Understanding Phonological Awareness

 

The importance of developing an ability to read in the first few years of education cannot be overstated. Research consistently indicates that many reading challenges can be prevented and that struggling readers are capable of making greater progress if educators know how to build literacy skills with their youngest students. 

To better understand the importance of early literacy, we can look to the overarching goal of reading: comprehension. Skilled readers can focus on the meaning of text because they have developed the reading skills to recognize words automatically through a process called orthographic mapping. Mapping allows for recognition, discrimination, and activation of meaning to occur all at once.  Our brain performs this process using stored ‘files’ that have developed over time and with repeated exposure. This base structure of reading ability begins in early childhood with the development of phonological awareness skills.  

Phonological awareness is the understanding that language can be broken down into smaller units and then manipulated. It plays a critical role in literacy acquisition and is represented by a cluster of skills that can best be expressed in three subsets. The largest units are the focus of phonological sensitivity skills, while the smaller units are included in a range of phonemic or phoneme awareness skills. 

Phonological Sensitivity (Preschool ages 3-5)

Children as young as three to four years old can begin to engage in phonological sensitivity skills through nursery rhymes, poems, and sing-song activities. These skills do not need to be mastered before beginning phonemic awareness skills. 

Early Phonemic Awareness (Kindergarten) skills include:

Advanced Phonemic Awareness (Grades 1 and 2) skills include:

 

Understanding Phonemic Awareness

 

According to Louisa Moats in her podcast Of “Hard Words” and Straw Men, phonemic awareness is “perhaps the most critical and least-practiced component of effective early instruction” (Moats, 2019). However, phonemic awareness is not consistently given the full attention it deserves in early literacy instruction. The underwhelming focus on these skills may result from two primary misconceptions: 

Misconception #1: Children cannot begin phonemic awareness skills until later in development.

Phonemic awareness skills are indeed the more advanced set of skills under the phonological awareness umbrella. However, this does not mean we need to wait until the larger units of phonological sensitivity skills are taught to begin phonemic awareness. Research supports the initiation of phonemic awareness instruction at the start of kindergarten.

Misconception #2:  Phonemic awareness is the same as phonics. 

Although they share a reciprocal relationship, there is a distinct difference between phonemic awareness and phonics. Phonemic awareness focuses on what we can hear and see. These skills are practiced with auditory and oral activities. Phonics focuses on letter-sound relationships and is practiced with visual and auditory activities where students can directly match phonemes to their grapheme representations. One should not replace the other, as both are necessary to build a solid foundation for effective phonics instruction. Research indicates an integrated instructional approach that combines phonemic awareness and phonics is better than teaching phonics alone (Gentry & Ouelette, 2019).

Phonemic awareness can begin with oral or auditory practice to provide children with opportunities to hear and understand how sounds are used in spoken language even before they have learned all of the letters in the alphabet. In fact, it is recommended to include graphemes in phonemic awareness activities once they have been learned. This allows for an integration of oral, auditory, visual, and kinesthetic skills that emphasize how phonemes are mapped to graphemes to form words. Experts support that this integrated approach lends to meaningful instruction that reinforces phoneme-grapheme associations and plays a direct role in the development of reading skills and spelling skills (Ehri et al. 2001; Moats, 2020). A well-rounded approach like this is beneficial for emergent readers, struggling older readers, and those learning English as a second language. 

 

Why Phonemic Awareness Matters

 

The skills learned through phonemic awareness are necessary for children to make sense of what happens within words in our language. Frequent practice allows them to interact with the parts that make up the whole word and supports their understanding of the alphabetic principle. With phonemic awareness instruction, students will learn that /k/ /a/ /t/ are the sounds in cat and a new word can be made by changing the initial sound to /b/. Now we have bat. If /b/ /r/ /a/ /k/ are the sounds in the word brake, then we can remove the /r/ to make the new word bake. When children can engage with oral sound manipulation skills, they can transfer these skills to reading and writing instruction. Practicing these skills facilitates automaticity and accuracy in both decoding and encoding, leading to improved fluency and comprehension. Phonemic awareness activities can also enhance oral language and vocabulary when modeling includes exposure to new words and their meanings. 

