Summary of Content Knowledge

Phonological awareness focuses on the sounds of language and it does not cover the symbols that create those sounds. Phonological awareness is the ability to hear and manipulate sound structures within words. Phonological awareness is an understanding of the structure of a spoken language that is made up of words and these words consist of syllables, rhymes, and sounds. It is essential to teach phonological awareness in Kindergarten as research shows that student's level of phonological awareness at the end of Kindergarten is one of the strongest predictors of furture reading success in 1st grade and beyond. Phonological awareness skills include (8 levels): rhyme, alliteration, sound and word discrimination, syllable segmenting and blending, onset and rime. Students should work on rhymes then move on to segmentation and blending activities. Using alliterations, picture card matching, and musical connections to help with phonological awareness.

Apps

Phonological Awareness Lab

This app is a fun, multi - level game to help improve phonological awareness in children. This app incorporates four "labs" that target the essential phonological awareness skills needed for reading.

This app could be used as a center for students during reading time. Each student has their own profile in which data is collected and is easy to be read by the teacher whenever one wishes to track the progress of their students. This app was developed by a speech language pathologist and with routine use, students are sure to make drastic progress in their phonological awareness skills.

Syllable Splash

This app is designed to focus more so on syllable segmentation. While be colorful, fun, and engaging this app adapts to any child's zone of proximal development.

With children, students can be engaged in learning new words while also learning how to segment these words. A shark appears when an answer is wrong allowing for positive corrective feedback. The student also has the option of clicking for help when they are unsure of an answer and an animated turtle will pop up and clap the number of syllables in the word. This is also a great app that could be used as a center during reading time. Students receive a report card at the end of each session that is saved to the app or can be emailed, printed, etc. to monitor student progress over time.

Profile of Phonological Awareness

This app is a great starting point to figure out where students are at with their phonological awareness skills. This app is a test that covers six different skills and takes about 10-20 minutes to administer. This app provides a detailed report at the end of the testing along with suggested apps that can assist the student in areas they may need more practice.

This is a great app to use at the beginning of the school year and again at the end of the school year or more periodically if you would like to assess students progress frequently. The app was a great indicator of where I should begin when working with my second grade student.

Strategies

Dot Hop

Place polly spots on the ground separated by tape lines. Students hop on a dot as they say each sound of a word.

CVC Sliders

Students receive a string with beads that are green, yellow, and red on it. Green stands for the beginning of the word and means "go and stretch it out". Yellow is the middle sound and means "say the sounds slowly". Red is the ending sound and means "stop at the end of the word". Students also receive cards with words and color coded dots on them. Students begin by starting at the green dot an going through and saying each sound of every letter. The students then slide their finger across the arrow on the bottom of the card to blend the word. Students then use their CVC sliders and slide a bead as they say each sound of the word. They then slide all the beads back together as they blend the sounds into a word.

Syllable Counting

Students build words with legos and with every syllable they attach a new lego that is a different color than the one before. For example, Computer: Com(blue lego)- pu( attach red lego)-ter(attach yellow lego).

Paint Stick: Beginning sounds

Each student receives a paint stick with a letter glued to the top. Students then glue on additional pictures of things that start with the same beginning sound.

Rhyming Dust Bunnies (read aloud book)

Read the story to the children. Then give each child a dust bunny; either Ed, Ned, Ted, or Bob. Give the children a word and have Ed, Ned, and Ted dust bunnies all give a word back to rhyme with the given word. After have Bob dust bunnies give an absurd word that does not rhyme with the given word.

Website

http://www.phonologicalawareness.org

This website is full of great information and strategies that can be used to help enhance a student's abilities in each of the sub categories that fall into phonological awareness. In the future, I plan to resource this website if there is an area of phonological awareness that a student is struggling in and I need a strategy to help improve their skills.

References

https://www.hand2mind.com/pdf/kindergarten/chapter_2.pdf

http://cleverclassroomblog.com/2016/05/what-is-phonological-awareness.html

http://smartyearsapps.com/service/phonological-awareness-lab/

http://smartyearsapps.com/service/syllables-splash/

Artifact

This bookmark is a great tool and resource for students to use while reading. It contains 8 different strategies for students to use when they are stuck on a word in their book. This bookmark is perfect for all students to have nearby when reading to self.