Reading Instructional Resources Database - Instructional Activities (Search Results)

Phoneme Awareness

What is Phoneme Awareness?
One of the most basic building blocks of speech is the phoneme, and to gain knowledge of the alphabetic principle, a child must be consciously aware that spoken words are comprised of phonemes. Further, that child must be consciously aware of the fact that phonemes can be substituted and rearranged to create different words.

What does teaching Phoneme Awareness look like?
Phoneme awareness activities do not involve printed text or letter names. Instead, phoneme awareness activities help children to perceive individual phonemes. It is important that the child engage in activities that increase her awareness of all of the phonemes within spoken words, not just the first or last phoneme. Typical phoneme awareness activities involve word games that teach children to identify individual phonemes within words, segment words into phonemes, or to move phonemes around to make new words.

ACTIVITY: For this activity, you will need a collection picture cards (small cards with pictures of easily identifiable objects on them). Be sure that there are an even number of objects whose names begin with the same phoneme (i.e. if one of the picture cards is of a perla, be sure that one of the other cards also begins with a /p/). Have the children play a variation on the game of concentration. Turn over all picture cards, and have children match pictures based on the initial phoneme (e.g. if the child picks up a picture of zebra, they have to find another picture whose name starts with /z/ or else they have to put the cards back).

Suggested picture words:

tambor, tortuga, tapete, talón, titere
zorro, zapato, zorillo, zanahoria
mapa, mariposa, máscara, melón
ábanico, árbol, avion, ala, abeja
casa, cadena, caja, campana, columpio
bandera, bolsa, bote, ballena, barco
sombrilla, sartén, sol, serrucho, silla
robot, rana, rata, regalo, ropa
plato, papalote, pato, pasta, perla
elote, elefante, escalera, empanada, escoba
jarra, jabón, jugo, joven, jardín
iglesia, imán, iglú, iguana, indio

Notes: Have students identify the last phoneme in words or have them identify what vowels different words have in common.

Reader Type: Pre-readers

Language: Spanish

ACTIVITY:

Tell children you are going to play a listening game with them. Give students three objects like beads that can be used for counting phonemes. Say a three-phoneme word such as "pot" and ask the children to repeat it. Then show the children how you can divide the word "pot" into three parts: /p/, /o/ and /t/. Tell them that that each bead can be used to "stand for" each part. Show them that you need all three beads to represent the word "pot".

Next explain that a new word can be made by taking away the last bead ( the /t/ part). Have everyone take away the last bead and ask what the remaining beads "say" (namely the word "paw" — it is spelled differently, but it is pronounced the same, and children at this age are likely unaware of the spelling of words). Then ask what would happen if the last bead was put back on (you would get the word "pot" again). Repeat this activity with a variety of three and four phoneme words removing the first (e.g. cat, pill, man) or last phoneme (e.g. ant, end, goat) as appropriate (e.g. cat, pill, man).

Notes:

These activities work better if the beads are different colors, and if the children actively move the phonemes around as they say each word.

As a variation, words can be said in reverse (rearrange the beads to turn "pot" into "top").

Reader Type: Pre-readers

Language: English

ACTIVITY: Create a Guess What? Box by placing items in a box that all have names beginning with or ending with the same phoneme . Students reach into the box and try to figure out what the items are without looking — their only clue is what sound the item's name begins or ends with.

Example: Put in some plastic grapes, some gum, a toy gun, etc. and tell them the object begins with a /g/ sound. Put in a doll, a nail, a wheel, etc. and tell them that it ends with an /l/ sound.

Notes:

Reader Type: Pre-readers

Language: English

ACTIVITY: Have children look for objects in their classroom or the playground that begin with certain sounds. Have students say the phrase "I spy with my little eye something that begins with ____," where the blank is the first sound in the word (e.g.... something that begins with /s/.). Other students have to try to figure out what object the first student has in mind.

Notes: To make this activity more challenging, have students look for objects whose name ends with certain sounds (although be warned, students need to avoid plurals, or everything will end with /s/). Or have students look for objects that contain a certain vowel sound. You can also amend the rules to allow hints — children can give the first and last sound, or children can give the first two sounds.

Reader Type: Pre-readers

Language: English

ACTIVITY: Gather a set of three or four pictures of objects whose names start with a particular phoneme (e.g. FOX, FOOT, FEATHER). Do this for several phonemes. Use only pictures that have single consonants at the beginning. 

Have the children name each object depicted (to be sure the child's name for each picture starts with the phoneme /f/). After the names of all of the pcitures in a the set have been agreed upon, ask children to choose a picture from the set and name it. Then repeat the name, drawing out the initial consonat (e.g., f-f-f-f-ox). 

Then, ask all of the children to repeat the name in the same way . Tell students to notice and describe what they are doing with their mouths as they make the /f-f-f/ sound (and make sure they notice it is the same sound at the beginning of different words). Continue this process with the other picture cards and make sure that the children understand that all of the picture names start with the same phoneme (/f/).

Notes: This activity can be extended by introducing onset consonant clusters (e.g. SNAIL, SCHOOL, STORE). Make sure that students can hear the /s/ sound separately from the consonant that follows it.

Reader Type: Pre-readers

Language: English

ACTIVITY:

Children will need jump-ropes for this recess activity (this activity works just as well if two children swing the rope while a third jumps). Tell children to jump the rope in time with the words in a rhyme. Then tell them to jump the rope with each syllable. Then have student say a word slowly, jumping the rope once for each phoneme in the word. 

Example: In the word "big," the child would jump and say, /b/, jump again and say, /i/, and a third time while saying, /g/.

