Phonemic Awareness
The most important thing you can do is to help your child develop knowledge of letters and sounds, and to encourage playing with words. It seems silly to us as adults, but Dr. Suess was on to something with all of his rhyming and word-play books. Also, there are CDs of children’s songs that do an excellent job of playing with sounds through silly lyrics.
Although this sounds very elementary, some older students really struggle with manipulating sounds within words. This is more complex than it sounds because it requires students to hold a word in pieces while changing or dismissing one component of it. It really is a short-term memory workout for them.
There is a direct link between phonemic awareness and spelling. If a child doesn’t have phonemic awareness s/he won’t be able to spell correctly. Phonemic awareness is also necessary as children become more advanced readers as it allows them to manipulate affixes.
Phonemic Awareness tasks include silly songs or verbal word games like “I’m going on a camping trip and I’m taking an apple, a banana, a carrot.” or “I’m going on a camping trip and I’m taking a box, a balloon, a boy, a broom…” When children sort pictures according to beginning sound, ending sound, or vowel sound they are engaging them in phonetic awareness activities. Many children begin reading without having phonemic awareness firmly developed. This will eventually become problematic for them because they need to have the ability to break apart words, especially when the words become multisyllabic.
RHYMING ACTIVITIES
Rhyming Books
Read rhyming books, pausing to let your child fill in the final word once the rhyming pattern has been established.
Nursery Rhymes
Parent reads a nursery rhyme, song, poem, or jingle aloud.
Child identifies the rhyming words that he/she heard.
Rhyme Hunt
Parent thinks of a one syllable word; for example, "you."
Parent chants, "Let's make a rhyme for "you."
Child answers: "stew"
What Does Not Belong?
Parent gives the child three words. Two of the words rhyme. Child finds the word that does not belong (does not rhyme).
Example:
Parent: "rat, men, hat"
Child: "men"
WORD PLAY
Listen Carefully:
Parent says, “Cat, cat … are they the same or different?”
Child: “Same”
Parent says, “Boat, float … are they the same or different?”
Child: “Different”
Blending and Segmenting Words (putting together words and taking them apart) Be sure to say the sounds -- not the names of the letters. Helpful Hint: A great time to accomplish these activities is in your car. You can read street signs and other print that you may come across.
Initial sounds:
Parent says, "Start with 'l', add 'unch.' What's the word?"
Child: "lunch"
Parent: "Start with 's' and add 'andwich.' What's the word?"
Child: "sandwich"
Final sounds:
Parent: "Start with 'superma', add an 'n' sound. What's the word?"
Child: "Superman"
Parent: "Start with 'stam,' add a 'p' sound. What's the word?"
Child: "stamp"
Middle Sounds:
Parent says three words with same middle vowel sound.
Parent: "teeth, cheek, deep. What sound do you hear in the middle?"
Child: "ee"
Continue activity with different vowel sounds.
Whole Word (from part to whole)
Parent gives the child a one-syllable word to blend, one sound (not letter) at a time.
Parent: "b...i...g" What's the word?"
Child: "big"
Parent: "s...t...o...p" What's the word?"
Child: "stop"
Whole Word (from whole to part)
Parent says entire word: "big"
Child says each individual sound: "b...i...g"
Change the Name Game
Parent: "Say 'man'"
Child: "man"
Parent: "Say it again, but this time say 't' instead of 'm'."
Child: "tan"
Although this sounds very elementary, some older students really struggle with manipulating sounds within words. This is more complex than it sounds because it requires students to hold a word in pieces while changing or dismissing one component of it. It really is a short-term memory workout for them.
There is a direct link between phonemic awareness and spelling. If a child doesn’t have phonemic awareness s/he won’t be able to spell correctly. Phonemic awareness is also necessary as children become more advanced readers as it allows them to manipulate affixes.
Phonemic Awareness tasks include silly songs or verbal word games like “I’m going on a camping trip and I’m taking an apple, a banana, a carrot.” or “I’m going on a camping trip and I’m taking a box, a balloon, a boy, a broom…” When children sort pictures according to beginning sound, ending sound, or vowel sound they are engaging them in phonetic awareness activities. Many children begin reading without having phonemic awareness firmly developed. This will eventually become problematic for them because they need to have the ability to break apart words, especially when the words become multisyllabic.
RHYMING ACTIVITIES
Rhyming Books
Read rhyming books, pausing to let your child fill in the final word once the rhyming pattern has been established.
Nursery Rhymes
Parent reads a nursery rhyme, song, poem, or jingle aloud.
Child identifies the rhyming words that he/she heard.
Rhyme Hunt
Parent thinks of a one syllable word; for example, "you."
Parent chants, "Let's make a rhyme for "you."
Child answers: "stew"
What Does Not Belong?
Parent gives the child three words. Two of the words rhyme. Child finds the word that does not belong (does not rhyme).
Example:
Parent: "rat, men, hat"
Child: "men"
WORD PLAY
Listen Carefully:
Parent says, “Cat, cat … are they the same or different?”
Child: “Same”
Parent says, “Boat, float … are they the same or different?”
Child: “Different”
Blending and Segmenting Words (putting together words and taking them apart) Be sure to say the sounds -- not the names of the letters. Helpful Hint: A great time to accomplish these activities is in your car. You can read street signs and other print that you may come across.
Initial sounds:
Parent says, "Start with 'l', add 'unch.' What's the word?"
Child: "lunch"
Parent: "Start with 's' and add 'andwich.' What's the word?"
Child: "sandwich"
Final sounds:
Parent: "Start with 'superma', add an 'n' sound. What's the word?"
Child: "Superman"
Parent: "Start with 'stam,' add a 'p' sound. What's the word?"
Child: "stamp"
Middle Sounds:
Parent says three words with same middle vowel sound.
Parent: "teeth, cheek, deep. What sound do you hear in the middle?"
Child: "ee"
Continue activity with different vowel sounds.
Whole Word (from part to whole)
Parent gives the child a one-syllable word to blend, one sound (not letter) at a time.
Parent: "b...i...g" What's the word?"
Child: "big"
Parent: "s...t...o...p" What's the word?"
Child: "stop"
Whole Word (from whole to part)
Parent says entire word: "big"
Child says each individual sound: "b...i...g"
Change the Name Game
Parent: "Say 'man'"
Child: "man"
Parent: "Say it again, but this time say 't' instead of 'm'."
Child: "tan"