What is the role of phonemic awareness in learning to read



What is the role of phonemic awareness in learning to read?

by Heidi Riehl

EDRD 6641, Foundations of Reading Instruction

May 11, 2009

Introduction

Phonemic awareness is an essential component when learning to read. As a Kindergarten teacher, I see everyday how true this statement is in beginning reading instruction. If kids do not master sounds, they struggle to decode words, and therefore struggle as readers.

What is phonemic awareness?

Phonemic awareness is the ability to notice, think about, and work with the individual sounds in spoken words and understand that the sounds of spoken language work together to make words. (Put Reading First, p. 3) The first time I heard this term as an undergrad student, I was confused, especially when I read about graphemes and phonological awareness. I remember thinking, oh well, I will be teaching older kids and I don’t need to know this. I realize know, how amazingly false and naïve this statement was. Now as a Kindergarten teacher working on the foundations of word consciousness and reading skills with students, I realize the necessity of having a clear understanding of literacy terminology and how it functions in instruction.

Phonemic awareness instruction

Students need to understand that phonemes are units of sound that match letters with names. They also need to understand how to work with those units of sound in activities, such as, blending, segmentation, addition, substitution, etc. As young children begin to become fluent and comfortable with sounds and their corresponding letters, they can then move on to an understanding of what a word is and eventually how words function in books. Phonemic awareness helps students develop decoding and automatic word recognition skills. These skills will then transfer to easy pattern books as they begin to string words together to form sentences and ultimately read.

Systematic instruction in phonemic awareness would make a {reading} program more effective. (Farstrup, p. 125) Any early elementary teacher can see the truth in this statement, but what I have learned as I have taught is the time it takes students to develop these skills is quicker with an increase in phonemic instruction and activities in addition to the curriculum. My first year, I stuck to the curriculum, which incorporated phonemic awareness instruction. By the end of the year, almost all my Kindergarten students were reading simple texts. Over the next two years, I have added on to the standard curriculum by including more songs, activities and games that increase phonemic awareness, especially the fluency piece. My students acquire beginning reading skills more quickly, I am able to go further with sound/letter instruction (ee, ea, oo, etc.), and many finish the year reading well beyond simple pattern books.

Conclusion

Over the last three years, I have taught Kindergarteners the skills they need to become readers. As I become stronger and more knowledgeable about phonemic awareness’ role in learning to read, I see the benefits for the students. Phonemic awareness instruction is absolutely necessary when learning to read, because it provides foundational skills to discover words. As many authors on the subject have stated, it is important to remember that phonemic awareness is valuable, but should not be the only component taught in early reading instruction.

Resources

Adams, M. (1994). Beginning to read: Thinking and learning about print. Cambridge, MA US: The MIT Press.

Center for the Improvement of Early Reading Achievement. (2001). Put reading first: The research building blocks for teaching children to read. National Institute for Literacy.

Farstrup, A. and Samuels, S. J. (2002). What research has to say about reading instruction, 3rd ed. International Reading Association.

van Kleeck, A., Stahl, S., & Bauer, E. (2003). On reading books to children: Parents and teachers. Mahwah, NJ US: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers.

Yopp, H., & Yopp, R. (2000, October). Supporting phonemic awareness development in the classroom. Reading Teacher, 54(2), 130-143.

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