Phonemic Awareness
Phonemic Awareness is a subset of phonological awareness in which you can hear, identify, and manipulate phonemes, the smallest units of sound that can differentiate meaning.
For some great Phonemic Awareness activities and a little broader definition of what Phonemic Awareness, check out this great video by Dr. Andy Johnson from Minnesota State University.
English Language Learners
The following two songs, the first in English, and the second in Spanish, represent poems that, because of their easy rhyme and repetition, can be used to teach phonemic awareness.
Miss Mary Mack, Mack, Mack,
All dressed in black, black, black,
With silver buttons, buttons, buttons,
All down her back, back, back
She asked her mother, mother, mother,
For fifty cents, cents, cents,
To see the elephant, elephant, elephant,
Jump over the fence, fence, fence.
He jumped so high, high, high,
He reached the sky, sky, sky,
And he never came back, back, back,
'Till the fourth of July, 'ly, 'ly.
Bate, bate, chocolate,
tu nariz de cacahuate.
Uno, dos, tres, CHO!
Uno, dos, tres, CO!
Uno, dos, tres, LA!
Uno, dos, tres, TE!
Chocolate, chocolate!
Bate, bate, chocolate!
Bate, bate, bate, bate,
Bate, bate, CHOCOLATE!
Considerations when instructing ELLs in phonemic awareness
Miss Mary Mack, Mack, Mack,
All dressed in black, black, black,
With silver buttons, buttons, buttons,
All down her back, back, back
She asked her mother, mother, mother,
For fifty cents, cents, cents,
To see the elephant, elephant, elephant,
Jump over the fence, fence, fence.
He jumped so high, high, high,
He reached the sky, sky, sky,
And he never came back, back, back,
'Till the fourth of July, 'ly, 'ly.
Bate, bate, chocolate,
tu nariz de cacahuate.
Uno, dos, tres, CHO!
Uno, dos, tres, CO!
Uno, dos, tres, LA!
Uno, dos, tres, TE!
Chocolate, chocolate!
Bate, bate, chocolate!
Bate, bate, bate, bate,
Bate, bate, CHOCOLATE!
Considerations when instructing ELLs in phonemic awareness
- Some phonemes may not be present in ELLs' native language and, therefore, may be difficult for a student to pronounce and distinguish auditorily, as well as to place into a meaningful context. For ELLs, as with all students, it is important that instruction have meaning, so that the words and sounds students are manipulating are familiar. It is therefore necessary for ELLs to have knowledge of the English vocabulary words within which they are to understand phonemes. Teachers can teach phonemic awareness while also explicitly teaching vocabulary words, their meaning, and their pronunciation to ELLs.
- Children's minds are trained to categorize phonemes in their first language, which may conflict with English phonemes. For example, Spanish-speaking children may speak, read, and write ch when sh should be used because in Spanish, these two combinations produce the same phoneme (International Reading Association, 2001). Teachers can enable phonemic awareness in English for ELLs by understanding the linguistic characteristics of students' native language, including the phonemes that exist and do not exist in the native language.
- Scientifically-based research suggests that ELLs respond well to meaningful activities such as language games and word walls, especially when the activities are consistent and focus on particular sounds and letters. Songs and poems, with their rhythm and repetition, are easily memorized and can be used to teach phonemic awareness and print concepts to ELLs (Hiebert, et al., 1998). These rhymes exist in every language and teachers can ask students or their parents to share these culturally relevant and teachable rhymes with the class, and build phonemic awareness activities around them.
From: http://www.readingrockets.org/article/english-language-learners-and-five-essential-components-reading-instruction
The buttons below contain links that provide great resources to use with kids.
The button labeled Class contains active engagement ideas for the classroom to use while learning about phonemes.
The button labeled Games contains some fun games for children to play and learn with online.
Lesson has a great lesson from readwritethink.org about isolating phonemes.
The button labeled Class contains active engagement ideas for the classroom to use while learning about phonemes.
The button labeled Games contains some fun games for children to play and learn with online.
Lesson has a great lesson from readwritethink.org about isolating phonemes.