Which sequence of lettesr is typical of the order in which letters are introduced?
A. a, e, i, o, u, b
B. b, d, v, f, l, r
C. b, bl, br, s, st, sh,
D. m, f, n, s, r, a
Which of the following is typical of the order in which decoding is taught
A. rip, rift, ripe, grip
B. ripe, rift, grip, rip
C. Grip, rift, rip, ripe
D. rip, grip, rift, ripe
Which answer provides the best definition of decoding and the best example of decodable words?
A. The ability to apply knowledge of letter-sound relationships to correctly write words: stop, try, bench, shout
B. the ability to apply knowledge of letter-sound relationships to correctly pronounce words: cap, capture, drive, driveway
C.the ability to read fluently with conversational speed and intonation: sow, sew, their, there, they're
D. the ability to predict the next step of a predictable text book: what, where , were, was
Which list of words demonstrates how a student can use morphemes to attach meaning to an unfamiliar word?
A. transformer, transportation, portable, transformation
B. teach, beach, bleach, reach
C. climate, precipitation, temperature, weather
D. "brown bear, brown bear, what do you see"
Which list includes words that are decipherable through structural analysis?
A. grapes, banana, oranges, guava
B. reaction, actor, deactivate, hyperactive
C. Run, fun, sun, bun
D. Mr., Mrs., Jr,.,
S sixth grader is provided the following passage:
"on hands and knees, she scrubbed the floors, never stopping to complain once. While most girls her age were out on dates, she spend her nights cleaning and helping her sick mother. She'd give the world to see her mother get better. For now, she'd clean houses to make enough to pay the rent."
The student writes the following response to the passage:
- "the girl cleans houses. She scrubs floors. Her mom is sick. Other girls her age on dates. The girl hates that she doesn't get to go out like her friends do."
Based on the above response, which of the following best assesses the student's level of reading comprehension
A. the student can read on literal and inferential levels but has a difficult time evaluating the passage's structure
B. the student shows a literal understanding of the girl's job and her mother's sickness but cannot make appropriate inferences based on what is implied by the text
C. The student does not grasp literal details about the girl such as her job, age, physical description, personality, etc.
D. the student demonstrates an inferential level understanding about the girl's relationship with her mother, but does not evaluate the passage or discuss the author's purpose
text purpose, author's position, support for the main points/arguement, facts vs opinion, faulty logic, text-to-text, text-to-self, text-to-world, text structure (organization), graphic features, text features, and reference materials (see on page 152)
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What Is Phonemic Awareness?
Phonological awareness is an umbrella term that includes four developmental levels:
- Word awareness
- Syllable awareness
- Onset-rime awareness
- Phonemic awareness
Phonemic awareness is the understanding that spoken language words can be broken into individual phonemes—the smallest unit of spoken language.
Phonemic awareness is not the same as phonics—phonemic awareness focuses on the individual sounds in spoken language. As students begin to transition to phonics, they learn the relationship between a phoneme (sound) and grapheme (the letter(s) that represent the sound) in written language.
To develop phonological awareness, kindergarten and first grade students must demonstrate understanding of spoken words, syllables, and sounds (phonemes).
Why Phonemic Awareness Is Important
First of all, phonemic awareness performance is a strong predictor of long-term reading and spelling success (Put Reading First, 1998). Students with strong phonological awareness are likely to become good readers, but students with weak phonological skills will likely become poor readers (Blachman, 2000). It is estimated that the vast majority—more than 90 percent—of students with significant reading problems have a core deficit in their ability to process phonological information (Blachman, 1995).
In fact, phonemic awareness performance can predict literacy performance more accurately than variables such as intelligence, vocabulary knowledge, and socioeconomic status (Gillon, 2004). The good news is that phonological awareness is one of the few factors that teachers are able to influence significantly through instruction—unlike intelligence, vocabulary, and socioeconomic status (Lane and Pullen, 2004).
Many students (75%) enter kindergarten with proficient phonemic awareness skills. The 25% of students who have not mastered these skills are from all socio-economic backgrounds and need explicit instruction in phonemic awareness. When instruction is engaging and developmentally appropriate, researchers recommend that all kindergarten students receive phonemic awareness instruction (Adams, 1990).
The following table shows how the specific phonological awareness standards fall into the four developmental levels: word, syllable, onset-rime, and phoneme. The table shows the specific skills (standards) within each level and provides an example for each skill.