Notes:

Reader Type: Pre-readers

Language: English

ACTIVITY: Many songs allow students to practice phoneme manipulation or word segmentation.Examples include "Apples and Bananas," "Down by the Bay," and "The Name Game." In these songs (and others like them), students play with phonemes by substituting sounds to complete the lyrics as the class sings.

Notes:

Reader Type: Pre-readers

Language: English

ACTIVITY:

You will need a bean bag or soft ball for this activity. Have your students gather in a circle. Pronounce a word phoneme -by -phoneme and have the child respond by putting the phonemes together. 

Example: If the word is "kite," you would say out loud /k/ /i/ /t/ (be sure to pause between each phoneme). Throw a beanbag to a student. The student catches the bag and responds with "kite" while throwing the bag back to you. Use words that have easily pronounced phonemes (e.g. avoid phonemes like /g/ because they can not be pronounced without adding a vowel sound, as in /guh/).

Notes: You can make the activity more complicated by adding words with clusters (such as school, mask, stamp, etc). And you can reverse the process — you say the word as a whole, toss the beanbag to a student, and the student segments the word into its phonemes.

Reader Type: Pre-readers

Language: English

ACTIVITY:

Read texts to your students that emphasize repetitive syllables in a natural way, for example, "Los Pollitos" (Fernandez, 1993) or predictable books with a pattern that also plays on sounds.

A favorite is "Pinta, Pinta, Gregorita" (Paint, Paint, Gregorita) (Kratky, 1990). The imaginative and colorfully illustrated story is especially delightful because its artwork captures the imagination. The repetitive patterns and the rhyme, along with the illustrations, help emergent readers make sense of the story.

Notes: Note, this is more of a phonological awareness task (emphasizing syllables). A true phoneme awareness activity would follow through and emphasize the individual phonemes.

Reader Type: Pre-readers

Language: Spanish

ACTIVITY: The teacher cuts various die-cut shapes into parts to represent the number of phonemes in a word. For example, the shape of the sun would be cut into three parts to represent the three phonemes /s/ /o/ /l/. Other die-cuts that could be used are "oso," "ala," "pan," "ojo," "red," "uña," and "ola." (Each die-cut shape can be stored in its own resealable bag.) The teacher assembles one of the die-cut puzzles on the overhead projector. The teacher then slowly takes the puzzle apart, saying each phoneme in the word individually, and blending the sounds as the puzzle pieces are put back together. Once the students have mastered this technique, the die-cut puzzle pieces can become part of a literacy station or center.

Notes:

Reader Type: Pre-readers

Language: Spanish

ACTIVITY: Play the game "SNAP" using shared sounds. The teacher begins by saying two words aloud to the students. If the words share a sound, other players "snap" their fingers. If the two words don't share a sound, everyone is quiet. Begin with first sounds; proceed to middle and final sounds when the child can do the first sound well.

Notes: You can keep score by giving students points for being the first to snap, or you can make it a game of elimination.

Reader Type: Pre-readers

Language: English

ACTIVITY: Gather students in a circle on the floor. Holding onto the end of a ball of yarn, say a short word and toss the ball to a student. Whoever catches the ball says the first phoneme in the word. That student holds on to the yarn and tosses the yarn ball to another student in the circle who names the second phoneme in the word. As students continue the activity, a yarn "spider web" is taking form.

Notes: As a variation, begin with a word (e.g. "cat") and toss the ball. The next student thinks of a word that starts with the same phoneme that the last word ended with (e.g. "tap") and tosses the ball to the next student who has to think of a new word that starts with the same phoneme that the last word ended with (e.g. "pill"), etc.

Reader Type: Pre-readers

Language: English

ACTIVITY:

This game reinforces the syllable concept. Students bounce a ball for the number of syllables in a word. Blindfold a student and ask the student to draw a picture out of a container. 

The student identifies the picture and bounces the ball the correct number of syllables. For instance, the child would bounce twice while saying slowly "pen-cil." 

When children have mastered syllables, move to phonemes. Ask students to bounce the ball once for each phoneme in each word.

Notes: It is easier for children to grasp the concept of the syllable than the phoneme, which is why it is important to start with syllables, then move to phonemes. Being able to count syllables, however, will not help a child to read — it is important that children be moved to the more difficult phoneme activity (bouncing the ball three times for words like "bat" and "pill")

Reader Type: Pre-readers

Language: English

ACTIVITY:

Go around the class, saying children's names, clapping and pausing with the syllables. For example, say "Sophia." Then say it with pauses between the syllables, "So-phi-a," while clapping once for each syllable. Do it again and ask children to join you.

Go around the classroom, clapping out the syllables to various children's names. Count the number of claps. Point out that some names get just one clap, and other names have many.

Next, do the same activity with phonemes — clap once for each phoneme in each child's name.

Notes: It is important to follow this activity through to the phoneme level because phoneme awareness is ultimately what you are trying to develop. This activity may be difficult with long names.

Reader Type: Pre-readers

Language: English

ACTIVITY: Give each child a smiley sticker to place on the end of their thumb. Tell them to stick their thumb up each time you say a word that begins with a certain phoneme. Say words out loud, one at a time, and monitor student's responses (children who do not understand the concept will be inclined to imitate other children).

Notes: For a variation, this activity can be used with middle sounds and final sounds, or you could ask students to give a thumbs up every time they hear a word with a certain number of phonemes (e.g. Give a thumbs up every time I say a word with 5 sounds in it, such as BLAST, SIMPLE, STUDY, etc..)

Reader Type: Pre-readers

Language: English