Phonological Awareness vs Phonemic Awareness: What’s

the Difference?

Ariel McKenney, M.Ed.

EarlyEdCon

October 21st, 2017

Welcome!

• Let’s jump in with an activity we can use in any EEC setting!

• We will introduce ourselves by saying our names, followed by a food we like that starts with the same sound.

• I’ll start!

My name is Ariel and I like…

Background

• Current first grade teacher at Robert L. Ford Elementary in Lynn, MA

• Current adjunct professor of literacy at Salem State University

• B.S. Education, M.Ed. Reading (SSU)

LET’S GET STARTED!

PHON = “sound”

• The Greek root “phon” means sound.

– Phonological awareness is the ability to hear and manipulate sounds in spoken language

– Includes, but is not limited to skills like:

• Rhyming

• Onset/rime

• Beginning sound awareness

Phonological Awareness Skills

• Rhyming

– When two words sound the same at the end

Can you think of any other words that rhyme?

Phonological Awareness Skills

• Onset/rime

– Onset is everything before the first vowel in a word

– Rime is the vowel and everything after

https://youtu.be/zCNAbDQl7RU

**note: You would not use letters with little ones! I’m doing it since you’re adults

Phonological Awareness Skills

• Beginning Sound Awareness

– Ability to tell if two words start with the same sound

Can you think of any other words that start with the same sound?

PHON = “sound”, EME= “smallest unit of”

• The Greek root “phon” means sound.

– Phonemic awareness is the ability to hear and manipulate single sounds in spoken language

– Includes the following skills:

• segmenting

• blending

• deleting

• substituting

Phonemic Awareness Skills

• Segmenting

– Separating all of the sounds in a word

Can you segment the sounds in the word fish?

Phonemic Awareness Skills

• Blending

– Putting singular sounds together to make a word

Can you blend these sounds together? /s/ /i/ /k/

Phonemic Awareness Skills

• Deleting

– Removing one sound in a word to make a new word

Say “gone”. Take away /g/. What’s your new word?

- /p/

Phonemic Awareness Skills

• Substituting

– Changing one sound in a word to a different sound to make a new word

Say “cake”. Change /c/ to /b/. What’s your new word?

- /p/ + /w/

Why Do We Teach It?

• Let’s discuss!

– Why are phonological awareness/phonemic awareness skills important?

– How can we support phonological/phonemic awareness development?

Reciprocal Relationships Phonemic

Awareness Phonics

Blending

Reading. Sounding out an unknown word and blending the sounds together.

Segmenting Writing. Sounding out an unknown word and writing a letter for each sound.

Deleting Helps manipulate sounds.

Substituting “Switch the vowel.” A child reads pine as /pin/, sees the e, recognizes it is silent, then switches the vowel to the long sound.

By supporting phonological/phonemic awareness, you’re setting the foundation for reading!

How do we support children?

Tongue Twisters

Nursery Rhymes

Poems

Songs

Games

Let’s Make Some Games!

• All credit for these activities goes to http://www.thisreadingmama.com

Thank You for Attending!

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