While phonemic awareness may be only one component of a complete structured literacy program, it is an important one. In fact, it has been referred to as the most critical phonological skill that directly supports learning to read and spell (Gillon, 2018; Moats, 2020). Data from longitudinal studies show that phonological awareness in kindergarten is the primary deficit that correlates to later reading struggles. Therefore, early instruction can help us to prevent future reading failure. Recognizing weaknesses in these skills early helps us to identify at-risk children (Torgesen, 1998). In addition, the National Reading Panel has concluded that “Phonological awareness instruction is effective under a variety of conditions with a variety of learners” (2022). 

 

Teaching Phoneme Awareness 

 

Research on phonemic awareness has demonstrated that these skills are best taught in small groups, where students can be matched with other students who are working on similar skills. Students should be assessed mid-year of kindergarten using an appropriate screening tool. Beyond kindergarten, look for errors in reading and spelling such as lad for land, chuck for truck, and bet for bent, which may indicate phoneme awareness weaknesses in specific skills. Students who show deficits should be monitored and provided with additional support and intervention as needed.  

Phonemic awareness skills can be tricky for children, considering that the English language is made up of 26 graphemes (letters) and 44 phonemes (sounds).  When we speak, phonemes are affected by the other phonemes that surround them. This is referred to as coarticulation and can make it difficult for children to hear the individual sounds in spoken words. To help them make sense of this, teachers can call their attention to the articulatory factors required to produce the sounds. Looking in a mirror, children can focus on what the lips, mouth, jaw, and vocal cords are doing during sound articulation. Teachers need to have a solid understanding of how speech sounds are produced. Familiarity with the pronunciation and articulation features will empower them to be better models and deliver more effective instruction. 

Other recommendations when teaching phonemic awareness: 

Studies have shown that phoneme awareness skills do not need to take up a lot of time to be effective. Activities should be brief and practiced throughout the week during new concept lessons. Look for opportunities to weave mini-lessons throughout the day during regular classroom activities. Activities that target phoneme awareness skills should be fun and engaging. Provide students with ample opportunities to see, hear, and feel the parts of the whole-building words and take them apart. Blending phonemes helps children develop the phonemic awareness necessary for reading words, while segmentation activities strengthen their ability to spell words. Activities targeting these skills can be included when teaching each new phonics concept and integrated into extension lessons during the week. 

As soon as students have learned the first few consonants and vowels in phonics instruction, they can spell and write various single-syllable words and pseudowords. In combination with known sight words, children can apply their phonemic awareness and phonics skills to reading decodable stories early in the scope and sequence during kindergarten. This early progression can boost a young child’s confidence and motivation for literacy. 

 

Examples of Phonemic Awareness Activities

Phoneme Isolation

“I Spy” First Sounds

The game “I Spy” is very versatile and can be modified to focus on other skills. In this version, the child’s attention will be called to the beginning sound in a word. For example, “I spy something that begins with /t/”. Here are some common words you can use indoors:

/t/ table /s/ spoon

/b/ book /ch/ chair

/d/ door /w/ window

/r/ rug /p/pot

Phoneme Blending

Stretch the Sounds 

Model for the child how to stretch a word sound by sound, using a slinky or pop tube to visually represent the stretch. Start with a simple consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) word like /p/ /a/ /n/. As you state each sound, have the child stretch the slinky a bit for each sound. State the whole word as you push the slinky back together. Use an imaginary slinky if you do not have one. Move from CVC words (hat, ship, late) to CCVC (stop, clap, trot) and CVCC words (jump, land, fast).

