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Room 18, Birch Street Elementary
309 North Birch Street
Kalkaska, MI 49646
231.258.7988
FAX: 231.258.3579
 
Last updated on: Thursday, January 24, 2008
 
 

Phonological Awareness

Phonological Awareness is a key predictor of reading, writing, and spelling success (NELP, 2004). Sensitivity to the sounds of language develop progressively and include:

  • rhyming
  • alliteration
  • blending beginning sounds with word endings (onset and rime)
  • word segmentation (breaking words into syllables)
The progressive development of these skills will strengthen a child's capacity to learn the sounds of letters and how they combine to make words. Phonological Awareness is NOT phonics but rather the ability of a young child to hear and manipulate the sounds of language.

Research indicates:

  • Phonological awareness plays a crucial role in learning to read. Children typically begin to develop phonological skills around age three and gradually progress (Snow, Burns, & Griffen, 1998).
  • Phonological skills are less likely to develop through incidental exposure (Sulzby & Teale, 1991).
  • Children develop a sense of the sound structure of language by saying rhymes, singing, and reciting finger plays (Jenkins & Bowen, 1994).
  • Alliteration (words that begin with the same sound) skills typically begin developing around age three and requires children to pay attention to parts of words that are smaller than a syllable (Ball, 1993).

Increasing phonological awareness in the classroom.

Increasing phonological awareness in the community and at home.
  		 
Early Reading First is funded by the United States Department of Education
     
 
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