RICA Competency 3: Phonological and Phonemic Awareness

Introduction

Phonological and phonemic awareness are two skills that are absolutely necessary when a child is learning language. Phonological awareness occurs when the child can “identify and manipulate sounds individually and as a part of a larger unit while phonemic awareness focuses on the ability to separate specific sounds within a word. 


Examples
 
Earlier today I had the opportunity to work and assess a 3rd grader on his reading abilities. Once of the assessments called for the student to read a long list of words, some actual words and others made up. This student demonstrated strong phonemic awareness when he was able to sound out the made up words just as well as the other words that he had encountered before. This level of awareness has helped the student sharpen his independent reading skills and made it much easier for him to decipher new words and their meanings. Because of the student’s aptitude with reading, I was able to differentiate his instruction slightly by giving him tests above his grade level. This gave the child a healthy challenge and encouraged him to apply his reasoning skills to help figure out any difficult words he came across.

In the Learning to Read text, phonological awareness is defined as “the ability to hear, recognize and play with the sounds in our language.” (pg. 165) When a child achieves this skill the begin to understand that language can continually be broken down into smaller parts: “Sentences can be segmented into words, words can be segmented into syllables, words can be segmented into their individual sounds, words can begin or end with the same sounds, the individual sounds of words can be blended together, and the individual sounds of words can be manipulated.” This awareness will help them build a strong foundation on which to build their reading and writing abilities. 

Differentiation
 
Students who struggle with phonemic awareness and have a hard time reading, it is important to focus on one skill at a time so they do not get overwhelmed and can eventually build a solid phonetic foundation. They may need additional practice and individual instruction as well. 


IF a student is not being challenged at their current reading level THEN the teacher will provide more challenging material or move through the curriculum at a faster pace. (pg. 29)

IF a student is struggling with reading THEN the teacher will assess the child, isolate the problem(s) and focus on the skills that need improvement. (pg. 28)

IF a student has not mastered sound segmentation THEN the teacher may want to simplify the challenge. (pg. 27)

Assessments 

Students will work on sound identity, isolation, blending and segmentation.