recommendation is to begin with segmenting and blending syllables. Once familiar with that, students will be prepared for instruction and practice with individual sounds.

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Phonemic Awareness 1st Grade Lesson Plan

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Phonemic Awareness

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What Is Phonemic Awareness? | Reading Lessons

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Phonemic Awareness Strategies and Activities

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Phonemic Awareness Strategies and Activities

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Open House Video #1 - Phonemic Awareness

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Rhyming Book

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There's a Wocket in my Pocket! (Read Aloud)