Phonological AwarenessFoundation of Phonics

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Phonological Awareness for Reading

Phonological awareness is a listening and oral language skill that does

not involve print. It is the ability to hear and produce the individual

sounds heard within words. The early stages of phonological

awareness emerge when babies and toddlers mimic sounds heard to

say their first words. It is an essential skill because it sets the foundation

for phonics - the ability to match sounds to their

correct letter or letter patterns to read words. The skill

increases in difficulty with the addition of letter patterns. For example: the

words – cat, cake, team, and sheep all have three sounds. Fortunately,

Fortunately, there are many fun activities that you can do with your child

to teach phonological awareness!

Children Imitate What They Hear. Reciting nursery rhymes and playing rhyming games with your child are everyday activities that promote phonological awareness.

Reciting nursery rhymes

Children will learn that changing the beginning sound of a word will change the

word. For example: in the rhyme, Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail

of water; the beginning sound change of /J/ to /h/ changes the word Jill to hill.

This builds the realization that the order of sounds said in a word is important.

Rhyming games

Have fun and provide your child with additional practice hearing sounds in words.

Ask your child to say a word that rhymes with hill? If your child gives you an

incorrect answer, provide him/her with some possible answers by asking what word

rhymes with hill; mill or cat?

pail, hail, tail, mail

Sound Boxes

Sound boxes is a fun activity to provide practice dividing words into sounds. It is important for your child to identify the sounds heard in words so that they can later match the sounds heard with the letter and letter patterns that represent them in print, phonics, to read words.

It is important for your child to identify individual sounds heard in each word, not individual letters that make up each word. It is important to note this difference because many words consist of letter patterns (two letters) that make one sound. Words consisting of letter patterns will have less sounds than number of letters. Letter patterns include: silent e, vowel pairs (ea, ee, ai), and consonant digraphs (sh, ch, th, wh).

For example the word sheep has five letters and three sounds

/sh/, /ee/, /p/.

Use Sound Boxes to Have Your Child Practice Hearing Individual Sounds.

Create a set of boxes. Each box represents a sound in the word,

not a letter. Say a word to your child. Have your child push up a

counter (or magnet) into a box for each sound heard. For

example, the word at has two sounds /a/ and /t/, and the word

cat has three sounds /c/, /a/, and /t/.

/c/ /a/ /t//a/ /t/

Sound Boxes

1 2

As you say each word, have your child push up a counter or magnet for each sound heard/said.

Draw three boxes. Words with 1,2, or 3 sounds can be used.

Words for Sound Boxes

Words with two sounds include: an, at, no, he, me, go, in, it, to, of, tea, pea, The words tea and pea have the vowel pattern /ea/.

Words with three sounds include: bat, sat, can, box, sit, cat, net, big, bug, sat, dog, cake, make, meet, seat, rain, team, sheep, chip, white

When your child is ready, add another box to include words with four sounds such as: train, clock, skate

/t/ /r/ /ai/ /n/

321

Practicing words with 2 sounds.Have your child push up a counter for each sound heard/said he

ItatgoaswesobymeusIn

teasea

Push Up Push UpShould remain empty

321

Determine the number of sounds in each wordcatdogbigredTenbedraintapefivefeet

Push Up Push Up

Push Up

Sorting Pictures According to Beginning Sounds

Have your child sort picture cards and/or objects according to their beginning sounds.

Review picture cards before sortingStep

1

Step 2

As children develop phonological awareness, it is important for them to practice differentiating the sounds heard in words. This builds the realization that sounds must be said in the correct order to produce the desired word. This sets the foundation for phonics. Begin by having your child sort picture cards or objects according to their beginning sounds. In later activities, have your child sort picture cards and items according to their ending sounds.

Use pails or other containers to sort picture cards and items

Select picture cards that begin with the 3 initial consonant sounds that are very different such as: /b/, /s/, & /t/. Review the cards before you have your child sort them: boat, bear, smile, spoons, sunflower, sign, train, tree

/b//s/ /t/

Activity Videos

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Activity Videos

Phonological Awareness- Hearing Individual Sounds in Words

PRE K & Kindergarten Phonological Awareness – Identifying Beginning Sounds

PRE K & Kindergarten Phonological Awareness – Identifying Initial Consonants