Phonemic awareness refers to the ability to segment and manipulate the sounds in spoken language and is a predictor of reading success. It is distinct from phonics which relates letters to sounds. There are 7 dimensions of phonemic awareness including identifying syllables, rhyming words, and blending/segmenting sounds. Educators can scaffold phonemic awareness through choosing books with rhyme and repetition and activities like word games. Progress is assessed through tools like ISEL which measures phonemic awareness, letter knowledge, and sounds.

1. Phonemic Awareness

2.  Phonemic awareness refers to the ability to segment
and manipulate the sounds of oral language.
 It is not the same as phonics, which involves
knowing how written letters relate to spoken sounds.
 Research has shown that a child’s awareness of the
sounds of spoken words is a strong predictor of his
or her later success in learning to read
 -International Reading Association

3. 7 Dimensions of Phonemic Awareness
1. The ability to hear syllables within a word
2. The ability to to hear initial sounds or recognize alliteration ( Sally
Sells Seashells by the sea shore)
3. The ability to distinguish rime and rhyme(Rime: hat cat sat;
Rhyme: great late bait)
4. The ability to distinguish oddity (man money cat)
5. The ability to blend sounds orally to make a word (/a/ +/t/=at)
6. The ability to segment words orally (at=/a/+/t/)
7. The ability to manipulate sounds orally to create new words
(Plug-/g/=Plu; Plu+/m/=Plum)
-Devries

4. Scaffolding
 By choosing books with
alliteration, assonance, rhyme, repe
tition, onomatopoeia, and nonsense
words educators help new
readers, “develop an ear for the
sounds within words” (Devries
2004).
 Read aloud (model good
reading, use expression)
 Use Gestures (clap, tap, snap
syllable and rhyme)
 Vary reading materials (tongue
twisters, nursery
rhymes, poems, songs and music)
 Use “concrete cues”-manipulatives
(wicklund 2004)

5. Activities
 Jump Rope Jingles
 Chopping game
 Match Game

6. ISEL
 Illinois Snapshot of Early Literacy
 Assesses phonemic awareness, letter
recognition, and knowledge of letter sounds
 Given three times a year
 On Target vs On Watch

7. Literature to support Phonemic Awareness

8. References
 DeVries, B. A. (2011). Phonemic Awareness. Literacy assessment
and intervention for the elementary classroom (pp. 76-100).
Scottsdale, Ariz.: Holcomb Hathaway Publishers.
 International Reading Association. (2012). Phonemic Awareness .
Phonemic Awareness and the Teaching of Reading. Retrieved April
10, 2012, fromhttp://reading.org/General/AboutIRA/PositionState
ments/PhonemicAwarenessPosition.aspx
 Wicklund, B. (2004). Using scaffolding to teach
phonological/phonemic awareness skills to english language
learners Hamline University | Saint Paul, Minnesota. Hamline
University | Saint Paul, Minnesota. Retrieved April 9, 2012, from
www.hamline.edu/WorkArea/linkit.aspx? LinkIdentifier=id...