Phoneme Awareness

from Purposeful Play for Early Childhood Phonological Awareness

References Cited

Phoneme Awareness In this section, we turn to the most important component of phonological awareness: phoneme awareness . The activities here prompt children to attend to and manipulate phonemes, the smallest building blocks of spoken language . As we noted in the introduction, the ability to do so is crucial for prospective users of written language because it is foundational to understanding the alphabetic principle—the concept that printed symbols (letters or letter combinations) represent the smallest sounds of speech in alphabetic languages . Children who are phonemically aware are well positioned to appreciate and capitalise on the logic of the printed system as they learn the symbols that represent these small sounds . We want to ensure that all children become phonemically aware . Here we begin with activities that focus on the initial phonemes in words . These are likely the easiest activities in this section . It is worth noting that because many of them involve attending to a single consonant in the initial position of single-syllable words, the activities overlap with onset-rime activities . For example, /p/ is both the initial phoneme and the onset in the singlesyllable word park . And, where there is substitution of an initial phoneme, the activity might also be considered a rhyming activity . They are included here, however, because the emphasis is on the manipulation of the phoneme—in other words, it is the initial phoneme that is the object of attention . Subsequent activities are designed to build children’s awareness of phonemes in other positions in a word (i .e ., final and medial) or to all the phonemes in a word . Some are more challenging than others and require careful instruction and significant support . What follows are several important considerations as you use these activities: ■ Many of the activities can be made more or less challenging depending upon the words selected . For example, phonemes in simple CV, VC, and CVC words are easier to identify and manipulate than more complex words that contain consonant blends (e .g ., CCVC, CCVCC, CCCVC words) . Furthermore, the internal sound in a blend is typically more difficult to detect (e .g ., the /l/ in the blend at the beginning of the word blue and the /f/ in the blend at the end of the word lift); extra attention will need to be given to sounds in these positions . Plan to repeat an activity over time, using increasingly complex words and targeting sounds in different positions . ■ Similarly, many activities can be made more or less challenging depending upon the task . Blending phonemes to form words is typically easier than segmenting words into phonemes . Options are provided for both . We suggest using the blending version initially, then later shift the activity to have children engage in segmenting . ■ Many activities in previous sections of this book (e .g ., syllable awareness and onset-rime awareness) can be readily modified to focus on phonemes . Take advantage of them! sample sample 136

Phoneme Awareness ■ Phoneme awareness is an insight into oral language . Thus, although options are provided for letter connections throughout this section, try the activities without letters to ensure a focus on spoken sounds, not just letters . Once children begin to learn about letters, incorporate them into the activities as suggested . However, don’t hesitate to continue using the oral-only versions on occasion . They work well when children are transitioning from one activity to another or where no letter cards are available, such as on the playground or in a cafeteria, and many can be spontaneously shared . Note: Knowledge of letter-sound correspondences does not indicate phoneme awareness . It may simply reflect paired-associate learning . Phoneme awareness means that children notice that the speech stream consists of individual sounds: they can identify sounds in different positions in a spoken word, they can blend individual sounds together to form words, and they can mentally segment a word into its constituent sounds . Thus, focusing primarily on the matching of letters and sounds aspect of these activities may not be addressing phoneme awareness . ■ Have fun! Children are more likely to fully engage in the activities if they enjoy them . Moreover, playful songs and games are more likely to spill beyond your classroom setting into children’s homes and onto playgrounds . sample

Activity

Primary Task identify/ isolate match blend add segment delete substitute *Phoneme Target

Individual and Initial

Can You Feel It? ✓ Whose Name Is It? ✓ Sound Snacks ✓ Sound Bingo ✓ Post That Letter* ✓ Concentration ✓ ✓ Find Your Partner ✓ ✓ Do You Know? ✓ ✓ “A” Was Once an Apple Pie* Draw a Card* ✓ ✓ Willoughby Wallaby ✓ ✓ Cock-a-Doodle Moo! ✓ ✓ Pop! Goes the Weasel ✓ Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes ✓ ✓ ✓ Bappy Birthday Boo Boo ✓ ✓ ✓ Make a Change* ✓ ✓ ✓

Initial, Final, or Medial

The Farmer in the Dell ✓ ✓ The Golden Touch ✓ What’s the Sound? ✓ Who Has a Word? ✓ Odd One Out! ✓ ✓ The Line Game ✓ ✓ Add a Sound* ✓ Hop to the Sound ✓

✓Beginning, Middle, or End? ✓ sample sample 138