Delving into the Depths of Phonemic Awareness: Unveiling the 6 Subskills
6 Subskills
A couple of weeks ago, I provided you with a general overview of the significance of phonemic awareness. Today, let’s take a deeper dive into the six subskills that make up this crucial literacy skill. It's essential to note that these skills progressively increase in complexity. Starting with the simplest skill and ensuring mastery before moving on to the next is key to fostering your child's phonemic awareness journey.
Remember - these skills are practiced before phonics and without the visual of a letter. Building phonemic awareness is done orally.
Phoneme Isolation
The foundation of phonemic awareness lies in recognizing and isolating individual sounds within words. This initial step involves helping your child identify distinct sounds in a word.
First Sound: The initial or first sound of a word is usually the easiest for children to identify. For instance, in the word "cat," the first sound is /k/. Encourage your child to focus on this sound, as it provides a solid starting point for developing phonemic awareness.
Final Sound: Once your child has a grasp on identifying the first sound, they can progress to recognizing the final sound in words. In the example of "cat," the final sound is /t/. By emphasizing the last sound, your child strengthens their ability to discern phonemic patterns and differences.
Middle Sound (Vowel Sound): Identifying the middle sound or vowel sound within words can be more challenging for children. Vowel sounds are diverse and can vary in pronunciation, making them trickier to pinpoint. For instance, in the word "cat," the middle sound is the short /a/ sound. Encourage your child to listen carefully and practice distinguishing these vowel sounds through engaging activities and word games.
2. Blending
Phoneme blending involves combining individual sounds to form words. Guide your child through exercises where they listen to individual sounds and then blend them to create a word. Start with simple three-sound words, such as "hen" (/h/ /e/ /n/) or "fix" (/f/ /i/ /ks/). This skill strengthens their ability to merge individual phonemes into meaningful words.
3. Segmenting
Phoneme segmentation focuses on breaking words down into all of their individual sounds. Encourage your child to identify and separate the distinct sounds they hear in words. They can practice this by tapping their fingers for each sound in a word or using a Popit toy and pressing a circle for each sound they hear in a word.
For instance, they can segment the word "run" into three sounds: /r/ /u/ /n/.
Notice how there is no visual of a letter when practicing this phonemic awareness. You give say the directions and your child breaks the word into its individual sounds.
Starfish Literacy Activity
If you are looking for a structured way to support these first 3 phonemic awareness skills, check out Starfish Literacy’s printable activity.
4. Adding
Phoneme addition involves adding a specific sound to a word to create a new word. Start with a short word that makes a new word with an additional consonant added. For example, they can add the sound /b/ before the word at, resulting in the word “bat”
Other examples:
The word is am. Can you add /h/ at the beginning and tell me what word we have now? Answer: ham
The word is an. Can you add /m/ at the beginning and tell me what word we have now? Answer: man
The word is lip. Can you add /k/ at the beginning and tell me what word we have now? Answer: clip
5. Deleting
Phoneme deletion involves removing specific sounds from words to create new words. Encourage your child to say a word and then eliminate a sound to form a different word. Start with a short word that makes a new word with 1 of the consonants removed. For example, they can say "clap" without the /k/ sound, resulting in the word "lap".
Other examples:
The word is “trip” Can you take away the /r/ and tell me what word we have now? Answer: tip
The word is “snap” Can you take away the /s/ and tell me what word we have now? Answer: nap
The word is “crib” Can you take away the /k/ and tell me what word we have now? Answer: rib
6. Substituting
This is the most complex phonemic awareness skill as it is a culmination of many of the previous skills. Substituting involves replacing one sound with another to create a new word. Here's a guide to help you explain and support phoneme substitution with your child:
Start with simple words: Begin by selecting simple words that your child is familiar with. Choose words that consist of three or four phonemes, such as "cat," "bat," or "top." These words provide a solid foundation for introducing phoneme substitution and allow your child to focus on the specific sounds they will be replacing.
Identify the target phoneme: To introduce phoneme substitution, identify a specific phoneme within the word that will be replaced. For example, in the word "cat," you can focus on replacing the /k/ sound at the beginning. Clearly explain to your child that you will be changing this sound to create a new word.
Introduce the new phoneme: Next, introduce the new phoneme that will replace the target sound. For instance, if you want to replace the /k/ sound in "cat," you can introduce the /b/ sound, resulting in the new word "bat." Emphasize the difference in sound and help your child practice saying the new word correctly.
Reinforce the change in meaning: Highlight the change in meaning that occurs as a result of the phoneme substitution. Discuss the difference between the original word and the new word, emphasizing how replacing a single sound alters the entire word. This helps your child grasp the concept of phoneme substitution and its impact on word meaning.
Practice with open-ended substituting: Once your child is able to replace a chosen sound let them select a sound to change in a short word. For example, ask them to change 1 sound in a word like “fin”. They could change the first consonant and say bin, pin, tin, or win. They could change the last consonant and say fig, fit, or fib. Or they could change the vowel and say fan or fun.
Developing phonemic awareness skills is a vital foundation for your child's reading and language abilities. By actively engaging in phonemic awareness activities, you can support their journey toward becoming confident reader. With your support and the power of phonemic awareness, you are setting your child up for a lifetime of success in the wonderful world of words. Happy reading!
