Whether you are a teacher or summer program instructor, now is a great time to get children ready for school with high-impact, high-fun activities. Join us for the full menu on early literacy readiness skills. In this five-part blog series, we provide Recipes for Readiness addressing:
- Language Development
- Phonological and Phonemic Awareness
- Book Awareness and Print Concepts
- Alphabet Knowledge and Beginning Phonics
- Writing and Drawing
In this blog, we cook up fun around phonological awareness.
Remember to...
Model: All people learn by seeing something demonstrated, doing it together with help, and practicing it independently until confident. Just like talking, walking, and riding a bicycle, the same is true for learning to read and write!
Make time: 60–90 minutes throughout the day, depending on the child's stamina.
What is Phonological Awareness?
It’s all about hearing the sounds in spoken language. LISTENING!
From big sounds like animal sounds and the bang of a door to individual words to parts of a word (syllables), to phonemes (the individual sounds in a language such as /b/ or /sh/ or /a/).
Tips for Phonological Awareness Success
For learning to read, it is important for children to hear the individual sounds (phonemic awareness) in their language, because beginning reading is about matching sounds to letters.
The fancy term for hearing the individual sounds is oral segmentation; quick-paced practice and supports like tapping and clapping make it engaging.
“Blending” refers to when children blend the sounds together to say a word. Model 1 or 2 words and then have children do it chorally.
Phonological Awareness Activities to Try
Repeat After Me!
Learn a poem, chant, or rap, by reciting a line or stanza at a time, and having child repeat after you, until you can do it together.
Listen! What Do You Hear?
How many words can you hear in this sentence?
“I see a cat.” (4 words)
“I see a big brown dog.” (6 words)
Clap the Syllables
Clap the word parts (syllables) in your name! …. family names, friends’ names, pet’s names, & favorite words…
- Clap "kitten": kit - ten… 2!
- Clap "octopus": oc - to - pus… 3!
- Clap "dog": dog… 1!
Guess It/Say It/Do It
Say a word slowly, sound by sound, such as:
“My word is: /r/ /u/ /n/”.
The child says it fast: “run”
Child can run in place.
“My word is: c/ /a/ /t/.”
The child says it fast: “cat!”
Child can act like a cat.
Take turns guessing words.
Silly Sounds & Songs
Sing the Name Game with different names/sounds.
"Shirley Shirley bo burly,
Banana fanna fo furly
Fee Fi mo murly, …Shirley!"
Resources for Phonological Awareness
Books:
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Anna Banana: 101 Jump-Rope Rhymes by Joanna Cole
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Miss Mary Mack & Other Children’s Street Rhymes by Joanna Cole
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Jesse Bear, Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear? by Nancy Carlstrom
Songs and Chants:
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The Name Game by Shirley Ellis
Poems and Rhymes:
- I Like Peanut Butter by Lillian Moore
- The Pickety Fence by David McCord
- Eric Carle’s Animals, Animals (anthology)