Phoneme Segmentation

Elkonin Boxes (Phoneme Segmenting and Blending)

The teacher will provide students with tokens (e.g., cubes, chips, or stickers) and an Elkonin box template.  The child will listen to a spoken word and move a token to represent each sound.  For example, if the teacher dictates the word step, the student will move four tokens, one for each individual phoneme /s/-/t/-/e/-/p/. 

Phoneme Addition

Presto, Change-o!

This word game shows how adding one new sound can make a new word. Students will have a card representing a sound. The leader will state a word like op. Students will take turns adding their sound to the word to make and state new words. For example, /h/ added to /op/ makes hop, add /t/ and it becomes top, or add m/ and it is now ‘mop. 

Phoneme Manipulation

Make a Change (Phoneme Deletion and Substitution)

The teacher will lead the class in a series of phoneme manipulation tasks, which will, in turn, activate the other phonological awareness tasks (Kilpatrick).

Say enter. Now say enter but don’t say ter. Student:  “en.”

Say pin.  Now say pin again without saying /p/. Student:  “in.”

Say smile.  Now say smile without saying /s/. Student:  “mile.”

Say club.  Now say club without saying /l/. Student:  “cub.”

As students continue to learn more grapheme correspondences (and there are many), they will also come to understand that the spelling of phonemes may be affected by the position of the sound within a syllable or word. We might think of spelling rules for the various graphemes that represent the sound /k/. Instruction focused on these grapheme options combined with increased exposure to orthographic patterns in print allows for students to efficiently process new words. 

 

Activities for Beginners (Preschool ages 3-5)

 

Teacher enthusiasm and involvement can set the stage for student engagement. Phonemic awareness activities should be something children look forward to doing throughout the week. Try incorporating skills into story time by selecting books that have rhyme, repetition, and rhythm. Books like Jake Bakes Cakes by Gerald Hawksley or Sheep in a Jeep by Nancy Shaw are loaded with rhymes and leave children eager to hear them again and again. Read poems or silly sentences that contain alliteration to highlight the repetition of a particular phoneme like Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, Some Smug Slug, or Pigs in Pajamas. Call attention to the sounds in words and enjoy other language games through talking, sing-song activities, or reading. Remember that these skills can be exercised early. Here are a few examples of activities for preschoolers.  

1. A Hop, Skip, and Jump

Create a “road” by laying pieces of construction paper in a line on the floor to represent steps. Children will take turns traveling down the road while stepping on one step for each word they hear in the sentence. For example, dictate the sentence “We went to the zoo.” The child will hop, skip, or jump down the road for five steps. Repeat with simple sentences containing two to seven words.

2. Going on a Trip

Have the students sit in a circle on the floor and get ready to pack a basket full of rhymes to take on a trip.  The teacher will start the string of rhymes by saying, “We are going on a trip and I am packing a ________.”  The basket will be passed to the next student who will say, “We are going on a trip and I am packing a (word that rhymes with the former word).”  As an example, if the teacher said “skirt,” the next student might add, “shirt,” and then “dirt,” and so on. The round will end when no additional rhyming words can be generated.  The basket can get passed again with a new starter word.

3. Nars from Mars (Rhyming)

This activity helps to model rhyme generation to students in the classroom.  Make a puppet from a sock or paper bag and give the puppet antennae to represent a martian named Nars.  When Nars visits the class from his planet, the students will help him to learn the English language.  As Nars approaches various objects in the classroom, he will identify them incorrectly by rhyming.  For example, when Nars selects a book, he will label it as a “nook”, a pen as a “chen”, a table as a “lable”, and so on.  Each time, the students will help him by stating the correct rhyming pairs.  Students will look forward to visits from Nars.

4. 1, 2, 3, 4, Syllables are on the Floor (Syllable Counting)

Place four hoola-hoops on the floor and place a number 1, 2, 3, or 4 in each hoop. Then, have students take an object, say “elephant”, clap out the syllables (e-le-phant), and place the object in the hoop corresponding to the number of syllables (in this case, the hoop marked with a 3). 

