What is phonemic awareness?

Phonemic awareness is the ability to hear, identify, and manipulate individual sounds (phonemes) in spoken words.

Why is phonemic awareness important?

Phonemic awareness forms the foundation of phonics instruction. Without phonemic awareness, phonics instruction doesn't make much sense. Children who lack phonemic awareness have difficulty linking speech sounds to letters.

It helps children understand how the words they speak are represented in print.

It helps children learn to spell and write. As young children develop spelling and writing skills they need to recognize the consonant and vowel sounds in words in order to select the appropriate letter or letters to represent these words.

It is the top predictor of reading success. In fact, it is a better predictor of reading success than anything we know of...including IQ! Phonemic awareness is one of the primary factors separating normal and disabled readers.

How do I teach phonemic awareness?

Research indicates that without direct instructional support, phonemic awaress eludes roughly 25% of middle-class first graders and substantially more of those who come from less literacy-rich backgrounds. Furthermore, these children evidence serious difficulty in learning to read.

• Become familiar with a phonological awareness continuum. (This one was created and shared by Dr. Carolyn Keasal)
  If a child struggles with activities at the phoneme level, back down the continuum to a place where the child is successful and work your way back up the continuum.

 

How do I assess phonemic awareness?

How do I provide phonemic awareness practice?

Phoneme Segmentation Fluency

Supporting Websites
(Be sure and check out our Student Links page)