Understanding Phonemic Awareness and Phonics for K-3 Instruction
Grand Canyon University: RDG 512
August 27, 2014

Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to gain an understanding of how phonemic awareness and phonics impacts reading and writing for beginning readers. A definition of both phonemic awareness and phonics will be given as well as strategies to teach both. Developmental stages, appropriate ages for teaching these skills and strategies, and the purpose of both will be explained. Different assessment options will also be discussed. Introduction Children begin learning sounds and words from the time they are born. They are even exposed to hearing their mother’s voice while still in the womb. It is important that children are exposed to letters and words at an early age as well as have books read to them. These are factors in learning how to read. Two of the most important elements that emerging readers need to know in order to successfully read are phonemic awareness and phonics. These two concepts are different, but must work as a team for one to read. In the beginning grades, teachers must concentrate greatly on both of these concepts to make sure that the students have the foundation that is needed in order to begin reading.
In this paper, definitions of both phonemic awareness and phonics will be shared along with strategies that can be explicitly taught to assist in learning how to read. The sequence of developmental stages, the appropriate ages for both concepts, and the purpose for using them will also be highlighted. Last, assessments examples that can be used will complete the paper.
Phonemic Awareness Phonemic awareness can be described as the concentration of oral speech. Letter sounds can be manipulated through speaking. Phonemic awareness is the foundation for phonics and spelling (Gail Tompkins, 2014). When children are able to name the beginning sound of an object, or rhyme words such as cat and bat they are using phonemic awareness. When children break words apart or put them back together, they are phonemically aware (Tompkins, 2014)
Strategies of Phonemic Awareness Several strategies can be used in teaching children about phonemic awareness. For the purpose of this paper, two different strategies will be described. The first strategy is learning how to identify sounds in words. The students learn that words begin or end with a certain sound. Teachers can help students in their beginning and ending sounds by having them look at pictures or objects and naming the correct sound for either the beginning or ending. It is best to practice the beginning sounds first, ending sounds second and then the medial sounds. Making new words by substituting sounds is another strategy that can be taught to students that are struggling in phonemic awareness. When practicing this strategy, the teacher will say a word orally and ask the student to say the new word using a different beginning, middle or ending sound. For example, the teacher asks the student to say the word pig. The student repeats the word and then the teacher asks the student to now say the word with the beginning sound of /d/. The student must say the word dig to be correct. This is a more difficult task than just naming the beginning sound of a word because the student must first know how to identify the beginning sound and then change the word.
Many phonemic awareness strategies can be practiced through chants, songs, poems, and read alouds (Tompkins, 2014). These strategies will enable children to decode, blend words and if they are phonemically aware, they will practice the strategies during independent reading and writing such as using phonetic spelling. Teachers can practice and teach phonemic awareness activities during shared reading. The strategies taught can then be infused into other literacy activities.
Grade Level and Stages of Development
Grade level appropriate activities are necessary when planning lessons. Most activities regarding phonemic awareness should be planned for children who are between four and six years of age (Tompkins, 2014). Using activites such as rhymes and songs are enjoyable for this age group and they will be practicing their oral language at the same time. According to the International Reading Association (IRA), approximately 20% of students have not mastered phonemic awareness by the middle of first grade (Cunningham, Cunningham, Hoffman, & Yopp, 1998). Those that have not mastered phonemic awareness may have an underlying disability or need to have early intervention put into place to reduce this 20%.
In an article titled The Development of Phonological Skills by Louisa Moats and Carol Tolman (2009), they shared that there is a progression in how phonological skills are developed. Children will first become aware of words and then move into reciting rhyming words from books, poems or chants and play with words. The next stage is learning syllables and then beginning onset and rimes where the child can segment words orally such as c-at. Children must have an understanding that words may be different by changing the beginning sound, but leaving the rime the same. The last stage according to Moats & Tolman (2009), is phoneme awareness. In this stage, children are able to identify sounds in the initial, final and then medial positions of words. Children in this stage are also able to segment and produce the initial, final and then medial sounds of words such as saying the medial sound of the word spot. Lastly, students can blend letter sounds to make words and segment words into two or three segments.
