Phonemic Awareness
Dear Parents,
One prerequisite for learning
to read is being aware that words are composed of individual sounds.
This awareness is called phonemic awareness. You have
already started to help your children to develop this awareness by reading
to them. Yes, children who are read to seem to develop phonemic awareness
with ease and this awareness helps prepare them for learning to read.
Here's how you can continue
to help: While reading just about any book to your children is valuable,
books that encourage "playing with sounds" throughout the use of rhyme,
rhythm, and repatriation of sounds are especially good for the development
of phonemic awareness. When reading these books, stop when you come
to a rhyming word. Ask your child to state which word might fit.
For example, after reading the first few pages of Bow! Patrol! you
might read the word stop and pause to see if your child fills in
the rhyming word drop. Ask your child to tell you another
word that begins with the same sounds as the given word. For example,
when reading Watch William Walk, ask for additional words that begin
with the same sounds as William. Tell or ask your child what the
author is doing with the words. When reading Camel Caravan,
for example, you might say something like, "The author is changing the
first part in some of these words. She then uses the word three times.
Can you hear it?" If you want to determine if your child notice on
his or her own, you might say something like, "what's the author doing
with some of these words?" Also, allow for spontaneous responses.
Your child may chime in with words, want to dramatize some or all of the
story, or create another similar story. All of these responses are
appropriate and will further help your child sense that reading is a pleasurable
activity.
Thanks you for your willingness
to help your children become strong readers by doing these activites.
Please call me if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
Gail Gregory
(Letter revised from The Reading Teacher, Vol.51, No.6
March 1998)