5. Listening with Eyes Closed

Create a recording of various everyday sounds. Have children close their eyes and try to identify the source of each sound they hear. Record sounds like a horn honking, doorbell ringing, telephone ringing, dog barking, water running, sneezing, brushing teeth, and others that children may hear at school or home. 

6. Snowball Syllables 

State a word or have the child select a picture card and say the word aloud, e.g., “umbrella.”The child will identify the number of syllables (3) and toss three “snowballs” into the bucket while stating each syllable — “um-brel-la.”

 

IMSE as a Resource

 

IMSE recognizes the importance of phonemic awareness development and advocates for this critical skill set to begin in kindergarten. Instructional steps and activities to integrate phoneme awareness are at the foundation of IMSE’s learning materials. Word chaining activities are integrated into weekly concept lessons. IMSE’s Word-Building Kit incorporates magnetic letters and moveable alphabets to support younger learners or struggling readers with phoneme awareness. Phonemic awareness activities are also a part of red word instruction, reminding students that 84% of the words in the English language are phonetically regular and many red words contain only one unexpected phoneme (Hanna et al., 1966). This gives students confidence to apply segmenting strategies to increase spelling accuracy.  

Products for classroom: https://imse.com/products/

Training programs for educators: https://imse.com/training-descriptions/

Schoolwide or classroom online training options: https://imse.com/private-district-trainings/ 

 

Questions and Answers

 

What is an example of phonemic awareness?

This includes activities that focus on manipulating individual phonemes in words. Blending the sounds /s/ /l/ /i/ /p/ to say ”slip” is an example.

What is an example of a phonological awareness activity?

This includes activities where students are asked to identify the parts of the whole. Clapping the three syllables in the word an-im-al is an example.

What are the seven essential phonemic awareness skills?

  1. Phoneme isolation
  2. Phoneme blending
  3. Phoneme segmentation
  4. Phoneme manipulation 
  5. Phoneme addition
  6. Phoneme deletion
  7. Phoneme substitution

What should be taught first in phonemic awareness?

Begin with sound isolation and sound discrimination to be sure that children can identify the sounds that they hear.

 

 

References

Brady, S. (2020). A 2020 perspective on research findings on alphabetics (phoneme awareness and phonics): Implications for instruction. The Reading League Journal, 1(3), 20-28.

Ehri, Linnea C. 1997. “Learning to Read and Learning to Spell Are One and the Same, Almost.” In Learning to Spell: Research, Theory, and Practice Across Languages, ed. C Perfetti, L.Rieben, and M. Fayol, 237-269. Mayway, NJ:Erlbaum. 

Gillon, G. (2018). Phonological Awareness: From Research to Practice (2nd ed.). Guilford Press.

Hanna, P.R., Hodges, P.R., Hanna, J.L & Rudolph, E.H. (1966). Phoneme-grapheme correspondences as cues to spelling improvement. Washington, DC: U.W. Office of Education.

J.K. Torgesen. (1998). Catch Them Before They Fall: Identification and assessment to prevent reading failure in young children. American Educator/American Federation of Teachers, Spring-Summer.

Kilpatrick, David. (2016). Equipped for Reading Success: A comprehensive, step-by-step program for developing phoneme awareness and fluent word recognition. Casey & Kirsch Publishers.

Milankov V, et. al. (2021) Phonological Awareness as the Foundation of Reading Acquisition in Students Reading in Transparent Orthography. Int J Environ Res Public Health.

Moats, Louisa. 2020. Speech to Print (3rd ed.). Brookes Publishing.

Moats, Louisa, Voyager Sopris, “Of ‘Hard Words’ and Straw Men: Let’s Understand What Reading Science is Really About”: https://www.voyagersopris.com/blog/edview360/2019/10/16/lets-understand-what-reading-science-is-really-about

National Assessment of Educational Progress. (2022). The Nation’s Report Card: Reading assessment results. https://www.nationsreportcard.gov

 

 

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