Phonemic awareness

Using Phonological Awareness Package

• Level 1: Knowledge of Rhymes

Hearing, learning and reciting nursery rhymes can help young children toward becoming proficient readers. Help your children develop an ear for rhyme by telling children that the words sound the same at the end. In this case we have selected the song "Hey didle didle". 

T: Moon, spoon... Do they rime?

T: Diddle, fiddle... What about these?

• Level 2: Word awareness

In this level you can use the activity "Compound words" to encourage the child to look within the word for meaningful parts. You have to hold two pictures together and children discover that they can make the word sunhat. Also you can follow this example: 

T: Say sunhat

C: Sunhat!

T: Now say it again but don't say "hat"

C: Sun!

• Level 3: Recognition & Production of Rhyme

Rhyme activities introduce children to the sound structure of words. Especially when rhyme recognition skills are not well established, the visual representation of the words provides great assisstance.

This activity is called "Making Funny Sentences" and follow the pattern below.

T: What is this?

C: A bee!

T: And this?

C: A tree!

T: Bee tree, repit with me!

C: Bee! tree!

T: A bee on a tree!

C: A bee on a tree!

• Level 4: Recognition & Production of syllables

In this section children have to divide spoken words into syllables or "beats", a task which is easier than finding the individual sounds within words. This activity is called "Hickety Pickety Bumble Bee" and here you have a nice example of how to do it.

T: Hickety Pickety Bumble bee who can say their name for me?

T: What's your name?

C: Cris-ti-na

T: Let's say her name

C: Cristina

T: Let's clap and say

C: Cris-ti-na

T: Let's whisper it 

C: Cris-ti-na

T: Turn of your voices and just clapping

• Level 5: Recognition & Production of Initial sounds

Initial sounds activities show children that words contain phonemes and introduces how phonemes sound and feel when spoken in isolation. This activity is called "Phoneme Train", but before starting you have to clarify that words have a beginning, middle and an end just as a train has a beginning, middle and an end.

T: /p/ /i/ /g/ (pointing to the box corresponding to the position of each sound in the word).

T: Come here Maria, can you point the box in which you have hear the /g/ in pig?

• Level 6: Recognition & Production of Final sounds

In this section you have to help children to identify the last sound. This ativity is called "Last sound last". Ask children to listen to sets of words like: soap, soup and cup. Point out that all these words end with the same sound. Tell children that you want them to tell you what the last sound is. E,g.:

T: Listen to me! Cup, soup, soap

    What is the last sound in these tree words? 

• Level 7 & 8: Blending and phonemic segmentation

Segmenting and blending phonemes is essential in phonemic awareness. This activity is called "Mail game". You have to use a large box or container as a post box. Give children picture cards. To ensure familiarity go through the cards with the cass naming the objects. The objects should be single syllables words such as cup. You can do this activity using Notebook too. E.g.:

T:  What is this?

C: A cup

T: Well done! Can you segment the word for me?

C: C-u-p 

T: All the sounds together?

C: Cup!

T: Perfect! Introduce the cup in the box

You also can do this activity more challeging asking for the word without the first or the final sound.

• Level 9: Phonemic manipulation 

Phonemic manipulation is the ability to delete initial and final phonemes in words.This activity is called "Switcheroo". You have to show to the children that you will say a word and you want them to listen carefully to the phonemes. Then you will play switcheroo with one of the phonemes. So you will change one sound in the word: initial, medial, final. They have to tell you which sound was switched. E.g.:

T:  Listen carefully children

     Fish!

     Now I'm going to change one sound

     Dish!

     What sound I have switched?