Chapter 3. Phonological Awareness
Nandita Gurjar
“To learn to read is to light a fire; every syllable that is spelled out is a spark.” – Victor Hugo
Keywords: phonological awareness, phonemes, graphemes, syllables, onset, rimes, short vowel sounds, long vowel sounds, hearing and recording sounds assessment
Phonological awareness is a foundational skill for children as it is one of the core components of reading, along with phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. Consequently, preservice teachers must be prepared with strategies for facilitating phonological skills development in K-3 children. State standards provide benchmark expectations and guidance for preservice teachers to plan activities that facilitate specific literacy skills development.
Iowa Core State Standards (Please check your state standards)
Phonological awareness falls under the foundational standards of literacy.
Iowa Core Standard for Phonological Awareness: Kindergarten Benchmark Expectations (RF.K.2)
Demonstrate understanding of spoken words, syllables, and sounds (phonemes).
- Recognize and produce rhyming words.
- Count, pronounce, blend, and segment syllables in spoken words.
- Blend and segment onsets and rimes of single-syllable spoken words.
- Isolate and pronounce the initial, medial vowel, and final sounds (phonemes) in three-phoneme (consonant-vowel-consonant, or CVC) words.* (This does not include CVCs ending with /l/, /r/, or /x/)
- Add or substitute individual sounds (phonemes) in simple, one-syllable words to make new words.
Iowa Core Standard for Phonological Awareness: 1st Grade Benchmark Expectations (RF.1.2)
Demonstrate understanding of spoken words, syllables, and sounds (phonemes).
- Distinguish long from short vowel sounds in spoken single-syllable words.
- Orally produce single-syllable words by blending sounds (phonemes), including consonant blends.
- Isolate and pronounce initial, medial vowel and final sounds (phonemes) in spoken single-syllable words.
- Segment spoken single-syllable words into their complete sequence of individual sounds (phonemes).
A hum and productive clamor can be heard as children excitedly work in small groups with volunteers! Children are heard clapping the names of their favorite characters into syllables in one group; another group is seen playing a limerick rime game, while the third group is using their fingers to segment sounds of their favorite animals and then jumping over the number of spaces equal to the number of sounds in a word. All these indicate different ways the class is authentically engaged in building phonological awareness or awareness of sounds in the oral language!
This video explains the difference between phonological awareness and phonemic awareness:
Download Phonological and Phonemic Awareness Video Transcript [DOC]
This video demonstrates the difference between phonemes and letters:
Phonological awareness
Phonological awareness is a set of auditory skills related to hearing sounds in spoken l