Phonological Awareness School Age 11/19/24

Phonological and Phonemic Awareness for School Age Children and Adolescents

Overview

  • Instructor: Dr. Irwin

  • Course: SPaTH 5134 Clinical Linguistics and Psycholinguistics

National Reading Panel – History

  • Established in 1997 by the National Institute of Child Health & Development (NICHD) and the U.S. Department of Education.

    • Purpose: Review research on how children learn to read and determine effective teaching methods.

    • Composition: 14 members including school administrators, teachers, and reading researchers.

    • Reference: NICHD National Reading Panel

Recommendations from National Reading Panel

  • Best Approach to Reading Instruction:

    • Explicit instruction in phonemic awareness.

    • Systematic phonics instruction.

    • Methods to improve fluency.

    • Techniques to enhance comprehension.

Five Critical Phonemic Components of Vocabulary Awareness

  • Components:

    • Vocabulary Awareness

    • Comprehension = central

    • Phonics & Word Study

    • Fluency

Do All Children Need Phonemic Awareness (PA) Instruction?

  • Many children naturally gain phoneme-level awareness without explicit instruction.

  • Direct PA instruction is recommended for children at risk for reading difficulties.

    • References: Lonigan, Schatschneider, & Westberg, 2008; National Governors Association, 2010.

Phonological Awareness

  • Definition: Ability to hear, identify, and manipulate individual sounds (phonemes) in spoken words.

  • Key Points:

    • Begins with listening only.

    • Does not involve print, distinct from phonics.

Phonological Awareness and Phonemic Awareness

  • Phonological Awareness: General understanding of language divided into components (sentences, words, syllables).

  • Phonemic Awareness: Focused on the smallest units—individual sounds (phonemes).

  • Subskills include:

    • Onset-Rime

    • Syllables

    • Addition/Deletion/Substitution

Do All Children Need Phonological Awareness (PA) Instruction?

  • Children entering first grade without phoneme-level awareness may face long-term reading difficulties.

  • Direct phoneme-level instruction, especially when combined with alphabet instruction, supports skill development.

    • References: Juel, 1988; Spira et al., 2005.

Phonological Awareness Definitions

  • Phonological Awareness (PA): Sensitivity to sound structure apart from meanings.

  • Units of PA: Syllabic and sub-syllabic units (onsets, rimes, phonemes).

  • Teaching Importance: Critical for effective reading skills.

Phoneme Blending, Segmentation, and Manipulation-10 put this in flashcards for final

  • Activities may include:

    • Onset-Rime Blending and Segmentation

    • Complex Syllable Blending

    • Sentence Segmentation

    • Rhyme/Alliteration Exercises

    • Listening Activities

Examples of Phonological Awareness

  • Definition: The ability to hear and manipulate sound structures of language.

  • Key Points:

    • Children with a strong phonological awareness correlates with ease in learning to read.

    • Encompasses manipulation at various levels:

      • Syllables

      • Words

      • Sentences

      • Individual sounds

  • Important Note: Activities do not involve letters, distinguishing them from phonics.

Examples of PA Activities

Rhyming

  • Use nursery rhymes to teach rhythm.

  • Identify rhyming words (e.g., cat/hat).

Alliteration

  • Identify words starting with the same sound (e.g., bakery and banana).

Phoneme Isolation

  • Determine first, last, or middle sounds in words (e.g., rain).

More Examples of PA Activities-13

Blending

  • Oral Blending: Combine syllables or sounds to form words (e.g., side….walk = sidewalk).

Polysyllabic Sequencing-13

  • Identify position of syllables

  • tion in nation, fiction and action. Is it in the beginning, middle or end?

Segmentation Exercises-15

  • Clap for Words/Syllables: Clap for each word/syllable in a sentence.

  • Delete Sounds: Identify words without specific sounds (e.g., cowboy without boy).

Categorization Tasks

  • Find words that start or end with different sounds (e.g., bag/nine/beach).

Rank Order of Phonological Awareness Tasks

  • Task Order from Easiest to Most Difficult:

    1. Blending syllables (84% of 4yos, 92% of 5yos)

    2. Segmenting syllables (62%, 81%)

    3. Rhyme detection (58%, 74%)

    4. Alliteration categorization (53%, 71%)

    5. Further tasks recorded.

Developmental Sequence of Phonological Skills

do not know this for test but have it for clinic

  • Skill Acquisition by Age:

    • 4 Years: Rote imitation & enjoyment of rhymes.

    • 5 Years: Recognizing and producing rhymes.

    • 6 Years: Blending phonemes, syllable deletion.

    • 7-9 Years: Phoneme deletion and manipulation.

Research-Based Facts on Phonological Awareness

  • Blending and segmenting phonemes are predictive of reading skills.

  • Phonological awareness can be taught.

  • Important for spelling and reading success.

Phonological Awareness Instruction

  • Daily Instruction: 15-20 minutes for K-1 students.

  • Should begin with segmenting and blending three-phoneme words.

    • References: Ehri et al., 2001; Foorman & Torgesen, 2001.

Phonemic Awareness Definition

  • Understanding: Ability to hear and manipulate sounds in spoken words.

    • Involves:

      • Manipulating sounds.

      • Segmenting phonemes.

      • Blending phonemes.

    • References: Yopp, 1992.

PA Activities for Kindergarten and First Grade

  • Examples:

    • Rhyme judgment and matching.

    • Onset-rime division and production.

    • Syllable blending and counting.

PA Activities for Older Students

  • Matching final sounds and phonemic blending.

  • Teaching sound blending using colored blocks (no letters).

  • Substitution tasks for initial and final sounds.

Resources for PA Instruction

  • Material such as D lively Letters available for practical application in teaching phonological awareness.

Phonics

  • Definition: Understanding letters represent sounds.

  • Focus on graphophonemic relationships.

Fluency in Reading

  • Definition: Ability to read accurately at an appropriate pace, with comprehension and prosody.

    • Fluent readers recognize words automatically.

    • Reading should reflect natural conversational rhythms.

Vocabulary Development

  • Goal: Increase word knowledge and academic language essential for reading comprehension.

Comprehension Skills

  • Good readers employ strategies before, during, and after reading:

    • Activate prior knowledge.

    • Monitor understanding.

    • Summarize and paraphrase.

The Reading Rope (Scarborough, 2001)-went straight to this one after research based facts on PA

  • Concept: Reading is a multifaceted skill, requiring the coordination of various processes:

    • Language comprehension: background knowledge, vocabulary, and verbal reasoning.

    • Word recognition: phonemic awareness, decoding, and sight recognition.

    • KNOW IMPORTANCE OF EARLY INTERVENTION AND HOW IT RELATES TO ACADEMIC SUCCESS; ALSO EXAMPLES OF PA TASKS