I. Phonological and Phonemic Awareness Including Emergent Literacy

Phonemic Awareness

The ability to hear, identify, and manipulate the individual sounds, phonemes, in oral language.

(sounds in words)

Phonics

the sounds that letters make and the letters that are used to represent sounds

(letter-sound correspondence)

Role of Phonological & Phonemic Awareness in Reading Development

(WR. S, S. F. RC)

helps students develop the foundational skills needed for

(1) word recognition,

(2) spelling,

(3) syllabication,

(4) fluency

(5) reading comprehension

Metalinguistic speech

an understanding of one's own use of language. Needed in Reading and Spelling

Teaching strategies for Phonological Awareness

• Rhyming

• Syllable clapping

• Onset-rime blending

• Phoneme isolation

• Phoneme blending

• Phoneme segmentation

• Sound manipulation (add/delete/change sounds)

• Elkonin boxes

• Songs & chants

Teaching strategies for Phonemic Awareness

• Phoneme isolation (e.g., first sound in sun)

• Phoneme blending (/c/ /a/ /t/ → cat)

• Phoneme segmentation (dog → /d/ /o/ /g/)

• Phoneme addition (*add /s/ to top → stop)

• Phoneme deletion (*remove /r/ from *frog → fog)

• Phoneme substitution (*change /h/ in hat to /b/ → bat)

• Elkonin boxes (one box per sound)

• Oral games (e.g., "I spy with a sound...")

Blending

putting sounds in a word together.

/p/-/a/-/t/ = /pat/

onsets

the beginning consonant and consonant cluster.

ex.

The onset of track is /tr/.

Consonants

All letters except vowels (A, E, I, O, U).

Rimes

Vowels and consonants at the end of a word. follow the "onset" (end in the word blend, /ap/ in the word tap)

Rhyming

the repetition of sounds in different words.

ex. cat, rat

Segmentation

phonemic awareness skill where a word is divided into its individual sounds or phonemes.

ex. (d-o-g) or (el-e-phant)

Isolation

separates word parts or isolates a single sound in a word.

ex. bat = /b/ "buh"

Deletion

deleting one or more sounds and identifying the remaining part.

ex. mice = ice

Syllables

Beats in a word.

ex. /b/-/a/-/t/

Compound Words

Two or more words combined to create a new word.

ex. baseball

Individual Phonemes

individual letters. cat = c - a - t

Substitution

replacing one sound (phoneme) in a word with another to form a new word.

ex. /c/-at to /h/-at

Phonemic Isolation

when students hear & separate individual sounds in words.

For example, identify the first sound in "dog" as /d/.

Addition

when students manipulate a word by adding a sound to it.

ex. pay + /l/ = p/l/ay

6 Levels of Phonemic Awareness Continuum

(P. B. S. A. D. S)

1. phoneme isolation

2. blending

3. segmentation

4. addition

5. deletion

6. substitution

6 levels of Phonological Awareness Continuum

→ (R. A. SS. SS. O/R-BS. PBM)

1. Rhyme

2. Alliteration

3. Sentence Segmentation

4. Syllable Segmentation

5. Onset/Rime blending & segmentation

6. Phoneme blending & manipulation

Alliteration

Repetition of the same beginning sound in multiple words.

Example: Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.

Sentence segmentation

the ability to identify and separate sentences into words.

ex. He /went/ to /sleep/.

Syllable Segmentation

Identifying and separating words into individual syllables.

ex. /hap/-/py/

Onset/Rime blending & segmenting

Combining or separating the onset (initial consonant sound) and rime (vowel and following consonants).

Ex. /tr/ - /ack/

Phoneme Blending & Manipulation

Ability to change, add, or move phonemes in words.

Evidence-Based Strategies to promote phonological and phonemic awareness

(EI. II. PS. PA. PWM. PR)

1. Explicit Instruction

2. Implicit Instruction

3. Phonological Skills

4. Phonological Awareness

5. Phonological Working Memory

6. Phonological Retrieval

Explicit Instruction

Direct, clear teaching focused on specific skills or knowledge.

Implicit Instruction

Teaching that occurs indirectly, without clear focus on specific skills, often learned through context and experience.

Phonological Skills

The abilities involved in recognizing and manipulating sounds in spoken language.

Phonological Awareness

the ability to hear and manipulate sounds in spoken language—without print.

• Word awareness

• Rhyming

• Alliteration

• Syllable segmentation

• Onset-rime blending

• Phonemic awareness (smallest sound level)

Phonological Working Memory

the ability to temporarily store and use sound-based information, like speech sounds, syllables, or word parts.

Phonological Retrieval

The ability to quickly recall and say the sounds or names of words, letters, or phonemes stored in memory.