Purpose of Phonemic Awareness Phonemic awareness is a building block to reading and writing. It helps to lay the foundation in advancing to other skills that are necessary to read and write. Practicing phonemic awareness strategies and activities will also help to bridge the gap for those that are English Language Learners. Tompkins (2014), states that children who have a strong grasp of phonemic awareness will more than likely become strong readers no matter what type of reading instruction they receive in later years.
Assessment of Phonemic Awareness Teachers can monitor and assess students regarding their phonemic awareness abilities through sorting picture cards by the beginning sound or how many syllables they hear in the word. Another way teachers can assess students is to use assessments that have been provided by the school district or ones that have been purchased. Teachers can also monitor and observe students’ abilities to manipulate sounds through small group instruction or literacy activities.
Phonics
Phonics is the relationship between letter symbols and the sounds. It is one of the primary means of reading. Without phonics, words could not be read. Mastery of the alphabet is the first step before phonics can take place. According to Tompkins (2014), the emphasis is not about letters or the letter sounds alone, but on spelling patterns. Phonics is the relationship between phonemes and graphemes (Tompkins, 2014). Because 44 phonemes are connected to only 26 letters, it is important to know all of the different sounds that these letters make. They change based on the word. For example, in the word may, the sounds that are heard include /m/ and /ā/, but there are actually three letters in the word. Both consonants and vowels change based on the letters that follow. Vowels especially, have several different sounds.
Phonics Strategies There are three useful strategies that can be taught to students in the area of phonics instruction. According to Tompkins (2014), the first strategy is sounding out words. Instruction of this strategy can be done through shared reading, guided reading, word wall or other literacy activities. Students are taking letter sounds or sound patterns and blending them together to read words. The second strategy according to Tompkins (2014), is decoding by analogy. Here, students see a unfamiliar word and use their knowledge of phonograms to decode it. If the student knows a smaller word such as back, then when they see the word track, they are able to read it easier. Applying rules of phonics is the last stratgey that Tompkins discusses (2014). Students will use phonics rules when trying to read words that are unfamiliar. Teachers will use minilessons to instruct a specific phonics strategy or skill during whole class, small group instruction or independent practice depending on the needs of the students. During the lesson, the teacher will explain how to use the skill or strategy and then supply words for use in other activities. A few other activites to practice phonics may include writing words or letters and using magnetic letters to spell words.
Grade Level and Stages of Development Phonics instruction is best taught beginning in Kindergarten and should be finished up by third grade. When phonics strategies are taught, they must be done in a particular sequence. According to Tompkins (2014), it is best to start with the consonants and then the short vowels. This way students can begin decoding words with the consonant-vowel-consonant pattern as well as spelling them. Once this has been practiced, teachers can move into instructing lessons on digraphs, long vowels, and blends. Students will begin learning words with different consonant-vowel-consonant-e patterns. Words such as shave or drove would fit this pattern. The last part of this sequence is learning the uncommon dipthongs and digraphs as well as r-controlled vowels. Words such as thought and tour are examples of these spelling patterns.
Purpose of Phonics The purpose of learning phonics skills and strategies is to figure out how to read and say unfamiliar words as fast as they can be read. It needs to be a part of a balanced literacy program where students can apply what they have been taught into other literacy activites for both reading and writing. Phonics instruction must focus on identifying words and lessons must be well planned to teach the skills and strategies that the students need.
Phonics Assessments When assessing students in their knowledge of phonics skills and strategies, teachers may use observations, listen to students read or gather samples of their writing. There are also several commercial assessments that can be used. An assessment is done at the beginning of the year to take a baseline of the students’ skills. It is done again mid-year to check progress and at the end of the year to record their final scores. If a student is not making progress, then further testing should be done in order to diagnose the issues. In conclusion, when beginning to read, it is important to have a concept of the letters and sounds. Decoding, blending, spelling, reading, and writing cannot take place without them. Through explicit instruction in whole class and small group settings, students will apply the strategies they have been taught and begin to read and write with more fluency. Teachers can monitor progress and make changes to lessons if needed. Teachers must be aware of the purpose for teaching these skills and strategies in both phonemic awareness and phonics. Daily learning opportunities must be provided for the students to apply their learning.

References

Cunningham, J. W., Cunningham, P. M., Hoffman, J. V., & Yopp, H. K. (1998, April). Phonemic Awareness and the Teaching of Reading. Retrieved from International Reading Association: www.reading.org
Moats, L., & Tolman, C. (2009). The Development of Phonological Skills. Retrieved from Reading Rockets: http://www.readingrockets.org/article/development-phonological-skills
Tompkins, G. E. (2014). Literacy for the 21st Century: A Balanced Approach. New York, NY: Pearson.