SKILL
AREA: PHONEMIC AWARENESS
Self-Portrait of Vincent Van Gogh with
Bandaged Ear
Vincent van Gogh would not have great Phonemic Awareness after he cut
off his ear!
Definition:
hear, discriminate, and manipulate the sounds of language."
“My child is below benchmark in Initial Sound Fluency (ISF) or Phoneme Segmentation Fluency (PSF). What does this mean, and what do I do?”
Here are some skills to look for and some parent tips you can do at home to reinforce what your child will be doing at school. Activities should be fun and you can easily do them as you drive together or wait in line. Not only will the activities be helpful for literacy, but also the activities will be fun!
1. What to look for: Isolating individual sounds in a word (van = /v/ is the first sound) what is the last sound in cat? /t/
Parent Tip: Play fun and quick word games isolating individual sounds in words: Examples include: Asking child "What is the first sound in pizza?" player says a word and the next player says a word that begins with the same sound that the first player's word ends with. Example: the same sound that the first player's word ends with. Example: toast - stop - pig - goat, etc.
2. What to look for: Identifying the same sound in multiple words (fix, fall, and fun all begin with the /f/ sound), Which sound is the same in fix, fall, fun? /f/ Which sound is the same in cat, hot, mitt? /t/ Which sound is the same in pot, mom, top? /o/ Do you hear a /p/ sound in pat?
Parent Tip: Play fun and quick word games that require the child to identify same sounds in words; Example: " Which sound is the same in fix, fall, and fun?" "What word ends the same as cat" "Which sound is the same in pot, mom, and top?" Take turns creating the word sets for the game.
3. What to look for: Recognizing a word that has a different sound in a set of words (bus, bug, run = run does not fit because it does not begin with the /b/ sound) Which word does not belong - bus, bun, rug? Rug
Parent Tip: Play quick and fun word games requiring the child to recognize different sounds in words. Example: "Which word does not belong - bus, bun, rug?" "Which word does not belong - hot, mat, tip?" Take turns creating the word sets for the game.
4. What to look for: Substituting one phoneme for another to make a new word ("bug" becomes "bun" when you change the /g/ to /n/) the word is bug. Change the /b/ to /h/. What is the new word? Hug
Parent Tip: Play quick and fun word games substituting one sound for another to make a new word. Example: "What word do you have if you change the /b/ in bug to /h/?" "What word do you have if you change the /i/ in big to /u/?" Take turns creating the word change for the game.
5. What to look for: Combining a sequence of phonemes into a word (/b/ /i/ /g/ = big). What word does /b/ /i/ /g/ make? Big. Increase the number and complexity of phonemes in words as students begin to master the skill.
Parent Tip: Play quick and fun word games where one person asks "What word does /b/ /i/ /g/ make? Each player takes turns quizzing the other player.
6. What to look for: Making a new word by adding a phoneme to an existing word (begin with the word park and add /s/ to the beginning = spark
Parent Tip: Play quick and fun word games making new words by adding a letter sound to an existing word. Example: "What word do you have if you add /s/ to park?"
7. What to look for: Recognizing a word that remains after a phoneme is removed: smile minus /s/ = mile mat minus /m/ = at
Parent Tip: Play quick and fun word games making new words by deleting a sound from existing words. Example: "What word do you have if you take the /s/ off of the word smile?"
8. What to look for: Breaking a word into separate phonemes (grab = /g/ /r/ /a/ /b/). How many sounds in grab? /g/ /r/ /a/ /b/ (4). Taps each sound or put a finger up for each sound they say.
Parent Tip: Play quick and fun word games where one player asks the other player how many sounds in a word. Example: "How many sounds in the word grab?" Be careful that you count sounds not letters. In words such as soup there are three sounds, /s/ /ou/ /p/.
9. What to look for: Break down words into segments by identifying the initial sound(s) and the remaining word part (c-at, r-ing).
Parent
Tip: This can be reinforced through
a simple twist on games like I Spy. The parent can say, "I spy something
that starts with /b/ (ball, boy, brick). "I spy something that ends with
/og/ (dog or hog or log or fog).
10. What to look for: teach student to retain up to seven words to build memory. Even though this helps students decode words, it is an listening exercise.
Parent Tip: play a memory game where one player says three to seven words with the same consonant sound. Example: boy, boat, big. The other player repeats the words in the same order. Start with three word with different sounds such as /b/ and /p/ in Big and Pig
11. What to look for: Syllable understanding
Parent tip: Visual Cues with a Mirror - Every syllable in a word has only one vowel sound, even if there are several vowel letters. This strategy involves helping students feel, see, and hear syllables by using a mirror to watch their mouth as they say words.