Less Complex | More Complex | |||
Less Complex | Sentence Segmentation Tap one time for every word you hear in the sentence: I like cookies. | Rhyme Recognition Do these two words rhyme: ham, jam? (yes) | Isolation What is the first sound in fan? (/f/) What is the last sound in fan? (/n/) What is the middle sound in fan? (/a/) | |
Rhyme Generation Tell me a word that rhymes with nut. (cut) | Identification Which word has the same first sound as car: fan, corn, or map? (corn) | |||
Categorization Which word does not belong: mat, sun, cat, fat? (sun) | Categorization Which word does not belong? bus, ball, house? (house) | |||
Blending Listen as I say two small words: rain … bow. Put the two words together to make a bigger word. (rainbow) | Blending Put these word parts together to make a whole word: rock•et. (rocket) | Blending What word am I saying? /b/ … /ig/? (big) | *Blending What word am I saying /b/ /ĭ/ /g/? (big) | |
Segmentation Clap the word parts in rainbow. (rain•bow) How many times did you clap? (two) | Segmentation Clap the word parts in rocket. (roc•ket) | Segmentation Say big in two parts. (/b/ … /ig/) | *Segmentation How many sounds in big? (three) Say the sounds in big. (/b/ /ĭ/ /g/) | |
Deletion Say rainbow. Now say rainbow without the bow. (rain) | Deletion Say pepper. Now say pepper without the /er/. (pep) | Deletion Say mat. Now say mat without the /m/. (at) | Deletion Say spark. Now say spark without the /s/. (park) | |
Addition Say park. Now add /s/ to the beginning of park. (spark) | ||||
More Complex | Substitution The word is mug. Change /m/ to /r/. What is the new word? (rug) |
*Integrated instruction in phoneme segmenting and blending provides the greatest benefit to reading acquisition (Snider, 1995).
Instruction should be systematic. Notice the arrow across the top. The levels become more complex as students progress from the word level to syllables, to onset and rime, and then to phonemes.
Notice the arrow along the left-hand side. Students progress down each level—learning increasingly more complex skills within a level.
For example, look at the Phoneme Awareness column. Students learn to isolate, identify, and categorize phonemes first. Then students are taught to blend phonemes to make a word before they are taught to segment a word into phonemes—which is typically more difficult. The most challenging phonological awareness skills are at the bottom: deleting, adding, and substituting phonemes.
Blending phonemes into words and segmenting words into phonemes contribute directly to learning to read and spell well. In fact, these two phonemic awareness skills contribute more to learning to read and spell well than any of the other activities under the phonological awareness umbrella (National Reading Panel, 2000; Snider, 1995).
So, as we plan phonological awareness instruction, our goal is to systematically move students as quickly as possible toward blending and segmenting at the phoneme level.
Consonant Phonemes
There are two types of consonant phonemes:
Continuous sounds* | A sound that can be pronounced for several seconds without any distortion. | /f/ • /l/ • /m/ • /n/ • /r/ • /s/ • /v/ • /w/ •/y/ • /z/ • /a/ • /e/ • /i/ • /o/ • /u/ |
Stop sounds | A sound that can be pronounced for only an instant. Avoid adding /uh/. | /b/ • /d/ • /g/ • /h/ • /j/ • /k/ • /p/ • /t/ |
*Blending words with continuous sounds is easier than blending words with stop sounds.
The continuous sounds can be pronounced for several seconds without distortion. The stop sounds can be pronounced only for an instant. It is important to avoid adding /uh/ to a stop sound as it is pronounced—which confuses students. As new phonological awareness skills are introduced, using continuous sounds may be easier at first.
Read Naturally Programs That Develop Phonemic Awareness
Funēmics: A Phonemic Awareness Program for Small Groups
Learn more about how Funēmics teaches phonological awareness skills:
- Learn more about Funēmics
- Funēmics sampler
- Research basis for Funēmics
Other Programs That Support Phonemic Awareness
The following programs do not focus on phonemic awareness but include phonemic awareness activities as part of a broader scope of instruction:
Bibliography
Adams, M. J. (1990). Beginning to read: Thinking and learning about print. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Blachman, B. A. (2000). Phonological awareness. In M. L. Kamil, P. B. Rosenthal, P. D. Pearson, and R. Barr (eds.), Handbook of reading research, 3, pp. 483-502. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Blachman, B. A. (1995). Identifying the core linguistic deficits and the critical conditions for early intervention with children with reading disabilities. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Learning Disabilities Association, Orlando, FL, March 1995.
Gillon, G. T. (2004). Phonological awareness: From research to practice. New York: The Guilford Press.
Lane, H. B., and P. C. Pullen. (2004). A sound beginning: Phonological awareness assessment and instruction. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
National Institute for Literacy. (1998). Put reading first. <//lincs.ed.gov/publications/pdf/PRFbooklet.pdf>
National Reading Panel. (2000). Teaching children to read: An evidence-based assessment of the scientific research literature on reading and its implications for reading instruction. Washington, DC: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.
Snider, V. A. (1995). A primer on phonemic awareness: What it is, why it’s important, and how to teach it. School Psychology Review, 24(3), pp. 443-456.