Example:
When shown a picture of a cat, a child must quickly retrieve the word “cat” from memory and say it aloud.

Strategies to Build Expressive & Receptive Language

1. Listening Vocab

2. Speaking Vocab

3. Reading Vocab

4. Writing Vocab

5. Listening Comprehension

Listening Vocab

Words students understand when they hear them. (Receptive)

🔹 Strategies: Read-alouds, visuals, pre-teaching vocabulary, songs, oral storytelling.

Speaking Vocabulary

Words students can use in conversation (Expressive)

🔹 Strategies: Turn-and-talk, sentence stems, partner discussions, storytelling, drama/play.

Reading Vocabulary

Words students understand when they read them. (Receptive)

🔹 Strategies: Word maps, context clues, morpheme analysis, repeated reading.

Writing Vocab

Words students can write and use in context. (Expressive)

🔹 Strategies: Writing prompts, sentence frames, modeled writing, journals, word banks

Listening Comprehension

The ability to understand written language. (Receptive)

🔹 Strategies: Graphic organizers, summarizing, predicting, inferring, questioning

Methods for teaching concepts about print

• Shared reading (left-to-right, top-to-bottom)

• Use environmental print (signs, logos)

• Teach book handling (cover, page turning)

• Print referencing (point to words/letters)

• Interactive writing

• Use big books

• Model finger tracking words

Print Concepts

Understanding :

• How print works (directionality, layout)

• Reading left to right, top to bottom

• Spaces between words

• Difference between letters and words

• Difference between words and pictures

5 Early Signs of Print Awareness & Tracking Print

1. Recognizes print in the environment (signs, labels)

2. Understands print carries meaning

3. Follows print from left to right, top to bottom

4. Identifies familiar letters or words

5. Pretends to read and mimics reading behaviors

Alphabetic Principle

The understanding that letters and letter patterns represent sounds in spoken words.

• used to decode words by connecting letters to sounds.

• Foundation for phonics and early reading.

How to Promote Alphabetic Principles

Use letter-sound activities, phonics games, rhyming exercises, and read-alouds to promote letter recognition and the alphabetic principle.

Alphabetic Phases (P. P. F. C)

1. Pre-Alphabetic:

2. Partial-Alphabetic:

3. Full-Alphabetic:

4. Consolidated - Alphabetic:

6 Major Areas of Oral Language (P. V. M. G. P. D.)

1. Phonology:

2. Vocabulary:

3. Morphology:

4. Grammar:

5. Pragmatics:

6. Discourse:

Stages of learning to read and understand words (P. E. F. A)

1. Pre-Reading (emergent):

2. Early Reading:

3. Fluent Reading:

4. Advanced Reading:

Language acquisition

The process of learning and developing language through interaction, listening, and speaking.

ex. phonology, vocabulary, and grammar,

Stages of learning to spell and write (P. E. T. F)

1. Preliterate Drawing/Scribbling:

2. Emergent:

3. Transitional:

4. Fluent:

Strategies for teaching uppercase and lowercase letters

1. Use letter matching games

2. Provide visual cues (e.g., alphabet charts)

3. Practice sorting letters by case

4. Alphabet songs and chants

5. Name and letter recognition activities

6. Tracing and writing practice

7. Use of environmental print

Strategies for Teaching Letter formation

1. Use multi-sensory techniques (e.g., tracing with fingers)

2. Model correct letter formation

3. Provide guided practice with lined paper

4. Reinforce proper grip and posture

5. Practice through name writing and letter games

Strategies for pencil control

1. Practice with large writing tools (e.g., chalk, markers)

2. Use exercises for fine motor skills (e.g., dot-to-dot, tracing)

3. Encourage proper grip (tripod hold)

4. Provide lined paper for guidance

5. Use fun activities like drawing shapes and lines

Pre - Alphabetic

child recognizes words by visual cues (like logos) but doesn’t understand letter-sound relationships.

Example: Recognizes "Walmart" by the logo, not by decoding.

Partial - Alphabetic

The child knows some letter-sound relationships and may guess words using first or last letters and context.

Example: Sees “dog” and guesses it based on the “d.”

Full - Alphabetic

child can decode words by identifying all letter-sound relationships and blending sounds together.

Example: Reads “ship” as /sh/ /i/ /p/.

Consolidated - Alphabetic

child reads by recognizing chunks, patterns, and morphemes (e.g., syllables, prefixes, word families).

Example: Reads “unhappiness” by breaking it into “un–happy–ness.”

Pragmatic

The study of how language is used socially and appropriately in context, including rules like turn-taking, tone, and body language.

Discourse

connected language used to communicate ideas across sentences in speaking or writing, such as conversations, stories, or explanations.