https://padlet.com/pwells6/o5nwzbmcs4rx Made with a dash of wit en-us 2017-07-22 18:04:36 UTC 2017-07-22 18:07:58 UTC hello@padlet.com pwells6 https://padlet.com/pwells6/o5nwzbmcs4rx/wish/179230412 Last year I focused primarily on phonics instruction to teach reading with a little bit of phonological awareness mixed in. I recently realized this was the exact opposite of what I should have been doing.
While I new what phonological awareness was and how to teach the different aspects of it, I spent more time pushing letter and individual sound recognition and less time counting words in a sentence, segmenting and blending syllables, onset-rime, alliteration, and rhyming. Do not misunderstand me. I did all of these things with my students. We read books with word play, counted words in sentences and in the titles of books, we played rhyming and alliteration games, and worked with word families. However, in hindsight I should have spent more time on these skills and less time drilling the letters and sounds. 
If you are like me, then you have listened to sessions and read books and articles about phonological awareness for years and you know it represents a critical step in helping young children understand that letters or groups of letters can represent phonemes or sounds, but have you really thought about what that means? I realized recently that I missed the boat entirely and have spent most of my time teaching in reverse. ]]> 2017-07-22 18:07:10 UTC https://padlet.com/pwells6/o5nwzbmcs4rx/wish/179230412