Hearing Individual Sounds in Words

I recently recieved an email from one of my readers:

"I am noticing that my students often know the beginning sounds and end sounds of words but nothing in between...how do you develop this skill?"

Becoming aware of individual sounds in words is the most difficult level of phonological awareness. However, it is also the area of phonological awareness that research infdicates is the most predictive of success in using sound knowledge in reading.

Here are some activities I suggest:

1) Word of the day/week. As an oral activity, ask children to listen to a simple work. For example, sat. Say listen to each sound /s/ /a/ /t/. How many sounds do you hear? (3)

2) Using Songs
For example, “If you know my Word” to the tune of “The Wheels on the Bus”

The sounds in my word are /f/ /i/ /sh/, /f/ /i/ /sh/, /f/ /i/ /sh/,
The sounds in my word are /f/ /i/ /sh/
Do you know my word?

3) Say It Slow, Say It Fast game

Choose three letter words (e.g., cat). Show your child a picture that represents the word so that they have a visual. Have your child say the word with you, normally. Then say, “I’m going to say his word slowly. I’m going to break it apart.” Slow down and say each sound in the word. Ask your child to repeat after you e.g. /c/ /a/ /t/). Once they say it slowly, ask them to speed up the word and say it normally again. Once they succeed, give them the picture to hold onto as a reward.

4) Penny Push Directions
During the activity the children say, hear and push a penny for each sound they hear in a word. There are no symbols or letters involved. Research shows that the more senses you use to teach something, the more likely it is that the learner will grasp the concept.

Follow this link to a video that gives an example of how to segment words into individual sounds.

Here is a video of a child using coloured tiles to represent sounds in words.

Does anyone have any additional suggestions?

Initial Sound Clothesline Activity

A couple weeks ago, I co-facilitated another make and take workshop. This month's theme was CAMPING! Camping is a fun family activity. Many children enjoy using it as a theme for their pretend play. Here is an idea for an activity you can make at home. If you would like an electronic copy of the colour pictures, please just post a message and I will get back to you.

Here are the necessary supplies:
- 18 colour picture cards
- 18 clothespins
- permanent marker
- mac tac
- scissors
- construction paper
- glue


Directions

1. Cut out the colour picture cards.

2. Create a template t-shirt. You could also make pants, but I was trying to keep it simple.

3. Using your template cut out 18 t-shirts from the contruction paper. I fit 4 onto each piece of construction paper.

4. Glue the colour pictures onto the t-shirts.


5. Use mac tac to help improve the life span of your activity.

6. Using your permanent marker, write letters onto the end of the clothespin that opens (see picture below).


To play, your child needs to match the initial sound of the word with the corresponding picture. Once they have made a match, they can hang the shirts on a clotheslines (I made mine with a piece of yarn). Remember to keep this activity developmentally appropriate. Children tend to be able to do this type of activity when they around five- and six-years-old.

You can increase the level of difficulty of this game by having more letters available then necessary for your child to choose from. You can also have them mix up the beginning letter and say the new word.

"If your put the letter W on bug (instead of B), it says WUG!"

You can decrease the level of difficulty by using only one letter sound at a time to reinforce a particular sound.

Phonological Awareness

Children who know more about nursery rhymes at age 3 are more highly developed in general phonological awareness at age 4 and in phonemic awareness at age 6.


What is Phonological Awareness?

The ability to hear and play with the smaller sounds in words. Recognizing that words are made of smaller sounds leads to reading success.

Early experience with nursery rhymes can help children begin to notice and think about the sounds in words.

Provide activities that increase children’s awareness of the sounds in language. These activities include playing games and listening to stories, poems and songs that involve:

Rhyme
Identifying words that end with the same sound (e.g., Jack and Jill went up the hill);

Alliteration
Recognizing when several words begin with the same sound (e.g., Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers);

Sound matching
Deciding which of several words begin with a specific sound (e.g., show a child pictures of a bird, a dog, and a cat and ask which one starts with the /d/ sound).

Come back tomorrow to see the order in which these smaller tasks develop!

Reading is as easy as ABC

One of the best predictors of early reading success is alphabet recognition. Alphabet books are a great way to talk about letters with your child. Many alphabet books centre on child-friendly themes or concepts, such as animals or places.

Alphabet books are a fun way to help your child:
Learn the letter sequence of the alphabet
Connect the printed letters with letter sounds
Develop vocabulary and stimulate language use

The first time you read an alphabet book with your child, read it without pausing so they can enjoy the language and illustrations. Next time you read it, talk about the names of the letters and the sounds the letters make.

Focus on sounds that are important to your child. For example, if your child’s name is Melissa, talk about how the letter M makes the sound ‘Mmm’ like “Mmm...muffins!”