In the last blog post, I discussed the importance and components of phonological awareness. Among those components, we find phonemic awareness. Many times these two terms are used interchangeably, but phonemic awareness is a specific part of phonological awareness. It is one of the most important parts of establishing a solid phonological awareness foundation. Simply put, “phonemic awareness is first and foremost about listening to and being able to distinguish the distinctive sounds of a language. It is the ability to understand and manipulate the sounds of a language orally” (Gibbons, 2015, p. 170). In short, phonemic awareness is all about using the ears and not the eyes when it comes to language and reading.
(Photo From: https://phonicshero.com/phonemic-awareness/)
Phonemes are the smallest units of spoken words. There are 44 phonemes in the English language. Changing just one phoneme can alter the meaning of a word. Phoneme blending, segmentation, substitution, deletion, addition, and isolation are vital lessons to master at the pre-reading level in order to ensure later reading success (Houston, 2022). Prekindergarten and kindergarten classrooms are full of phonemic awareness activities on a daily basis. The following are engaging activities that can be implemented in such classrooms to develop strong phonemic awareness.
Elkonin Boxes
Elkonin boxes are a popular tool in early childhood classrooms. They are used to specifically focus on phoneme segmentation. Students count the sounds in a given word, and then they move a chip or counter into each box to represent each sound (Virtual teaching resource hub: instructional activities phonemic awareness, n.d.).
Word Sorting
While sorting games help develop a variety of skills for young learners, word sorting can help boost phonemic awareness too. Students are shown pictures, they name the pictures provided, and sort them based on the number of phonemes (or can be done with syllables) within the given word. View the video of this activity in action provided by the University of Florida Literacy Institute here.
Phoneme Dominoes This spin on the classic dominoes game will have students searching for matching phonemes. The first student will place the START domino card face up and state the word the picture on the domino card represents. He will then look for a domino with a picture that has the same initial sound as the starting word, name it, and say the initial sound. Then the student will connect the two dominoes. The next student will say the name of the picture next to the domino that was previously played and repeat the process. This link provides the materials and instructions needed for Phoneme Dominoes, designed by the Florida Center for Reading Research. A video example of the game being played can also be viewed here.
Spin a Letter
This activity involves initial phonemes of words, but it can easily be adapted to practice medial and final sounds too. A cardboard or interactive electronic spinner can be used. A favorite electronic spinner used in my classroom is Picker Wheel. Students spin the wheel, and whichever letter the spinner lands on, they must give a word that starts with that phoneme. This could be played in teams, as a whole class, in small groups, or individually.
Jump, Skip, Hop
For the little learner who needs to be active, this activity incorporates phonemic knowledge and movement. Create simple picture cards that you find online, draw, or cut out of magazines. Show the card to the child. The child should identify the picture (say the word) and stretch it out to determine the number of phonemes. For example, if the card shows a pig, the child would say, “Pig. /p/ /i/ /g/.” Since there were three phonemes in the spoken word, the child would do three jumping jacks, skips, or hops in place.
Playing and Learning with Phonemes
No matter the game or activity used, phonemic awareness is a necessary skill for emerging readers, and it is one that can be taught and practiced with interactive, engaging methods. Phonemic awareness is the most sophisticated of the phonological awareness skills and is one of the greatest predictors of future reading success (Phonological and phonemic awareness: Activities for your kindergartener, 2022). By practicing these pre-reading skills in the early childhood education classrooms, elementary and secondary classrooms will be full of robust readers.
References
Gibbons, P. (2015). In Scaffolding language, Scaffolding Learning: Teaching English language
learners in the mainstream classroom (pp. 169-179). essay, Heinemann.
Houston, S. (2022, April 29). What is phonemic awareness?: Phonics hero. What is Phonemic
Awareness The Foundation for Reading and Spelling Success Comments. Retrieved
September 29, 2022, from https://phonicshero.com/phonemic-awareness/
Kindergarten and first grade student center activities. Florida Center for Reading Research.
(n.d.). Retrieved September 29, 2022, from https://fcrr.org/student-center-activities/
kindergarten-and-first-grade#sca3
Phonological and phonemic awareness: Activities for your kindergartener. Reading Rockets.
(2022, September 28). Retrieved September 29, 2022, from https://www.readingrockets.
org/reading-101-guide-parents/kindergarten/phonological-and-phonemic-awareness-
activities-your-kindergartner
Virtual teaching resource hub: instructional activities phonemic awareness. UF Literacy
Institute. (n.d.). Retrieved September 29, 2022, from https://ufli.education.ufl.edu/
resources/teaching-resources/instructional-activities/phonemic-awareness/
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