Phonological Awareness

and
Concepts of Print

Developed by Kathy Casey, Jo King, Sara

McCraw, Lorei Meanor, Pam Oliver, Cathy
Petitgout, and Debbie Stark
Delaware Reading Cadre, 2001
GOALS
 To gain knowledge of all the components of
phonological awareness,
 To understand the difference between
phonological awareness, phonemic
awareness, and phonics,
 To understand the importance of assessing
and teaching phonological awareness to
promote early literacy development.

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Delaware Reading Cadre 2001
 “Phonological Awareness is
something you can do in the
dark.”
Patti Buchanan, Christina
School District

Delaware Reading Cadre 32001

 Phonological Awareness (PA)
Anticipation Guide

1. PA can be taught and it helps children learn how

to read and spell.
2. Older, disabled readers cannot benefit, in terms of
reading, from PA instruction
3. Focusing on one or two PA skills produces larger
effects than teaching many PA skills at once.
4. Classroom PA instruction is most effective when
taught in small groups versus whole group or
individual.
5. The results of PA research are not ready for
implementation in the classroom.
Delaware Reading Cadre 2001 4
Phonological Awareness:
Theory
 PA is a primary indicator of early reading
success
 PA is acquired through a continuum of skills
 PA needs to be taught explicitly first, then in
context

National Reading Panel, 2000 and Snow, et al, 1998

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Delaware Reading Cadre 2001
Phonological Awareness
Helps Young Students
 Grasp how the alphabetic system works,
 Read and spell words in various ways,
 Move from sounds to letters (preparation for
phonic instruction),
 Understand that spoken language is made up
of separate words, words are made up of
syllables, and words can be broken down into
separate sounds.

Delaware Reading Cadre 2001 6

Listening Rhyme Awareness Awareness Concept of Ability
of word of syllable initial sounds to manipulate
(Onset and rime)
phonemes
(Phonemic
Delaware Reading Cadre 2001 7
 Phonological Awareness:
Defined
Demonstration

 Listening
 Rhyming
 Concept of word
 Syllabication
 Onset/Rime – compare to phonograms/ word families
 Phoneme Manipulation
 Blending
 Segmentation
 Deletion

Bibliography of activity books available in handouts

Delaware Reading Cadre 2001 8

What is a phoneme?
 “Phonemes are the smaller-than-syllable sounds that correspond
roughly to individual letters. Although every speaker has
functional knowledge of phonemes, lending conscious
awareness to them would interfere with listening
comprehension: To understand speech, it is necessary to
attend to the sense of words and not the sounds ... Having
learned phonemes well enough to produce and listen to oral
language, there is almost no reason whatsoever for children to
give them conscious attention – no reason, that is, unless they
need to learn to read an alphabetic script.

 To learn an alphabetic script, children must learn to

attend to that which they have learned not to attend
to.” Adams,1990

Delaware Reading Cadre 2001 9

Reading Time

Delaware Reading Cadre 2001

 Why teach phonemic
awareness?

 Improves their ability to manipulate

phonemes in speech,
 Lays the foundation for reading and
spelling.
 Helps children grasp how the
alphabetic system works,
National Reading Panel, 2000

Delaware Reading Cadre 2001 11

Effective phonemic awareness
instruction
Teaches students to manipulate
phonemes by:
 Identifying phonemes in words,

 Categorizing phonemes in words,

 Blending phonemes to form words,

 Deleting phonemes from words,

 Segmenting words into phonemes.

Delaware Reading Cadre 2001 12

Small group instruction works
because

 Children benefit from close observation of peers.

 Children listen and respond to their peers comments
and explanations.
 Children are more attentive and motivated to do well
in front of their peers

National Reading Panel, 2000

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Delaware Reading Cadre 2001
Phonological Awareness
Inventory

ASSESSMENT

Delaware Reading Cadre 2001

Supporting phonemic
awareness development
in the classroom
Halie Kay Yopp & Ruth Helen Yopp, 2000

Delaware Reading Cadre 2001

IMPORTANT!!!!!
 Initial instruction is auditory followed by manipulation
of sounds to letters.
 Teach phonemic awareness in conjunction with letter
names.
 Focus on one of two skills at a time.
 Tailor instructional time to students’ needs based on
assessments.
 Small group instruction is the best.
 Some children will need more instruction than others.
National Reading Panel, 2000

Delaware Reading Cadre 2001 16

Reflection
 Teaching and learning are lifelong pursuits.
We need to take time to look backward and
forward.
 Take some time now to list some of the most
significant changes you will make to your
teaching, based on what you recently learned
about phonological awareness. Organize your
thoughts in these categories:
 Practices you will add

 Practices you will discard

 Practices you will alter in some way

Strickland and Morrow, 2000 Delaware Reading Cadre 2001 17

Resources
 Ericson, L., and Juliebo, M.F. (1998) The Phonological
Awareness Handbook for Kindergarten and Primary
Teachers. Newark: IRA.
 Opitz, M. (2000). Rhymes & Reasons: Literature Play for
Phonological Awareness. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
 Adams, M., et. al. (1998), Phonemic Awareness in
Young Children. ,Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brooks
Publishing Co.

Delaware Reading Cadre 2001

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